Well, we finally decided it was time to start working on finishing our laundry room! I can’t be more excited!!!! When we bought this house the room was just framed. It drove me crazy to go in it and I’m pretty sure that when it is finished, doing the laundry will be much more pleasant. This is the before picture. Blah! Just bare bones.
We decided to do the remodel ourselves. We have priced out having someone else finish it but it is hard to just drop that much money. So by doing it ourselves we can save more of the “green.” You can also say that we are Do-It-Yourselfers! We really enjoy learning how to do new things and it gives us a lot of satisfaction in knowing that we did it. Mark and I enjoy doing projects together. It has allowed is to spend lots of good quality time together and teach our kids the importance of working together.
Our first thing on the list was to install some canned lighting and plug outlets. Mark is quite the handyman. He says doing electrical wiring is not too hard. I’m glad he did it because I wouldn’t have known where to begin.
The room was plumbed for a shower, sink and toilet and we wanted to keep those features. Well, the contractors when building the home did not measure where to put the lines and ended up putting them too close to the wall and to each other! Bummer!!! So we knew we had to break out some concrete and relay the plumbing for the shower and toilet. We weren’t too excited about that. We first had to rent a cement saw to cut out the area we needed. It created so much dust! Yikes! Our house was covered in it. The many joys of dealing with a remodel. After sawing, Mark had to sledge hammer out the cement to get to the pipes. It was quite the process! A member from our church came over and helped Mark redo the lines and redirect lines for the shower, sink and toilet. That part of the process was very tedious but we pulled through!
Next came laying concrete and framing. We had to refill the hole that we put in the floor. We were able to do that in one night and move on to framing. Framing was a tedious job as well. Making sure all the cuts were right and the boards were straight. Luckily we had my dad and Mark’s dad to teach us how to lay cement and frame. By the way, I’m pretty darn proud of Mark for wanting to take up the challenge and learn how to build and finish a room. He has done such a great job! Man I love that guy!
Next step was drywall! Mark’s home teaching companion was able to come and teach us how to install it and then one of the guys that they home teach was able to come and help with the install. We are so thankful for all of the people who have offered their help and expertise. It has truly been a blessing. We are learning that this process takes much more time than you initially thought. Why is that? Oh, I know why! I helps us learn how to enjoy the journey. We are now preparing to mud and tape. Probably a tedious and difficult task but we can do it right? 
We have come a long way since we started the project a month ago. Things are coming together and we are getting excited to see the finished product. Hopefully it will be done by Christmas!