My Feet Are Tired!

[Veronica]

Since I'm giving my knee the day off, I helped Thom lay wood flooring in our bedroom. Get your minds out of the gutter. :p My job was to pick the piece of flooring to go in each spot. It was rough. Seriously, my feet are killing me! I had to stand barefoot for four hours on a cement slab. And we're not done! It's going to look so awesome though when it is complete. I can't wait to get rid of all the carpet. I had no idea how DISGUSTING carpet is, until he started pulling it up. Nasty, nasty stuff!

V.

[crazycanuck]

Oh cool..renovations!

Will you post the photos on tandem hearts??

Meanwhile, get mr tom to give you a foot massage!!!

C

[Veronica]

Oh cool..renovations!

Will you post the photos on tandem hearts??


C

I hadn't thought about taking any photos of the floor. Maybe... after I get rid of all the cobwebs! :eek:

V.

[crazycanuck]

Cobwebs on the floor :confused:

C

[Veronica]

No on the walls behind where the furniture was. :eek:

V.

[maillotpois]

Few things are as physically tiring as home improvement work. I painted every wall in our house before we moved in (including stripping wallpaper in one bathroom). DH did wood trim. We worked on it after work almost every day for a month. Parts of my body I didn't know had nerves ached. (We had others do the floor re-finishing and re-carpeting - we reached our limit.)

I would imagine the concrete floor is also COLD!! :eek:

[Veronica]

You can't imagine the amount of pelage I found under the dressers! Ar least it wasn't vair!

V.

[SouthernBelle]

I will never have wallpaper in a house again. Hanging it is evil. Stripping it is evil.

I want wood floors. The house I grew up in had wood floors. But rich people had wall-to-wall carpet. So when I was a kid I wanted a 2 story house with carpeting. I've got one now. :o

[froglegs]

I was supposed to be giving my poor shoulder some rest, but instead we poured a slab in the backyard and I spent the day wielding a shovel and various concrete-smoothing implements. However, I made my husband pick up the 90lb bags of concrete.

[Veronica]

Ahhh... gunite, fun stuff! I haven't pored a slab, but I've done my share of post holes.

V.

[RoadRaven]

I can't wait to get rid of all the carpet. I had no idea how DISGUSTING carpet is, until he started pulling it up. Nasty, nasty stuff! V.

me too... I am slowly getting rid of the old bits in this house... I swore the last time my toddlers had a vomiting bug I would rip out every bit of carpet in the house - but by the time they got the next one, they were old enough to wake up before and make it to the bathroom in time...

It is very nasty - dirty, dusty, yuck. And we have nice rimu floorboards... but my limiting factor is that I work fulltime and prioritise bikes over floors...

Pleased you have time to do this - I look forward to my turn too :)

[Trek420]

I had no idea how DISGUSTING carpet is, until he started pulling it up. Nasty, nasty stuff!

V.

Welcome to my life :rolleyes: I will never have carpet again....but right now, this.

[Tuckervill]

Here I sit on my 110 year old oak tongue-in-groove floors, but they're covered by decades of linoleum, school tile, 3/4" plywood and, in one case, "indoor-outdoor" carpet squares circa 1971. :P

We took the horrible old carpet out before we moved in--and were so shocked to find what was underneath. But these floors are going to return to their glory, I hope this coming year.

Karen

[Veronica]

You're so lucky! We're putting in glue down engineered flooring. We grew up in Maine with real wood floors and as much as we tried to ignore the click sound of floating floors... we just couldn't.

It's a royal pain in the arse to put in a glued down floor on a slab. The surface has to be level and so "lucky" Thom has had to grind away parts of the slab or fill depressions.

But the parts that are done, I am just thrilled with.

V.

[short cut sally]

V, you will come to love the hardwood floors. I grew up with real wood floors, had carpet in our trailer when we were first married, the floors were cold, and when we built our house years ago, we put carpet in the bedrooms. We removed the carpet last year to complete the house with hardwood. OH my, now I know why my allergies were bothersome. It was so disgusting! Enjoy all your hard work once your feet and body recoup.

[Kimmyt]

Our house has wall to wall green carpet. Dark green. I like the color, but in such quantities... it's hideous. Along with the wallpaper and border in almost every room that is a yucky green and paisley type style. We have pulled most of it off and are painting, but they put the wallpaper right over the drywall when building the house and it is proving difficult (i.e. lots of patching, priming, etc. until it looks decent to paint). Now we just have the great room (i.e. ping pong room) and the kitchen to do. They put the wallpaper under the cabinets. Sometimes this house makes me wanna cry.

But when we're done with it, it'll look beautiful.

K.

[Trek420]

My place already smells better :o I can hardly wait to have it all cleared out. It's much fun moving .... within my own home though :rolleyes:

[Tuckervill]

Would you please tell my husband how lucky we are? All he can do is whine about how much work it's going to be to dig them out!

