FREAKING OUT!

One of the things that had to be done in the new bathroom was the installation of a bathroom fan for ventilation purposes. Originally, it was going to be a wall unit, but we ended up finding a light/fan combo that we really liked on sale, so we decided to center it in the room. Jeff ran the wire to it, and I installed the fan box. Next, duct work had to be run to the exterior wall. Kevin framed in slightly lower ceiling so that we didn't have to take out a double beam up top. This allowed me the 4 inches that I needed to snake the duct work to the wall...

Now let me say that both Jeff and I are petrified of heights! But SOMEONE hasd to climb up on the ladder and install the exterior fan vent. Time to suck it up and conquer a fear.... Our neightbor Brad was kind enough to lend us his ladder, and my first climb up I was shaking so badly that it took me 5 minutes to get to the top! Of course though, I had to bring a camera up to capture the moment for the blog... Here is a view to the ground (2 1/2 stories down...)

This picture gives a little more perspective. I had to cut a hole in the aluminum siding with the reciprocating saw, cut and run the rigid and flexible ductwork, and attach the exterior vent cap. I can tell you that the scariest part was using the saw. For those who have used one, you know that if you approach the cut wrong, it can have quick a kick back. YEaaaaaah.... I ended up having Jeff take out the window so that he could hold onto my belt loops while I was using it (so that if it kicked back, I wouldn't go flying backward off the ladder)...

The mostly finished result. I didn't get a pic at the end after I placed the drip caps back on the siding and finished caulking everything, but we now have an exterior fan vent for the upstairs bathroom :-). (but you won't catch me up on that ladder again any time soon!)

Cubbies

OK, so the attic hasn't been drywalled yet, but the cubbies have been painted and installed where they will be. All of the kids' toy bins and rubbermaid containers of craft supplies will be stored in these once the attic is finished :-)

Cubbies

I had a request to post about the cubbies which I built for the playroom we're putting in up in the attic. We knew that for the short "knee walls" around the edge of the room, we wanted to maximize space, so I thought that it would be a good idea to build a dozen or so cubbies for the kids' toys to go in. I went to Lowes, and while they have a policy of no more than 2 cuts per board (they have a big saw there), I was able to get ALL 60 cuts done (by prentending to be helpless... why is it guys just eat that up?!).

This was an easy job to work on one night while watching tv- just lots of time spent with the brad nailer getting everything all assembled.


Here they are- 14 cubbies all built and ready to be caulked and painted...


I let the kids each use some of the left over paint from their rooms to help paint the cubbies. Here's Teddy working on his...

And Anna working on one of hers. I'll follow with a picture of all of them together, once they're installed in the attic :-)

A QUICK Project???

An interesting thing someone said online when I googled changing out a bathroom sink: "You will need 4 times the amount of time you think it will take, and 3 trips- 1 to Home Depot to get the parts you THINK You need, one to the plumbing store to get the parts you REALLY need, and one the liquor store...." Oh I wish this quote hadn't been so right...


When we moved in last summer, we loved the fact that the upstairs full bathroom had a double sink. What we DIDN'T love, was the fact that the interiors of the sinks were rust stained, the faucets were leaky, and the countertop was what I refer to as "slap laminate" (aptly named b/c when it starts to peel off on one of the corners, the kids have an irresistible desire to pull it up and let it slap back down). About a month ago, at a discount home improvement store north of the city, we found a one piece composite granite countertop that was a double sink- exactly what we were looking for!


So, I decided this past Saturday that it was time to get the countertop off the floor, and into place. While Jeff was at basketball, I uninstalled the two original sinks... (and since I'm the one obsessive about pictures, you'll notice from these that it looks like Jeff single handedly did the whole project...).

Next, the pinkish laminate countertop had to come off. On TV, they whack it a couple of times with a sledgehammer, and it pops right off. Yeah... no such luck here! I crawled underneath and took out all of the exposed screws that I could find, and figured THEN it would come off. Nope! Apparently, the laminate was applied to the plywood countertop AFTER it was screwed down. So much for salvaging the countertop! I'll spare you the details, but let's just say 2 hammers, a sledge, a reciprocating saw, and a lot of splintering wood....

Finally, the countertop was completely off! So now, all we have to do it set the new one on.........

This would be one of those "OH CRAP!" moments in DIY home repair.... The molded sinks of the one piece countertop were wider than the round ones I took out. These new ones are more of an OBLONG shape, and as such, they hit the side supports of the two outer cabinets and thus did not allow the countertop to go into place.


Break out the SAW! A little "cabinet modification" became necessary, since all sales were final on the countertops (and we'd come too far to stop now anyway!). The cabinet was actually two sink bases and a drawer base, screwed together to form the proper length for the old sink/ countertop combo. Jeff carefully cut a section out of each side, while leaving in the corner supports so that the cabinets wouldn't fall apart...


There we go- PERFECT!


