House Remodeling Thread (long)

[tulip]

Trek had the fabulous idea of garnering the collective experience of TEers who have remodeled or renovated or just worked on their places of residence.

I have questions, and I know that y'all have opinions (and answers), so let's get started.

I'm purchasing a house that needs a little work. Not a lot, but enough to make me think about things. I want to do it right to balance cost, energy efficiency, and quality. I'd like to do things as green as possible, within reasonable cost.

The Facts:

1. The house is a 1939 bungalow; 900 SF. I live in Richmond Virginia, which is hot in the summer and can get downright cold in the winter (we even get snow sometimes, but more often ice).

2. Me: just me in the house. My style tends toward modern.

The Issues

1. HVAC: The furnace (natural gas) is 11 years old. The chimney needs a new liner, and the furnace needs some basic fixing up, like connecting to ducts and such. I'm going to fix the furnace because it's still in good shape. What's the best way to install a/c? Seems like my choices are window units (might be a temporary fix, but not permanent), central system with heat pump (then I'd have two heating systems), or a split-system ductless system. What are your experiences with this? What about a whole house fan in the attic (would have to keep the attic door open).

2. The water heater needs replacing. Does anyone here have experience with on-demand hot water heaters (gas)? I'd put it in the basement for all hot water needs. Thoughts, suggestions, opinions?

3. There is a fireplace, and with a bit of chimney work, it will be functional again. Eventually I might consider getting an efficient wood-burning stove for the fireplace. Does anyone know where to start to find out about the new generation of wood stoves?

4. (the fun part) the kitchen is small and bare and just waiting for me to knock out one wall and put in a functional and really nice (within reason--not talking SubZero here) kitchen! I'm thinking about concrete countertops in the kitchen. And getting all Energy Star appliances, of course. Gas cooking. Any lessons learned that you would like to share?

5. I also plan to put a Euro-type washer/dryer combo for clothes in the kitchen. There are full-size washer and dryer currently in the basement, but the dryer is not vented to the outside (!?) and I'd much rather not have to go outside to the basement to do laundry. Since the kitchen has to be totally redone anyways, it's a good time to put one of those in. Most clothes drying will be outside on the line in good weather. Anyone have one of these?

6. Bathroom is in good shape, but the toilet is very old (one of those padded vinyl seats--ewwwww!) and will need to be replaced. I'm not getting a composting toilet. But I'll swing for an efficient 1.6 gpf or less, dual flush one. Any recommendations?

General advice is welcome, too.

Thanks so much!
-tulip

[crazybikinchic]

DH and I rented a house that had a solar water heater. It was really cool, we never ran out of hot water. As far as the kitchen, do you have an IKEA close? They have some awesome cabinets for low cost. My friend remodeled his house in the stuff and it looks great.

[berkeley]

Toto is a very good brand of toilet.

We have an on-demand water heater and it rocks. We never run out of hot water and it doesn't heat a tank of water that just sits there.

As far as general lessons learned when remodeling - take your budget and add 20% for unexpected stuff and take your timeline and double it!

[Tuckervill]

If you have ductwork for your furnace, it shouldn't be too expensive to put in a central A/C. I recommend against window units--that's what we have in our upstairs bedrooms and they are really inefficient. The amount of air that must be escaping around the units is probably unbelievable.

I have Whirlpool Duo w/d--in my downstairs bathroom. A vast improvement from the single stacked apartment style unit that came in the house. In another house the w/d was in the galley kitchen, right in line with the cabinets. In yet another house, it was in the kitchen, but in a closet wide enough for side-by-side. So, I have a little experience with this issue. I do not want to hear or see my appliances while they are operating. I want to be able to store detergent and spot remover and the accessories for my dryer instead of having them sitting way up on top of the dryer! You may not mind hearing/seeing your appliacnes, but before you decide to put your w/d in the kitchen, see if you can put it in a closet behind closed doors instead as part of your kitchen remodel.

If you're going to replace the toilet, go ahead and plan on redoing the floor in there. If the toilet rocks, you probably have rotted floor around it. Might as well do it all at the same time.

Fun times!

Karen

[Irulan]

Whole house fans can be very, very noisy but they are incredible for cooling off your house the moment the sun drops. We opted not to do this as the only location for it would be in the hall by the bedrooms, sounds like a train.

what we DID do was put in a thermostatically controlled attic ventilation fan. It kicks on automatically when the attic space gets above a certain temp. It sucks in on one end of the attic, blows out the other. Our house is a good 15 degrees cooler now since we put this in.

[Blueberry]

tulip-

You might be happier with the front loaders, stacked. They're more efficient than the usual stacked units (not sure if that's what you're looking at or not), and you can't do 2 sheets in the regular stacked ones at once.

On the furnace - I'd talk to an HVAC contractor. Since you already have an air handler for the furnace, you may just be able to put in an AC unit. I would not use window units - inefficient, and generally a security risk.

Our friends who just re-did their kitchen wish they had gone with butcher block countertops. Natural oil is all that's required. They did a cork floor that's really cool. They also did an induction cook top - and love it so far.

Consider re-insulating the attic and (if appropriate) above the basement. Have an energy audit done - you'll learn a lot!

Congrats on the house!!

CA

[DrBadger]

Hey Tulip-
COngrats on the house! I am looking right now too, and looking at very similar types of homes. One thing to consider with putting the washer/dryer in the kitchen... that might hurt your re-sale value. Most people in the US don't like to have their laundry in their kitchen. I have been watching a lot of HGTV, and every place they go into that has the laundry in the kitchen has that marked as a big negative. Might want to see and consider putting it either in a closet in the hallway, or in one of the bathrooms.

Have fun with the re-model and post photos when you move and and then when you do the renovations!

[Trek420]

what we DID do was put in a thermostatically controlled attic ventilation fan. It kicks on automatically when the attic space gets above a certain temp. It sucks in on one end of the attic, blows out the other. Our house is a good 15 degrees cooler now since we put this in.

I wish I could go solar like this one:

http://www.solaratticfans.com

But alas I own a condo so I can't do what I want :(

I did install a ceiling fan/light in the kitchen and dayum am I enjoying that now in this heat. :D

[FlyingScot]

2. The water heater needs replacing. Does anyone here have experience with on-demand hot water heaters (gas)? I'd put it in the basement for all hot water needs. Thoughts, suggestions, opinions?

You may want to consider an electric one instead of gas. With a small house you may not have adequate flow to trigger a gas heater which means a lot of wasted water before you get hot or you don't get any at all. The electric ones have a lower threshold. I'm facing the same decision.

3. There is a fireplace, and with a bit of chimney work, it will be functional again. Eventually I might consider getting an efficient wood-burning stove for the fireplace. Does anyone know where to start to find out about the new generation of wood stoves?

A woodburning stove will be less attractive to buyers when/if you go to sell the house. They can be messy and stinky although not everyone has had this experience. I would consider a fireplace insert with a blower...much more efficient


4. (the fun part) the kitchen is small and bare and just waiting for me to knock out one wall and put in a functional and really nice (within reason--not talking SubZero here) kitchen! I'm thinking about concrete countertops in the kitchen. And getting all Energy Star appliances, of course. Gas cooking. Any lessons learned that you would like to share?

Make sure your floor joists will support the new appliances and concrete counters. Old houses were not built to carry such heavy "live loads" (an industry term for the weight of everything on the floor except the floor). This is the voice of experience. Nothing like waking up to find your new kitchen halfway into the basement because the floor joists buckled. Consider beefing up the existing joists with ones made from LVL (laminated veneered lumber). Pricey but twice the strength.


Attic fans ROCK! Yep they're a bit noisy but it's more like white noise and the cooling they do is outstanding. My house (also a bungalow but built in 1910) has no AC and never will. I sweat a little for a few weeks in the summer but between the attic fan and the ceiling fans in each room it isn't really all that bad.

BTW, have fun...I've been restoring my little house for the last 11 years!

[Trek420]

Pictures, we want pictures.

Some words of advice from my remodel guru. Not my carpenter, this is my cousin who I call the "contractor to the stars" ;)

When I was in the planning stages, drawing, looking at architecture digest, sketching some more, ideas he said "find your sacred cows" in other words, what makes you happy? What are things you feel you can't live without.

You may find affordable ways to achieve those goals. Or you may decide that you have to have ____ to be happy and to save money on other things. But you'll be there for a while even if you intend to sell. Think about what you want. He expressed this more eloquently, you get the drift.

For me one of those things was that I wanted the kitchen sink centered on the window. The old one was not, the angle just seemed odd and when I washed dishes it bothered me.

I like to be able to look out the kitchen onto green space of some sort even though right now it's only a tiny patio. Here KnottedYet is enjoying the space.

I also wanted a pull out cutting board. Such a simple thing, but very glad I have it. What can I say, used to be a prep chef, I like to chop and dice stuff. More cutting boards more better :rolleyes:

[SadieKate]

Check with your local power company about tax rebates, etc.. You'll probably get some good info about appliances and installers.

I dearly want on demand water heaters. Oregon had a tax deal on them last year, maybe still do but we're not in a position to replace them just yet.

Still have one house for sale.

[Trek420]

I dearly want on demand water heaters. Oregon had a tax deal on them last year, maybe still do but we're not in a position to replace them just yet.

I'd loooove an on demand water heater. With my tiny condo it'd free up another closet. But I was told I'd have to redo almost all my plumbing. My plumbing's fine as is, I have good pressure etc but it would need to be able to handle the pressure and deliver that water faster.

I'll leave that for the next owner. Gotta leave them something to do :rolleyes:

While you're in the planning stages get yourself organized. As you decide what you'll do you can be making lists of all the materials you'll need. If you see deals, a sale, items on Craigs, if you see a great deal **pounce***.

I got my flooring at 60% off long before I was ready to install and so on ... you can save on the materials, you will not be able to save on labor unless you can do it yourself.

[bmccasland]

One thought on woodstoves - if it requires power to run, ie a pellet stove with a blower, it won't work in a power failure. I was snow bound at a colleague's house during a blizzard. Fortunately we were able to get back to the office for a generator once the snow stopped, so we had heat again. Was another day before the roads were cleared enough that I could go home (lived 16 miles out of town at the time). Heating my house with a wood stove lost it's charm, but that incident completely turned me off of pellet stoves. I want to be able to stay warm in during a power failure if I ever live in snow country again.

All other work - make certain you get a licensed LOCAL contractor. Check your state licensing board to double check that the contractor actually has a license. Get references, short of that, make certain they've been in business for a long time.

[Tri Girl]

Yippee on the house and the remodel. How fun!!!! I used to LOVE to remodel and work on our house... until I started biking. Now I just don't have the time for my house like I used to.

We have a gas on demand water heater. I do love it! We replaced the traditional one about 5 years ago. I never thought about water pressure, but ours is on the medium side and we've not had any problems (we had my father-in-law install it because he worked for the gas company and we are cheapskates). The one issue I have with it is this: our pipes are in our attic and in the winter the water gets very cold and in the summer it gets very hot. We have to adjust the temperature gauge with summer and winter to get the temp. of the water just right. It usually takes a week or so to adjust the flame just right so the water isn't too cold in the winter and to scorching in the summer. Don't know if all houses have this issue or not- may be just our house since it's old and kind of crummy. :rolleyes:

[tulip]

Such good info here!

I haven't closed on the house yet; that'll happen the end of July. Still a hoop or two to jump through with the bank, but I'm almost there. After that I'll post pictures.

I'm in the thinking-about-all-my-potential-options stage right now, so this information that you all have provided is really helpful. I didn't think about the weight of the concrete countertops, for instance. And the pull-out cutting board--I am there!

I will interview contractors and get recommendations and make sure they are local, reliable, and good. Central air will depend on if the ducts are large enough to handle the a/c. If they are too small, the friction heats the air as it goes through the ducts, and that's counterproductive. Window units would only be a stop-gap measure.

I also will do much research on the water heaters. I've been told that the electric ones are not very reliable yet. More work to do there. I lived in an apartment with solar hot water and it rocked! But this place has huge oak trees around it, so solar won't work, but the trees help save on cooling costs.

Luckily all the floors are original wood, recently refinished with a dark stain. I like it, so I won't change that. Even in the kitchen--nice.

Oh, and very good info about redoing the floor in the bathroom when I replace the toilet. There's cheap linoleum in there now, and I can do better than that for sure.

there is some insulation in the attic under the floor, and the house inspector suggested putting fiberglass batting between the rafters. I want to investigate effective insulations of other materials, too.

The good thing is that the place is livable (with a microwave and dorm fridge) so I can move in and live there while the work is going on. I like that because I like to learn about this stuff. I gotten fairly adept at plumbing in my old house, and I'd like to learn more with this one. I might take a carpentry course at the community college. But FlyingScot, I don't want it to last 11 years!! Ugh!

And then of course, there's the outside. As a landscape architect, I'm really excited about that (and can do it myself!)

I will post an update when it becomes officially mine.

[divingbiker]

Congratulations on the house, Tulip! But I thought you were buying a condo a few months ago? Maybe I'm remembering wrong...

I love concrete countertops! My nephew runs a concrete countertop business, and the things he does are just amazing. He's wound copper into coils and embedded it into the concrete, then polished it to a shine. Brightly colored glass embedded is also gorgeous. He's really creative, and has lots of great ideas.

I keep trying to convince him to come out here (he's in Omaha) and make a countertop for me and my neighbors. But he thinks I should just wait till I move back there and put one in that house. Dangit.

[tulip]

Yeah, I had a reservation on a condo, but it was just too small with nowhere to dig in the dirt. So I found a little house instead.

[Crankin]

We just replaced our hot water heater (gas). Our plumber recommended that we did not get an on demand one, as our basement is really the lower level of the house, where we have a family room, bedroom, and bath, in addition to the utility room. I can't remember the reason, but they have a propensity toward leaking more than regular ones and we didn't want to take the chance of that happening and the water leaking down to the family room. We bought a regular, energy efficient gas water heater.
We have totally remodeled a 22 year old contemporary home that had never been taken care of. The heating and AC was in unbelievably bad shape. Some rooms would be burning/freezing, while others got nothing at all. Our AC/heating guy couldn't figure it out. My husband went in and found that someone had done all of this weird stuff to the vents... unbelievable. He fixed it. The biggest thing we have done to reduce energy costs is last year we put in all new windows. This was a huge expense. I can't tell you how many windows we have in a 4 level home. But, our heating/AC bills are half of our neighbor's and our houses are the same size. Even on really hot days, I don't put the central AC on until noon (unless it is really humid).
Ditto for the Toto toilets. We have 2 and 2 others that are also energy efficient, but cheaper (from Home Depot).
We had a whole house fan in our last house. I liked it for the days when heat would build up in the house, but it wasn't really hot outside. Putting the fan on for a few hours would cool the house down for night time. It was noisy, though. And, not a replacement for AC, which I couldn't live without anymore than heat.

[Flybye]

Here is TE's collective knowledge on the on demand water heater thing that I needed advice with just this March. I decided to skip the on demand water heater.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=21984&highlight=demand+water+heater


The only thing that I might add is make sure that your attic (if you have one) is well insulated.

[SouthernBelle]

I'm quite jealous of the bungalow style house. I love arts & crafts and mission style. I have a few pieces. Though nothing high-end. I would suggest you go that route for fixtures. It should help on any resale value.

[IFjane]

Tulip first, congratulations on the house! Excellent advice here - especially about adding 20% to your budget and doubling the timeline. I have extensively remodeled sections of my house (not a bungalo, but a brick rancher - the LAST thing I wanted when I was house shopping! - go figure). My goal when I bought the house was to make it as energy-efficient as possible.

I knocked out walls and remodeled the kitchen. Am now in the middle of knocking out more walls and turning the attached garage into a great room (incorporating the kitchen).

I replaced the ancient hardly-working heat pump with a gas furnace/heat pump combo. The heat pump has an external thermostat and when the temperature dips below 40 (about the limit of a heat pump's efficiency) the gas furnace comes on. It is extremely efficient and our heating bills dropped immediately. I keep the thermostat low in the winter as well so that helps & I only use the A/C when it gets really hot. Ceiling fans in every room help keep things cool.

I don't have a whole-house fan but do have a thermostatically controlled attic fan. I have not replaced it - it came with the house but still works fine.

The house had two wood-burning fireplaces and a third flue in the basement with a wood stove. The first couple winters we heated exclusively with the wood stove. The work & the mess finally got to us and we took it out and closed the flue. We closed the flues in both the living room and the kitchen fireplaces and installed a gas log in the kitchen fireplace. It heats the house if the electricity goes off. Eventually I will do the same in the living room. Be wary of wood-burning fireplaces. The fire is wonderful but the chimney sucks more heat up and out than it puts into the room - unless you have an insert & a blower.

My laundry is in the basement, too. I installed a front-loading washer and a new dryer & have been very happy with them. That is about the extent of what I have done in the basement.....replacing the water heater with an on-demand is on the list, as is remodeling the bedroom/bathroom down there. Someday I will get to it - I will never run out of projects!

You mentioned having to go outside to get to the basement. Would there be room somewhere to tuck a set of stairs in so that you would not have to do that?

Good luck & post before and after pictures once you get started!

[Trek420]

I think I found my backsplash tile.

That's been surprisingly hard to do. It's so tough when you have an idea in mind and "wouldn't it be so simple if someone had this"and nobody does.

I wanted something on mesh to save H (and therefore me) time, cream/off white to go with the some Mexican decorative tiles I've picked up, different sizes to pop in those accent tiles, and not busy or highly textured so it's neutral .... but not boring.

I could get just solid cream color regular porcelain tile but:
:( To me that just screams "bathroom floor".
:( Smooth tile cut to size will always have chips/nicks along the edges
:( It'd take a lot of labor

On the other hand I found lots of Travertine (sp?) right color, size pattern but so much texture it was busy and screams "hard to keep clean".