K.


You're so lucky! We're putting in glue down engineered flooring. We grew up in Maine with real wood floors and as much as we tried to ignore the click sound of floating floors... we just couldn't.

It's a royal pain in the arse to put in a glued down floor on a slab. The surface has to be level and so "lucky" Thom has had to grind away parts of the slab or fill depressions.

But the parts that are done, I am just thrilled with.

V.

[7rider]

Ugh. I feel your pain.
We recently went through a spasm of renovation in our house.
Ugly wallpaper came down. Old carpet came up. Hardwood exposed.
It seems a bit louder in the house, and we can certainly hear the other when walking around, but ... sigh ... I so prefer the hardwood.
Here's a pic of the task half done.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/Craigslist/IMG_0185.jpg

[Trek420]

Ugh. I feel your pain.
We recently went through a spasm of renovation in our house.
Ugly wallpaper came down. Old carpet came up. Hardwood exposed.
It seems a bit louder in the house, and we can certainly hear the other when walking around, but ... sigh ... I so prefer the hardwood.
Here's a pic of the task half done.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z85/7rider/Craigslist/IMG_0185.jpg

Oooooh, puhrty. Keep posting those "after" pictures. It's heartening to see that it gets better. :o

[OakLeaf]

We put cork on our ground floor last year. It is totally beautiful! It's available in all kinds of colors and patterns. It insulates sound and temperature, it's resilient to the step, and it's relatively "green" in manufacture. It resists stains and dents - and hides what stains and dents it does get :cool:

It's still a floating floor, for those who hate that, but I'm way happy with it.

[wannaduacentury]

Since I'm giving my knee the day off, I helped Thom lay wood flooring in our bedroom. Get your minds out of the gutter. :p My job was to pick the piece of flooring to go in each spot. It was rough. Seriously, my feet are killing me! I had to stand barefoot for four hours on a cement slab. And we're not done! It's going to look so awesome though when it is complete. I can't wait to get rid of all the carpet. I had no idea how DISGUSTING carpet is, until he started pulling it up. Nasty, nasty stuff!

V.

We got some old wood flooring (nail down-early 1920's brick house) out of one of the old sorority houses the college owned, so we ripped (over 400 sq feet) up 2 heaping truckful loads in humid 95 degree July heat last summer. Dh and I are putting it in the living rm and our bedroom during Christmas break. I don't like carpet anymore either. It feels good betwwen your toes when it's new, then after the first spill, Oh well, there it goes. Jenn

[Veronica]

The bedroom is done and the furniture is moved back in. It really looks nice. Next room is the office...


V.

[Trek420]

That's great, V. Someday I hope to have a room, or two or....done.

Here's Mae supervising the preparation phase. She likes her creature comforts, carpets, rug, lawn. She did not like the bare floor at all. Here she has a cheap rug, one of her beds, L.L. Bean dog blankie so she can supervise in comfort.

[Trek420]

... taken at night with my cell phone, and the plastic protective sheet is still on the floor where it will stay till the rest is done. But this should give you an idea. It's a cherry laminate.

I plan to pick out the kitchen cabs on Wednesday.

[Veronica]

Currently working on the family room. It had to be painted first. The carpet is out and the painting nearly done. Thom still has to grind the cement slab to make the floor level before we can begin putting down the wood.

V.

[Trek420]

When I moved here I moved myself and Mae in my car. No truck. I don't have a lot of stuff.

Books, bikes of course, but I don't have a lot of "stuff".

There's a lot I lost in the "divorce", which is fine. I call that "chewing off my tail" :rolleyes: But how is it that I was able to move here myself, a few loads in the car and now I'm clearing out just the living room and kitchen for the work, the spare bedroom is full, I mean full to my eyeballs with boxes.

I did not have "stuff", don't really buy "stuff", I've taken trunkloads to Goodwill such as clothes I've shrunk out of via cycling.

Does it multiply? :rolleyes:;) Where does this "stuff" come from?

I'm off to slightly organize this as I imagine there's potential I'll be living out of these boxes for a while. I know how remodels go.

[Bruno28]

I did not have "stuff", don't really buy "stuff", I've taken trunkloads to Goodwill such as clothes I've shrunk out of via cycling.

Does it multiply? :rolleyes:;) Where does this "stuff" come from?


Did you bring some stuff over to my place by any chance? I have extra stuff too that I don't recall acquiring:rolleyes:

[Trek420]

Did you bring some stuff over to my place by any chance? I have extra stuff too that I don't recall acquiring:rolleyes:

How could I have brought stuff to your place when I have more stuff than I thought :confused: Somebody else's stuff is going to both of our places. :mad:

Anybody missing a 12 bottle wrought iron wine rack? I have it and don't remember getting it and ... oh, it's cute with bike water bottles in it. :p never mind.

