Renting Sounds Good Right About Now

I've posted here many times about projects on our 95 year old house. We started another project a few weeks ago that I've not yet shared with you. I wanted to wait until it was completely finished before posting any pictures.

A project that should have taken 3 or 4 days at the most is now in it's third week. Coordinating different contractors, obtaining suitable materials, workers not showing up, as well as the lovely roof replacement project have all combined to delay our latest (unnamed) project.

The latest problem was unveiled with the removal of the gutters, revealing rotten fascia boards. Before new guttering can be installed, all the wood must be replaced. While this discovery was not unexpected, it's still disheartening and will be expensive. *

As I always say, you can fix anything. It just takes time and money. We'll spend a bit more money and, in due time, I'll reveal our finished project!

Edited to add:
* When I said the repairs would be expensive, I was right. Of course the house tested positive for lead paint, which means the contractors have to follow strict rules when doing this work resulting in additional labor costs. I guess I'll have to harvest our secret money tree soon.

What You Do NOT Want To See First Thing In The Morning

What I saw when I came down the stairs to the kitchen. Notice anything wrong?

Mmmm.

I have to bend over to get to the bottom of the sink. I didn't have to do that yesterday.

I don't think it's supposed to be like this.

Thanks goodness the sink held the water and the granite didn't crack. Needless to say, I was on the phone to our contractor first thing.

Sigh. Dealing with this is not what I planned to do today.

P.S. Did you know soaking pots, pans, racks, etc. in water with Cascade will loosen the most stubborn of baked on gunk? It will. It works well on oven racks, which is what I was soaking when this happened.

Update:
My sink is now back in it's proper place, with a healthy re-application of bonding agent and some snazzy new braces. The contractor claims it won't even move in a tornado. Let's hope he didn't curse us this tornado season with that statement!

Papa Needs a New Porch - Part 2

I mentioned here that we are rehabilitating our old front porch. The project is going well and we are both very happy with the results.

The concrete was delivered.

The guys had to wheelbarrow it up a ramp over our steps to pour the new section of the porch. The south end of the porch is brand new and level!

The new section of the steps (left side of photo) is also level. Yippee!

The cracks have been filled and the entire porch has been ground off to remove any remaining remnents of old paint. The grinding was noisy and generated a lot of dust, but made everything look great.

The side walk has also been repaired.

The next (and final) steps are to apply a couple of coats of stain and sealer to the sidewalk and the porch. The stain will unify the old, new and repaired concrete and make it look beautiful.

I'll show you more pictures when everything is finished!

Papa Needs a New Porch - Part 1

You never run out of projects when you live in an old house. Some are more urgent than others, some are big, some are small, some are obvious, some are hidden.

We moved in 7 1/2 years ago and fixing our porch has been on our project list from the very beginning. We are just now getting it done. Hey, it took time to figure out what we want, to discuss the project with a structural engineer and various contractors, as well as obtain approval from the Preservation Commission, since we live in an historic district.

When we purchased the house, we knew there were some porch issues to be addressed. Let me show you what we started with:

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo, but it does not prevent you from seeing the blue, indoor/outdoor carpet. Yes, I said BLUE INDOOR/OUTDOOR CARPET. Ick! Shortly after we moved in, The Husband ripped up the carpet and worked really, really hard to remove the adhesive from the concrete.

Guess what we found when the carpet was removed?

Cracks. Big cracks. Cracks that had been patched previously. Patches that failed. We had the San Andreas fault line on the south end of our porch! The porch evidently cracked when the southwest pillar settled some years ago.

We also had a major crack in the steps. FYI...That's my attack frog, so be warned.

Did I mention the sidewalk was also cracked? No? Guess what? The sidewalk is cracked, ya'll!

The Husband diligently spoke to people and sought referrals for concrete contractors. He sought out contractors for discussions and estimates. He finally found a guy who does great work, has happy customers and doesn't charge an arm and a leg. So, the project has begun.

Day 1:

Day 2:

This work takes care of all the big cracks. Now the smaller cracks need to be ground out. Think noise and concrete dust.

Stay tuned for the next progress report!

Spiffing Up Our Kitchen - Final

As promised, here are photos of our kitchen project.

The old sink and counter.

We very much disliked the sink.

The new sink, faucet and counter.

We are both in love with the new sink and faucet.

Old tile backsplash. 

Note the brown color in the trim, which does not go with the blue accent in the Corian.

The new tile backsplash.

Lovely.

Random shot of the Corian.

Same random shot with the new granite.

I really love the coloration of the granite. 