Yesterday I found this .... and on sale! Hilary my contractor just e-mailed me "buy it!!!!! Buy 26' of it!!"

You can see the tiles I kept finding in other shops to the right. I just felt it was too busy, too much texture, too much competition with the granite.

Tulip, ready to spend days and days searching for the perfect _____? :D :rolleyes: Welcome to the "Oys of remodeling"

[Aggie_Ama]

Oh fun!! DH is finally giving in to making some changes around here. We bought a standard track house think ugly fixtures, cheap flooring.

I think I just got an okay to ripping out the cheap, white counter/basin in the guest bath and putting in a pedestal sink. Is this a negative when selling a home? It would be a kid's bath if we had such critters here. I like it because it would make the bath feel so much bigger and play into the bike theme I have planned for there. Plumbing is always our first change since my BIL is a plumber and will do minor work for free as long as we do it on his schedule.

[Trek420]

Oh fun!! DH is finally giving in to making some changes around here. We bouI just got an okay to ripping out the cheap, white counter/basin in the guest bath and putting in a pedestal sink. Is this a negative when selling a home?

Buyers like space, they like things to look big, and they don't want to see your stuff. The problem with pedestals is there's no storage. So where do the towels, spare rolls of TP, cleaning supplies, rubber duckies go? Oh please don't tell me you'll have one of those plastic towers that go over and around the toilet for storage .... 'cause the sellers of my condo had one and that's why they could not sell, gross!

Pedestals can be really stylized, roman columns to hyper modern. Are you planning to sell? Then your mantra should be "ohmmmmm, neutral neutral neutral ohmmmmm". There goes the idea of the pedestal welded of bike frames and bathroom mirror suspended from spokes on a wheel.

Think neutral!! If you want to sell take the cheap cabs out and put in some simple quality solid wood cabinetry. Cheap pressboard in a bathroom disintegrates, even if it looks good on the outside buyers see it as something they will have to replace right away.

But if you love pedestals and that makes you feel warm and fuzzy in the bathroom get what you want!! Even if you plan to sell you may be there for a while in this market :mad: so get what makes you happy. :D :D

There are some wonderful sinks out there made of hand thrown pottery, hammered copper, hand blown glass ... Put that atop a pedestal and you'll never want to leave the room :p

Or do what I did in the kitchen, neutral but good quality cabs, I'm planning on fairly plain tile but it will have some fun decorative tiles popped in here and there for no apparent reason.

I can only do so much neutral and then I implode :rolleyes:

[Tuckervill]

Oh fun!! DH is finally giving in to making some changes around here. We bought a standard track house think ugly fixtures, cheap flooring.

I think I just got an okay to ripping out the cheap, white counter/basin in the guest bath and putting in a pedestal sink. Is this a negative when selling a home? It would be a kid's bath if we had such critters here. I like it because it would make the bath feel so much bigger and play into the bike theme I have planned for there. Plumbing is always our first change since my BIL is a plumber and will do minor work for free as long as we do it on his schedule.

Don't forget to plan for what the floor looks like under the cabinet.

Don't take out the cabinet unless you can add back in the storage underneath it in some other way.

Karen

[Tuckervill]

I have a real problem with fancy bowl sinks, fountain faucets, and the like in ordinary, run-of-the-mill homes. They will quickly become dated, and they look out of place when the floor has linoleum and not custom slate or something like that. I also think the bowel sinks on solid counters would be hard to clean around. There's no point in hanging them on the wall, like they show in some kitchen and bath places--you need a place to set your toothbrush while you rinse your mouth! I think they're totally impractical.

In our upstairs bath, we pulled out the cabinet and sink and plan to put in a pedestal sink. This was forced by the location of the toilet, which can't be moved. It was less than a foot from the front of the cabinet (at a right angle). You could brush your teeth and use the toilet at the same time! Since there is no linen closet, and the bathroom has a knee wall on both sides, we cut into the knee wall behind the tub (clawfoot) and built in some shelves. Above where the tub will go, we built in three nooks between the studs to provide a space for the soap and shampoo. As soon as I get around to calling the plasterer, we might be able to actually use that bathroom.

Karen

[Aggie_Ama]

I thought about the storage issue and thought maybe a small cabinet above the toilet but that just defeats the open bathroom idea. We aren't planning on selling for probably 7-10 years, so much will need to be replaced in that time. Definitely not selling in the next few years since our property value tanked lately and the market it slow slow slow here. Both my grandmas are selling their houses and I am getting a first hand look at the market.

We might still do it, just have to see how much the flooring would set us back. The sink itself isn't too pricey, especially if my uncle who work in wholesale plumbing supply can get one.

[Blueberry]

We bought a house with 1 bathroom and a pedestal sink. I thought about not buying it because there wasn't any storage. We had the kitchen re-done, and had a custom cabinet made for the wall above the toilet - shelves on one side, and a door on the other (hiding shelves). It's worked well so far (and it's no where as obtrusive as a cabinet would have been).

CA

[Pax]

Congrats on your new home Tulip!! Bungalow owners unite! :D We just moved in to our 1943 bungalow and fortunately the previous owners remodeled the kitchen and bath.

Our big challenge is the yard, they were huge into gardening and we are completely the opposite. We're putting in a two car garage and have to remove a stone and brick lined mini nature trail, several small trees, and enough greenery to fill a public park!

[Aggie_Ama]

I have a real problem with fancy bowl sinks, fountain faucets, and the like in ordinary, run-of-the-mill homes.

Karen

Yeah, it would probably be out of place in our house. I think the best bet would be to replace the ugly counter top (BRIGHT white is not my thing) and the white sink. The cabinets seem like the standard old cabinets and I can live with them. It is the bright white sink and counter top. Of course the cabinet is way too big in my opinion for the little cramped bathroom.

[Pax]

I have a real problem with fancy bowl sinks, fountain faucets, and the like in ordinary, run-of-the-mill homes. They will quickly become dated, and they look out of place when the floor has linoleum and not custom slate or something like that. I also think the bowel sinks on solid counters would be hard to clean around. There's no point in hanging them on the wall, like they show in some kitchen and bath places--you need a place to set your toothbrush while you rinse your mouth! I think they're totally impractical...
Totally agree...the first time I saw one was while we were house hunting, I couldn't figure out why they had a large mixing bowl on top of the bathroom counter. Once I figured out it was actually the sink I just stood and stared at it trying to figure out why they chose such an impractical fixture. :confused:

[Trek420]

Our big challenge is the yard, they were huge into gardening and we are completely the opposite. We're putting in a two car garage and have to remove a stone and brick lined mini nature trail, several small trees, and enough greenery to fill a public park!

Queen, I know you and your honey need room for the toys: kayaks and bikes and bicycles and oh yeah, car or cars .... but I'd love a yard like that. :) You might actually be able to find a park or school willing to come and replant the trees.

[tulip]

Congrats on your new home Tulip!! Bungalow owners unite! :D We just moved in to our 1943 bungalow and fortunately the previous owners remodeled the kitchen and bath.

Our big challenge is the yard, they were huge into gardening and we are completely the opposite. We're putting in a two car garage and have to remove a stone and brick lined mini nature trail, several small trees, and enough greenery to fill a public park!

Thanks, Queen! I'm really getting excited about the house AND the yard. I'm a gardener and I can't wait to get in the dirt and start planting. The previous owner did no gardening, which is fine by me because now I can do just what I want (like the kitchen). It's a big yard, too, with shade and sun! Too bad you are not closer to me...I'd rescue those plants in your yard.

I've decided to turn the outbuilding into my office, since I work from home. It's a solid building, and with a few improvements, like insulation and new windows, it'll be great.

a few more hoops have been jumped through. Just waiting on the appraisal.

I think I'll have a TE party when I finish the kitchen. There are a few in this area.

[Blueberry]

I think I'll have a TE party when I finish the kitchen. There are a few in this area.

And some who might travel:D:D

CA

[tulip]

Okay, great!

[Trek420]

a
In our upstairs bath, we pulled out the cabinet and sink and plan to put in a pedestal sink. This was forced by the location of the toilet, which can't be moved. It was less than a foot from the front of the cabinet (at a right angle). You could brush your teeth and use the toilet at the same time!

Oh joy! Not that you would, but you could. :) My half bath used to be 3 small dark rooms; tiny half bath with sink directly across from the pot, that off the tiny dark hallway. Opposite that was the laundry. We knocked out walls and now it's one larger open room :D half bath with laundry room.

Pictured waaaaaay on the bottom is when we first knocked open the walls. The old sink here is still opposite the toilet.

http://onyourleft.gaia.com/blog

Toilet stayed where it is, it's now low flow! We moved the sink and now I have a utility sink with a nice storage cabinet next to the stacking washer drier.

I'll add an "after" picture and write up soon.

[Tuckervill]

I have one low-flow toilet in the house and that's enough! I know water is fast becoming a commodity, but we have lots of it here, and I want the damn commode to FLUSH when I press the button.

I would consider one of those jet-assisted ones, though, if it came time.

Karen

[tulip]

Closed on the house today and immediately went over to mow the lawn and take down the 15-foot (no exaggeration) weeds that had sprung up in the back. Oh and I had to round up the poison ivy that had made itself at home during the long vacancy. The previous owner had not lived in the house for a while.

Anyhoo, yea!! Now I have to go on a business trip for a couple of weeks, so I won't be moving in until later in the month. Then the renovations start.

Everything went smoothly, I'm so glad to soon not have to pay rent anymore! And I'm super psyched to make it my own place.

[Pax]

WOO HOO!!!!!

Congrats Tulip!

[Blueberry]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!:D:D:D:D

[GLC1968]

Closed on the house today and immediately went over to mow the lawn and take down the 15-foot (no exaggeration) weeds that had sprung up in the back. Oh and I had to round up the poison ivy that had made itself at home during the long vacancy. The previous owner had not lived in the house for a while.

Anyhoo, yea!! Now I have to go on a business trip for a couple of weeks, so I won't be moving in until later in the month. Then the renovations start.

Everything went smoothly, I'm so glad to soon not have to pay rent anymore! And I'm super psyched to make it my own place.

Awesome!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!

[bmccasland]

Congratulations!!

aside from some out of control vegetation - may your new home be a joy.

And we're here to offer all the decorating advice you need! :D

[Trek420]

Congratulations new homeowners, tulip and Pax :D

[Pax]

So far we're at $2100 in tree trimming and removal fees...when all is said and done the total will be $6400. :(

Some were for the new garage we're putting in, but three arborists have come and looked at the three remaining silver maples and they all agree they have to come down.

[Trek420]

Do you have a fireplace? If so the cut wood could be stacked and used. If not depending on what it is, a post to Craigs and someone else may take it.

Not sure if silver maple or anything else you're having removed can be used in furniture etc. Some companies like this example may pick it up, re-use it. Depending on the wood you can even sell it, or at least lower the fees to remove it.

www.crossroadslumber.com/aboutreclaimed.htm

Remodeling is expensive and wasteful, even if we didn't care a hoot about enviornmental stuff it saves a lot to explore all creative options in re-use. The more work you do the more stuff you end up throwing out and paying hauling fees. Like right now I have literally a bucket full of nails and screws left here long ago by someone who worked on the bathroom (did a real bad job on the tile too). Need nails, Pax? I'm gonna list it on Craigs or or donate to Habitat for Humanity or freecycle

[Pax]

The trees are about 10-12 feet around at the base so having them removed involves a crane...and they keep the wood as part of the price. We don't have a fireplace so that's okay. :)

[Trek420]

The trees are about 10-12 feet around at the base so having them removed involves a crane...and they keep the wood as part of the price.

Ah hah, so that's what those big jobs do. Figures. :rolleyes:

[Aggie_Ama]

Congrats Tulip! Now we get to see before and after, right?

[tulip]

Yes, photos of before and after...but there has to be an after, which there is not right now. So I'll post some before and progress photos as I go along. Stay tuned.

[tulip]

Yesterday the contractors removed the wall between the very small kitchen and the dining room, opening up a space that will be much more useful, light, and overall delightful. Before and After pics (more to follow when more work gets done):

[redrhodie]

Wow, it looks so much bigger!

[Trek420]

Tulip, is that hardwood flooring I see? :D ;) It's beautiful! And with more light that will really pop and shine.

How are you dealing with the part that used to be under the walls?

[Aggie_Ama]

Wow that makes a real difference. The wall really made everything cramped.

[tulip]

A few things have changed since this plan. The back door will be one full pane glass. The lights have changed, the appliances are stainless, but you get the idea. Fridge and more cabinets are out of the image to the right. Oh, and the view out my windows--not that mountain view (too bad). It's a very modest 1939 little house.

Yes, hardwood floors are throughout the house. They were refinished, albeit not all that carefully, by the previous owner, but I'll be keeping them as they are.

[Tuckervill]

I like!

Karen

[Trek420]

I like!

How are you handling the back splash? I have to go pick up the tile for mine today. I have the decorative tile that will be popped in randomly throughout the "stock" tile. That'll be completed in about a week, or so the carpenter says :rolleyes:

Is that recessed lighting I see? Are you re'doing the electric?

[jobob]

Nice.

[tulip]

Yes, redoing the 'lectric cause there's only one light in there now, and I detest overhead lighting. In addition to recessed lighting, there will also be undercounter lights and pendants over the bar. Also, there was only one outlet (not GFI) in the original kitchen, so of course that has to be rectified. The location of the sink is not moving (but the sink will be replaced), but the plumber will have to come in to plumb for the fridge, the gas stove, and the dishwasher.

I have not gotten to the backsplash part yet. That will just wait until the cabinets are in and I can decide then. I'm leaning towards recycled glass tiles, but opaque ones because faults can be seen too clearly through the transparent ones. Unfortunately, I'm not very experienced in demolishing or building parts of houses, so all I can do myself is the painting and the tiling.

Trek, your tiles are very pretty!

[Trek420]

Thanks!

The main tiles are neutral, just something that could be found at most any store, although it took me a month to find the ones I liked. :rolleyes: They are a one foot square with 1", 2" & 4" tiles on a mesh backing. The idea is H. (carpenter) will intersperse the decorative tiles throughout at seemingly random intervals for no apparent reason. ;)

To do the entire backsplash with Mexican tile would be too busy. It would clash with and detract from the counter. But I can only handle this much neutral before I go completely batty. :p

Those glass tiles are very nice, I looked at some. Maybe next time. ;) It just is not in my budget. Worth considering is how they will look once installed and a little grout smeared on 'em as it always gets. In other words the clear ones that you like best will be less clear once installed.

If those are the tiles you want, go for it.

Are you going to set the bar up so it becomes a place you can have a couple of chairs or stools at the counter? That'd be nice. It's great to have a place to sit and have coffee. Your guests could sit there and bug you while you cook. :D

I'm not big on lighting either but it makes a huge difference. The dining area now has a light/fan. I chose the kind that could either be a pedestal or cinched up close to the ceiling. Installing it so it does not extend down makes the room seem bigger, I don't have high ceilings and need to use every visual trick I can.

The fan is so nice on hot days. I can't believe I did not do this earlier.

One of the lights I looked at was a combo overhead kitchen rack/light. As a former souse chef (a looooong time ago) I like the idea of overhead pot racks. It makes the whole kitchen triangle very user friendly, you need a pot or fry pan it's just behind you overhead.

My problem is twofold: 1) doggie. Everything there would get a light coating of yellow dog fur and 2) if your pots and pans are overhead they'd better be beautiful goooooood pots. So more or less standard lights is the way I went. But if I had a bar at my kitchen I'd want that.

[jesvetmed]

Tulip: What a great project. The floors were the very first thing I noticed! Good luck with it all -- what a big undertaking, but a lot of fun!

[Trek420]

Tulip, in the view towards the kitchen is that exposed brick I see on the right side? You're keeping that, right?

You lucky gal, hardwood floor, bricks .... this is going to look great! :cool:

[Zen]

Tulip's kitchen is straight outta Second Life (http://secondlife.com/)!
7984

[tulip]

Ooh, yeah, and I want that Corbu sofa, too! (ain't going to happen). The floors sold me on the place. They are the original floors and show 70 years of life and character, but I like that.

The exposed brick is the furnace chimney, which is no longer in use because I replaced the gas furnace (old, poor repair, lots of $$ to fix, and not very efficient) with a new and efficient electric heat pump with a/c. I would like to keep the exposed brick ALOT, but my contractor says that they might need that for electrical...so we're going to try to work something out.

The peninsula will be cantilevered for a couple of chairs/low stools so that I can have company when I cook, or so that I can drink a glass of wine and survey while someone else cooks! I haven't looked into the price of glass tiles. I hope to find some salvaged/overstock something. I'm definitely a modernist, so plain tiles will suit me fine.

The cabinets will be bamboo and will provide texture. I don't have nice pots (but they get the job done), so no pot rack. They will stay hidden in a drawer. The counters will probably be Paperstone, but I might have to rethink that because of cost (oooh, that darn limiting factor keeps coming back!)

The house needed alot of work when I bought it, and I've already replaced the HVAC and water heater to make it livable. I've never lived in a place that I had a hand in designing, except for gardens, of course. This is my design (with the help of my architect dad) and I'm really looking forward to LIKING my home. After this, and if I have any money left over (doubtful), I want to knock out another wall in the living room...but that will have to wait until next summer at the earliest. Maybe by then I will have picked up enough demo/construction skills by osmosis that I could do it myself with some help. That would be cool.

