V, the artwork is very cool. Now why don't the aliens leave stuff like that? :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by salsabike
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V, the artwork is very cool. Now why don't the aliens leave stuff like that? :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by salsabike
Kitchen cabinets are ordered. I'm glad I did this today. I knew they had a sale on in January but didn't know it ended today till I got to the store. If I'd waited to the weekend it would be 45% more :eek:
what is Vair and why were you barefoot? No wool socks?
Vair is squirrel fur. Yes I wear wool socks all the time.
V.
All of your remodeling looks so great (the actual work part- not so much).
We had to pull the carpet in our bedroom after a spring flood, and we've been living with the concrete floor ever since. That carpet was NASTY (and it was only about 7 years old). Yikes!
We've decided to lay down the snap together engineered wood flooring, but only AFTER we get around to fixing the foundation. One day before I'm 40 perhaps. :rolleyes:
Keep the pictures coming- I love seeing other's remodeling projects.
Ok you asked. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Tri Girl
The circa '70's cottage cheese ceiling is gone!!! Yeah!!
Yesterday Hillary came by and zwoop.. out goes the equally ugly and same era linoleum flooring is gone.
I'm putting it in the trash as soon as it stops pouring down rain. :rolleyes:
These old cabinets are going next. Shhhhhhhh, Don't tell them.
You can see the left corner of the kitchen has the dishwasher (whose days are also numbered) and the oven at corner to each other. Not that I ever wash dishes and bake bread at the same time or even sequentially but you can't. Also the corner there is useless space.
There's no storage, no drawers, no cabinet, no lazy Susan ....nothin' there in the corner but a bit of counter. What were they thinking? Well, it was in the '70s ;)
I've ordered new cabs, the design will be L shaped, going to loose that peninsula thing and may add a rolling cart instead. The new sink centers more on the window, dishwasher moves juuuust enough to the right to give me usable space in the corner.
Whata concept, storage space, who knew this could happen?
..... now you don't. Cabinets largely gone. I'll schedule a bulk waste pick up soon and away they go.
I just discovered the 110 yo floor behind my clawfoot tub is almost non-existent under the peel-n-stick tile the last owners put there. So I guess I'll be ripping up that room pretty soon. :P
And I can't use the tub. :( :(
Karen
There are worse things to find you can't use for a while. This is why though I could only afford a small place I chose 1 1/2 bathroom. :cool:
But oooooh, clawfoot tub. :D Love those. Going to keep it? What kind of new flooring are you putting in?
I hope to have all the original 1" thick oak floors restored in this house eventually. We had a huge leak in the kitchen 2 xmases ago, and had to replace the floor (with plywood), so I've stashed up the boards we took out of there, and I'll use them to patch up the bathroom. I'm having a hard time convincing hubby that this is a good idea, or I'd have it done already. (I don't know what he's thinking.)
Yes, I LURVE my clawfoot tub. I don't think this house had indoor plumbing at it's inception, so the tub is probably not original to the house. But it should be original with the plumbing!
Funny, I avoided using it for the first 3 years we lived here because I knew there was a wrinkled spot under the tile elsewhere in the bathroom, so I already suspected it was from the tub. Then I got over my fear and started using it and watching closely. It must just be seepage because there are no water spots anywhere to tip me off. I'm sad about it.
Karen
That it'll be a lot of work, and expense, and mess while it's going on and a huge disruption to your life .... and he's right. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Tuckervill
But think of how beautiful it will be when it's done. And if you think you'll ever sell - bathrooms sell houses (and kitchens and .....)
Good idea saving the oak flooring. Have you considered tile or something in the bathroom and use the oak somewhere else to really show it off?
The living room looks like it's painted, a nice antique white.
H. has prepped the accent wall more. Heating grates are off and the hall lights are out so it's clear for painting.
My living room curtains are down so I'd better stop prancing around the living room naked till they are back up.
Remind me, I might forget. ;)
The wall's coming down in the half bath area.
I'm off to get the dishes out of the dishwasher, washed or not they gotta go. She's going to rip that old thing out tomorrow. :D
Hey! The tub wasn't leaking after all! It was just poorly worked flooring around the pipes behind the tub! YIPPEE!