The Husband said he could have lived the rest of his life with the Corian. 

I said "Yeah, right!"

We are very happy with the kitchen. It was another great project by Dean West Construction. Dean and his employees "spiffed up" our bathroom last year, so we didn't hesitate to contact him for the kitchen. We both heartily recommend his firm for any remodeling project.

Now, we'll start saving our pennies for the next house project. What will it be? Only The Husband knows, because it's his turn to pick from our wish list!

What's on your house wish list?

Spiffing Up Our Kitchen - Part 3

Good progress is being made on our kitchen project, as documented in my last post on this topic.

Thursday, the installation of the tile blacksplash began. It is looking great! 

One of the best things we did was request additional shelves be cut for our cabinets. The cabinets use adjustable brackets as pictured below:

This bracket installation allows maximum flexibility in shelf configuration. I've added the new shelves into the configuration and started reloading them.

New shelf configuration + additional shelves = more space = items in different locations

I've already warned The Husband he's going to have to look for things.

He was a bit grumpy about that.

He'll get over it.

P.S. I promise before/after pictures when the project is complete.

Spiffing Up Our Kitchen - Part 2

Great progress has been made on "Project Spiff Up The Kitchen."

Things that have been installed:

• granite countertops
• under mount sink
• faucet
• garbage disposal
• under cabinet lights with separate switch

Unfortunately, the plumber said some bad words: "You have a leak in your wall." Not what you want to hear when you own a 95 year old house. Sigh... More conversations on that topic to occur.

To the topic of backsplash tiles. If you knew me personally, you would think that I would spend hours and hours on research. You would also think I would have to see every possible combination of tiles against the new granite and the existing floor tiles. You would lastly think I would bring home multiple tile samples for a review that would last days/weeks/months.

You wouldn't know me very well, if that is what you thought.

A tile store is nothing but overwhelming. When I get overwhelmed, I go with the simple, understated selection. Fortunately, I'm the person that knows what I want the minute I see it. I "feel" what is right.

We did bring home two tile options to see in our "native" lighting environment. I'm sure we will be able to make a decision tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted on our progress. And, there will be before/after pictures when the project is complete!

Have you ever "spiffed up" your kitchen? What did you do? Were you happy with the end result?

Spiffing Up Our Kitchen

Over the past couple of years, we have saved money that has been designated to "spiff up" our kitchen.

Over the past couple of days, we have met with the owner of the construction company who "spiffed up" our bathroom last year and his stone person.

The construction guys will make our new refrigerator fit.

The stone guy is going to transform our countertops from Corian to granite.

Before and after pictures will be posted at the appropriate time.

I'm excited!

Again With The Joys Of An Old House

I mentioned in the last post that we purchased a new refrigerator.

Since the dimensions of the new frig are larger than the old frig, before signing on the dotted line we carefully measured the space. And then, we carefully measured it two more times. We knew it would be an extremely tight fit, but it was going to work.

The new frig was delivered yesterday. The delivery guys measured the space and said "No problem. It will fit."

They disconnected the old frig and brought the new one into the kitchen, where they hooked up the water line for the ice maker and started removing all the tape and packing materials. Then, they started pushing it into place.

Into the tight place. Push. Push. Push. Uh?

Push harder.

Uh?

When we had a new kitchen floor laid a few years ago, one of the cabinet baseboards was mortared in slightly off kilter. That piece of wood, combined with the natural non-square nature of our old house, means the new frig sticks out 2-3 inches farther than it should.

We had planned to have some kitchen work done in the future that will impact the cabinets.

I guess we are now going to have that work done sooner rather than later!

Patio Project - Status Report # 10

Remember all those posts* I wrote about our patio project last year? Today (six short months after the last status report), I have the latest update!

Here was the back of the house this morning. See, we still had ugg-lee wires tacked to the house.

Here's the back of the house this afternoon, with The Husband pointing out there are NO MORE wires! Yippee!

In our defense, it took The Husband quite a while to find a contractor# who was 1) willing to do this work and 2) would not charge us an arm and a leg. Plus, a lot of contractors aren't crazy about working on a 95 year old house, because it can be like opening Pandora's Box when you start a project.

The last task for our patio project is to get the concrete stained.

We will then move on to repainting the entire house, preceded by repairing the stucco where necessary. Sigh...it just never ends!

* Click here if you want to read the patio posts again.

# Video Revolution is the Tulsa company The Husband chose for this project. He was very pleased with his dealings with everyone from VR and would recommend them without reservation.