[Aggie_Ama]

I am liking the changes, I would love to have the patience and a willing counterpart to do stuff like that. I got the man to agree to paint our dining room and actually be excited about the accent wall color, victory was mine! :p

My mom has an island with barstools similar to your counter. It is the gathering spot when she or my dad is cooking. Usually a beer or glass of wine and wonderful conversation is shared. I think you will be really happy with that.

Do you have a habitat home shop? We have one here, proceeds benefit habitat for humanity and you can often find great building materials at good prices.

[tulip]

I am my own willing counterpart, so that helps. :rolleyes:

I expect the counter/bar will become a lively place when I have friends over. I do have a Habitat Store nearby, and I look forward to checking it out soon.

[IFjane]

Tulip - I am just catching up on TE. Haven't been here for a very long time & I've had a ball reading the updates on this thread. Love what you are doing to the kitchen!

Have you checked out Best Tile? 7490 W. Broad. I was down there a couple weeks ago picking up the grout for my new slate floor & left a puddle on their floor as I was looking at their glass tile samples! Gorgeous stuff.

Can't wait to see all the "after" pics. -jane

[Xrayted]

Just an additional thought when you are tracking down large appliances... Lowes, Home Depot, etc usually have a day of the week where they put out the stuff that may have a slight blemish or something. (contractors come in and buy them up to save money) They are usually still in the box and work just fine. I saved 50% on a great refrig. and they delivered it for me. Exactly what I was already looking at, in the right color (black). I never did find the blemish. Call around and talk to the guy in charge of the appliance area and find out what day they do that. You can get incredible deals on higher priced stuff.

Where I used to work, we had a small unit on the pipes. I have no idea what brand or anything. It was electronic or something. Worked great. Not a hot water heater, per se. It was just a small box that wrapped around the pipes. It is apparently used in Europe a lot. Much more efficient and space saving as it was right under the sink. My former boss was a real cheepo so it couldn't have cost that much up front either. Like this style. https://www.etankless.com/product_n.html I think they can be put in whole house or at individual spots. My boss had them in his house. He preferred the individual ones because it was instantaneous.


Yeah, I caught that brick too after the wall was gone. It would be great if you could keep that. I like wood and brick together. Very earthy. How are you planning to match the flooring where the wall used to be or am I seeing that wrong?

Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to your updates. :)

[tulip]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Jane, I will go to that tile shop when the time comes; I had not heard of it.

I already bought my appliances--the cabinet maker needed me to do that before he started his cabinet-making. I went to the Sears Outlet and got all GE Profile at 30%-50% off. My dishwasher is a Bosch, and it was 30% off. They are ALL in my livingroom at the moment, which is getting a little old, frankly.

The on-demand hot water heater was $4k, so I went with a very efficient tank hw heater that was $800. If the difference had not been so huge, I would have gone tankless, but that was just too much! I figure that the tankless can only go down in price in the coming years.

The floor will be patched, but most of it on the left side will be covered by the counter peninsula. Work continues on Monday! Whoo-hoo!

[Trek420]

Like a puzzle H starts to piece together the backsplash. I can't afford to do the whole thing in hand made decorative tile, so just a few hear and there on standard tile will do. The post-it on the stove is Spazzdog's design for the tile. We figured it out over bagels and lox at Sauls :p

[Zen]

Well... I got a new desk :rolleyes:

8121
Now to rebuild the house around it :p

Why on earth did they put a window air conditioner in the wall?!?!?!?!

[tulip]

Trek--I like the backsplash! All handmade tile would be too busy, I think, and having a few here and there allows one to appreciate each one. Nice job.

Zen, that is a great desk. I may (eventually) have a nice kitchen, but my desk...well that's a door over two filing cabinets. Someday I'll have a real desk like yours!

Latest update (not much to show in photos, but alot done): the electricians spent three days for a presumably one-day job of installing all the electrical everything and lights (recessed and pendants) in the kitchen. Turns out the previous owner totally jerry-rigged (sp?) the electrical system in the entire house and it's just a good thing that the whole thing didn't just melt or explode. No permits, no inspections. So they had to bring new lines from the street and rewire most of the house.

Trek, was it you who said "be prepared for delays and increased cost by 20%," or something like that. Yeah, you're right. They have to come back to bring the rest of the house up to code later with more outlets in the other rooms, but at least it's safely wired now.

On the good side of things, the lights look great even though they are only roughed in for the inspections. I have three recessed lights and three pendants--two over the counter peninsula and one over the sink. The place is also wired all over for under counter lights, disposal (in the cabinet to keep the backsplash "clean" of outlets and switches), and the appliances. Last night I just spent a few minutes oohing and ahhing while dimming and undimming. Ooooh. Aaaaah. One can begin to imagine what the space is really going to look like.

Today and tomorrow are the plumbing days. Let's hope that there aren't any surprises like with the electricity.

In the meantime, we had alot of rain a week or so ago, and guess what? MY ROOF LEAKS! YAY! Why not? So it looks like I can't do this whole thing with my savings so I have to go out and beg for a bit of credit for the roof and insulating the attic. *sigh*. Bail out, bridge loan, whatever, I need a roof.

I've also changed the countertop decision because of cost. Paperstone is too expensive so I'm going with concrete. It'll be very cool and unique and 1/3 less than my original material.

But you know what? I'm still glad I bought this place and I'm still glad I'm renovating. It's going to be such a sweet little home for me and my pup (I can't believe I have a pup!)

[Tuckervill]

Trek, I said "OH WOW" when I saw your backsplash. I like it!

Karen

[Tuckervill]

Getting the wiring re-done is one thing you will not regret, no matter how much it costs.

I almost didn't buy this house because of the wiring. It was still using a fuse box with those old round fuses, and none of the outlets were grounded. The owner was changing a fuse the moment we were walking in with the inspector! My insurance company wouldn't insure it with that fuse box. Fortunately, the seller worked with me, and we got a work-around with a new box, without rewiring the entire house. I made my husband change out all the outlets and switches, too, just in case.

I want to see pictures, Tulip!

Karen

[Trek420]

Zen, nice desk! Looks like a good place to work or create.

Tulip, no. I think I said "remodels all either cost twice as much as expected or take twice as long or both"

I'm interested to hear what you think of concrete. I know only one person who has it. He regrets it because of the upkeep. Says you have to treat it often. OTOH you can have any color, any surface, paint a picture with it, very creative, durable and of course ecco friendly.

Tuckerville, that's exactly what I hope the buyer will say when they come around the corner and see the kitchen! :D

Tuckerville & Tulip and all, Yes, all hand tile would just be way too much. I'm thinking of the market, somewhat neutral but also thinking of myself. As my cousin the contractor to the stars ;-) said "you don't know how long it will take to sell, do something you will enjoy and like seeing every day". I like the fun of bringing the outside inside with tiles with stars, moon, flowers, and the little kitchen references.

I also had some very :cough cough: creative electrical work that had to be completely redone. The new fuse box is somewhere on this thread

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=20169

[tulip]

The VERY LONG-AWAITED cabinets are being installed TOMORROW! I haven't given anyone an update recently because there's just not much to show. I did paint, but without cabinets, it still looks like walls with wires hanging out of holes.

Once the cabinets are in, the appliances can be moved OUT of my living room and into the kitchen (and hooked up, finally!). I still won't have a sink until later this week, and the countertops will be 3 more weeks to make (concrete).

PICS tomorrow! Whoo-hoo!

[Aggie_Ama]

You are going to have a kitchen soon? Will you know what to do with that?

[tulip]

You are going to have a kitchen soon? Will you know what to do with that?

The first think I'll do is run my dishwasher. I've clogged up both my bathroom sink and my tub from washing dishes. Like Kramer--I need a disposal in my bathtub!:p

Then I'll bake cookies and bread. But before that, I'll boil water in my kettle on the stove and make tea. I'll put my two cans of beans and three cans of tuna in the cupboards. Then I'll go grocery shopping.

I'll make pasta. I'll scramble an egg. I'll put my dishes away. *sigh*:)

[tulip]

The cabinets are partially installed! By this time tomorrow night, I oughta be boiling some water for pasta on my stove (yes, it's the simple things I miss). I don't have a sink yet, though, gotta get that tomorrow. And then there's the countertop, which will take a week or two to make.

Photos--this morning and this afternoon for comparison. Whoo-hoo!

[Trek420]

Yippeee! Q: Do they reinforce the tops of the cabs to install the concrete? They had to do that for my granite counter top.

[Zen]

Is the sink going to be in front of that window?

[Trek420]

Sure looks like it. I love having a view while I do dishes ;) There's the plumbing below and everything. Is that a lazy susan style cabinet to the right I see? :D Sweet, nice use of corner space.

[tulip]

Yes the sink will be in front of the window, which looks on to the house that perhaps I shouldawouldacoulda bought for less money and less work. But let's not go there (my bank account has shrunken to a point that I'm a bit obsessed about what I could have done differently in this whole endeavor).

The cabinet installers got the fridge/pantry wall done today, as well as the drawers, but they didn't finish. So I won't post any photos until tomorrow or Friday. The GC says that by Friday I'll have the appliances hooked up, except for the dishwasher. But maybe I can convince him otherwise.

The cabinets are really well-made, solid, and beautiful! Even though they cost me dearly, I'm glad to have them. The drawers are self-closing! oooooh aaahhhhh...

The lazy susan in the corner is really great, and very good quality--big heavy duty swivel pole and solid wood trays. The other corner cabinet was a dilemma because the dishwasher is there, and the cabinet maker (a woman, I might add!) came up with the great idea of having the access on the dining room side by a hidden door to allow for full use of the cabinet. She's brilliant!

[solobiker]

Looks great. My husband and I have been fixing up our Bungalow too. We bought ours about 2 years ago. It was built in 1921. I just love it, so much charecter. Our first project was to build a larger garage. We have now moved to working on the inside. In one of the rooms we put up wood wainscoting. My husband was able to match the stain color to the original in the house. I think next summer we will tackle the kitchen. I like your pics!! Thanks for sharing.

[Grog]

I have just read this thread for the first time.

It almost makes me feel like buying a "handywoman special" house.

Hopefully it will pass.

I look forward to the developments. I LOVE those floors. The original Douglas Fir floors sold me on our current apartment.

[redrhodie]

Pasta???

[tulip]

But tomorrow, hopefully. The cabinets are pretty complicated to install. They are custom-made, but my house is old and nothing is square, so they have to jig things to make them just right. They are doing an excellent job and the cabinets are beautiful (I think so at least, which is good since I'm paying out the wazoo for them!)

Here are the results of yesterday and today. Tomorrow they finish the details, install the handles, and move in the appliances. I now have to decide on color for the concrete countertops...SUGGESTIONS WELCOME!

tulip

[Grog]

I'm not paying a penny for your cabinets, therefore I'm not biased:

They are really gorgeous.

(I love how most photos have dog parts or bike parts in them. :) )

[Trek420]

I now have to decide on color for the concrete countertops...SUGGESTIONS WELCOME!

tulip

Beautiful! To pick colors I'd want to know a little more about how you're going to paint. The cabs are so warm, light but warm. What kind of hardware/knobs will they have? The windows have lovely framing especially the door with the diamond window.

I'd want to either strip the window, door frame and stain to match the wood of the cabs or paint them a really fun color and pick the tone up on the cement countertop. Probably the latter.

But that's just me. :rolleyes:

[derailed]

I just found this thread. Congrats! Huge endeavour, and well done.
For counter colors, go neutral, something you can change the walls and ceiling around, that still makes the food look good. Neutral with depth, maybe a beige with green texture/pattern?
Are they pouring concrete in situ? Can you mold little patterns in? If you can press in leaves, or printed cutouts of things that make you smile, they can be removed and filled with color, then sealed over, if that would amuse you.
A friend pressed some fossils in, another friend scattered mica dust for some sparkle.

[tulip]

Thanks, ladies. The door with the diamond window is really el-cheapo and it's amazing that someone hasn't busted it down by now (my dog almost has because he jumps up to look in the diamond window when he wants to come in). It will be replaced by a single-pane full glass door (reinforced glass, of course, with a light-filtering shade). Had the place been larger, I would have liked to have double French doors, but I got what I got.

The walls in the dining room are white and I think they will stay that way. I'm really attracted to calm colors and patterns, and this kitchen is really the culmination of the last few years life drama that I've written about elsewhere. I want it to reflect my calm state of mind, yeah. Or maybe inspire a calm state of mind!

There won't be any painted walls in the kitchen proper. The cabinets go to the ceiling and I'm going to tile the back splash, probably with subdued glass tiles that pick up the tones and colors of the floor, cabinets, and countertops. The ceiling is white and I'm sure as heck not going to paint it again! The trim of the door and window will be white. That window needs some repair eventually, but that will have to wait until later. I'm just going to put up a simple bamboo matchstick roll-up shade on the window. I was hoping to get custom cellular shades that go up from the bottom and down from the top for the whole house (11 windows), but that ain't happening any time soon. $13 shades will do just fine thankyouverymuch.

For the counters, I'm thinking a Cherokee red with or without aggregate showing, or a sage green probably smooth (no aggregate). I'm also considering a dark brown, like the floors, but that might be boring. I thought of inlaying little things, but I decided against it because I want as few distractions as possible. I like things simple, I guess. Once I choose the concrete, I'll choose the pendant lights--two over the peninsula and one over the sink.

The cabinets are really beautiful and incredibly well-made. They are made locally by a neat shop, and the main cabinet maker is a woman, which I found very cool. I found one noticeable nick in the one just above where the fridge will be, and at this price, I'm going to insist that they fix it or replace that door. If it was tucked in a corner I wouldn't care, but it's front and center. The drawers are self-closing, and the shelves are very good quality. I've never had nice stuff like this before in my life, and I'm amazed at the difference! I'm really going to enjoy living here.

I got a sink and faucet last night (photo below). All that's left are the lights and the disposal. I have to do a little research on disposals.

Not only is my dog a shepherd who follows me everywhere, he's also a complete camera hog. Whenever I pull the camera out, he's positions himself in front of it! He was the featured dog on the calendar that the rescue organization put out for 2009. I think he knows he's famous.

[Zen]

Do the drawers have handles?

[Trek420]

Do the drawers have handles?

Looks like they will, the fit is so tight I don't think you could do the "no handle" thing.

I love the wood grain. It'd be great to pick it up or compliment on the countertop. Gosh I love kitchen design, especially when it's someone elses that I don't have to live through :p

[redrhodie]

I love the idea of Cherokee red for the coutertops.

[tulip]

Handles, yes. They were put on Friday. Still no pasta; it'll all be done by the end of Tuesday, except for the counters and pendant lights. There was a problem with the light switches, so the electrician has to come and move them so the microwave will fit. The door above where the fridge will be had a nick in it and they are fixing or replacing it.

I chose a warm dark brown for the countertops. I was really leaning toward the Cherokee red, but decided at last that I wanted something more neutral to be the background. I want to start ichibana again, and so therefore wanted a counter that would not clash with any flower color combos that I might come up with. I was also wondering if the red counter would be too "hot" in the middle of summer. I think the brown will be very nice.

I love the pattern of the bamboo cabinets. The edge grain is a really nice touch, too. They are so well-made. I still can't believe that I'm going to have a kitchen that is so well-made and that I designed! I can't wait to get cookin'!

[deedolce]

Finally reading through this thread! Love your camera h/dog! :p

Ah, I wish I had some ability to redo my house! I spend lots of time dreaming up HUGE changes, but am finally scaling down to some things that just might be possible! One would be very much like yours- taking out a partial wall between the kitchen and my front room, and putting in a counter and redoing cabinets. And I would need a floor, too :rolleyes:.

I love your redo! I've spent the past week finally putting time in my backyard, so I hope you put pics of your outside space too!

[Trek420]

Wait, these are bamboo? Beautiful and sustainable? Be still my beating heart :cool:

[tulip]

Wait, these are bamboo? Beautiful and sustainable? Be still my beating heart :cool:

Yes, I tried to be as sustainable as possible with the renovation. Bamboo cabinets and concrete or paperstone counters were a given. The on-demand hot water heater was too expensive, as was the 15 SEER heat pump. But I got the most efficient tank water heater that I could manage, and a 13 SEER heat pump that is pretty darned efficient (my house is 900 SF; one story). Additional work to be done is improving the insulation, building storm windows and screens, installing the wood/coal stove, and opening up one more interior wall to improve circulation (air, person, dog). Every room has a ceiling fan, which helps in all seasons. I have big trees all around and the house is pretty cool in warmer weather as far as I can tell (I moved there in August before the A/C was installed and only the hottest days were uncomfortable).

Oh, and my contractor recycles or salvages all the construction waste.

It'll be a while until it's all done, but I actually am enjoying the process and learning alot.

[Zen]

I have cherry cabinets.
They are old and dirty and too dark.
Do you think I could lightly sand them to clean and lighten the color?

[Aggie_Ama]

That's a toughy Zen. If they are stained it does just that, stain. If you wanted to soften to like an oak I would think yes. Maybe an expert can chime in, I am working with limited knowledge from days spent mixing paint after class in college. ;)

[tulip]

I have cherry cabinets.
They are old and dirty and too dark.
Do you think I could lightly sand them to clean and lighten the color?

Try sanding in an inconspicuous place and see what it looks like. Cherry is a darker wood, but often the stains make them really dark. I was surprised when I had my floor (dark stain) repaired and sanded where the former wall was--it sanded right back to the light oak.

With my mother's cabinets, we had great luck cleaning them really well and changing out the hardware. Eventually I'll get around to sanding and staining them (they are pickled, which is light already, but old and rather scrappy-looking), but that'll have to wait.

Repainting is also another option, but if yours are real cherry wood, you might not want to paint because cherry is a nice wood.

