Monthly Archives: June 2012

Demo on Delaware – New Floors Sanded & Ready for Stain

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So, while we’re waiting for our windows to be made and installed,  at least there is progress in other areas. Today they started sanding our newly installed wood floors. It is interesting to see the start to finish progress of installing new wood floors. Normally, we buy a house that already has wood floors installed. Our last house did – but sadly the stain had a  orange’ish tone to it and it drove me crazy. Even the kithchen cabinets had that same orange tone to it and it was a happy day when those cabinets were painted and glazed a cream color in order to say ” bye bye” to the orange’ish stain. Lessons learned.

I was surprised that the sanding did not create tons of dust. Actually I am not sure I would notice more dust at this point because there is so much. Obviously this machine really sucks big time!!  It did have a distinct odor tho. Nothing gross but not what I am used to. It was a tedious process – and kinda loud. If you look closely you can see that one of our wood floor guys wears ear protection. Good for him. Construction is loud and I have been so surprised at the lack of eye, ear and respiratory precautions made by our workers . I had it all available for them but was surprised- even shocked – when it was not used.

Right now the floor looks like a little baby’s butt!!

Nice, smooth and perfect!! No flaws!

Although I feel that this stage of the remodel is taking f o r e v e r, there is progress. I will say that this stage is the most stressful – or it is for me who is new to the “game”. I have learned so much from everyone. I still would do it again and think that is a good sign.

Thanks for visiting!

Debra

Demo & Lotta Stress on Delaware – New Kitchen Window Frame Installed

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I  totally freaked out with this particular part of our remodel. I had really held it together to this point .  Something about busting out the side of your house to enlarge the window over the kitchen sink seemed like I was pushing the envelope!! I was having a huge case of “self doubt”!!! This all sounded good in theory and on paper but   I  did not realize how stressful it would be when they had to take  the old window out, shore up the ceiling and start busting out brick.

Kitchen ceiling shored up and existing window being removed.

Breath in! Breath Out!!

and take pictures…….

This is Lance……..he’s trying to get me to laugh and relax ………..ugh!

It’s not working!!!  Get back to work!  You are costing me money.

Window is out!! Now they start busting  out  brick to make the opening larger. So much for having the air conditioner running?? Yeah – who cares that it is approaching 100 degrees here in Oklahoma.

Hello Sir, how are you today? May I take your order?? This totally looks like a drive up window at a fast food restaurant at this point.

The window will be 5 feet in length.

The good news is that the window is now framed and our house is still standing!! The addition of another metal beam was important. The bad news…………we have to look at the plywood for a couple of weeks until the new window is delivered. Thank goodness we have really nice neighbors!! Just take them nice bottles of wine and they seem to not notice the plywood!!!  Bribery does work. Even on grown ups!

 Our window guy came out and measured the new window. Jan, our brick mason is now cutting the brick to fit the new window. But for the next couple of weeks we will have to get used to looking at this lovely plywood.

Demo on Delaware – Front Door is Finally Installed

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Yep! The front door was installed today – but not without several hiccups!! Oh dear – the things you learn being your own contractor!! First, they delivered the door without the door frame – well duh! So back it goes to get attached to the frame. Door is re-delivered with it’s frame and big surprise it has some dings in it! Three dings to be exact and actually one was a gouge. Who in the holy heck put this door on the truck to be delivered and thought I would not notice???? Seriously all I wanted to do was yell and scream while the sweet delivery boy said, ” Ma’am, let me make a phone call real quick” – yep, sweet boy you are also very observant  in human behavior!!! It is so stinkin hard to get crazy mad when someone else is being so nice. I will not bore you with the many phone conversations but a new door is on order to replace the  one installed today. On their nickel.

As you can see our front doors were less than attractive.   When we bought this house they were orange! Yes, orange. Last Christmas I could not take it anymore because I personally do not have any Christmas decor that went with orange and I got a wild hair and glazed them in a mix of gray and mocha. It was a temporary fix – but anything was better than orange!!! Plus another big negative is that these doors are not centered – bugs the heck out of me!! That is why I got a single door and tried my best to center it to the porch and to the foyer inside.

So right now – it looks a bit ghetto! The board and batten around the door needs to be painted – as well as the new front door.  Right now it looks like a salvage yard collection!!

So to try to get a bit of an idea I “photoshopped” the present color house paint around the door.

Now it needs the hardware added. It makes such a difference inside our home with the light it lets in.

Thanks for visiting my little blog. Please do come back.

Debra

Demo & Dust on Delaware – Kitchen Cabinets Arrive Today!

