Wow. Very nice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Irulan
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Wow. Very nice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Irulan
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by tulip
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.
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!
I love this. All the fun of remodeling but with your time, mess and money. Let's go girls (and some guys). :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by ny biker
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by ny biker
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:
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by ny biker
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!
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.
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?
Congratulations, Tulip!!! And no, it doesn't end:p:o But that's the fun of home ownership, right:rolleyes::rolleyes:
Good for you!Quote:
Originally Posted by tulip
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.
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.
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.
And the interior...whew!
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!
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. :)
What a darling house, tulip. I love it! You've done a beautiful job. :)
yes very cute!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
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/...95b60a7c_b.jpg
detail of glass accent before grout
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/...724bc26fe9.jpg
Door out to hot tub...
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1380/...b24464b1a0.jpg
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.
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.
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...
Backsplash done. It took one day. Well, 2-1/2 years...but one day.
OOOhhhh, pretty!
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by tulip
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.
Your kitchen is GORGEOUS. I'm in love.Quote:
Originally Posted by tulip
Yes, very nice! :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
VERY nice Tulip, congratulations!
Indy - I do hope that it is something other than a sinkhole developing - yikes! Do keep us posted.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
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.
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!
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Desert Tortoise
The tile looks great, Tulip! Great color choice!!
Beautiful Kitchen Tulip. I love all of of it.
Your kitchen looks awesome. You are a saint to do all of that yourself!
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
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
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.
This depends on the state, and the contract with the inspector. It's not necessarily true.Quote:
Originally Posted by withm