[tulip]

Can you believe...the electrian put the outlet RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the bamboo panels. The plans called for the outlet to be on the end of the peninsula, so they have no excuse. The GC should have caught it. I came home from a week's business trip, happy to have my appliances in (it does look pretty good, except for the outlet), but horrified at the outlet. It ruins the whole peninsula, and it's not acceptable.

So tomorrow I fight that battle. Replacing the panel (custom made bamboo) will be expensive, and I'm certainly not going to pay for it, but someone will and it will get done.

Lesson learned: Work only gets done when I'm home to observe and make sure it's done right. This is not rocket science.

Still to do: outlet thing, pendant lights, plumbing hookups, countertop, tile backsplash (that's my job), stain the new back door (that's my job, too).

[Zen]

That has to be the best example of jackassery I've seen for a while.

I bet you were enraged for hours and probably still are :mad:

'Hey! Let's put a clown nose on this Mona Lisa thing here!"

[snapdragen]

After seeing some of the stuff our contractor tried to do, your outlet doesn't surprise me. :( Aside from that, the kitchen looks great! ;)

[Tuckervill]

Hideous.

And, you should have him put in a beige one instead of white--it won't stand out near as much. Even if all the others are white. Beige is better in this case. (I hate beige outlets, otherwise!)

Karen

[tulip]

Talked to the GC this morning. He tried the old "that's the ONLY place it would work" argument. Not buying it. I told him that there is a better solution, we just have to find it. I'm disappointed that he was there when this happened. It would be more comforting if the electrician had done it. I would understand if the electrician has no aesthetic sense.

It will get worked out one way or another. I've learned SO MUCH from this project...if anyone is doing renovations and wants some Lessons Learned, let me know.

[redrhodie]

It's looking fantastic! The cabinets are really gorgeous. So nicely made, and the hardware compliments them nicely. Before I read your comment, I just thought it all looked great. The outlet didn't draw my attention.

I know you want it moved, but here's something to consider. This place makes bamboo switchplates:

http://www.eclectic-ware.com/Eclectic-ware/CRWoodcrafters/CRwoodswitchplates/crwoodswitchplates.html

[bmccasland]

Tulip - that's awful! :eek:

To disguise it, can you find some bamboo wall paper, and use that to cover the outlet cover? With a beige outlet, and the wallpaper covered plate, maybe it would be hidden? Unless the whole panel is going to be replaced. Just a thought.

[Trek420]

Tulip, that's awful! But is the kitchen counter going to be a seating area? Do you plan bar stools there and make it a sit-and-have-a-glass-of-wine-while-we-watch-you-cook-at-the-housewarming-party kinda thing?

If so a stern reprimand, "replace it with a bamboo switchplate for me and don't do it again" might do. And even then who wants cords around their guests knees?

If not, they'd better replace the whole piece, it's like a zit on a puhrty gals forehead. :p

[Aggie_Ama]

That has to be the best example of jackassery I've seen for a while.


My friend was having a home built and the contractor put a socket in the shower. Seriously. Because I like the blow dry my hair in the shower, it is shockingly fun. :p

Tulip- I am so sorry! They should make it right because I really don't see how that is a practical place. Sure it will work but not in a manner that is useful to you the home owner.

[tulip]

Yeah, I've had a zit in the middle of my purty forehead too many times in my life!

Redhodie, thanks for that link to the switchplate-o-rama place. That would be the simplest solution. The counter will be cantilevered 12 inches on that side of the peninsula...so it would have been okay if they had put it higher even. I just wish they had done what they said they would do and what is on the plans...put it on the end! Something about drawers and such. I think the electrician didn't put the box in the basement in the right place...I have been asking about this switch for some time ("you're going to put an outlet on the end of the peninsula, right?") because there were no wires coming up from the floor before the cabinets went in. And it's required by code, so I wanted to make sure that nothing would prevent the inspection from passing.

If this had been the first or second thing, I would be more understanding. OR if they had just called me to discuss it beforehand! But I've been way down on the priority list for months. The guy who's been doing the grunt work (not cabinets, but other work) seems to be quite a slacker and really not very conscientious in terms of finishing work, cleaning up, and doing what he's supposed to do. For example, he plastered the ceiling where the old wall was but didn't do a great job. I figured that was just the way it was going to be, so I painted. His boss decided to replaster it, which is good, but now I have to paint the ceiling again. Before that, I had requested that everything be "paint-ready" so that the cabinets would not be mussed up by paint, but it wasn't done completely and I have to paint around the cabinets in some places. It's just one thing after another it seems. At least they finally came and took the old toilet out of my yard.

This was supposed to be done by Christmas, then the first half of January, then February first, now I'm looking at March 1st. So sorry to complain, but it's been going on for way too long.

Also, I love the cabinets. They are handmade, hand crafted by some really wonderful and very efficient people. This is like punching the craftsman in the gut. Plus, they are EXPENSIVE and putting the outlet there is just plain wrong!

I did not have enough know-how to be my own GC in the beginning of this adventure. Now I do, and if I ever have to do this again...

But I do love the space and I'm looking forward to living, cooking, and just enjoying it. Thanks for the perspective on the outlet.

[withm]

Tulip

There probably wasn't enough clearance on the end of the peninsula to have the conduit for the receptacle run up the side where the original plan was. For that, blame the cabinet designer.

If the code requires the receptacle, leave it as is for now. After the inspection make the cabinet guy replace that panel. You can remove the receptacle and cap off the wires (no loose live wires.. that's a no-no). And since the execution of the original design did not allow room for the receptacle, as designed, it's on the cabinet guy to make it right. You should not have to pay for that.

I can see where it would be useful to have a receptacle on the end of the peninsula, but on the back side like that is useless. Will cause a tripping hazard for anyone sitting there, or if you have a hot plate on the kitchen table, reaching over to the peninsula that's even worse.

Good luck.
Martha

[Zen]

At least they finally came and took the old toilet out of my yard.



WHAT?
Now where will you plant the geraniums?
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/zencentury/ToiletPlanter.jpg

[Mr. Bloom]

Tulip

There probably wasn't enough clearance on the end of the peninsula to have the conduit for the receptacle run up the side where the original plan was. For that, blame the cabinet designer.


From prior pics, it looks like a drawer unit at the end; you might try measuring the depth of the outlet unit to see if the clearance exists...but it likely is too deep for the drawer space - unless it can go sideways at a point between the drawers... Details make the difference between satisfaction and dissatisfaction - but it's very hard to affordably plan for every contingency...

[tulip]

Some folks would not mind the outlet in its current location, but aesthetics are important to me so the outlet is moving. We worked out a solution and the outlet will be on the end of the peninsula and the bamboo panel will be replaced. There is enough room behind the drawers to make it work.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the kitchen. I finally made that spaghetti dinner tonight--first time I've made pasta in 6 months (well, at my house anyways).

Oh, and the dishwasher works. Now I have to locate my dishes...

[Blueberry]

Congratulations, Tulip!!!! At least your kitchen is all ready for the spring growing season (farmer's market, etc.). Looks beautiful!

CA

[tulip]

Outlet has been moved, panel will be replaced today, and pendant lights are up. Countertops next week.

[Tuckervill]

Wow, it's amazing how finished it looks just from adding the pendants!

Can't wait to see the whole thing.

eta: Oh, the new door makes all the difference, too!

Karen

[Grog]

Beauty!

And I love the red kettle.

I've visited a house recently that had a dish heater on top of the stove. I was pretty impressed. That would make a lovely complement above your gas range there. :)

[tulip]

Thanks, y'all. I love my red kettle (and all OXO kitchen gadgets!) and was delighted to pull it out of my storage shed last week. It was like seeing a long-lost friend. I have a microwave/convection oven combo that is going over the range. Tomorrow, I'm told. They had to do some finagling with the electrical switches next to the door before installing it.

I found out, too, that my range has a warming drawer...ooh! I didn't know that when I bought it. All the appliances came from Sears Outlet, and luckily I was able to get them all to coordinate. All except for the dishwasher, which is a Bosch--better ratings than the rest.

I still have a bit to do, aside from what the contractor has to to. I have to put polyeurethane on the door's wood parts and paint that wood piece of the doorway frame. And then I need to tile the backsplash, but that will have to wait until after the countertops are in. Other than that and the contractor's punch list, though, it's done. I'll post a pre-final picture once the countertops are done, and then later in the spring I'll post another one when I get around to the tiling.

If anyone's delving into this and wants some info on concrete or bamboo, or heatpumps and hotwater heaters, or even old house electrical issues, just let me know.

[ny biker]

I have a question - the first of many, probably. When you're budgeting for work to be done by a contractor, how much do you estimate for unforeseen overruns?

Background - my 1BR garden-style condo was built in the '40s as rental housing for folks working in the Pentagon during WWII. It was renovated in the '70s when the neighborhood went condo. I bought it almost 5 years ago. The previous owners lived out of state and rented it out for at least 10 years. For the most part, before I moved in, nothing had been done to it since the '70s. The stove and tile backsplash in the kitchen were harvest gold. (Talk about an appetite killer.)

Since I moved in, I have replaced the windows and replaced all the appliances. I painted the gold tile backsplash white, which works as a temporary fix. I've also gotten a bunch of new furniture. Right now I'm working on replacing the water heater.

Next, it will finally be time to get a contractor in here to get some serious work done. Every room needs work. I won't bore you with the details, at least not yet. ;) My plan is to divide the work into chunks according to what I can afford, so it will take at least a few more years to get everything done.

For starters, I would like to spend about $5,000. But I want that to be my total budget, so I need to leave room for the likelihood that once the contractor gets started, he will find something that needs more work than we anticipate at the start. It's an old building, so I'm sure there will be some surprises. For example, there's supposed to be hardwood floors under the wall-to-wall carpet, but I've heard that some people find sections of plywood when they rip up their carpet.

So, is there a good rule of thumb for budgeting? Such as, assume you'll spend X% more than the contractor's estimate once everything is final?

Also, I would love any advice you all have on how to work with contractors. I'll be working with someone who has done a lot of work in this neighborhood for decades, and several people I know recommend him.

Thanks!

[Trek420]

So, is there a good rule of thumb for budgeting? Such as, assume you'll spend X% more than the contractor's estimate once everything is final?


Yes! Your remodel will either cost twice as much, take twice as long or both :D

As for finding the right contractor, do your research, follow up on their references. Yes if there is someone local who you know their clients, have seen the homes, that is worth a lot.

[Red Rock]

Tulip-Your house looks wonderful. I love what you have done. It sure looks so much better than what you started with. The clean lines..etc. Wow! Great job.

Red Rock

[withm]

I have a question - the first of many, probably. When you're budgeting for work to be done by a contractor, how much do you estimate for unforeseen overruns?

!


That's easy. About 10% MORE MONEY THAN YOU HAVE IN THE BANK. :)

And throw in another month for each $10,000 worth of work before it's "finished finished."

[Trek420]

there's supposed to be hardwood floors under the wall-to-wall carpet, but I've heard that some people find sections of plywood when they rip up their carpet.

You mean you haven't taken a sneak peak at a corner? ;) Judging by the age of the building you may have hardwood there.

[tulip]

I've been on vacation, but I'm back, and it's almost done, really! I'll post some photos soon. While I was away, the contractor installed the counters. BUT he has to redo them because the concrete mix wasn't right and crumbled in a couple of places. So he's going to remake them and replace them next week. But for now it works okay and looks really nice (except for the crumbled parts).

NYbiker--I think I know the condos where you live and I've had a few friends live there, too. They did wonderful things with their condos--beautiful floors. You can check under the carpet yourself--just pull up a corner and see what's underneath. $5k will go fast, and you can save a lot be doing it yourself or hiring someone to help you. I don't know if you are a DIYer or not. I am for some things, but I wasn't up for doing my whole kitchen as a DIY project. Now, however, I would take that route. Even though I've had a GC and subs do all the work, I've learned a tremendous amount of how-to, and I would not hesitate to do it myself (with help) next time. There's still work to be done in other rooms, and I'll be taking it on later in the spring and summer.

The floors are pretty straightforward to refinish--I've done them myself a while back (not in this house--the floors were already done) and there are plenty of videos and books to show you how to do it. Just keep the sander moving! If you want to redo the kitchen, you can get great results by painting or staining the existing cabinets and changing the handles. That way, you save a ton of money over replacing the cabinets, and you also reuse what you already have, which is the greenest way of doing things. My kitchen didn't have cabinets to begin with (well there were two on one wall), so I started from scratch. Of course, painting is a very easy change with lots of impact. the hardest part is choosing colors. You can also get good results with lighting. I've installed track lighting at my old house and it's not that hard if you already have a ceiling fixture. For the kitchen and bathroom, you can get nice results by changing the faucets. It takes patience, but is pretty easy to do.

If you go the General Contractor route, get references and check them out and go visit if you can. Ask about scheduling and realistic budgeting. My experience has been less-than-spectacular. The finished product will be very nice, but it's taken twice as long (so far) than scheduled (6 months as opposed to 3 months) and some of the workmanship has been shoddy--and I've made them do stuff over. I think my GC is very good, but his workers were not up to his level. Of course, I interviewed the GC, not the workers. Be sure to ask if the GC will be doing the work. If not, perhaps you can ask some questions about the workers, or at least tell the GC up front that you expect high-quality work AND cleanup from his workers. Attention to detail is pretty important, and was not always a priority with the workers.

This ended up costing me more than I had budgeted, and I find myself in a pretty tight place right now. But that will pass and I do love the space. I could have gone with cheaper cabinets, but in the long run, I really think I'll be glad to have the custom bamboo cabinets that I chose. For resale, too, custom cabinets will be a big plus. I considered Ikea cabinets, but I figured they would have run their course in looks and quality in about 5 years, so I went with the more lasting option. Building green and local was also important to me, and the cabinets are bamboo, will last for decades, and were made locally. The house did not have a kitchen when I bought it--only two cabinets and a sink. If the kitchen had been complete (even if not stylish), I would have tried to update what was there with paint, tile, and hardware. That was not the case, though.

The things I ended up saving some money on were the appliances. I got all GE Profile stainless appliances and a very nice Bosch dishwasher at the Sears Outlet and paid 1/3 to 1/2 below retail. Essentially I got all the appliances (French Door fridge, gas range w/warming oven, microwave hood w/convection oven, really nice dishwasher) for just over what the fridge retails for. The fridge has a few scratches, and the DW has a little dent, but they would get that anyways after a few months in my house. The range and microwave do not have any blemishes (yet!). I'm also going to do the backsplash tiling myself since I know how to do that and have done it before.

My project involved knocking out a wall and redoing all the electrical and plumbing in the kitchen. Knowing what I know now, I would be my own GC and arrange all that work myself. But my GC took care of all the permits (important for resale) and knew about the cabinet maker (I would not have found him, likely). So in the end, the GC was important for me.

I still have another wall to knock out in the living room, and I will hire someone (a skilled carpenter type) to help me with that instead of using this or another GC. More electrical work has to be done in other parts of the house, and I'll hire an electrician directly for that, too. I do all my painting myself. Eventually I'll redo the bathroom, but that will be a while down the road.

More pics later!

[ny biker]

I think your bamboo cabinets look great. If I needed new cabinets I would try to go with bamboo, too.

For my kitchen, the big work will be replacing the circa-1970s dropped ceiling and flourescent lights with drywall and canister lights. Lots of folks in this neighborhood have done the same thing, and the contractor I plan to hire has done a lot of them. I'm hoping to use LCD lights, which are expensive but use teeny amounts of electricity and will last for something like 20 years.

I'll keep the kitchen cabinets (real wood) and paint them. I started to paint them when I moved in, but realized it made sense to replace the ceiling before going any further with it. Also there are some cheap moldings on them which I want to replace. I'll also paint the walls, and will put down a new floor to cover the ugly vinyl that's there now. I will probably go with cork or marmoleum. Lastly I want to replace the counters and tile backsplash. That will probably be the last thing I do because I want to use Icestone for the counters, which is not cheap.

For colors in the kitchen, I want white cabinets and trim, blue for the walls (not sure what shade yet), and black/gray for the counters. I think the tiles will be white. I figure they and the counters should be neutral so they'll work with other color schemes if needed. No idea what color the floor should be.

The living room/dining room mostly need to be painted, and some cracks in the plaster need to be fixed. If I can afford it, I'd like to put up crown molding and hide the tv/modem cable underneath it. The walls will be green (kinda sage but not really) and the trim will be white. (I have a dark red love seat and chair in the LR, and the DR furniture is black.)

As for the floors, when I pull up a corner of the carpet I see wood (painted white for some reason). But I have heard from others in the neighborhood that some people find sections of plywood in the middle of the room instead of regular wood flooring. So I don't know yet what I have.

The bedroom is like the LR/DR - just fix some cracks in the plaster and paint. I'm thinking a pale peaceful blue for the walls, and again white for the trim. New carpet for that room, hopefully something recycled.

The bathroom is a mess. I started to remove the ugly wallpaper but apparently whoever put it up did a bad job, and on some parts of the wall it took the top layer of drywall off when I removed it. So I'm thinking about putting up white wainscoting on the bottom half of the walls, and then painting the rest a dark red or maybe cranberry. The tub needs to be replaced (enamel in bad shape) and I'll replace the tile walls in the tub/shower area also. But that area will remain white. I will keep the tile floor that's already there -- it's 4-inch square white tiles, kind of cool looking. I'll also put in a new dual flush toilet (and if anyone can recommend a good brand/model, I'm all ears, because I plan to do this soon), and get rid of the hideous beige clam-shell sink and vanity that never look clean no matter how much you clean them.

I have some ideas about what I where to start with all this work, but I figure I will show the list to the contractor and ask him where he recommends we start. I'm planning to hire a guy who has done work for several people I know, and has worked in this neighborhood for many years, so he knows all the eccentricities already. The people who have recommended him told me that the final cost was the same as his estimate.

