From-Eva

Putting our bath tub in was really exciting to me. It was the first new thing to go in the house and since we kept a lot of the original fixtures, it was fun to have something brand new.  Casey framed up a small wall at the end of the tub to support the tub wall. A space was left in the exterior wall for the shower plumbing that needed to go back in. We bought a curved tub that was human-sized and tall enough for a normal person (compared to the previous tub) and considered a curved glass door. It was pricey so we went with a shower curtain rod. Maybe in the future we can upgrade. For now, it's perfect.   Here's the finished closet with new shelving and textured walls. Cody and Casey did an excellent job. I think it's sufficent space for both our wardrobes. And if it's not, I clearly need to get rid of some of my clothes. I was really excited about the space at the top because I knew I would have big things I wanted to hide like suitcases and boxes.  ...

[Heads up: This post is long. I thought I'd cram about two weeks into one post.] Dry wall went up in the bathroom against our closet wall. We then had to do something with the bathroom arrangement. Because of where the big window was on the exterior wall, it made it really difficult to fit any normal sized bathroom fixtures in the space. I really wanted the natural light, but in the end, it was gonna make everything else really awkward and we would have to spend more money moving the plumbing. So we took out the window. Looking back on it, I think we made a really good decision because we saved a ton of money. Cody, Casey's brother, came over to help with drywall and taught me how to use Mud to fill the spaces and cover up the screws. I did most of the bathroom wall. By far my favorite job on the house! To me it felt like clay, which is probably why I loved it so much. On a side note: you can see from these first few pictures, the beautiful original glass door knobs...

The next biggest overhaul that needed to happen to our little house was the foundation. The images don't really do it justice, but there was a giant hump running from the bedroom through the bathroom and guest room. We knew something was off but really had to get underneath the house to see the true damage.  What we discovered was that our house was built on Bodark wood stumps. Yes. Our house was sitting up on wood and from a couple of those pictures you can see how badly it was leaning at the front. Bodark trees are native to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and some places in East Texas and were used on many pier and beam foundations because the wood can last over 100 years before decaying. In an effort to save us tons of money, Casey and his father worked for about a week removing each bodark stump from the ground and filling the pier with new cement blocks. They replaced about 50 stumps buried about two feet into the ground. Not only that, but they were underneath the house with ver...