But once we got going, we ended up gutting the whole bathroom. The floor in there is not the original floor, but it's still tongue-in-groove, probably maple, not oak. It was never actually finished (no varnish). It's hard to tell exactly what happened. My guess is the floor rotted out at one time, and a new floor was installed, intended as subfloor. The plaster and baseboards were below the floor level. It is hard to tell if the plaster was original to the house, but we busted it all out. They had busted out parts of it in order to put the paneling over it at some point, probably when the floor was put in, so we couldn't save it. There was only one coat of paint over the plaster (pink, of course).
So I'm thinking the tub and floor (or the bathroom) are not original to the house at 110 years. I'm thinking 1940s or 1950s judging by the style of the layer of linoleum under the peel-n-stick tile. We'll know more about the floor when we rip out the styrofoam ceiling tile in the room beneath, which we intend to replace with tin.
Now I'm looking for a person who knows something about plaster, lath, and whether to do drywall, veneer plaster, or plaster. We didn't take out the lath, in case it makes the most sense to just drywall over it.
Talk about burning calories! Prying up those layers of floor was hard work!
Karen
Wouldn't you do greenboard in the bathroom? You know, that stuff that holds up to moisture. You can then put anything over it, such as plaster or even tile. I've seen some wonderful tile bathrooms.
Veeeeery nice that you did not find damage under there. Always nice when you dodge the bullet on that. :rolleyes:
Sounds like you're keeping the style to the age of the house just with new house bits. :) We want photos!
Since it's a clawfoot tub which exposes the floor underneath, and we will probably put marine varnish on the floor, there's not really a reason to put greenboard on the walls near the tub. The tub won't have a shower, just a hand-held for washing my hair and the dogs. (I'm the only one who even wants to use the tub. I consider it "my" space. ;) ) I'm still considering whether to put up a shower curtain loop. I've been using it without, but also without a hand-held shower, using a container to dump water over my head.
Veneer plaster is plaster without the lath...blueboard behind just a couple of coats of plaster. I'm assuming the blueboard is water resistant, but since I haven't found anyone who can do it I haven't really researched it. I prefer plaster, but drywall may be the most practical option.
I've been taking pictures of the demolition. My dad and I trade pics of our projects all the time. This time I made sure they weren't all of my husband doing all the work...My dad thinks my husband does all this stuff, but we share the load! :) As soon as I get off the couch, I'll post one.
Karen
Check into that. Though you don't use the shower and I assume DH does not either there's steam and mist from the bath. Water is the enemy of your home both from inside and out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuckervill
If the blueboard is water resistant .... go for it :)
Since I'll replace the washer/drier anyway I may want to get a gas drier. My kitchen range is electric.
I'm debating whether to get a gas range or keep the existing newer electric but anyway....since there's gas water heater and heating upstairs is it worth it to pay the extra to bring the gas down to the kitchen/laundry area?
It's already there. :D And if I want it extended to the kitchen just a relatively quick turn and jog over.
Also I'd wondered if the house is earthquake braced, that is bolted to the foundation. While the house guts I now see are not on a load bearing wall H. pointed out that they are bolted to the foundation so it's likely the exterior walls are too. I'm not going to tear things out to find out, but it is reassuring.
Can I join in here! I just read through all of your comments! How exciting all these new things happening in your homes. I would like to comment on the to keep or not to keep the electric stove. Go gas! It is so much nicer. And when you go to sell it (if you do) it is preeferred by a lot of people. We lived with one in our house till it broke. I had no problems putting in a gas one. But then I like to cook. One of my cats once stepped on a cooling down electric burner and hurt herself. I was happy to see it go.
We have oak wood floors that we had to fix. Oh I hated the sanding, it got on everything. But they look so nice now!