I wish I could do the work myself, but I really have no DIY ability. You should have seen me try to put up a curtain rod over the bathroom window. Pretty pathetic. Even when it comes to painting, I manage to mess things up. Assembling Ikea furniture is the limit of my ability. Luckily, I'm getting a bigger tax refund than I expected, which will give me a little more money to spend on phase 1.

p.s. I am a bit concerned that all the blue and green walls will make it feel like I'm under water, but I really want a cool, peaceful environment. I think the red furniture, as well as accessories in colors like red and yellow, will break things up enough so I don't feel like I'm trapped in an aquarium. ;)

[Irulan]

DH started tearing down our deck today. We knew it was bad, but wow - good thing it's coming down! No parties for a while! We'll expand it, rip out the lower tier that has a not tub in it, and rebuild the whole thing out of composite decking.

The hot tub deck will be the big project. Tear out old one ( which is plumbed through the wall of the garage) pull down siding that has hole in it for plumbing, tear out siding above that which is warped from the steam because they put the hot tub too close to the house ( less than 12")

Then, either put a flagstone patio there, or a step up deck, instead of a top tub level deck which is how it was before. Put the new hot tub about 2' away from the house, close up holes in wall with new siding.

The door out to the hot tub has to be re done because it's old, leaky, unsecure and it was installed inside out instead of reverse hung, coming off the bath room. And then, there's the bathroom attached to the door, LOL. That might have to wait.

And then, the storage area under the upper deck has to be redone,too....:eek:

I'll take some more before pictures tomorrow.

[papaver]

My experience. What ever you do: building or remodelling a house... it's always more expensive than you intended. We first bought a house and redid it ourselves (that took 8! years), and the day we were finished we sold it. :rolleyes: Now we have built a new house, and boy was that an experience! i would never do it again. Ever.

I love my house, it's really unique, but boy did it gave me grey hairs.

And sometimes i miss my old house because we did it all ourselves and we were really proud of the result. Our house was sold in less than four hours !!! Normally it takes 3-6 months to sell a house.

So my advice, when it's finished, enjoy it, and don't move too quickly. :)
And yes, it looks great! :)

[Trek420]

I'll also paint the walls, and will put down a new floor to cover the ugly vinyl that's there now. I will probably go with cork or marmoleum.

Oh I'd love to use marmoleum. Maybe the next house ;) So many colors, so many possibilities. They have a rich tomato soup red that makes you just want to get on the floor with a spoon and sour cream :p

They also have a color/pattern that's just so cork-like I was tempted to use that. My carpenter hadn't used marmoleum before. With a possible learning curve delay we chose other flooring.

Next house :rolleyes:

[ny biker]

My experience. What ever you do: building or remodelling a house... it's always more expensive than you intended. We first bought a house and redid it ourselves (that took 8! years), and the day we were finished we sold it. :rolleyes: Now we have built a new house, and boy was that an experience! i would never do it again. Ever.


This reminds me: everyone, right now, go out and rent "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House."

[tulip]

The counters have been replaced with new ones that aren't cracked, and I paid the contractor his last check, so I guess that means it's done...I still have to do the backsplash, though.

I learned alot. I love the space. If I do it again, I'll do things differently (not the design--that works well--but the process).

Before and after pics for your viewing pleasure. -tulip

[Selkie]

I love it. So warm and inviting! Having lived through a simultaneous kitchen/bathroom remodel, I know the relief of "having it done!" ENJOY.

How does Mr. Shiloh like it? ;)

[redrhodie]

Yay! It's gorgeous! I'm sure it's a relief to be done, but it was so worth the effort!

[Tuckervill]

I LOVE IT!!

Very Zen.

Karen

[Zen]

I LOVE IT!!

Very Zen.

Karen

Why thank you ;)

Tulip, that looks fabulous.

[tulip]

Thanks. It's a very calm space and I love being there. It just makes the whole house so livable, which is important in a little house. I still have all sorts of projects to do, but they are much smaller in scope and I'll do them over time. I still have no furniture, but that'll come too, in time.

Shiloh likes it because he can see out the back window (lots of doggy-nose marks to clean) and he can see where I am no matter where I am. Sheepdogs and open floorplans are a good combo.

[Grog]

LOVE IT! I hope you have lots of friends over and great wines and fantastic times.

[papaver]

Shiloh likes it because he can see out the back window (lots of doggy-nose marks to clean) and he can see where I am no matter where I am. Sheepdogs and open floorplans are a good combo.

Get some sheep in the house. :D:D

[jesvetmed]

Tulip: that really turned out beautiful. Congratulations on having it finished. You have amazing taste!

[Tri Girl]

Tulip- I can't believe it's done and it's all yours! WOO HOO!!!! :D:):D:):D:):D
It's a really, really beautiful space. I hate to cook, but might be enticed to do so in such a serene kitchen. Congrats!!!!

[bmccasland]

Tulip - it looks great! Now you need a big gift cerificate to Ikea, Pier One, Cost Plus World Market.... or something for furniture. I see Shiloh posing in one of the photos, waiting for a bone to appear from the kitchen I suppose. ;) Happy new home!!!

[shootingstar]

It's cosy to have a place to call your own.

Congrats. on reno big stage #1! You need to have a party some time.

[tulip]

Tulip - it looks great! Now you need a big gift cerificate to Ikea, Pier One, Cost Plus World Market.... or something for furniture. I see Shiloh posing in one of the photos, waiting for a bone to appear from the kitchen I suppose. ;) Happy new home!!!

...or Design Within Reach...(which is not in reach for me!)
;)

[redrhodie]

...or Design Within Reach...(which is not in reach for me!)
;)

Tell me about it! I've been coveting the Risom chair for years. Now I just looked (thanks to your post) and they're on sale. I STILL can't justify it! I'm planning a trip to Spain, so it will have to wait, probably.....forever :(.

[sgtiger]

Tulip, I love how much light there is throughout your kitchen. The remodel really helped to open up the space. So gorgeous! So what culinary delights are you going to create for us?:p:D

[tulip]

Just a quick update.
Painted the kitchen, but still need to do the glass tile backsplash. Got rugs, which inspired the paint color. A floating shelf...And a sofa!

I've been here a year; this is still a work in progress...

[Grog]

I was looking forward to the update! It looks lovely. I love the simplicity of it all.

Congrats!

[ny biker]

Aaaauuuuuuuuuugh!!!!!!!

I just needed to scream a bit. My plans for interior renovation are on hold so I can install a new heat pump first.

But, nothing is ever simple. I'm in a 1BR condo on the second floor of a 3-floor buildling. The interior part of the system (air handler) goes in a closet on one side of the my unit (near the bedroom), and the exterior part (the actual heat pump) goes on the ground outside of the other side of my unit (outside and below the kitchen). Which means there's a refrigerant pipe that runs all the way across my home (in the ceiling) and down inside my kitchen wall and inside my downstairs neighbor's kitchen wall and then through a hole in the exterior wall to the outside. And I need to have a new, wider pipe installed to accommodate the new system.

Since it would be rather inconvenient and expensive to rip up my neighbor's wall to run the new pipe through the existing hole, I want to put a new hole in the exterior wall in my unit and run most of the pipe along the outside. But, this building (and the whole neighborhood) is on the National Register of Historic Places. Which in general I like, but right now is an obstacle because it means the condo variance committee and board of directors have to approve my plans. And there is no guarantee they will approve it.

I just came from the variance committee meeting where I pled my case. Their policy is to make requestors like me leave before they vote, so they have passed judgment on my case but I don't know the outcome!! I have to wait a few more days to receive a letter telling me what happened. Since it took more than a week for them to simply acknowledge receipt of my request, it will probably take another week to learn how they voted. In fact since next week includes a major holiday, I'll be lucky to know how they voted before Thanksgiving. And then I have to wait for the board of directors to vote on Dec. 2.

Aaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!!!!!!!

I just wish I knew where things stand. I want to get this done already so I can get the heat pump installed soon. And I don't know what I'll do if they vote no.

Thank you for letting me vent.

P.S. Tulip, your house looks GREAT!!!

[shootingstar]

Good luck ny biker. Guess, if they vote no, then you do nothing/stay there?

House reno looks great so far, tulip.

[tulip]

Best of luck with the request, NYB! As if renovations and repairs aren't enough hassle...and then you have to deal with third parties. Ugh.

I LOVE my little house, despite the niggling issues that persist. All that rain last week, for example, revealed a leak in my roof. The "revelation" was too late to prevent water damage to my livingroom ceiling, though. I hope I can get the roof repaired; that it doesn't need to be replaced right away.

My woodstove is installed as of Monday, and I'm really wanting to start it up. But it's too warm and the chimney won't draw right until it's colder outside. So for the first time in a long time, I'm hoping for cold weather so I won't have to use my heat pump!

I can actually see the time when there won't be any big jobs to do. I still have the roof and the fence, and the electrical upgrades in the bathroom. And I still want to knock out one wall and put in French doors. And then there's the cottage out back that I will use for my office once I get the drywall repaired and a floor installed, as well as fix the electrical. Except for the roof, it's all pretty minor. I'll do the cottage work myself, using it as a DIY laboratory to learn how to do stuff.

But overall, I've really been enjoying my house. I find myself sitting on my sofa, reading a book, and feeling very comfortable. I adore cooking in my kitchen, and have done alot more cooking than in any other house or apartment I have lived in. After Thanksgiving, I'm having some neighbors over for a little soiree...

So NYB--once it's done, it's so worth it!

[Zen]

Tulip, is it that beautiful French stove that you got working?

I wonder if Salvation Army sells gift certificates? ;)

[tulip]

Tulip, is it that beautiful French stove that you got working?

I wonder if Salvation Army sells gift certificates? ;)

Well, in theory it's working. But I haven't fired it up yet because it's not cold enough. If it's warm outside, the chimney doesn't draft like it should and the house gets smokey.

That Salvation Army is awesome. I got a very cute 1950s side table for next to my sofa the other day--$14! They also had an awesome dresser, but I already have two so I passed this one by.

But I paid plenty of money to get the stove hooked up, even though the stove itself was free (it had been in my parents' house for many years). I have to get it approved by the insurance company anyways, so it's just as well that I'm not using it yet. But it sure is pretty.

[Tuckervill]

Tulip, call your insurance company and have them send someone out to look at your roof, especially if there have been some storms recently. Could have loose shingle or hail damage, and if so, you should get a new roof.

Karen

[tulip]

My roof is fairly old. I doubt the insurance company would agree that the issue is a new condition (even though it hadn't leaked before the last rain storm, which was really bad in Virginia). I just think insurance companies are out to find reasons NOT to cover repairs. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's been my experience. Is your experience different? Anybody here work for an insurance company who could give the lowdown?

I know I need a new roof eventually, but I don't think the insurance company is going to pay for it. I would love to be wrong, though.

[Tuckervill]

I got a new roof on my rental property because of storm damage.

Any settlement you get would be depreciated, but you might as well give them a call. It doesn't hurt.

Karen

[tulip]

Thanks, Tucker. I think I'll call them. The Governor did declare a state of emergency and all. I'll let you know what they say.

:)

[papaver]

Thanks, Tucker. I think I'll call them. The Governor did declare a state of emergency and all. I'll let you know what they say.

:)

I always say: you already have a NO, but you can still get a YES.

Otherwise what would be the use of having an insurance if you think they won't pay for your damages. Even if they only pay you a couple of hundred dollars, it's still better than nothing.

[tulip]

Hey, I called the insurance company and they said there was alot of damage from that storm and they will send an adjuster out as soon as possible. I would think that I would at least get my ceiling fixed, maybe even the roof repaired. If they want to go above that and give me a new roof--all the better. Maybe it will be all even with the deductible if it's just the ceiling, but at least it's something.

Thank you SO MUCH, Tuckervill, for suggesting that I call them. And thank you Papaver for reminding me that I already have NO all by myself.

:):):)

Oh, and while I had them on the phone I told them about the wood stove, thinking that would be prudent if I ever needed to call them about any related damage. It raised my premium by $50/year, which is very reasonable. Maybe I haven't been giving insurance companies enough respect.

[Tuckervill]

If they only fix the ceiling, they're not doing their job. They will definitely fix the ceiling, and sometimes they even repaint the whole room. They repainted my whole bedroom once when they just need to fix the ceiling (lightning strike).

You're welcome. I feel like I've paid it forward, because if the neighbor of my rent house hadn't called to tell me about the hail storm, I wouldn't have even known about it to call the insurance company. :)

Karen

[Irulan]

DH started tearing down our deck today. We knew it was bad, but wow - good thing it's coming down! No parties for a while! We'll expand it, rip out the lower tier that has a not tub in it, and rebuild the whole thing out of composite decking.

The hot tub deck will be the big project. Tear out old one ( which is plumbed through the wall of the garage) pull down siding that has hole in it for plumbing, tear out siding above that which is warped from the steam because they put the hot tub too close to the house ( less than 12")

Then, either put a flagstone patio there, or a step up deck, instead of a top tub level deck which is how it was before. Put the new hot tub about 2' away from the house, close up holes in wall with new siding.

The door out to the hot tub has to be re done because it's old, leaky, unsecure and it was installed inside out instead of reverse hung, coming off the bath room. And then, there's the bathroom attached to the door, LOL. That might have to wait.

And then, the storage area under the upper deck has to be redone,too....:eek:

I'll take some more before pictures tomorrow.

Wow, I forgot I had posted this.

Here's almost "before". This is right when we started the tear down. Whoever owned the home before us had painted over stain ( don't EVER do that) and paint would never stick after that. We found this out by painting every year for five years and finally gave up. In this photo, we've pulled off all the railings.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3456/3394112826_d5064e1046_b.jpg

Tear down all done. Anyone want a really old fiberglass spa?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3611/3442559365_a93d77c514_b.jpg

Almost all done.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2561/3665651956_5a26582308_b.jpg

It's completed now, even to my clothesline mount on the deck;)
I love the new configuration; love the new spa and patio set, and it's just so nice compared to the ugly old crap we had before. We did all the work ourselves. Or, DH did and I was chief gopher.;)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2719/4123362502_a83e8fcd86_b.jpg

[ny biker]

It's completed now, even to my clothesline mount on the deck;)
I love the new configuration; love the new spa and patio set, and it's just so nice compared to the ugly old crap we had before. We did all the work ourselves. Or, DH did and I was chief gopher.;)

Wow. Very nice.

[tulip]

NYBiker--has the condo board made their decision yet, or is it still too soon?

Nice, Irulan.

[ny biker]

NYBiker--has the condo board made their decision yet, or is it still too soon?

Nice, Irulan.

Still waiting to hear how the comittee voted on Thursday. They will make a recommendation to the board based on their vote, and the board will vote at its next meeting, on Dec. 2.

[ny biker]

Good news!! The condo board approved my request last night in a unanimous vote.

Now I get to spend lots and lots of money on my new heat pump. Luckily I will have the federal tax credit and the state rebate to get some of the money back.

[ny biker]

So, the new heat pump is installed and keeping me warm. It is so quiet. I have had a problem with the new humidifier leaking but I'm sure we'll get that solved as soon.

It was a bit of a scheduling mess getting the installation completed, due to massive snow in December, the holidays, and then 2 people at the HVAC company had deaths in the family in the same week. But they managed to get it done before the end of December. There were 2 guys working on it and they were here for something like 12 hours. They hardly even took a break for lunch.

Now I'm dealing with the aftermath -- while installing the new refrigerant pipe above the hall ceiling, they discovered 2 water pipes with kinks in them, so I'm working on getting a plumber in here to fix that. While the plumber is here I'm going to have a new toilet installed (a Toto Ultramax -- it gets great reviews and will use way less water than the crappy (pun intended) one that I have now). Then I need to have the big hole in the hall ceiling repaired.

Next I'm moving on to making improvements in the kitchen. There is an old '70s-style dropped ceiling in that room. In addition to it being ugly, there are gaps between the plastic panels and the frame that let the heated air out and my neighbor's cooking odors in. So I'm going to have the ceiling redone with drywall and canister lights (I might get LED lights if I can afford them).

I'll also be doing additional renovations in the kitchen, depending on how much the ceiling costs. At a minimum I want to paint the cabinets and walls and redo the floor. There are also some details I want changed like new moldings around the cabinets. I also want to replace the tile backsplash and counters, but that will probably have to wait until another year.

I am looking for opinions from you ladies -- what color should the new kitchen floor be? The cabinets will be white and the walls will be blue. Appliances are white. The new backsplash will also be white and although I haven't chosen a material for the counters yet I know they will be some kind of black/dark gray. I want the floor material to be something environmentally friendly, like cork or marmoleum. So what color should I go for?

If it helps, the kitchen is small. Not a really small galley kitchen, but also not large enough to have a table in it. The window faces south so the room gets lots of sunlight. I'm still deciding on a shade of blue for the walls, but it will probably be close to my periwinkle Fiesta ware dishes.

Thanks!

[Trek420]

I am looking for opinions from you ladies -- what color should the new kitchen floor be?

I love this. All the fun of remodeling but with your time, mess and money. Let's go girls (and some guys). :cool:


The new backsplash will also be white and although I haven't chosen a material for the counters yet I know they will be some kind of black/dark gray.

Consider the backsplash part of the counter. Depending on material choice it will be made of the same stuff. Having it be unified will also make your space seem bigger.

The ensuing debate on countertop materials will make the steel vs carbon discussions here seem tame. :D

Small space with a lot of light? You are lucky. Make any space seem bigger by "bouncing light".

You don't have a lot of shiny stuff: appliances are white. Consider that in countertop choices. Bring on the shiny stuff :rolleyes:



I want the floor material to be something environmentally friendly, like cork or marmoleum. So what color should I go for?

