House Remodeling Thread (long)

[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).

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.

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

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. 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 But that's the fun of home ownership, right

[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


detail of glass accent before grout



Door out to hot tub...

[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.