The people who lived in our house before we bought it broke up while they were in the house. He weny crazy And took an axe to all the kitchen cabnets and a few of the walls! So there were no cabnets in the kitchen when we moved in and axe marks on the counter tops. The day after we moved in everything that had bad karma on it was ripped out! I thought I might feel a little wierd moving into a house that had an angry past but we brought enough love in it to turn it around. Oh he didn't take the axe to her by the way. But we found out later he went away and killed himself! Creepy huh? But like I said you do not feel them in this house at all now. We have been working on this house for over 14 years now. It is a 3 story house with a view of the ocean. We bought it for 139k way back when. and at the time we bought it for the veiw not the house. It was such a wreck! I can't imagine living in any other house now though!
Oh the best feature of the house when we moved in was the bright orange cast iron sink that was in the kitchen. When my dh threw it over the balacony into the sandy drive way it made the whole house shake from it's wieght i swear!
And should you lose power, you can still have a hot meal. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandi
Yes! the more the merrier.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandi
I spent part of the evening at Lowes with H. the carpenter. We picked out a sink for the 1/2 bath/laundry room area and a new light for the room, sconce for the hallway, dinning room fixture (a ceiling fan. it gets hot here) and I'm semi stuck for the kitchen lighting, I'm going to take another look.
The designer in me saw a nice halogen track light, the tree hugger wants something that will take CFLs. I will look at a couple other places this weekend and make a final choice.
Good news, we don't need to dig a trench through the foundation to move the sink
Bad news, the electrical needs more work than anticipated
Good news it's about or less than what we thought trenching would be.
Also good news Mae the wonder mutt looooooves the plumber. She's enjoying this parade of new people, activity mess and noise. It's an expensive way to socialize a dog but it's working.
The house next door to me is one of those bad karma houses. One of the people who had lived in the neighborhood since it was built said that the house has never been loved, and has never had stable owners. In the 16 years that I've lived here, it's been rented to several people, all of whom have been evicted. One of the renters also took an axe to the walls and countertop, others were drug dealers, and one was a squatter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandi
The owners were the most awful people, screaming at my that I had stolen their ladder (when it was on top of their garage, where I took a picture of it and gave it to them) and calling me awful names and accusing me of putting my yard waste bags on their property, after I had mowed and raked their yard for years because they didn't do it. (I gave them a copy of the survey to prove that it was my property, and they still didn't believe it.) The house sat idle for years, then the cops came to my door in the middle of the night looking for someone who had apparently lived there years before.
Finally an investor bought it, sunk a lot of money into it, and lost a bunch of money because it wouldn't sell for what they wanted. Finally someone bought it, lived in it for 6 months or so, and now it's been foreclosed on and the bank owns it.
Apart from this house that's cursed, my neighborhood is great. I wish they'd tear it down and start over.
Thanks for allowing me to vent...this is cathartic.
You're welcome. :)
Had to find food that can be 'et when the kitchen looks like this :eek: Great idea for a cookbook: the Remodel Cookbook :rolleyes:
New kitchen plumbing's been plumbed, just a couple finishing touches and things will start going from destruction to construction mode. At least that's what my carpenter says.
You can't tell from this, maybe compare to the older shot but the counter height will be different. These units were designed and built in the 70's with cheap yet custom cabinets. All measurements non standard. This I think is one reason (besides the economy and I blame Dubya for that) stuff is not selling here. Owners have a choice of refacing the old cabinets, but if you wanna get new you have to go full custom.
Most of my neighbors can't afford that. :(
Thankfully H. my carpenter figured out "move this here, that here and voila standard cabs". So I may pay more to move stuff but I'm trading that for new cabs and counters with nearby competition that can only reface.
On the left is the utility sink sitting waiting to go to the half bath/laundry. And on the right is Mae waiting to be take another walk. Byeeeeeee.
You are really moving along, Trek. I give you credit, I know nothing about "house stuff." Not to play the stupid little woman, because my mom knew about and did all of the work around the house, but I am all thumbs with tools and never had any interest in even choosing the flooring or carpets in the first 3 houses we owned. I know what I like in furniture, but my way of operating is to go in, buy it without too much comparing, and leave!