Yum. Marmoleum colors range from more like cork than cork to a red so deep and rich you want to just lay on the floor with a spoon and slurp it up like tomato soup. :p Or go with one color throughout and go wild with a pattern around the boarder.

[tulip]

What is the floor material now? Any chance you could salvage it, or is there an original wood floor underneath?

Glass tile backsplash will reflect light. I still have not done my backsplash!

I have concrete counters, but I think they would be a pain to install in a small space, particularly if you are not on the ground level (stairs). Paperstone is made from recycled paper. It's very nice, rather pricey. What's your countertop budget?

Under counter lights are really nice to have. Don't forget those--they really make a huge difference.

You can really change the look of your cabinets by painting them and changing the hardware. That's relatively inexpensive and something that most semi-handy and patient people can do themselves. I got new cabinets because there were none to begin with, but I would go with new paint and hardware if I had a house that already had cabinets.

You can also make a difference by replacing the faucet and sink. Since you are going to replace the counters anyways, might as well do that, too. An undermount sink looks uncluttered.

Have fun!

[Trek420]

If you're thinking of granite, marble etc (which can be recycled if going green) and using the orriginal cabinets you'll need to consider if your cabinets can be reinforced. You may need to have the top of the cabinet strengthened to hold it. Often doable but then could impact distances and space below the window.

[tulip]

I am the proud owner of a New Roof! Ridge vents, edge vents, 50-year dimensional shingles...bring on those rains!

The old roof was in such bad shape that when they took the old shingles off, there were big gaping holes in some of the boards. Like really big, cat-sized gaping holes. Some of the boards had to be replaced.

But. It. Is. Done.

It looks very nice, and as in all things house-repair, it begs for something else now. Like a new paint job. Will it ever end?

[Blueberry]

Congratulations, Tulip!!! And no, it doesn't end:p:o But that's the fun of home ownership, right:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[ny biker]

I am the proud owner of a New Roof! Ridge vents, edge vents, 50-year dimensional shingles...bring on those rains!

The old roof was in such bad shape that when they took the old shingles off, there were big gaping holes in some of the boards. Like really big, cat-sized gaping holes. Some of the boards had to be replaced.

But. It. Is. Done.

It looks very nice, and as in all things house-repair, it begs for something else now. Like a new paint job. Will it ever end?

Good for you!

I'm still finishing up the last items related to the new heat pump. I finally had a handyman repair the hole they cut in the ceiling and put mortar around the hole they drilled in the exterior brick. (The same guy also fixed a broken kitchen drawer and installed a new light fixture while he was here.) But I still need to address the humidifier leak, which we think is due to the drain pipe freezing when it gets really cold outside.

And then I get to move into the kitchen...

But you're right, it is great to get these things done. Even if they don't add to the look of the house, you can enjoy living there more.

[MommyBird]

ny biker-
Have you thought about distressing your cabinets?
I have done this finish many times. The existing blemishes in old pieces just enhance the effect. It also takes a beating better than plain paint.
The photo is from our pool house. The cabinets were salvaged from a real estate office and the island from a hospital.
The island in my regular kitchen is done in black. It is more formal.
The pool house is designed to be fun for our teen sons and their friends. Here they are playing Apples to Apples in the second photo.
You mentioned that you have Fiesta Ware so I assume you like a relaxed somewhat vintage look. Distressing fits the bill. It is easy and can be addicting.

[tulip]

I think it's getting close to ending. At least the big stuff. Gotta be. There's no big stuff left to do! And I'm broke!

Painting is done, to complement the new roof, new water heater, new HVAC, new electricity, new plumbing, window repair...

some before and after shots.

[tulip]

And the interior...whew!

[Crankin]

Looks beautiful, Tulip. Time to take a rest!
I empathize. We took a year off from the big projects you describe. We've done almost all of them. Until we bit the bullet and had our driveway repaved, along with totally re-doing the garage floor, which had a huge crack.
I hated to spend the $, but now, as winter approaches, no more frost heaves, puddles, and large pools of ice that made my friends not want to come visit.
Except they made the annoying hill going away from the house a bit steeper!

[Possegal]

I love this thread! I'll have to add to it once I find some good before pictures. I had some work I was planning that I wanted to do, then I had a flooded out first floor thanks to a ruptured hose to the washing machine, which led to lots of work I hadn't planned on. The after pics will be better with the before pics to compare them to. :)

[emily_in_nc]

What a darling house, tulip. I love it! You've done a beautiful job. :)

[Irulan]

What a darling house, tulip. I love it! You've done a beautiful job. :)

yes very cute!!!

[Irulan]

So we did our master bath this winter. It was the original 1979 icky contractor stuff, no ventilation, so we called this bathroom "the cave" prior to the work. We also redid the dressing area with new counter top, sink, fixtures. Carpet in about two weeks...


Almost done, just have to add the doors
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1408/5138460716_4f95b60a7c_b.jpg

detail of glass accent before grout

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/5137853029_724bc26fe9.jpg

Door out to hot tub...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1380/5137852681_b24464b1a0.jpg

[ny biker]

So, as mentioned in this thread:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=40936

I'm remodeling my kitchen. Thanks to everyone who posted there -- you gave me lots to think about.

This is going to be a long post, so I apologize for boring most of you, but maybe it will be helpful to someone.

I'm working with a contractor that I like a lot. He was highly recommended by several people in my neighborhood, including one woman who hired him to completely renovate her entire townhouse after interviewing a total of 13 contractors. When he first came by to discuss what I wanted to do, I told him that I didn't know if I could afford new cabinets. He took measurements on the spot so I could get some estimates. Per his recommendation, I met with someone in Lowe's kitchen department. She was great, very helpful, and thanks to some special offers I was able to save a couple thousand dollars on the cabinets. I chose Kraftmaid, door style Mapleton Square (a simple Shaker style), color dove white. Full plywood construction.

Lowe's also had the countertops I wanted -- Eco by Cosentino in Starlight -- at the lowest price I have seen so far. It's made from recycled materials, and is black with little bits of recycled glass.

The floor will be Marmoleum (real linoleum) in dove gray. Tile backsplash will be white subway tile. The grout will be Laticrete Silver Shadow. Walls will be blue -- Banff by C2. Trim will be white.

I've spent a lot of time over the past couple of months working on materials acquisition. Drove all over northern Virginia looking for 3x6 tiles in a cool shade of white -- the stock white tiles at Home Depot and Lowe's were too warm, and most places that carry cooler whites charged way more money. I had four different floor companies come in to measure and give estimates to install the Marmoleum. Two said I could definitely install it over the existing vinyl, one said I probably could install it over the existing vinyl, and the fourth looked under the stove where the edge of the existing vinyl was visible, determined the underlayer was masonite, and told me I would need to remove both the top vinyl and the masonite, and he would install a plywood underlayer with the marmoleum on top. I hired the fourth guy. (He also quoted one of the lowest prices.)

I've also had several visits to Lowe's that lasted for hours at a time. I now know I could never work at Lowe's or Home Depot -- asthma symptoms start to kick in after a while. But I learned a fair amount about cabinets, spent a lot of time looking at options like built-in drawer organizers and rolling shelves that make it easier to get things out of deep cabinets (and I photographed all of them so I could remember what I had seen after I went home -- another reason to love my smartphone), examined various sizes and styles of drawer pulls, ordered drawer pulls, looked at undercabinet lights, bought a new faucet, etc. etc.

So, the work started four days ago. They completely gutted the kitchen on the first day, including ripping down the horrible dropped ceiling that I have despised for so long. On the second day, they worked on the new ceiling, which included a 6" deep bulkhead around the perimeter of the room to cover pipes and ductwork, and installed the recessed lights. And -- justifying my decision to get new cabinets -- they did find mold at the base of the wall where the sink had been. So they cut out that section of drywall, sprayed with bleach, and put in insulation around the pipes.

Also on day 2, the cabinets were due to be delivered. The truck arrived in the afternoon, but I wound up having to reject 8 of the cabinets due to water damage -- evidently the roof of the truck had a leak, so the boxes had been sitting in a puddle. To quote New Hampshire's own pro cyclist, Ted King, this was Suck McSuck pants, size XXL.

To back up a bit, I have a one bedroom condo. Everything that was in the cabinets and pantry is now in boxes and shopping bags in my bedroom (which is not a large room). When they started to work, the refrigerator got moved into the dining area of the living room/dining room. The stove and dishwasher were moved to the living room. I covered everything in plastic -- loveseat, chairs, bookshelves, TV table, desk, everything. (Happily, I didn't have lots of problems with dust and dirt outside of the kitchen, because they had the kitchen window open with a fan blowing out. But I figured it was better to go overboard with the plastic dropclothes.)

So, back to the cabinets. The ones that were not damaged were left in the living room. And the new ones will be delivered on March 18.

So on day 3, instead of installing cabinets, they made a few plumbing changes to accommodate the new sink and patched the hole with mold-resistant drywall. Then they moved the stove and dishwasher into the kitchen (hooked up the stove so I can use it). They also moved the cabinets into the kitchen. I set up a makeshift "kitchen" in the dining area, next to the fridge, with the microwave, a toaster oven, and a tray table as a prep area. I have lots of paper plates and plastic cups. With no kitchen sink, I have to wash any dishes in the bathroom sink.

And this is how I will live until March 19 or so. Oh, did I mention that my parents are coming to visit on March 21, on their way home from Florida?? If anything goes wrong with cabinets 2.0, I will have to put them in a hotel. One bonus -- the contractor is willing to work on the Saturday after the cabinets arrive in order to make sure they are installed and I have a semi-functioning kitchen before my parents get here, so I can move the boxes out of the bedroom where they will sleep (I will be on an air mattress on the living room floor). I saved a few of the old cabinet doors to lay on top of the new cabinets as temporary mini-counters.

It will be more than two weeks after the cabinets are installed before the counters and new sink are installed. So I won't have a kitchen sink until sometime in early April.

So, as of last night, I thought nothing more would happen until the new cabinets arrive. And then...

When I woke up this morning, I had no water. This is a good time to mention that I live on the second floor of a three story, 6 unit building. As I headed downstairs to check the water shutoff valve for my unit, I saw a note on my door from the downstairs neighbors, who discovered that water was leaking into their basement laundry room last night. Oh sh*t. I called the neighbor, who said that they had called the condo maintenance people, who had shut off my water to see if that would stop the leak. Sure enough, that stopped the leak. So the condo maintenance guy came into my kitchen, and we found that the floor at the base of the sink was was a bit wet. Cut into the new drywall patch and found that a drywall screw had punctured a pipe.

By now I was on the phone with the contractor, who was on his way to my place. And he was not happy that one of his workers had done this.

The good news is that he took full responsibility, with no hesitation or attempts to say it was not his problem. He had already called one of his workers before he arrived, and they very quickly removed the rest of the drywall patch, pulled out the wet insulation, and fixed the pipe. We're leaving it open so it can dry out, and will patch it up on the 18th.

Then he went downstairs to the neighbor. Cut out the drywall in the affected area of their laundry room, checked their kitchen, found old water damage in the base of their sink cabinet, removed the damaged base to inspect the area for new water and found nothing. He told me he will repair their sink cabinet as part of his other repairs. The neighbor called Serv-Pro to set up a fan and dehumidifier in the basement, and the contractor was there when they arrived to pay them. Again, I never had to say anything about it, he is covering all the repair costs. With the condo maintenance staff involved, I'm going to get a letter from them stating that I am responsible for all repairs, but he said he will cover everything.

I know that's what he ought to do, but I'm very happy that he's not trying to weasel out of it or make it difficult for me.

Downstairs neighbor was also going to contact the people who live across the hall from him, since they have a shared wall, to see if they also have damage. They will call the contractor directly if there is a problem. So far I have not heard about anything.

So, after four days, I feel I've had more than enough drama.

I do have photos, but they're on facebook. I need to upload them somewhere else so I can post them here.

BTW, when they gutted the kitchen, they removed at least one extra layer of floor, and revealed some cool old red tiles. I would like to have seen what the kitchen looked like back then. I don't know if they're from the original construction in the '40s or the renovation in the '70s.

[ny biker]

Holy cow, that was a long post. And I didn't even mention the two visits to the lighting store to choose recessed lights, switches, etc.

I do need to add -- my neighbors so far have been wonderful. Very understanding and patient. I am very lucky. I feel like I need to get them a gift or something.

[tulip]

Your description of your new kitchen (when it's finished) sounds lovely. Can you believe I STILL haven't done my tile backsplash?? Funny what one can get used to. I find it amazing that you will be in construction-mode for just a few weeks. Completely amazed, I am. I was in construction mode from October through May. The contractor said it would take until Christmas. Count yourself lucky with your contractor; he sounds like a dream.

With all the rain lately, I've had a bit of a wet basement issue. Nothing that needs to be addressed right away, but it's on the list. Ah, that list...

[tulip]

Backsplash done. It took one day. Well, 2-1/2 years...but one day.

[bmccasland]

OOOhhhh, pretty!

[indysteel]

I am the proud owner of a New Roof! Ridge vents, edge vents, 50-year dimensional shingles...bring on those rains!

The old roof was in such bad shape that when they took the old shingles off, there were big gaping holes in some of the boards. Like really big, cat-sized gaping holes. Some of the boards had to be replaced.

But. It. Is. Done.

They found the same thing when they replaced my roof at my former house. It's a wonder my roof hadn't cave in. The decking, which was rotted in spots, dated back to the late 1800s. My home inspector absolutely should have caught it, but didn't. :( A week after I had the roof replaced, we had a horrible hail storm with softball-sized hail. It ruined many a roof, and I'm sure it would have ruined mine and a good portion of my house had I not replaced it when I did. So, it was money was spent. I felt SO much better despite the cost.

We're now dealing with equally frustrating problems at the new house, which will likely cost us some $. When the house was first built, the garage was in what is now the basement. In the 1950, the garage was converted to a basement and the area was presumably filled in with dirt such that the driveway and detached garage are essentially level with our first floor. Well, we noticed last summer that some small holes were starting to develop along the edge of the driveway as it abuts a flower bed that, in turn, abuts our house. The holes have since gotten bigger, so we're fearful that we have a sink hole of sorts developing under the drivway. So, we're trying to get a handle on who to call and what to do. My guess is that we're going to have to tear up at least part of the driveway. I have no idea what will happen from there. What a mess.

[indysteel]

Backsplash done. It took one day. Well, 2-1/2 years...but one day.

Your kitchen is GORGEOUS. I'm in love.

[jobob]

Your kitchen is GORGEOUS. I'm in love.

Yes, very nice! :cool:

[Catrin]

VERY nice Tulip, congratulations!

Indy - I do hope that it is something other than a sinkhole developing - yikes! Do keep us posted.

[withm]

They found the same thing when they replaced my roof at my former house. It's a wonder my roof hadn't cave in. The decking, which was rotted in spots, dated back to the late 1800s. My home inspector absolutely should have caught it, but didn't. .

In fairness to the inspector, he can only inspect what he can see. If there was no access to the attic, or if the attic was finished, there is no way he could see the holes in the sheathing underneath the shingles. He MIGHT have been able to tell if there was one or two layers of shingles on the roof, but frankly the only way to find these holes is to remove the shingles, or to see them from below. If you couldn't see them, neither could he.

If he had walked the roof and noted spongy spots, that's a clue, as is any evidence of leaks - water spots in your ceilings. Any of those conditions would be a red flag.

[tulip]

The inspector on my house walked all over the roof, in the attic, etc. He missed a bunch of stuff--roof, furnace, basement, plumbing, electric...I didn't know what to look for, that's why I was paying HIM.

A year later, the real estate agent called and asked if I had any problems stemming from the inspection. I listed off the whole ream. She said he had made many mistakes on other houses, too, and that she was sorry. Sorry big whoop, I'm 5-figures in the hole because of him. I would not have bought the house if I had known that the roof was bad, the furnace was improperly installed and unsafe and unusable, the hot water heater was corroded nearly through, there was no washing machine hookup (I should have caught that one on my own), the electric and the plumbing were not up to code.

Lesson learned. The house before this one had an excellent inspector who caught every little thing, including how many years left on certain appliances and features and estimated repair and replacement costs. I thought they were all like that one! Doh!

[Desert Tortoise]

Tulip, love the backsplash! Is that glass tile?

Just saw the pictures of your house exterior before and after. What a great touch of the red color just inside the window frames. Very stylish :)

dt

[indysteel]

Tulip, love the backsplash! Is that glass tile?

Just saw the pictures of your house exterior before and after. What a great touch of the red color just inside the window frames. Very stylish :)

dt

Oooooh, I just so those pictures for the first time, too (I'm not sure why, but I didn't really follow this thread previously). What a charming house and lot! I love older homes--despite the fact that they're money pits.

[GLC1968]

The tile looks great, Tulip! Great color choice!!

[spokewench]

Beautiful Kitchen Tulip. I love all of of it.

[Crankin]

Your kitchen looks awesome. You are a saint to do all of that yourself!

[Roadtrip]

OHHHHHHH... I really LOVE those counter-tops!!!

My kitchen was semi-redone before we moved in... I would have chosen different tiles for the floor... the old appliances were still in place (thus the "Semi")... enclosed porch/sun room had loads of wasted space due to poorly designed layout... Wallpaper was tacky and a PAIN to remove... Walls underneath were old plaster and proved WHY they opted for wall paper... electrical wiring is all screwy with half the lights on one circuit and Fridge NOT on it's dedicated line.

OY. Might as well GUT the dang thing and start over. LOL.