[Bruno28]

Somebody else's stuff is going to both of our places. :mad:



OK - own up. Who is it?????

[maillotpois]

Cool that you're almost done, V - what color are you painting???

Before we moved in, we painted every wall in our house, replaced most fixtures and I removed wall paper and a sink/console in a bathroom and painted Em's bathroom cabinetry. (We had the floors done by others, re-carpeting and re-finishing the wood.) I was NEVER so exhausted at the end of the day as that month we were doing all that work. And I was riding a lot back then and in good shape - it was just harder all over body aching work, using muscles I didn't even know existed.

I had a lot of fun with my friend Holly painting Em's room cloudy (sponge painting with glossy blue and white).

[divingbiker]

May I whine a bit in this thread? Please?

My sister and BIL and I bought my aunt's house from her a couple of years ago, in order to give her a monthly income since her children and grandchildren have bled her dry of the comfortable nest egg she was left with when my uncle died about 12 years ago. She's lived there rent-free since we bought it. (The house is on 3 acres with two large farm buildings in the midwest, and is across the road from my sister and BIL's house. I'm here in the DC area.)

In September, she moved to town into a senior apartment, since her eyes are too bad to drive the country roads into town. (She shouldn't be driving at all, but that's another rant.)

Since she moved out, we've been clearing out 40+ years of crap, all of which my aunt thinks is priceless but no one wants. We sneak it to the burn pile when she isn't looking. (We've still got to figure out how to dispose of 50+ old car and truck and tractor tires that her grandson left behind, but again, that's another rant.)

We have removed many layers of wallpaper, some of which won't come off without bubbling up the paint underneath. We've hired plasterers to come in and skimcoat several walls and redo several ceilings. We've torn out nasty 30-year-old shag carpet that is so gross I can't even think about it. We upgraded the fuses to breakers.

Finally, last week when I was home for Christmas we started putting things back together. We painted four bedrooms, the kitchen, the bathroom, the stairwell/landing, and two closets. And it looks gorgeous. Smooth plaster walls in a 95 year old house are amazing!

The floors are pine, but are not in good enough shape to refinish, so we're just slapping down carpet so we can sell the place. But there's still a new countertop, plumbing, flooring, trim painting, replacement of lights and switches and receptacles, out-building cleanup, etc to do. I feel bad that my sister and BIL have to finish it by themselves (a new bathroom is going in this weekend) but I am so excited that it is almost done. I've taken three trips out there to work on it since September, and the end is in sight.

I went through all of this with my own 69 year old house when I moved in 15 years ago. I feel for all of you who are remodeling. It is a lot of work.

[maillotpois]

Wow, Trek, Mae is super cute.

(Gawd I am such a dog slvt. Don't tell Russo. :rolleyes: )

[Trek420]

May I whine a bit in this thread? Please?

..... And it looks gorgeous. Smooth plaster walls in a 95 year old house are amazing!

Please whine!

That's what remodeling is all about :D

Aren't old houses the greatest? I'm bored with brand new houses, gimme a house with some history. 'cept it is a lot more work.

Good for you helping out your aunt :) Brphffpt to the other family members. :mad:

Maillopoits, yes, Mae's a cutey, she's smart and a very good dog.

She's a rescue and she does have some issues especially with other dogs. Friday my carpenter brought someone in half a day to help her with the floor. I was at work.

I told her that my neighbor would come over and get Mae for the day because I thought the excitement of 2 new people and construction and one of 'em a guy (she does not do as well with guys) would be too much.

So I call on my break. I hear a very happy woof :) in the background. H. tells me Mae and her helper are best friends. She walked over, gave him a lick and is sitting in his lap while he works. Of course he'd been making her do tricks and rewarding her with Trader Joes Peanut Butter filled pretzels first. :cool:

My turn to whine. I bought this place after a break up and even worse that was the year my Dad died. I suppose if I had concentrated on nesting and turned this joint which I bought waaaaaaaaaaaaay below market I'd be sitting pretty financialy. I would have turned it at the top of the market.

Instead of turning the house I turned to cycling and did back to back to back to .... CA Lifecycle rides.

But I have no regrets.

I met people, saw sights and parts of CA, had experiences that will last a lifetime. I got to spend a week with my neice on her first ALC. :D And we did a lot of good. And even given recent injury I'm now in better shape than I've been in years. Plus I met Knott whom I probably would not have met if I'd been walking the aisles of HomeDepot instead of riding and reading about riding.

Recently my 85 year old Mom said that the week she, Duck on Wheels and Mr. Duck on Wheels spent going down the coast following ALC, seeing UK Eliphant on the ride, meeting up with us in camp and the closing ceremony was one of the best experiences she's had in years. :D

So I'm remodeling now, when nobody's buying. No regrets.

Well, back upstairs I just tore out the carpet strips in another room and have to clean up. :cool:

[Veronica]

The family room is staying builder beige with an accent color on the mantel. We had to do the ceiling because we had some water damage.