Tah Dah! Mission accomplished- the sink bases fit just right into the extra space that Jeff cut. And, as a bonus, they are still far enough over that we can use the top drawer (otherwise I was going to have to pop the face off and make it a faux-drawer)

So in this picture, everything looks all set up in terms of plumbing right? Well, it certainly didn't start that way! With the old sinks being positioned differently, you may have guessed by now that the DRAIN LINES were in a different spot. That's right, time for some plumbing! First, Jeff had to go to the store b/c the water lines from the old sinks didn't fit the new ones (trip #1). Then, I found out online that there is no way to break and reposition a PVC joint that has been glued. I would have to saw it off and reconstruct a new drain (Trip #2). Finally, as a I was working on the drains, I realized I bought 2 female PVC adapters instead of 2 male ones (Trip #3). The end result of my first venture into plumbing drains is seen above though.... I think I did a pretty professional looking job :-)



And there it is- the finished project! The last step was to install the faucets- which was comparatively easy next to some of the other steps along the way... I'm still going to paint the cabinet b/c the wood is very cheap looking and ugly, but I just haven't decided on a color yet. 4 hours of work later though, we have new sinks, faucets, and countertop in our upstairs bathroom :-)

The Chimney

In one corner of the kitchen, the chimney runs up from the basement along one of the walls. It was covered with plaster, and had a hole at the top where, at some point, a stove vent went out. This hole was completely open when we found it, which meant that whenever the previous home owner used the woodstove (located in the room on the other side of the chimney), it would literally pump the smoke in between the layers of ceiling in the kitchen! I am amazed she didn't asphixiate! (sp?). Anyway, the original idea (after our friend Jeremy closed off the hole) was to slap drywall over it and call it good. However, when Jeff saw some of the exposed brick, he got the idea in his head that it would be great to have the brick exposed as a design element in the kitchen. Soooo, enter the chissel and hammer...

3 hours, several bruises (I kept missing and hitting my hands instead of the chissel...), and quite a mess later, this is where we were...

So this gives you a pretty good idea of where we currently stand. The bricks will have to be scrubbed with a wire brush and solution to take off the remaining plaster dust. Then, there are several spots where the grout will need to be touched up (done with the grout in a bag and squeezed out like frosting so it only goes where we want it. Finally, we will need to get some salvage brick in the same style/ color as the existing brick. I will need to cut down pieces and grout them in to fill the hole at the top and make it look like part of the rest of the chimney. We're making progress though... :-)

Doorway

Part of the Secret Room project of turning it into a bathroom required that a new doorway be cut in the wall to allow access to the room, so that the wall of the closet could be closed up and walled over (remember, we cut the closet wall out to originally discover the room, and we are expanding the size of our closet as part of the project as well).

This shows the wall, after most of the wallpaper has been taken down. All that remained on this wall was the seams, which had been superglued down at some point (grrr...). The closet door is in the foreground.

Starting to cut into the wall where the door will go. Imagine my joy when I pulled off the plaster on the inside of the wall, and found out that a doorway was already framed in- it had just been covered up by plaster! The doorframe which went into the spot originally was also in the secret room, so all I had to do was cut the plaster off of both sides, and then put the old door frame in space. Up in the attic is the 5 panel door that would have originally gone here as well.

I am happy that not only did the old framing save me the work of framing in a new spot, but it also means that by putting this door in, we are actually returning to another original construction design on the house :-). Every time I pull down a wall and find an abandoned framed in doorway underneath, I feel like I am 'getting to know' our house more. I can better invision what it looked like when it was built almost 100 years ago.... Plus, I'm thrilled that this secret room project is finally really taking shape!

Steps!

When we first came to visit this house, one of the first things we noticed was that the porch and the steps would HAVE to be replaced! The steps had no railing, and the treads were so narrow that you couldn't fit more than half of your shoe on each one (much less sit comfortably on them!). We had planned on it being a project for this spring/ summer. However, after the first few snows, it became VERY evident that the old steps were not only ugly- there were DANGEROUS! Ice would drip off the porch roof and form on the steps. With them being so narrow and no railing, we had many adults and kids taking a trip down the stairs on their butts after slipping!

Old Steps! (@ Halloween time, hence the cobwebs on the house)

Our neighbor Brad took an afternoon and built us these beautiful new steps- with wider treads, and wonderful railings! Once again, I highly recommend his work, and we were amazed at how quickly he could build these- something that would have taken Jeff and I about 5 times the amount of time! We plan to paint them this spring, and are taking votes on whether they should be dark green like the old ones (to match the shutters), white like the house, or stained wood color. What do you think?

The Boy's Room

Upon our discovery of the secret room, Jeff and I determined that we would switch the boys into our room, and take theirs (it was actually a slightly larger room anyway), so that we could have the new master bath which we would be putting in, connected to our room.

This room, like all of the other rooms upstairs, was wallpapered. However, it was NOTHING like the nightmare of the other 2 rooms. Start to finish, it took me 20 minutes to tear down this paper- it all came down in big sheets!

These pictures were taken before we moved all of the stuff into the house in July, right after my mom washed the carpets :-)



After everything was de-wallpapered, I had to prime the walls. The plaster was painted, much like the girl's rooms, and there were many areas where it was cracked and had to be repaired. Once the room was remudded and primed, it was time to paint!