A little over 2 years ago we bought a 22 year old contemporary house on an impulse. We had been thinking of selling our typical 4 bedroom 2 bath colonial in a development and had looked at some older victorians. But the rooms were so small and the amount of work was daunting. We looked at our house on a rainy day when the ride we were leading was cancelled. The previous owner had the house stuffed with ugly unfinished antiques and junk everywhere. She had let her college aged daughter paint the rooms weird colors and let's just say she didn't know how to paint either. The powder room was bright green and red. Two bedrooms were purple. The lower level (family room and guest bedroom) smelled like mold. But, we fell in love and knew there was some work to do. The house is in a very unique neighborhood, with access to a community pond and hiking trails.
Well, let's just say we didn't know what we were getting into. We found out this house was built on spec and for about 7-8 years a series of renters lived here. There were rumors of rock bands and drugs. The people that owned the house before the woman we bought it from never fixed anything. Everything was cheap early eighties, the lowest priced stuff you can get from Home Depot. The heat and AC blew like crazy in some rooms and didn't work in others. Our heating guy said he couldn't fix it! My husband fixed it. The smoke detector went off every time we cooked. One of the lights in the kitchen went on and off every 2 minutes. First, we painted all of the rooms. We got all new lights, rewired everything, replaced the outside doors (none of them could lock!). We hired a contractor to demolish the kitchen and put in new cabinets, floor, and move the new appliances we had bought. The contractor also redid the powder room, where there was a cabinet so big you couldn't open it. The new tile went from the front door to the kitchen. That took 6 weeks. We set up our fridge in the dining room and cooked on a microwave and hot plate and washed dishes in the bathroom. The time went buy very quickly, but I haven't bought store roasted chicken since! During this time my husband totally redid 2 of the bathrooms himself. They came out great, but it was hard work for him. During this time, we found out a lot of other things in the house were broken and he fixed them. Nothing was standard. When all of this was done, the contractors demolished and redid our bathroom and enlarged my closet. I can't describe how bad the master bath was. This was done from the middle of April to June. It got delayed a little because one guy didn't show up to fix the hardwood and the schedule got off track. But it's beautiful now. Then, we landscaped the front of the house and said no more until next year! Last spring we had all of the windows replaced, which has taken about 20% off of our utility bills. My husband spent most of last summer, to October doing the back of the house and building a patio. I carried about a ton of rocks. Oh, and we had a bunch of wood rot fixed, along with 2 decks that we found out were about to fall down.
WE have one more area in the front to do this spring and then we are done until the outside needs to be painted in about 2 years. That's not counting the driveway that needs to be replaced and the garage that we would really like to rebuild...
I'm currently ignoring all that needs to be done to our 1912 bungalow. It had been let go, was partially restored, and was then rented. We've already re-done the kitchen, floors and the bath was OK. But, we need to have the attic re-braced, lots of foundation work done, none of the windows work, etc. etc. DH has gotten a little overwhelmed with it - but it does have personality - too much sometimes:D:D
I have to confess - this thread does not make me want to get started on any of the work yet.
CA
H should be here tomorrow, plumber or no plumber she'll get to work. So I may have a further progress report. Did I mention this is not my carpenters day job?
So when she gets called in to work by her union things can stop for days. Luckily she coordinates things that go on in between so the plumber's been over, and so on. Or she sends me out shopping.
Monday after dropping Knott off at the airport I headed to Homedespot and picked out lights for the kitchen and 1/2 bath-laundry area. I'd looked eeeeeeeverywhere else, didn't see anything I liked and finally end up going with the lights H recommended. Luckily we have similar aesthetics. These will look nice.
We talked today and she said she'd finish painting the front door and installing the new lock. But how to get the key since I'd be home after she left. She came up with a super-top secret way to hide the key. So I arrived home, moment of panic when I did not see the key in it's innovative top secret hidey place. Came around the front, whew. New lock is not there.
So that's not done yet.
But the door is re-painted and looks like a new door (without the cost of buying and installing a new door of course), the drywall is largely back up in the kitchen with appropriate spots for the new gas line that she has run in should I or a future owner wish to say "now we're cooking with gas."
I am however still cooking with a microwave, electric tea kettle and French Press coffee maker.