I wish it were almost done. We still have the living room to do. But at least it's just the floor, we're not painting it.

We do have to figure out what we're going to do with this.

http://tandemhearts.com/coppermine/albums/piano/new-piano-2.jpg

V.

[maillotpois]

Divingbiker - it sounds like you guys have restored a beautiful home. And what a wonderful thing you have done for your aunt.

Trek - I can be won over with TJ's PB pretzels as well! No regrets on ALC. It's all good.

V - what wonderful ART and that music stand - wow!! Your living room looks amazing! I don't know what to do with a piano. We get by with a large keyboard for the musical one. She will learn something on the violin or guitar and then immediately go down and play it on the keyboard. I'm sure it's easier than it sounds, but I can't imagine. My brain wasn't wired that way. :rolleyes:

[Trek420]

Wow, V. It looks beautiful now.

What do you want to do with the room? Besides fill it with bikes :cool:

I do a lot of drawing. I'm horrid at math, tried draft paper, cad programs, nothin' .... but I can draw.

Now when I think "maybe we should do this ____" I draw it. Really helps as I think about the colors.

It's also my way of staying sane through a remodel. I know that no matter how it will be, living out of boxes, tarps everywhere .... I can look at my drawings and say "someday it'll look like this!"

[snapdragen]

Somebody else's stuff is going to both of our places. :mad:


OK - own up. Who is it?????

Not me, they seem to have dropped a bunch of stuff off here too. All in nice boxes. Someone should really sort through it all. Any volunteers?

[salsabike]

Does it multiply? :rolleyes:;) Where does this "stuff" come from?




It's aliens, you guys. I thought you knew that. They're in charge of clothes hangars and single socks as well.

Trek, it'll be okay. It may be that when you're done, the market will be improving again.

[Veronica]

The piano is going back in. :D It just has to be moved so we can do the floor. I did use to keep my bike in that room when Thom had an upright. It just didn't fit when he moved up to the grand.

That artwork on the wall is very cool. It's a kinetic sculpture.

V.

[Trek420]

It's aliens, you guys. I thought you knew that. They're in charge of clothes hangars and single socks as well.

V, the artwork is very cool. Now why don't the aliens leave stuff like that? :rolleyes:

[Trek420]

Kitchen cabinets are ordered. I'm glad I did this today. I knew they had a sale on in January but didn't know it ended today till I got to the store. If I'd waited to the weekend it would be 45% more :eek:

[mimitabby]

what is Vair and why were you barefoot? No wool socks?

[Veronica]

Vair is squirrel fur. Yes I wear wool socks all the time.

V.

[Tri Girl]

All of your remodeling looks so great (the actual work part- not so much).

We had to pull the carpet in our bedroom after a spring flood, and we've been living with the concrete floor ever since. That carpet was NASTY (and it was only about 7 years old). Yikes!

We've decided to lay down the snap together engineered wood flooring, but only AFTER we get around to fixing the foundation. One day before I'm 40 perhaps. :rolleyes:

Keep the pictures coming- I love seeing other's remodeling projects.

[Trek420]

Keep the pictures coming- I love seeing other's remodeling projects.

Ok you asked. :rolleyes:

The circa '70's cottage cheese ceiling is gone!!! Yeah!!

Yesterday Hillary came by and zwoop.. out goes the equally ugly and same era linoleum flooring is gone.

I'm putting it in the trash as soon as it stops pouring down rain. :rolleyes:

These old cabinets are going next. Shhhhhhhh, Don't tell them.

You can see the left corner of the kitchen has the dishwasher (whose days are also numbered) and the oven at corner to each other. Not that I ever wash dishes and bake bread at the same time or even sequentially but you can't. Also the corner there is useless space.

There's no storage, no drawers, no cabinet, no lazy Susan ....nothin' there in the corner but a bit of counter. What were they thinking? Well, it was in the '70s ;)

I've ordered new cabs, the design will be L shaped, going to loose that peninsula thing and may add a rolling cart instead. The new sink centers more on the window, dishwasher moves juuuust enough to the right to give me usable space in the corner.

Whata concept, storage space, who knew this could happen?

[Trek420]

..... now you don't. Cabinets largely gone. I'll schedule a bulk waste pick up soon and away they go.

[Tuckervill]

I just discovered the 110 yo floor behind my clawfoot tub is almost non-existent under the peel-n-stick tile the last owners put there. So I guess I'll be ripping up that room pretty soon. :P

And I can't use the tub. :( :(

Karen

[Trek420]

There are worse things to find you can't use for a while. This is why though I could only afford a small place I chose 1 1/2 bathroom. :cool:

But oooooh, clawfoot tub. :D Love those. Going to keep it? What kind of new flooring are you putting in?