Shannon

[indysteel]

In fairness to the inspector, he can only inspect what he can see. If there was no access to the attic, or if the attic was finished, there is no way he could see the holes in the sheathing underneath the shingles. He MIGHT have been able to tell if there was one or two layers of shingles on the roof, but frankly the only way to find these holes is to remove the shingles, or to see them from below. If you couldn't see them, neither could he.

If he had walked the roof and noted spongy spots, that's a clue, as is any evidence of leaks - water spots in your ceilings. Any of those conditions would be a red flag.

He had attic access and could have, and should have, seen that the decking was rotted in parts. This was just one of two VERY obvious issues that he should have caught that ultimately cost be a total of $12k, but thanks for suggesting that I was unfairly blaming him.

[withm]

No need to get like that. I have no idea what your inspector had access to or what he might have seen and your first note did not elaborate. Not all houses have attic access unless you start cutting holes in the ceiling. An inspector won't do that. Sounds like you got ripped off and that's a shame.

There can be many hidden conditions in older houses that would/could never be observed in a 2-3 hour home inspection. If you like the house enough to buy it, then you have to deal with the eventuality of making major repairs - that just goes with home ownership - and new homes and older homes alike are just as prone to have major problems.

His liability is probably limited to the amount charged for the inspection so he has little to lose if he misses anything.

[Koronin]

The house we just bought (repainting several rooms) actually had two inspections before we bought it. One we paid for (very good inspector and he found a bunch of stuff) and a VA inspection. We got a VA approved loan so that requires them to do an inspection as well. Thankfully we got one of the good inspectors they have and she also found a bunch of stuff, mainly the same things our inspector found. Also in getting a VA inspection anything they find the seller is required to fix or no sale. There are a few things we will need to fix though. Like the gate for the fenced in back yard needs new hinges.

[Blueberry]

His liability is probably limited to the amount charged for the inspection so he has little to lose if he misses anything.

This depends on the state, and the contract with the inspector. It's not necessarily true.

[Irulan]

Bump.
So who's got house projects going on right now?
We looked for a new place to accomodate our need for a shop ( more garage space) and office for DH. To make a long story short, we decided to add on. Much cheaper since we were paid off, and we get to stay in our neighborhood.

Before: 1979 Daylight Rancher, in sore need of updating.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lImG4JiBQqM/T6Ku0j85kPI/AAAAAAAACfQ/zxWDeJSiBWo/s800/IMG_0448.JPG

We decided to bump out on the side, adding another 15 x 40 shop bay (the garage is double deep anyway) and an office ( 15 x 28) with an entrance on the side. The shop now has 8' doors instead of 7'. We also put in a new furnace, AC which we finally got to use today!, more insulation, LAN, and a few other updates. We hired an excellent contractor who's been doing a terrific job.

Almost done
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--M-7oVuONeo/UDLwg0pHs7I/AAAAAAAADAQ/er7xJD0AV3M/s800/IMG_4378.JPG


LOTS of photos here, with more description of the work and so on.
https://picasaweb.google.com/penny.schwyn/Addition

[ny biker]

Wow. Very nice.

I've been getting ready to have most of my condo painted, then rip up the wall-to-wall and have the floors replaced. But there's some uncertainty in my job right now so I'm holding off for a few more months at least. In the meantime I'm still doing small projects like finding better ways to organize things and declutter, replacing doorknobs, locks and hinges, and cleaning out a big closet. I have boxes and boxes of old photos, many with duplicates, that I need to sort through.

[TrekDianna]

Awesome! I love it.

My current house is great, but it's on the wet side of Oregon. We've been spending so much time biking on the dry side of the state, we just bought a townhouse and closed on it today over there...no more driving to the wet side exhausted and sweaty. My favorite single track begins less than a quarter mile from my townhouse front door

[missjean]

Very nice!
The peaked roof over the garage was so awkward looking, your new design is so much nicer.

[Irulan]

Very nice!
The peaked roof over the garage was so awkward looking, your new design is so much nicer.

Thanks. We had an architect do the design . We knew what we wanted, but we wanted objective input, and something that didn't look like it was drawn on the back of a paper bag.

[Irulan]

before/after

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-BA12BvtctNs/UcurRHfJSmI/AAAAAAAADl4/XxGMwOUQItw/s800/House%2520Before%2520After.jpg

[ny biker]

Very nice!!!

[Catrin]

Very nice indeed! Nice expansion, and I love the new siding, colors, and trim!

[TrekDianna]

Wow, that looks great!

[jobob]

That's fabulous, Irulan.

We need to repair some cracking stucco, replace our garage door and repaint the house. I need to do some hunting around on Angie's list & such, but I'm kind of paralyzed. :o This thread may help me get my butt in gear.

[ny biker]

After tackling a list of smaller items -- replacing all the doorknobs and hinges, replacing all the light switches and electrical outlets, replacing two locks which required redrilling holes in the doors, installing a sweep and threshold for my front door that actually keep the cold air out, replacing a bifold closet door, replacing the grills for the HVAC vents -- I am almost ready to have the living room/dining room, hall and bedroom painted and then have new wood floors installed. I just need to find a color I like for the bedroom. I had picked out a nice shade of blue but after painting some posterboards with test paint and putting them on the walls, I've decided I like it in sunlight but not so much in lamplight.

Then the other night I realized -- the couple who live in the condo below me will be having a baby, their first child, in less than three weeks. It would be downright cruel to bring noisy contractors onto their ceiling right now. So I'm going to wait a couple-few months to let them get through the newborn stage, then I'll let them know what I'm planning. They have a ground floor condo and their bedroom is in their finished basement two floors below me, so most of the time I think they'd be insulated enough from the noise down there. But I think there will be at least a few days where the noise level might be loud enough for them to consider making plans to visit a friend or relative during the day while the work is happening.

In the meantime, I can obsess about blue paint.

[lph]

Uuuuurrrgh, what is it about two or three days of vacation that makes me think I'm capable of large remodeling jobs even though I spend the rest of the year sitting on my butt in an office chair?

So far we've fetched and I've wheelbarrowed 25 loads of soil, about 1500 kgs, to raise part of our garden enough to be able to plant something in it. We've also torn down one kitchen wall and half of another wall (which was MUCH harder than removing an entire wall, note to self, don't do that again). We've also rebuilt the half wall so that it can take a window instead of the door it had. And I've scrubbed disgusting amounts of mold and old paint off our garden furniture.

However we've also lost one wheel off our (car) trailer because we had too much soil in it, spent many hours fixing that, spilled old paint from the garden furniture on the patio so that will need scrubbing too, broken various trimming in the kitchen without meaning to, broken a circular saw that wasn't ours so we had to go out buy a new one, and somehow taken all the light from the kitchen.

I swear, half the time doing projects like this is spent fixing up the stupid stuff that goes wrong.

[ny biker]

Uuuuurrrgh, what is it about two or three days of vacation that makes me think I'm capable of large remodeling jobs even though I spend the rest of the year sitting on my butt in an office chair?

So far we've fetched and I've wheelbarrowed 25 loads of soil, about 1500 kgs, to raise part of our garden enough to be able to plant something in it. We've also torn down one kitchen wall and half of another wall (which was MUCH harder than removing an entire wall, note to self, don't do that again). We've also rebuilt the half wall so that it can take a window instead of the door it had. And I've scrubbed disgusting amounts of mold and old paint off our garden furniture.

However we've also lost one wheel off our (car) trailer because we had too much soil in it, spent many hours fixing that, spilled old paint from the garden furniture on the patio so that will need scrubbing too, broken various trimming in the kitchen without meaning to, broken a circular saw that wasn't ours so we had to go out buy a new one, and somehow taken all the light from the kitchen.

I swear, half the time doing projects like this is spent fixing up the stupid stuff that goes wrong.

Yeah, I can't even do a simple paint job without messing things up. It's not cheap to hire contractors but for me it's worth it. And I'm lucky there's a good handyman in my neighborhood who charges very reasonable rates.

[lph]

Yeah, I can't even do a simple paint job without messing things up. It's not cheap to hire contractors but for me it's worth it. And I'm lucky there's a good handyman in my neighborhood who charges very reasonable rates.

Oh, I wish we had a good handyman around! (Well, I do, he's my dh. But he and I regularly mess things up too.) It would be great to just come home to a job all finished.

I rather like painting, but it can take a while finding the right shade. It really is worth while taking the time to test it like you did, on posterboards in different lighting. We're going to have to do the living room over because I wasn't patient enough to do that, and we ended up with a white that is way too stark for the room.

[withm]

There are 2 rules of remodeling:

1. There are NO simple jobs
2. Even simple jobs will require multiple trips to the hardware store

[lph]

Amen, sister. Got the wall finished though. Yay!

[Irulan]

There are 2 rules of remodeling:


2. Even simple jobs will require multiple trips to the hardware store

Where would we be without cellphones at Home Depot? I've been known to send photos home: is THIS what you want?

[Irulan]

believe it or not, now we've got a kitchen in the works. The dishwasher died, and DH said, "maybe you should start planning the kitchen". I just about fell over - I wasn't going to ask for YEARS he was so pissed off at the contractor that did the addition. I talked him into using a KBD, and I am really glad about it. So is he as a matter of fact. As soon as the plans are done, I have it narrowed down to two contractors.

I've got the before picture and my plans which are still under development, here
https://picasaweb.google.com/103198891343666684242/Kitchen

[ny biker]

After tackling a list of smaller items -- replacing all the doorknobs and hinges, replacing all the light switches and electrical outlets, replacing two locks which required redrilling holes in the doors, installing a sweep and threshold for my front door that actually keep the cold air out, replacing a bifold closet door, replacing the grills for the HVAC vents -- I am almost ready to have the living room/dining room, hall and bedroom painted and then have new wood floors installed. I just need to find a color I like for the bedroom. I had picked out a nice shade of blue but after painting some posterboards with test paint and putting them on the walls, I've decided I like it in sunlight but not so much in lamplight.

Then the other night I realized -- the couple who live in the condo below me will be having a baby, their first child, in less than three weeks. It would be downright cruel to bring noisy contractors onto their ceiling right now. So I'm going to wait a couple-few months to let them get through the newborn stage, then I'll let them know what I'm planning. They have a ground floor condo and their bedroom is in their finished basement two floors below me, so most of the time I think they'd be insulated enough from the noise down there. But I think there will be at least a few days where the noise level might be loud enough for them to consider making plans to visit a friend or relative during the day while the work is happening.

In the meantime, I can obsess about blue paint.

Heh. Can't believe how long it's been since I posted this.

I did find a better shade of blue paint for the bedroom. But my job moved at the end of August (after 14 years working there; we were given less than a month notice, though upper level management knew for a long time that they were not going to renew our lease). This turned out to be much more of an upheaval than I expected, mostly due to many horrible aspects of the new office location. Then the job moved again a few months later, to a better area but with a longer commute. Then the holidays came. After months of stress I'm now finally settling into a new routine and feeling human again (though not happy about wasting time and gas money on the commute). While all this was going on, the downstairs neighbors had a baby girl, bought a house, moved out and rented their condo to a guy who likes to invite friends over to yell at sporting events on TV.

And so, I'm going to call a contractor this week to get an estimate for painting. I plan to call a painter who was recommended by the new parents who own the condo downstairs. She's a realtor, and I trust her, so I expect that the painter she normally works with is a good one. If the cost estimate is good and they can do the work soon, I'll go with them. Then I hope to go straight into getting the new floors.

After that, the only big project remaining is the bathroom renovation.

Good luck with the kitchen, Irulan. What is a KBD?

[Irulan]

Kitchen Bath Designers.
Any contractor can mock up a kitchen plan from building lots of them, but licensed KBDs specialize in kitchen planning. I love their input on use and function.

[ny biker]

<drumroll> I finally have contacted the painter that my neighbor recommended to get an estimate to paint most of my condo.

It seems that this sort of thing should be easy, but I am quite practiced in the art of procrastinating and this project is turning out to be my masterpiece. Since I posted here that I would call them "this week," I had a bit of a car accident to deal with, then my parents came to visit. The parents left on Wednesday and the autobody shop finished fixing the car yesterday.

I did manage to type up the detailed list of work to be done last week, and now I've used the painter's online "request an estimate" form to start the ball rolling. I hope I like them and their estimate.

This weekend I will pack up more stuff to take to the storage unit that I rented last year. My goal is to minimize the number of things that I and the painters have to move around in order to get the work done.

[Trek420]

There are 2 rules of remodeling:

1. There are NO simple jobs
2. Even simple jobs will require multiple trips to the hardware store

And the third rule of remodeling is:

Everything will cost twice as much and take twice as long as the bid. ;)

[Irulan]

Not always, on our addition we came in 3K over the contracted bid.

I have to tell y'all, I am so thrilled with the kitchen designers we hired. Even DH said we should have done it months ago. It would have saved 6 months of me farting around with pencil, graph paper, and the internet. It's a team of two gals, and they are very good listeners. The plan is very close to being done, then onto the bids. Yeehaw!

[Irulan]

Here we go... kitchen demo in progress:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-LZe9M8vgDlY/U8W41N2vlcI/AAAAAAAAEf8/qKkOFJ9aNvk/w1114-h513-no/IMG_2159.JPG

[Trek420]

Ah, those were the days! :p http://www.weirdal.com/?4

[Irulan]

Here we go and in just 5 weeks, too. On time, on budget, no snafus or asshattery from the contractor...

Before:
17338

after, taken from same spot.
17339

[DebSP]

Gorgeous! It really is beautiful, so modern. Now back to my 60's kitchen to make dinner. Hahaha!

[Crankin]

Your original layout is what I have; sigh...
We did remodel, but didn't want to face the extra time and $ of a more total reconfiguration, so we we knocked down all the cheap crap (everything!) and got granite, stainless, new floors, and maple cabinets, but now I can see we should have done a center island. On the other hand, my kitchen looks very modern, and I don't mind having the eating area separated. Our dining room area is more open to the kitchen work area, which makes it not so formal. However, we don't use it too often. And I think the previous owners used the kitchen eating area on the other side of the cabinets as a small family room, despite having a whole lower level family room.
I am sure some future buyers may not like this, though, but it's going to take an open minded buyer to even look at my house, as it's very unusual for the area I live in.

[maillotpois]

That looks so nice!!!

[Blueberry]

Beautiful!!

[Trek420]

Wow!

[VeganBikeChick]

Gorgeous!

[roo4]

Irulan,

Oh, wow. That is gorgeous! The space just opened up there.

[smittykitty]

Just want to say that family room painting (leaky pipe in bath above) and rebuilding our pump house is a total interruption in our weekend cycling schedule! I hate being responsible. This was never a problem before I started cycling.

[ny biker]

Irulan, I don't think I saw the kitchen pics from last summer. It looks great! I hope you're enjoying the results.

So. I'm the first to admit to issues with procrastination. But this is not all my fault, really. I was literally about to call the contractor last April to say, I'm sending you the deposit, let's schedule the work. I was finally going to re-do the living room, hallway and bedroom -- fixing all the cracks in the walls, replacing woodwork and painting. Then the condo association notified us they were going to start the long, noisy, concrete-dust filled process of replacing our balconies. They literally gave us one business day to clear everything off the balcony before they brought in the jackhammers. There was no way I could handle having most of my home being worked on inside while the balconies were being destroyed and rebuilt was going on outside. Not to mention the balcony door, aka the window that brings most of the natural light into the living room, was covered with plywood.

When that finally ended, and after I had cleaned up the concrete dust and made the condo maintenance people come back to fix the things that the balcony replacement people messed up, my job was affected by some contract and funding issues that had me concerned that I might be laid off. I didn't want to spend the money on home renovations until they were resolved and I was sure of a steady paycheck. Unfortunately the situation lingered for a long time, through the fall (which otherwise would have been a perfect time to get the painting done) and into January and early February.

Now the issues at work are finally resolved. I emailed the contractor, explained the situation and asked him to update his estimate. I just signed the contract with him and mailed it off with the deposit. There are still a small few details to work out, but it looks like the work will finally begin in 2-3 weeks. Finally!!

In the meantime, I've begun planning the bathroom renovation. This week I'm testing paint colors, and hoping to get to the tile store this weekend.

I so hope the painting project goes well. This will be a huge change, and a huge step forward in making my home look good.

[ny biker]

The painters are coming TOMORROW.

Of course we have freezing rain today and tonight (if I allow myself to think about the weather I will start screaming -- enough already!!). But I don't think the weather will keep them from getting here on time tomorrow, and I just have to hope I will be able to get to my office since I can't work from home.

They said they would do one room at a time. I'm almost done getting the bedroom and hallway ready, so they can start there. By tomorrow night I should have the living-dining room ready, too.

Last weekend one of the curtain rods started to come out of the wall in the living room. I guess my insulated drapes are too heavy. But this is perfect timing! I bought new, slightly longer curtain rods for all three windows in the rooms being painted, will take down the old ones and have the painters patch the holes, then will have the new ones put up after the painting is done. I've also ordered white double-cell honeycomb shades for all 3 windows and the balcony door, for added insulation in winter that still allows light into the rooms.

Meanwhile I'm still looking for the right shade of pale pink paint for the bathroom.

[ny biker]

Has anyone completely remodeled a bathroom? I'm trying to plan a complete renovation of the small bathroom in my condo, getting rid of everything except the toilet, which I replaced a few years ago. This means buying a new vanity and bathtub. But I'm stumped as to where to buy them.

From research online, I know I don't want a cast iron tub. I'm on the second floor of a building with no elevator and the hallway outside the bathroom is narrow, so I don't want anything that heavy and hard to manouver. I think I also don't want acrylic, because I've read that it chips/scratches easily. Porcelain-covered steel seems a good choice. But when I look online to get a sense of price, it seems the only choices are acrylic or cast iron. I never take baths, the only reason I'm looking for a new tub is that I'm told every home has to have a tub for resale value. I just want a white tub in the same dimensions that I have now -- 60x30 and about 14" high on the the outside, and I want something reasonably durable. I'm starting to think I will have to choose between cheap crap and something heavier and more expensive than I want.