Patio Project - Status Report # 9

It's been a while since the last status report. Coordinating the contractors and then the rain, my goodness the rain, caused a slow down in progress.

However, on 9/15/09 (the day we left on our vacation, of course) the concrete was poured.

We told the contractor to be sure and scratch the date, to match all the other dates scratched into previous projects on this old house.

We still have more tasks to be done to finish this project, but we are very happy were we are with it now.

Patio Project - Status Report # 8

Progress has been made. The stones that make up our back yard vehicle turn around were re-laid.

The old boxes were removed from the back of the house, revealing that at one time our house was painted yellow. We still have some wires on the house that need to be brought inside and snaked through the walls.
The framing is in place for the concrete. That won't happen until next week.

Again, progress has been made but we are both ready for this project to be finished!

Patio Project - Status Report # 7

Friday was a happy day at our house because the major phase of burying the utility lines that hung over our backyard was 95% complete.

The power company sent two guys out to disconnect the overhead service and connect the new, underground service:

Two electricians were in the basement to disconnect the overhead service and connect the new, underground service.

I should have warned them before snapping the following photo. The flash startled them and they were looking around to see what happened because they had turned the power off to the house.

One of them said "I thought I was going to meet Jesus just now!"

Note to self: Warn electricians before taking photos.

The ugg-lee box will be removed from the back of the house next week. The new box is just around the corner of the house, on the driveway side.
The new boxes and meter. Aren't they pretty?
While doing this project, we took the opportunity to install power and water to the room on the side of our detached garage. This will eventually be The Husband's office/retreat.

A future project, when our money tree is ready to harvest again. (yeah, right!)
If the stars align and the weather cooperates, hope to have the new patio poured next week. As you can see, we are ready:

Patio Project - Status Report # 6

Look! New electric in the basement:

It was a great Oklahoma evening. Blowing wind, thunder, lightning, rain and flooding in the basement.

Oh wait...flooding in the basement is NOT GREAT!

It only happened because we are in the middle of the "Patio Project." The trench has been dug to bury the electric, cable and phone. Because it is still open at the house end, when the storm came through we got a bit of water and dirt in the basement.

No big deal, just a part of the project. I'm sure The Husband will clean it up nicely!

I'll keep you posted!

Patio Project - Status Report # 5

Trench filled in. Note the stack of stones to the left. They make the turn-around we use when backing the vehicles out of the garage. I cannot back down our skinny drive. I always have to drive out. Pictures to come...

Remember the ugg-lee electrical box?

Look how pretty the new one is!

Patio Project - Status Report # 4

The trench for the electric, cable and phone lines was dug across the backyard today.


Can I drive?


Watch your step!

Patio Project - Status Report # 3

Our house is 94 years young. One of the joys of owning a "young" house, is you never know what you will uncover when you remodel in an area that has been previously remodeled.

When the deck was removed, one of the basement window wells was uncovered. Yesterday, the window was bricked in and the well filled, in preparation for having the concrete slab poured.


The second window well that had been covered previously was also found. It happened to be under the concrete steps that were poured sometime before the deck project. I imagine it happened in the 70's when the kitchen/pantry/breakfast room was remodeled into a large kitchen and 1/2 bath.

There was a mysterious concrete slab exposed when the deck was removed last week. It was broken up and (surprise!) the slab was covering either a cistern or, perhaps a coal chute.

Update: Current thinking is an old septic tank.



Fun and games!

Patio Project - Status Report # 2

The deck is now gone. (Apologies for the thumb in the pic, I'll correct it when I return home.)




The plan is to bury all the lines hanging over our backyard and connecting to the box on the back of the house. I cannot tell you how much I dislike that ug-lee box!

Next step(s) are to coordinate the electrician to install our new box in a less visible location, the digging of a trench in the yard and the arrival of guys (or gals!) from the cable, phone and electric company to lay the new lines and make the connections to the new box.

I'm glad The Husband is managing this project. He's done this before at another house, so he has experience. Thank goodness!

Hey! What Are You Doing To My Deck?

Look...our patio project started Monday.



The Husband has wanted to do this since we moved into the house 6 years ago.



I'll keep you posted on the progress.

One Last Task

We've recently had one of our bathrooms re-done. New lighting, new counter top, new tile and new paint. The final result is just what we were hoping for. Thanks to West Construction for doing such a fine job.

Yesterday, the shower in the second bathroom was completely re-grouted. Now, one last task will be applying sealer to the granite and tile in both bathrooms.

I'm so very excited to have these projects finished. Yippee!