All the electrical lines are tagged, labeled so that when the electrician is here tomorrow and I let him in (which I'll be doing instead of going to the C.S. Aikido Association yearly regional training where everyone who's everyone will be-can you tell this is getting a little old?) anyway he can tell where everything goes.
Seems I need a new breaker box cause the one I have won't even support what I've got. So that'll be done.
Then maybe I get a kitchen....soon. :o
The electricians are done, I can finally close the doors (extension cord out the front, guys running in and out of the back) and warm the house back up. Just took a long hot bath to start warming me up.
I should have taken a picture of the new, improved, much larger breaker box before they closed it. In an odd way it's a beautiful thang (everything with a neat label and tied down, all new and shiny). He was able to add wiring for the ceiling fan without new holes in the ceiling to match, whoot!!! :D
Now a long walk with my mutt Mae but it is raining hard.
My "electrician" is working on my bathroom renovation right now. (My husband, who is an electrical engineer, but not an electrician!) Adding can lights in the ceiling, new outlets, new light fixtures. Then the plasterer is coming in. As soon as the plaster is done, then refinishing the floor, and then putting the tub back...new sink, etc.
Plaster is expensive!
Karen
Oh it's all expensive :rolleyes: new electronics are a beautiful thing. This is the new fusebox, twice as much capacity as the old one. It was oddly beautiful work, like watching weavers, everything lined up, with a little tag. The old one was small, like a birds nest and some wiring problems. I decided while the walls are open to just go ahead and have it re-done.
Question; you did not mention a fan in the bathroom. Master bath now does not have one. I'm wondering if I should add one.
Trek, I got the distinct impression that having a bathroom fan--a real one, that vents somewhere and pulls out steam--is really important to buyers. And it would be to me.
My husband, who deals with electricians all day, said they refer them as "fart fans". He said they supposedly do nothing for steam. I don't know how true that is because I haven't tested the theory. Sounds plausible.
We don't have fans in either of our baths, mostly because this is a really old house and venting them would be a bear. We looked long and hard at them at Lowe's, but none of them met my criteria of quiet, unless they were big old honking things, seemingly made for salon baths. The bathroom is not tiny (about 9 x 9), but it has short ceilings since it's in the attic space. A big fan would stick out like a sore thumb. Since we don't have a shower up there, just the tub, and we now have working windows, we decided to forgo the fan.
I understand why buyers would want one, because the vented ones really are difficult to install in a pre-existing space without a total renovation.
Karen
dang, that's what I was afraid of :rolleyes: :oQuote:
Originally Posted by salsabike
put in the fan, you've got a selling point, life is groovy.
(just don't tell 'em a fart fan really doesn't do anything, it just looks sexy)
Well H got a little less done today than planned because she arrived and found she'd forgotten her keys. So the first thing she tried was using her ladder to go over the patio fence and drop into the back. But I leave my patio door shut.
So she went back home and then returned. The walls are obviously in a state of getting better :) doing the mud and tape stuff etc.
What's gratifying to know that of my neighbors some of whom are retirees and home etc no one questioned someone driving up, using a ladder to vault right over the wall :confused:
Maybe they recognized her?
I'm one of the few people home all day on my block. I keep an eye out. Most of the houses within view of my windows, I would know if there was someone around who didn't belong. They usually act suspicious, anyway.
Karen
True, she's here enough. :cool:
Just noticed another nice detail. H said she could not find a heating grate in the size I have. And the old one was looking groady. Instead of cutting the wall and patching to do a new one she sandblasted the old one and repainted it.
Looks like new! :) Nice detail and way to save a little.
Voila' Forward progress now being made. This week the cabinets got delivered and they are now largely installed. H has measurements for the kitchen counters, I just have to get off my @zz and make a final decision on type.
Yes, we'll take the plastic wrap off when it's all done.
Bump. I'm trying to see if I can get a "before" and "after" in one post. Nope, you have to go back a bit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trek420
Oh, those are beautiful!
I think I'm just going to paint mine and put on new hardware.
I need 52 hinges and 26 handles. That's not counting drawers :o
This thread was fun to reread and it made me realize I never posted pics of our office redo. Okay, we did it a year ago and it's changed a little since then.
Veronica