What we’ve been up to

Wow! It has been forever since I have updated this blog. It seems like when the weather got cold we just stopped all home renovations and went into hibernation…which in all reality, is partially true.

We did get the rest of the random overhang pulled down (excuse the mass chaos going on with wires and outdoor furniture);

But we still have yet to decide what to do with the exposed rafter ends that were so carelessly chopped off.

From the first photo you can’t really tell, so maybe once they are painted it won’t be so bad. On the other hand though, I really hate to leave things half-way done. Regardless, it is not something that is needing to be done immediately…I have many other projects that are at the forefront of my “to-do list”.

Anyway, I have also been tirelessly trying to strip paint from the wood in the laundry room: first step was the heat gun which got rid of most of the paint; second step was to apply a paint stripper and leave on overnight; third step has been to use steel wool to scrub and scrape remaining paint; and even after all of that I still can’t seem to get it all off.

I have to be honest…I HATE this job! It gives me an all new respect for those of you who have stripped wood in several rooms of your home because believe me, there have been multiple times where I have just wanted to give up and repaint it all; but I haven’t because I know that in the end, I will be happy to have the original wood smiling at me every time I do the laundry.

Here are the before and during (since I haven’t yet finished) photos of that “little” project.

Before (I could shoot myself for not taking a better picture – this was taken before we moved in)

And this is where I am right now (please excuse the mess – working on a laundry room that also has to be fully functioning is a little bit difficult).

 

On a sad note, as you can see from the above photo, the last of the original windows are gone and replaced with those ugly things.

Again, not my choice; but since the previous owners had already replaced 35+ of the windows and thrown the originals away, we felt we had no other choice. We simply ordered the rest of the windows to match those already existing.

Speaking of the laundry room, we also took the hot water heater out of there

and placed a new one in the basement.

Although it is not a huge change right now, I know that once we really go to work on the laundry room, if will be nice to have that additional space.

Outside, Josh has started work on putting in a new waterline. At this point he has only ripped up even more concrete but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

 

Of course now, I just want to rip the rest of it out and have a bigger yard : )

One down

I can now mark "new roof" off of my project list! Actually, I could have marked it off a little over a week ago but I have been neglectful when it comes to this blog...my sincerest apologies.

Anyway, I guess I owe my husband all of the credit because the roof really does look lovely; although, with the nice new roof my house looks even more desperate for a paint job. Oh well, maybe next year. For right now though, I am going to revel in the fact that I no longer have to worry about leaking roofs, insurance woes, or indecisiveness (at least where roof shingles are concerned...paint colors are a whole different story).

Here is the before:

And here is the after:

For those of you who follow along, we did not add the porch at this time because we discovered more evidence of a previous spotted problem -

Oh, how I love termites! So apparently, our previous "spot treatment" did not work as we had hoped it would and now we are left with paying the more expensive company to come out and treat the entire house.

What in the world?!?!

So there are a lot, and I do mean a lot, of projects going on around the house right now. The major one is the roof; which is looking fabulous, if I do say so myself. However, in keeping with the "tradition" of the way things go around here, we have taken one step forward and two steps back yet again.

Remember that 1970s hot water heater vent thingy I mentioned earlier? You know, the one that we were going to get rid of?

Not to worry, it is gone and looks oh so much better, at least from the outside.

However, along with the vent thingy disappearing, so too did half of my upstairs shower.

That's right ladies and gentlemen, one of the POs put a shower through the roof! So that hot water heater vent thingy wasn't a vent thingy at all. It was a "hat," if you will, for the shower. Have you ever seen such a thing?!

We were planning on remodeling that bathroom anyway...although, it WAS a project for down the road.

I love my house. I love my house. I love my house...

Two years and we're still at it

The union of my family’s wallet and our home took place two years ago this week…so, Happy Anniversary to us!

It is amazing how fast time has flown by and how little it seems we have accomplished, especially when looking at the ever-growing “To-Do” list. However, this house has come a long way since we first graced it with our presence. To commemorate this special day and to remind myself of our achievements, I thought I would post a few before-and-after pictures and a list of the unseen feats we have tackled. I am going to try hard not to concentrate on or even think about all we have left to do (not an easy thing to do) but rather bask in our triumphs.

The Living Room:

• Pulled up carpet remnants that had been duct-taped to the floor only to find large gaping holes in the hardwood floors
• Carefully pulled up random tile from in front of the fireplace
• Stripped careless paint job evidence off woodwork
• Painted
• Patched holes, sanded and refinished wood floors

The Kitchen:

• Completely gutted the entire thing
• Added two new windows
• Ripped down dropped ceiling and replaced sheetrock
• Revamped all of the electrical and plumbing (it helps being married to a plumber)
• Pulled up sheets of plywood that had been screwed into hardwood floors - again exposing holes
• Patched holes, sanded and refinished hardwood floors
• Opened up an entire wall and had it framed out to match the rest of the house
• Added new cabinetry (which was stained and painted a couple of times) and granite countertops
• Added canned lights and chandeliers
• Painted trim, ceiling, and walls

Downstairs Spare Bath:

• Sanded and Painted cabinets and beadboard for a temporary fix
• Painted walls and ceiling

Dining Room:

• Wall papered
• Painted ceiling

Master Bedroom:

• Painted walls

Downstairs Bedroom:

• Stripped wallpaper and pulled down random shelves and clothes bars that hung in the room
• Painted trim, ceiling and walls
• Pulled the heat and AC unit out of closet and completely gutted the closet and are in the process of revamping it

Staircase:

• Stained steps
• Replaced spindles

Upstairs hallway:

• Pulled up large red tiles
• Sanded and refinished wood floors

Upstairs Bedrooms:

• Stripped paint off original baseboards, window frames, and closet doors
• Pulled up linoleum, plywood, and red tiles that had been attached to gorgeous Heart Pine floors beneath
• Had floors patched, sanded and stained
• Sanded and painted
• Replaced windows - six in all (again, do not chastise me for my replacing the originals...POs replaced the other 50+ windows with vinyl ones that don't even resemble the originals at that - if I ever win the lottery, I will remedy this problem)

Behind the scenes:

• New heat and AC units upstairs and downstairs with all new venting system
• Rewired all electrical to a new breaker box
• Hallways and back entrance and almost every ceiling has been painted
• Collected doors to replace cheap hollow core doors previous owners had put in
• Cleaned out crazy insulation that was in the attic/crawl spaces
• Patched parts of roof

Outside:

• Planted a bed of hydrangeas
• Planted some shrubs in front yard
• Planted three trees
• Started a new flower bed in side yard
• Started ripping up crumbling concrete in front of shed (originally the garage, then the laundry room for the hospital

All photos posted on Flickr