Awesome!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!Quote:
Originally Posted by tulip
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Awesome!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!Quote:
Originally Posted by tulip
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
Congratulations new homeowners, tulip and Pax :D
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.
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
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. :)
Ah hah, so that's what those big jobs do. Figures. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Pax
Congrats Tulip! Now we get to see before and after, right?
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.
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):
Wow, it looks so much bigger!
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?
Wow that makes a real difference. The wall really made everything cramped.
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.
I like!
Karen
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?
Nice.
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!
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.
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!
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:
Tulip's kitchen is straight outta Second Life!
Attachment 7984
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.
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.
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.
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
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. :)
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!
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
Well... I got a new desk :rolleyes:
Now to rebuild the house around it :p
Why on earth did they put a window air conditioner in the wall?!?!?!?!
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!)
Trek, I said "OH WOW" when I saw your backsplash. I like it!
Karen
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
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
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!
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!:pQuote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
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*:)
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!
Yippeee! Q: Do they reinforce the tops of the cabs to install the concrete? They had to do that for my granite counter top.
Is the sink going to be in front of that window?