[Tuckervill]

I hope to have all the original 1" thick oak floors restored in this house eventually. We had a huge leak in the kitchen 2 xmases ago, and had to replace the floor (with plywood), so I've stashed up the boards we took out of there, and I'll use them to patch up the bathroom. I'm having a hard time convincing hubby that this is a good idea, or I'd have it done already. (I don't know what he's thinking.)

Yes, I LURVE my clawfoot tub. I don't think this house had indoor plumbing at it's inception, so the tub is probably not original to the house. But it should be original with the plumbing!

Funny, I avoided using it for the first 3 years we lived here because I knew there was a wrinkled spot under the tile elsewhere in the bathroom, so I already suspected it was from the tub. Then I got over my fear and started using it and watching closely. It must just be seepage because there are no water spots anywhere to tip me off. I'm sad about it.

Karen

[Trek420]

I'm having a hard time convincing hubby that this is a good idea, or I'd have it done already. (I don't know what he's thinking.)


That it'll be a lot of work, and expense, and mess while it's going on and a huge disruption to your life .... and he's right. :D

But think of how beautiful it will be when it's done. And if you think you'll ever sell - bathrooms sell houses (and kitchens and .....)

Good idea saving the oak flooring. Have you considered tile or something in the bathroom and use the oak somewhere else to really show it off?

[Trek420]

The living room looks like it's painted, a nice antique white.

H. has prepped the accent wall more. Heating grates are off and the hall lights are out so it's clear for painting.

My living room curtains are down so I'd better stop prancing around the living room naked till they are back up.

Remind me, I might forget. ;)

The wall's coming down in the half bath area.

I'm off to get the dishes out of the dishwasher, washed or not they gotta go. She's going to rip that old thing out tomorrow. :D

[Tuckervill]

Hey! The tub wasn't leaking after all! It was just poorly worked flooring around the pipes behind the tub! YIPPEE!

But once we got going, we ended up gutting the whole bathroom. The floor in there is not the original floor, but it's still tongue-in-groove, probably maple, not oak. It was never actually finished (no varnish). It's hard to tell exactly what happened. My guess is the floor rotted out at one time, and a new floor was installed, intended as subfloor. The plaster and baseboards were below the floor level. It is hard to tell if the plaster was original to the house, but we busted it all out. They had busted out parts of it in order to put the paneling over it at some point, probably when the floor was put in, so we couldn't save it. There was only one coat of paint over the plaster (pink, of course).

So I'm thinking the tub and floor (or the bathroom) are not original to the house at 110 years. I'm thinking 1940s or 1950s judging by the style of the layer of linoleum under the peel-n-stick tile. We'll know more about the floor when we rip out the styrofoam ceiling tile in the room beneath, which we intend to replace with tin.

Now I'm looking for a person who knows something about plaster, lath, and whether to do drywall, veneer plaster, or plaster. We didn't take out the lath, in case it makes the most sense to just drywall over it.

Talk about burning calories! Prying up those layers of floor was hard work!

Karen

[Trek420]

Wouldn't you do greenboard in the bathroom? You know, that stuff that holds up to moisture. You can then put anything over it, such as plaster or even tile. I've seen some wonderful tile bathrooms.

Veeeeery nice that you did not find damage under there. Always nice when you dodge the bullet on that. :rolleyes:

Sounds like you're keeping the style to the age of the house just with new house bits. :) We want photos!

[Tuckervill]

Since it's a clawfoot tub which exposes the floor underneath, and we will probably put marine varnish on the floor, there's not really a reason to put greenboard on the walls near the tub. The tub won't have a shower, just a hand-held for washing my hair and the dogs. (I'm the only one who even wants to use the tub. I consider it "my" space. ;) ) I'm still considering whether to put up a shower curtain loop. I've been using it without, but also without a hand-held shower, using a container to dump water over my head.

Veneer plaster is plaster without the lath...blueboard behind just a couple of coats of plaster. I'm assuming the blueboard is water resistant, but since I haven't found anyone who can do it I haven't really researched it. I prefer plaster, but drywall may be the most practical option.

I've been taking pictures of the demolition. My dad and I trade pics of our projects all the time. This time I made sure they weren't all of my husband doing all the work...My dad thinks my husband does all this stuff, but we share the load! :) As soon as I get off the couch, I'll post one.

Karen

[Trek420]

I'm assuming the blueboard is water resistant, but since I haven't found anyone who can do it I haven't really researched it. I prefer plaster, but drywall may be the most practical option.

Check into that. Though you don't use the shower and I assume DH does not either there's steam and mist from the bath. Water is the enemy of your home both from inside and out.

If the blueboard is water resistant .... go for it :)

[Trek420]

Since I'll replace the washer/drier anyway I may want to get a gas drier. My kitchen range is electric.

I'm debating whether to get a gas range or keep the existing newer electric but anyway....since there's gas water heater and heating upstairs is it worth it to pay the extra to bring the gas down to the kitchen/laundry area?