And then there's the vanity. I want a white one. Simple, shaker-design if possible, and white. The room is small so I'm looking for something 30 inches wide. From my research, it seems that real wood (not particle board or MDF) is better because it stands up to humidity better.

But some stores only sell white vanities that are cheap non-solid-wood. Others only sell expensive custom cabinets. There seems to be nothing in between. I think I will actually have to spend more than $1000 in order to get something that isn't plastic-looking veneer.

So yeah, I'm getting really frustrated. I cannot afford to let things get out of control with this project. But it must be done -- my current bathroom is a disaster with unkillable mold, and I've been living with it for too long.

On the positive side, I have found tile that I like for the floor and bath/shower walls. It's not the cheapest tile out there, but it's only ceramic so it's not crazy expensive and the room is small enough that I don't feel forced to go with something I like less just to get a lower cost per square foot. For the bath/shower walls, I want a white subway tile look, but with something larger than the traditional 3x6 tiles used for a subway pattern (which I have for my kitchen backsplash). I found a bright white 10x14 tile that I think will look nice. At first I worried that 9x12 or 10x14 would be too big, so I got some poster paper and a ruler and drew rectangles in different sizes in a brick/subway pattern and stuck them up on the wall. This helped me settle on a size and also decide that I didn't want something more rectangular, where the length of each tile is 2x the width (such as 4x8 or 12x24).

For the floor, I found a 12x12 ceramic tile that's white with silver veins. So it's got a marble look but for a much lower cost. What I really like is that the background is white, not gray, but it's not solid white. I'll use a grout that's similar to the color of the silver veins. I plan to have them laid out in a diamond pattern.

http://www.tileshop.com/product/carrara+gris+12+x+12+in.do

One thing I haven't resolved yet is the paint choice for the walls. As mentioned before I want a pale pink. Some of my friends think this is crazy, but my thinking is: the room gets lots of sun, and pale pink walls will be cheerful; I don't want anything neutral (white, gray, beige); the other rooms in the condo have blue or green walls, so I need something different in the bathroom; yellow and orange would be different, but I don't look good in yellow or orange so I don't want it around me when I'm looking in the mirror. Originally I tried a deep ruby red, and it was beautiful when I painted a sample on poster paper, but it would make the room feel too dark and oppressive. I think even a lighter, brighter red would be too dark. But that's what made me think of pink.

But which pink?? I've looked at hundreds of paint chips from several different stores and brands. I've bought 4 or 5 sample cans and painted them on poster paper, only to find the colors are too cool/purple at night or they look Band-Aid colored in direct sun. I've searched home decorating forums and blogs and written down colors that people say they've used, only to find that they're all way too peachy. I've gone back and looked at the paint chips again, returned to the stores to get more of them, taped together 4-6 chips of the same shade in order to make a bigger paint chip, taped them up on a white door to look at them in different lighting conditions. I think I've decided on two more colors for sample cans. I hope one of them works, because this is getting expensive.

I bought this shower curtain -- http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-1085049/home-classics-cherry-blossom-shower-curtain.jsp -- if I can find the right shade of pink for the walls, I think the room will look really nice and cheerful, a nice place to be when you first wake up in the morning.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. And to think I haven't even started to look for faucets and towel bars yet. Or a lighting fixture. Oy.

17608

[Trek420]

The CA condo that I sold came with a tiny bathroom that was divided into 3 tiny bits; laundry, sink, toilet. I bashed it open, took out the wall, installed a sliding door and converted it to a half bath, toilet and laundry. The utility sink was the sink.

The result since it was off the kitchen made the whole house and kitchen feel bigger, light and open.

Somewhere on TE are pictures, will try to find the link. We're thinking about a bath remodel here but just in planning, drawing stages. I'd like a step in shower, no tub, done with hand made tile. But just dreaming right now.

[khg]

ny biker, we did a remodel of a small bathroom a couple years ago. For a tub we went with one from Victoria and Albert Baths. They're made out of powdered limestone in resin--lighter than cast iron (though not feather-weight), but with good insulative properties, looks nice, and durable. If it scratches or chips, it can be sanded out (within reason). So far we haven't had to test this, so I'm just depending on the company info for that. At any rate, we've been happy with it. Here's the website: http://vandabaths.com/us/americas/ Since you don't want it for yourself to take baths, it may be more than you want to spend, but just thought I'd let you know about this other option.

I don't know your heat situation, but if you're doing a tile floor, especially in a smaller room, you should look into radiant floor heat. We got a system from SunTouch--it's basically an electric blanket-like web of wires that get laid down under the tile (and whose shape/density can be varied as you lay it down), and it wasn't nearly expensive as I expected--I hadn't thought that radiant floor heat would be something we could afford, even with the insane amount of money we were throwing at the remodel (some of the best money we ever spent, btw...) I can not even begin to express how wonderful it is to step onto a *warm* floor in the middle of winter. We got a programmable thermostat, and I have it set so that at peak times, the floor is deliciously warm, but even the rest of the day, it's never really cold. Tile retains heat well, so in a small bathroom, it doesn't use much energy at all. We don't use much electricity, since our heat is gas heat--even so, our power usage hasn't noticeably increased since installing the floor.

Good luck! Remodeling our full bath in a 1 1/2 bath house was a pretty miserable experience, but we went from a hideous and dysfunctional bathroom to one we absolutely love. I swear it's made me a better person, because I start each day with a happy experience... It was so worth the money and temporary misery!

[ny biker]

I strongly considered replacing the tub with a step-in shower, especially since my friend broke her femur and we've talked about how she manages to do things like get in and out of the shower. It reminded me of a recent discussion here about having a home you can grow old in and be able to live in if/when you have mobility problems. But I've heard from several people that you need a tub in your home for resale value. So I figure the second best option is to find a low tub rather than a deep soaking tub. I hope I'm able to find one. I was just reading about an American Standard tub that is the right size and is not cast iron, but the reviews are not good in terms of scratching, etc.

I realized yesterday that I really need to get moving on this in order to meet a deadline I'd set for myself -- I'd like the bathroom to be finished before my sister visits in early July. If I need to factor in the time to receive a custom cabinet, I'm running out of time. I already know that I want to hire the same contractor who renovated my kitchen a few years ago, so I'm going to call him this week (it's in writing now so I'm committed! No procrastinating!) so I can get on his schedule. He will probably also be able to recommend a source for the vanity and tub based on his experience.

[Crankin]

We remodeled 3.5 baths in this house. Our master bath was a total gut/reno that a contractor did. We reconfigured the walk in closet and bath, took out the tub and separate shower stall from the early 80s that looked like it was from a bad gym. We put in a walk in shower, with a bench, all tile. I love it, but sometimes worry that this will affect the resale value of the house. On all of those HGTV shows, you always see the woman running into the sunken tub, fully clothed, and oohing how great it is. There is a tub in the "family" bathroom on the floor where the bedrooms are, but it is a very small bathroom. If you had kids, I am sure you wouldn't want to relax in there. We also put in all new cabinets, countertops, and sinks/toilet. This job only took 3 weeks; the total finishing was held up because we had to wait for our own painter and the hard wood floor guy, who was working on matching up the wood floor to where the bathroom started. DH remodeled 2 other full baths, which included tiling the floors (he did great), painting, new sinks and vanities, tubs, and toilets. The very small family bath needed a small white sink, with a cabinet under, and we got it at Home Depot. It is cheap and I severely regret it! Our contractors helped with the tubs, and installed them. They also did our half bath, which is used a lot and looked like someone had thrown a can or two of paint on the walls when we moved in.

[ny biker]

KHG - those V and A tubs are beautiful, but it looks like they're all freestanding. I'm looking for an alcove model (walls on three sides).

Crankin - I think I would really like a walk-in shower with a bench, and I think it would be great for many people who want to "age in place." And it seems they're pretty popular right now. Though people say you need a tub for resale value (or to rent a condo, which is more and more common in my neighborhood due to the real estate crash), it's still hard to predict what people will want. Some will prefer the all-tile walk-in shower, some will want a deep soaking tub and some will just want a basic tub that works for them to stand in while showering and also allow them to bathe their dog.

I've spent more time researching on the internet, and it seems that acrylic tubs are not so bad after all, while some complain that porcelain-coated steel can have noise problems and it not necessarily durable. I don't actually know what kind of tub I have now, except that there's metal under the scratched-up white surface. I do know that was that badly scratched when I moved in 11 years ago, which means it lasted less than 30 years, and that's less than I would expect from a well-treated cast iron tub. I also don't know if I've ever used an acrylic tub anywhere so I don't know if you can really tell the difference between that and cast iron. From what I've read, some people have reported flexing problems while standing in acrylic tubs, but if they're installed over mortar they should feel sturdy with no flexing problems. I guess that's another thing to discuss with the contractor -- how he installs the new tub.

As I read about mortar under new tubs, I realized that I need to change my planned order of operations. I'm also planning to rip up the wall-to-wall carpet in the living room, hallway and bedroom and replace it with new wood floors. After attempting to get estimates from three flooring companies I've decided to go with the one whose sales person came to my house, looked under the carpet and had a long talk with me about what I wanted and what my options were. I was about to call him to get moving on that project and then do the bathroom after the floors. My thinking was that the bathroom guys might damage the new floors, but then again the floor guys might mess up something in a new bathroom, which they would use for cleaning up at the end of each day. But now I'm realizing the potential for damage is greater with the bathroom renovation, with removing the old tub, ripping out the old tile walls and floor, new mortar, new grout, etc. So I should do the bathroom first.

BTW I've decided that planning and managing home improvement projects is like a part-time job. It really takes a lot of time and energy. But at the the end, there's less money in your bank account instead of more. :eek:

[rebeccaC]

Here's the website: http://vandabaths.com/us/americas/

beautiful bathtubs!!! Their amiata looks like my french bateau cast iron tub….wonderful to soak and relax in!!!

[Crankin]

NY, that's why we hired a bath/kitchen designer from a small business that focused only on this. We went to their showroom and chose the things we needed to do, after we agreed on the initial design. If I had had to research all of the things I bought to be installed, I would have gone nuts. I hate, hate, hate anything to do with home stuff, but I do like nice things and enjoy my home. I know that's an oxymoron, but the way we did this was not more expensive and there was someone who could organize everything and actually knew about this stuff. DH is very knowledgable, but he knew there were some things he couldn't and didn't want to do. This is the most involved I've ever been in any home project and there's still a couple of things (one big) that I regret. I hate the way my bathroom cabinet is in the middle of the counter, up to the ceiling. It's beautiful wood, and when I looked on the blueprint I said "yeah, sure," but really, when I look at a blueprint, I don't really "see" what it's going to be. I was pissed. Besides the bath tub issue, we also kept the same footprint in our kitchen/eating area. It looks beautiful and works for 2 adults, but I think we should have gutted the space and made it more open. We decided not to, based on time and money, which was dumb, as we had the time and money.

[shootingstar]

Funny how there's bathtub soaker fans vs. shower only fans. I'm a shower only fan. I actually didn't shower /have a shower at home until I was in university. At parents' home, it was only 1 bathroom, with 1 bathtub and no shower...for 2 adults and 6 children. This is in Canada. Even as older teens, we were never allowed to have high bathtub water..for safety, clean-up and economic reasons.

At hotels, I'm still a shower person even if there's a lovely soaker /Jacuzzi bathtub.

I disliked the maintenance and clean-up of bathtub afterwards. That's why I became a shower only person. My parents NEVER showered their whole adult lives. And they had homes with bathtub and shower combined in 1 after all kids left home and they moved to newer home.

[ny biker]

I used to be an occasional bath person, years ago. I haven't even considered taking a bath since I moved into my current home, because I've never been able to get the tub to look really clean. Maybe with a new tub in a cheerful new bathroom I'll make time for a good soak now and then.

When I was in college I had a housemate who liked to take long baths on Sunday mornings while reading the NY Times. It's enough of a challenge to keep a newspaper or other paper reading material dry when you're in the bath, so I wouldn't dare try to read anything on a tablet or smartphone. I wonder how soakers like my college friend have adapted to changes in technology.

At any rate, I did call the contractor yesterday. He was on his way out of town for a 3-day weekend so we have an appointment for Tuesday morning. He's done enough bathroom remodels in my neighborhood that he can almost give the estimate sight-unseen, but he said he wanted to see if my apartment is one that has room to move one wall back a couple of inches. He also gave me the name of someone he works with for custom vanities and cabinets, and I have an appointment scheduled with her tomorrow afternoon. Following that appointment I'm going to Sherwin-Williams to get a can of sample paint (Lighthearted Pink -- I forget the number).

I also asked the contractor about bathtubs, and he said that for most of the remodels he does, he installs Bootz tubs, which are porcelain on steel. There are some mixed reviews for them on the Home Depot site, but the contractor says he's never had a complaint about them. From reading the reviews, it seems a fair number of the problems are with tubs that are damaged at the store or during installation, and one reason for hiring this contractor is that I know he would not install anything that was damaged at the store and he would replace it if his workers caused any damage while putting it in. I still have a concern though, since some reviews mention that the white tubs in this brand are more of an off-white color, and that might not look good with the bright white tiles I want for the walls. So I'm planning a visit to the store tonight to have a look.

So the wheels are in motion. I'm excited!

[Crankin]

Reading the whole Sunday NY Times in a bath? :eek:. I think you'd be freezing cold!
I have used the bathtub in our other bathroom 3-4 times in almost 10 years. One was after the one century I did, in 2006, and the others were after various metrics I have done.
I have not used the tub in the lower level bathroom, that is near our guest bedroom. I did use it for a shower once. So, I guess I have lived without soaking for pretty much for 10 years. We had a beautiful, albeit not huge, sunken tiled tub/shower with a shower seat in our last house in AZ. It was not tiled the way our step in shower with the bench we have now is, but I used it a lot, especially when I was pregnant. That seat helped me shave my legs when I couldn't reach over my belly!

[khg]

I really enjoy taking baths, but am very easily creeped out by a dirty tub, or a weird bathroom vibe, etc. Until our bathroom remodel I hadn't had a bath in years--it makes me so happy to be able to take baths again! If you like your new bathroom, you might well find yourself enjoying a good soak now and then :)

[ny biker]

So, I'm making lots of progress.

Met with the cabinet person about custom vanity, matching medicine cabinet and wall cabinet. We'll meet again later in the week, will probably see an estimate then. After I faint from sticker shock, I will make decisions on lowering the cost, such as no drawers in the vanity or a beveled glass medicine cabinet instead of one with wood trim.

Managed to compare the wall tile to the Bootzcast tub to confirm compatible shades of white. This was not easy, since Home Depot displays the tubs high on a shelf. Visited three stores before I found one that I could reach to lean the tile next to it. It's hard to tell with their atrocious lighting, but I think the tub color is okay. I might go with the American Olean 9x12 tile instead of the Tile Shop 10x14, because the former is slightly less bright. It's also less expensive.

Confirmed that both the A.O. and Tile Shop tiles have matching towel bars, soap dishes, etc.

Picked out faucets and matching accessories (towel bars and ring, tp holder). Visited Home Depot and Lowe's, took photos, then spent lots of time online. Thought I'd decided on Pfister Pasadena, then Moen Darcy, then chose Delta Lahara. One requirement is that the sink faucet and shower head be low flow/Water Sense. But I also want a handheld shower head. As near as I can tell, I will have to buy a combo tub faucet, on/off handle and stationary shower head, then get a separate handheld and use that instead of the shower head that comes in the combo -- I can't get the tub faucet and handle a la carte. I will confirm this with the contractor, then will buy it all this week while it's on sale. As a bonus, Progress Lighting makes (and Home Depot sells) a light fixture that matches the faucet. Also I prefer a handheld shower head made by Moen rather than Delta -- need to confirm that won't be an issue. Btw, I originally planned to go with brushed nickel for the fixtures, but have decided that chrome looks better with all the white and light colors. This will save me a few dollars, too.

Today I've been researching shower niches, deciding if I want a separate soap dish in addition to a niche. Have decided no on the soap dish. Am hoping I can do a shower niche that's tall enough to divide with a shelf. Also decided on a basic look for the niche -- I want one that blends in, with no frame or contrasting tile to make it stand out.

Next I think I need to choose a top for the vanity. I might end up using the same material for the niche bottom and shelf, not sure yet.

I'm pretty sure this will all cost way more than I'd anticipated. We'll find out more on that this week.

Oh I also got the sample paint from Sherwin Williams.

Having a bad cold that keeps me off the bike is actually helping with this -- giving me the chance to focus on all these decisions and the research necessary to make them. The weather has been great today so I've been out on the balcony with my Kindle, a pen and TE post-it notepad.

I'm going to set up a spreadsheet to list all the materials I need, with their costs, sources, etc.

[ny biker]

Still trying to find the right paint color. The one I bought the other day (Sherwin Williams Lighthearted Pink) is too deep -- too far away from the hint of pink I was going for. On the positive side, it's not too purple or too warm.

I'm thinking of yet another trip to the paint store and yet another sample can. The next one would be a lighter shade -- x% of Lighthearted Pink and y% of white. The question is -- what should x and y be? 50/50? 75/25? 25/75?

I don't think Sherwin Williams has color consultants in their stores. Kinda stuck here, since I don't want to have to waste money on 3 or 4 more samples.

Here are some photos. Lighthearted Pink on the left, Glidden Heirloom Pink on the right. The Heirloom Pink is too purple in artificial light, but it's the right depth, though it looks whiter in the photo than on the wall. The second photo includes the shower curtain.

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