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I am a tad bit nervous with the installation starting today with our kitchen cabinets. I sure hope I like them. No, actually I sure hope I love them. It is such a big investment.

Here is the blank slate of what things look like this morning – from the family room looking into the kitchen. Our Bella loves to be where the camera is.

And this is from the breakfast room looking through the kitchen to the family room.

I will post photos as the installation progresses!

I Did Something Rather Bold to the Brick on our Home

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I have always loved smeared brick. I have always not  loved the herringbone brick on the front of our home.  I love herringbone pattern but I think that the mortar joint between the bricks is way to thick. It bugs me!!  I have tried to figure out how to smear the brick but did not want to paint it and then have it sandblasted off. So, I had a “what the heck” moment last weekend and decided to mix up some of my white cement with sand that I used in this post and randomly apply it to the bricks on the front of our home. My reasoning was that if I did not like it the worst that could happen  would be that I would have to scrub it back off.

I did not think to take a picture before I started – so this photo shows half of it done and half not done.

Here is a close up – you can tell that the mortar joints are a tad to large.

I am happy with the results. The freaky thing is that for the next 3 nights we had rain storms and I knew I would wake up to all of it washed off – but it has stayed on. After a couple of weeks I will need to seal it.

 

How I did it:

I mixed 1/2 cup white cement ( has to be white!!) with 1 cup sand. Slowly added 1/2 cup water until I got a consistency that I would stick to a yucky paint brush. I started applying the mixture from the mortar in. I changed up my application with each brick so that it would be random.

It will dry rather quick. When it got  dry and chalky I would literally take my hand and rub off some of the cement – especially where brush strokes appeared.

Thanks for visiting!!

Debra

 

Demo & Dust on Delaware – Wood Floors Installed

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More progress this week with our wood floors being installed.

The first step was to install a vapor barrier on top of slab to protect against moisture.

Then a layer of ply wood

Add tar paper felt and  start bringing in the actual wood floor. We choose # 1 select red oak in 3 1/4 width.

Installment finished!!! Now wait for our cabinets to be installed next week before they can sand, stain and seal. Oh boy – more dust!!!

We redesigned the step up to the kitchen – made it 14 inche tread and rounded the corners. The other step we had was just a squared off step – how boring!

I love these floors and they’re not even finished.

Thanks for visiting.

Debra

Demo & Dust on Delaware – How Do You Like Your Stairs??

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Before our wood floors are installed we need to have “skirting”added to the stairs that go up to our loft area. And of course I seem  to “over think” the perfect stair skirting!!!  The photos below are our stairs that need “skirting”.

 

This is a typical stair skirting. The purpose of skirting is to protect your wall.

This is exactly the stair skirting we had in our previous home.

This is a nice skirting as it looks like they have attached base moulding to it.

The actual skirting of these stairs is really plain – but when the extra moulding was added it becomes spectacular. Especially like the contrast of the dark stain on the stair threads with the white moulding.

Another example of added moulding to add interest to stair skirting.

Try to envision this staircase without any of the trim and moulding. I think it would be a tad blah although I am sure this particular home is gorgeous!! Look at the accent that was added to the wood floor. Every detail was considered in this home.

I think I have a good idea what I want to do with our stairs. I went ahead and had 6 inch base trim added along with the skirting but after our entertainment/media center is installed I want to add a chair moulding. I will post more photos when this is installed.

I am anxious for our wood floors to be installed.

Thanks for visiting!

Debra

 

 

 

Demo on Delaware – Picking Out Paint Colors Can Be Painful!!

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We have now come to the point of our remodel that it’s time to paint!

Why is it that I can pick out paint colors for other people all day long but  can’t for myself?? I am loosing sleep over it! I don’t even want to tell you how many paint samples I have purchased.

Here is my dining room that I started doing a little sampling on. Kinda messy!

Then my friend who had also done a  remodel several years ago gave me some Painters Proofs which are her creation. You no longer have to put  sample paint directly on you wall. They are pre-cut and all you do is paint them then stick them to your wall. The adhesive on the back does not damage the wall and is easily removed to take your sample piece from room to room – or it can be rolled up to carry with you picking out fabrics, etc. Painters Proofs are a very neat and tidy concept!!!

After much anguish I decided on Ben Moore’s Affinity Pashmina (AF 100) for the wall color and Edgecomb Grey (HC 173) for all of the trim. Pashmina is such a dreamy color – I love it.  It is a very rich taupe color but it certainly photographs very grey.

 

Now that the painting is done our wood floor will be installed. Making progress one day at a time.