It's already there. :D And if I want it extended to the kitchen just a relatively quick turn and jog over.

Also I'd wondered if the house is earthquake braced, that is bolted to the foundation. While the house guts I now see are not on a load bearing wall H. pointed out that they are bolted to the foundation so it's likely the exterior walls are too. I'm not going to tear things out to find out, but it is reassuring.

[Brandi]

Can I join in here! I just read through all of your comments! How exciting all these new things happening in your homes. I would like to comment on the to keep or not to keep the electric stove. Go gas! It is so much nicer. And when you go to sell it (if you do) it is preeferred by a lot of people. We lived with one in our house till it broke. I had no problems putting in a gas one. But then I like to cook. One of my cats once stepped on a cooling down electric burner and hurt herself. I was happy to see it go.
We have oak wood floors that we had to fix. Oh I hated the sanding, it got on everything. But they look so nice now!
The people who lived in our house before we bought it broke up while they were in the house. He weny crazy And took an axe to all the kitchen cabnets and a few of the walls! So there were no cabnets in the kitchen when we moved in and axe marks on the counter tops. The day after we moved in everything that had bad karma on it was ripped out! I thought I might feel a little wierd moving into a house that had an angry past but we brought enough love in it to turn it around. Oh he didn't take the axe to her by the way. But we found out later he went away and killed himself! Creepy huh? But like I said you do not feel them in this house at all now. We have been working on this house for over 14 years now. It is a 3 story house with a view of the ocean. We bought it for 139k way back when. and at the time we bought it for the veiw not the house. It was such a wreck! I can't imagine living in any other house now though!
Oh the best feature of the house when we moved in was the bright orange cast iron sink that was in the kitchen. When my dh threw it over the balacony into the sandy drive way it made the whole house shake from it's wieght i swear!

[sundial]

Go gas! It is so much nicer.

And should you lose power, you can still have a hot meal. :)

[Trek420]

Can I join in here?

Yes! the more the merrier.

I spent part of the evening at Lowes with H. the carpenter. We picked out a sink for the 1/2 bath/laundry room area and a new light for the room, sconce for the hallway, dinning room fixture (a ceiling fan. it gets hot here) and I'm semi stuck for the kitchen lighting, I'm going to take another look.

The designer in me saw a nice halogen track light, the tree hugger wants something that will take CFLs. I will look at a couple other places this weekend and make a final choice.

Good news, we don't need to dig a trench through the foundation to move the sink

Bad news, the electrical needs more work than anticipated

Good news it's about or less than what we thought trenching would be.

Also good news Mae the wonder mutt looooooves the plumber. She's enjoying this parade of new people, activity mess and noise. It's an expensive way to socialize a dog but it's working.

[divingbiker]

The people who lived in our house before we bought it broke up while they were in the house. He weny crazy And took an axe to all the kitchen cabnets and a few of the walls! So there were no cabnets in the kitchen when we moved in and axe marks on the counter tops. The day after we moved in everything that had bad karma on it was ripped out! I thought I might feel a little wierd moving into a house that had an angry past but we brought enough love in it to turn it around.

The house next door to me is one of those bad karma houses. One of the people who had lived in the neighborhood since it was built said that the house has never been loved, and has never had stable owners. In the 16 years that I've lived here, it's been rented to several people, all of whom have been evicted. One of the renters also took an axe to the walls and countertop, others were drug dealers, and one was a squatter.

The owners were the most awful people, screaming at my that I had stolen their ladder (when it was on top of their garage, where I took a picture of it and gave it to them) and calling me awful names and accusing me of putting my yard waste bags on their property, after I had mowed and raked their yard for years because they didn't do it. (I gave them a copy of the survey to prove that it was my property, and they still didn't believe it.) The house sat idle for years, then the cops came to my door in the middle of the night looking for someone who had apparently lived there years before.

Finally an investor bought it, sunk a lot of money into it, and lost a bunch of money because it wouldn't sell for what they wanted. Finally someone bought it, lived in it for 6 months or so, and now it's been foreclosed on and the bank owns it.

Apart from this house that's cursed, my neighborhood is great. I wish they'd tear it down and start over.

Thanks for allowing me to vent...this is cathartic.

[Trek420]

You're welcome. :)

Had to find food that can be 'et when the kitchen looks like this :eek: Great idea for a cookbook: the Remodel Cookbook :rolleyes:

New kitchen plumbing's been plumbed, just a couple finishing touches and things will start going from destruction to construction mode. At least that's what my carpenter says.

You can't tell from this, maybe compare to the older shot but the counter height will be different. These units were designed and built in the 70's with cheap yet custom cabinets. All measurements non standard. This I think is one reason (besides the economy and I blame Dubya for that) stuff is not selling here. Owners have a choice of refacing the old cabinets, but if you wanna get new you have to go full custom.