Teddy picked the color. He insisted that his room needed to be "BOY green!". This picture is after I finished using my little $2 edging tool, that eliminated the need for taping!


Jeff rolling on the second coat of the green.




Tah- Dah! DEFINITELY a boy's room! We found some sports stick-ups for $1 on clearance at Lowes, which allow for the room to take on the sports flare Teddy wanted. They're repositionable, and we also bought a more mature looking sports border for when they're older. Brady's crib is in the room in one of the corners, and probably around 18 months he will move on to the bottom bunk.Another room checked off- YAY! The only project remaining in here is to someday tear out the carpet and refinish the hardwood underneath. Not until the boys are a little older though :-)

Quick Project

So I truely had a QUICK project to do last night! When we moved in, our front door had a really ugly curtain on it that came down almost immediately. It was stained yellowish, b/c the woman who lived here smoked, so I wanted it GONE! Unfortunately, no curtain and a big window on the front door meant no running down in the morning to grab something from the kitchen, without all of the kids in the neighborhood walking by, noticing that I didn't take the time to grab a robe!

So, the plan was to cut our house address out of contact paper using my Cricut (coolest thing EVER, btw!). I experimented with adding the word WELCOME above it, but Jeff said it looked too much like a business instead of a home if we did that. I also cut some little swirlly things to put in all of the corners. Finally, I taped off the beveled glass edges all around the door.

Next, I painted Window Etching Cream onto the glass. The label on this stuff scares the crap out of people! For instance, if you get it on your skin, it will continue to "burn away flesh for the 15 minute activation period". Hmmmm, perhaps I should be wearing gloves...

Completely coated, just waiting for the time to pass until I can wipe it off...

OK, so it's the back of the door, but you get the point! No more passers-by seeing into our front hallway :-)

A Shout-Out to Brad

It has been brought to my attention that a picture of my neighbor Brad hasn't been added to our blog yet. So, this is the official Shout-out to Brad Engelberg! Him and his wife Holly (and their 4 boys) live next to us, and we are SOOOO blessed to have a contractor living next door! Brad was the one who mudded the drywall on the dining room ceiling, he has helped us diagnose a mysterious bathroom leak early on a Saturday morning, and without his help, our new fridge would still be sitting in our garage! We're also very thankful to Holly, for lending him to us, often last minute, when we get stuck on something. It's so nice to have neighbors we like!! Thank you guys!

Making Room

Part of the kitchen project that needed to be done ASAP was that the new fridge needed to be brought in from the garage before it started freezing at night. We got an INCREDIBLE deal on it, and so bought it when we could in cash. It was a model that the original price was $1400. Lowes had it on sale for $1200. The open-box, display model was on clearance for $900. There was a dent in the side (which would be hidden by the wall), so the manager marked it down to $700. We had $590 in our remodel cash account, and I talked to the manager on duty about our desire to pay for our kitchen remodel in cash, and not incur any more debt than we already have (and are working hard to pay off!). I told him how much we had, and he said SOLD! So, the first thing we had to do was make room for it in the kitchen, so we could get it out of the garage before it froze :-)

This is the area we had to work with. The old fridge was shorter and smaller than the new one, so we knew that we were going to have to tear out cabinets to make a spot.

It would have been easier to tear out the cabinets with a chainsaw and sledgehammer, like they do on tv, but we had already determined that we were going to try to make the best use out of old cabinets, and use them in other places in the house- namely the playroom, basement, and future mudroom. Thus, everything had to be removed carefully! Unfortunately, like so many other things in this house, things were not done correctly! Cabinets are supposed to be screwed into the wall! Instead, they were nailed in with 3 inch nails, which had to be pried out, one at a time.

Then of course, because nothing can be too easy, the cabinet got stuck when we were taking them out! The back of the cabinets, and the shelves, had to be removed so that the cabinet could be taken out!


Meet our layers of flooring. Of course- why wouldn't there be layers in the kitchen too?! There is 70s rolled out vinyl, on top of 50's snakeskin looking floor tiles that we're PRETTY SURE contain asbestos, and below that is the original hardwood which we already refinished in the rest of the downstairs.

Now that the cabinets in the area are all torn out, note the doorway which we found behind there! Apparently, our downstairs half bath used to be the pantry- accessible from the kitchen. When the doorway into it from the front hallway was put in, this doorway was closed over. We wish we could figure out how to use it to create a coat closet (which was combined with the pantry to create the bathroom), but that may take some more finagling!

And, after much tugging and heavy lifting from Jeff and our neighbor Brad (thank you!!), the new digital fridge is in our kitchen, just in time for the freeze overnight tonight! Until we get the floor torn out next weekend, we're not going to put in any cabinets at this time. This also allows us to move the food from one fridge to the other too. But for now, it's nice to have 2 fridges, and I'm SUPER excited about the new one (it is all digital inside, and even has a drawer that flash thaws frozen meat). YAY for the new fridge!!