Most of my neighbors can't afford that. :(

Thankfully H. my carpenter figured out "move this here, that here and voila standard cabs". So I may pay more to move stuff but I'm trading that for new cabs and counters with nearby competition that can only reface.

On the left is the utility sink sitting waiting to go to the half bath/laundry. And on the right is Mae waiting to be take another walk. Byeeeeeee.

[Crankin]

You are really moving along, Trek. I give you credit, I know nothing about "house stuff." Not to play the stupid little woman, because my mom knew about and did all of the work around the house, but I am all thumbs with tools and never had any interest in even choosing the flooring or carpets in the first 3 houses we owned. I know what I like in furniture, but my way of operating is to go in, buy it without too much comparing, and leave!
A little over 2 years ago we bought a 22 year old contemporary house on an impulse. We had been thinking of selling our typical 4 bedroom 2 bath colonial in a development and had looked at some older victorians. But the rooms were so small and the amount of work was daunting. We looked at our house on a rainy day when the ride we were leading was cancelled. The previous owner had the house stuffed with ugly unfinished antiques and junk everywhere. She had let her college aged daughter paint the rooms weird colors and let's just say she didn't know how to paint either. The powder room was bright green and red. Two bedrooms were purple. The lower level (family room and guest bedroom) smelled like mold. But, we fell in love and knew there was some work to do. The house is in a very unique neighborhood, with access to a community pond and hiking trails.
Well, let's just say we didn't know what we were getting into. We found out this house was built on spec and for about 7-8 years a series of renters lived here. There were rumors of rock bands and drugs. The people that owned the house before the woman we bought it from never fixed anything. Everything was cheap early eighties, the lowest priced stuff you can get from Home Depot. The heat and AC blew like crazy in some rooms and didn't work in others. Our heating guy said he couldn't fix it! My husband fixed it. The smoke detector went off every time we cooked. One of the lights in the kitchen went on and off every 2 minutes. First, we painted all of the rooms. We got all new lights, rewired everything, replaced the outside doors (none of them could lock!). We hired a contractor to demolish the kitchen and put in new cabinets, floor, and move the new appliances we had bought. The contractor also redid the powder room, where there was a cabinet so big you couldn't open it. The new tile went from the front door to the kitchen. That took 6 weeks. We set up our fridge in the dining room and cooked on a microwave and hot plate and washed dishes in the bathroom. The time went buy very quickly, but I haven't bought store roasted chicken since! During this time my husband totally redid 2 of the bathrooms himself. They came out great, but it was hard work for him. During this time, we found out a lot of other things in the house were broken and he fixed them. Nothing was standard. When all of this was done, the contractors demolished and redid our bathroom and enlarged my closet. I can't describe how bad the master bath was. This was done from the middle of April to June. It got delayed a little because one guy didn't show up to fix the hardwood and the schedule got off track. But it's beautiful now. Then, we landscaped the front of the house and said no more until next year! Last spring we had all of the windows replaced, which has taken about 20% off of our utility bills. My husband spent most of last summer, to October doing the back of the house and building a patio. I carried about a ton of rocks. Oh, and we had a bunch of wood rot fixed, along with 2 decks that we found out were about to fall down.
WE have one more area in the front to do this spring and then we are done until the outside needs to be painted in about 2 years. That's not counting the driveway that needs to be replaced and the garage that we would really like to rebuild...

[Blueberry]

I'm currently ignoring all that needs to be done to our 1912 bungalow. It had been let go, was partially restored, and was then rented. We've already re-done the kitchen, floors and the bath was OK. But, we need to have the attic re-braced, lots of foundation work done, none of the windows work, etc. etc. DH has gotten a little overwhelmed with it - but it does have personality - too much sometimes:D:D

I have to confess - this thread does not make me want to get started on any of the work yet.

CA

[Trek420]

H should be here tomorrow, plumber or no plumber she'll get to work. So I may have a further progress report. Did I mention this is not my carpenters day job?

So when she gets called in to work by her union things can stop for days. Luckily she coordinates things that go on in between so the plumber's been over, and so on. Or she sends me out shopping.

Monday after dropping Knott off at the airport I headed to Homedespot and picked out lights for the kitchen and 1/2 bath-laundry area. I'd looked eeeeeeeverywhere else, didn't see anything I liked and finally end up going with the lights H recommended. Luckily we have similar aesthetics. These will look nice.

We talked today and she said she'd finish painting the front door and installing the new lock. But how to get the key since I'd be home after she left. She came up with a super-top secret way to hide the key. So I arrived home, moment of panic when I did not see the key in it's innovative top secret hidey place. Came around the front, whew. New lock is not there.

So that's not done yet.

But the door is re-painted and looks like a new door (without the cost of buying and installing a new door of course), the drywall is largely back up in the kitchen with appropriate spots for the new gas line that she has run in should I or a future owner wish to say "now we're cooking with gas."

I am however still cooking with a microwave, electric tea kettle and French Press coffee maker.

All the electrical lines are tagged, labeled so that when the electrician is here tomorrow and I let him in (which I'll be doing instead of going to the C.S. Aikido Association yearly regional training where everyone who's everyone will be-can you tell this is getting a little old?) anyway he can tell where everything goes.

Seems I need a new breaker box cause the one I have won't even support what I've got. So that'll be done.

Then maybe I get a kitchen....soon. :o

[Trek420]

The electricians are done, I can finally close the doors (extension cord out the front, guys running in and out of the back) and warm the house back up. Just took a long hot bath to start warming me up.

I should have taken a picture of the new, improved, much larger breaker box before they closed it. In an odd way it's a beautiful thang (everything with a neat label and tied down, all new and shiny). He was able to add wiring for the ceiling fan without new holes in the ceiling to match, whoot!!! :D

Now a long walk with my mutt Mae but it is raining hard.

[Tuckervill]

My "electrician" is working on my bathroom renovation right now. (My husband, who is an electrical engineer, but not an electrician!) Adding can lights in the ceiling, new outlets, new light fixtures. Then the plasterer is coming in. As soon as the plaster is done, then refinishing the floor, and then putting the tub back...new sink, etc.

Plaster is expensive!

Karen

[Trek420]

Oh it's all expensive :rolleyes: new electronics are a beautiful thing. This is the new fusebox, twice as much capacity as the old one. It was oddly beautiful work, like watching weavers, everything lined up, with a little tag. The old one was small, like a birds nest and some wiring problems. I decided while the walls are open to just go ahead and have it re-done.

Question; you did not mention a fan in the bathroom. Master bath now does not have one. I'm wondering if I should add one.

[salsabike]

Trek, I got the distinct impression that having a bathroom fan--a real one, that vents somewhere and pulls out steam--is really important to buyers. And it would be to me.

[Tuckervill]

My husband, who deals with electricians all day, said they refer them as "fart fans". He said they supposedly do nothing for steam. I don't know how true that is because I haven't tested the theory. Sounds plausible.

We don't have fans in either of our baths, mostly because this is a really old house and venting them would be a bear. We looked long and hard at them at Lowe's, but none of them met my criteria of quiet, unless they were big old honking things, seemingly made for salon baths. The bathroom is not tiny (about 9 x 9), but it has short ceilings since it's in the attic space. A big fan would stick out like a sore thumb. Since we don't have a shower up there, just the tub, and we now have working windows, we decided to forgo the fan.

I understand why buyers would want one, because the vented ones really are difficult to install in a pre-existing space without a total renovation.

Karen

[Trek420]

Trek, I got the distinct impression that having a bathroom fan--a real one, that vents somewhere and pulls out steam--is really important to buyers. And it would be to me.

dang, that's what I was afraid of :rolleyes: :o

[KnottedYet]

put in the fan, you've got a selling point, life is groovy.

(just don't tell 'em a fart fan really doesn't do anything, it just looks sexy)

[Trek420]

Well H got a little less done today than planned because she arrived and found she'd forgotten her keys. So the first thing she tried was using her ladder to go over the patio fence and drop into the back. But I leave my patio door shut.

So she went back home and then returned. The walls are obviously in a state of getting better :) doing the mud and tape stuff etc.

What's gratifying to know that of my neighbors some of whom are retirees and home etc no one questioned someone driving up, using a ladder to vault right over the wall :confused:

[Tuckervill]

Maybe they recognized her?

I'm one of the few people home all day on my block. I keep an eye out. Most of the houses within view of my windows, I would know if there was someone around who didn't belong. They usually act suspicious, anyway.

Karen

[Trek420]

True, she's here enough. :cool:

Just noticed another nice detail. H said she could not find a heating grate in the size I have. And the old one was looking groady. Instead of cutting the wall and patching to do a new one she sandblasted the old one and repainted it.

Looks like new! :) Nice detail and way to save a little.

[Trek420]

Voila' Forward progress now being made. This week the cabinets got delivered and they are now largely installed. H has measurements for the kitchen counters, I just have to get off my @zz and make a final decision on type.

Yes, we'll take the plastic wrap off when it's all done.

[Trek420]

..... now you don't. Cabinets largely gone. I'll schedule a bulk waste pick up soon and away they go.

Bump. I'm trying to see if I can get a "before" and "after" in one post. Nope, you have to go back a bit.

[Zen]

Oh, those are beautiful!
I think I'm just going to paint mine and put on new hardware.
I need 52 hinges and 26 handles. That's not counting drawers :o

[Veronica]

This thread was fun to reread and it made me realize I never posted pics of our office redo (http://www.tandemhearts.com/wordpress/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new/). Okay, we did it a year ago and it's changed a little since then.


Veronica