2.29.16

Best part of today--dumpster moved from driveway:

To street:

Second best--new door going from kitchen to garage:

They also did some work outside, painting the trim around the outlets:

(The siding color is the same in both pics--guess lighting really matters.  It's actually much closer to the top pic.)

And some siding on the front:

(And the siding here looks way darker than it really is)

We also got the final quote for the cabinet and countertop installation (higher than the original, of course--but we knew that would happen).

This weekend we went shopping for stools to use with the new counter we'll  have instead of a kitchen table. That was not productive.  We did find one set that looked good, was super comfortable, and wasn't terribly expensive. However they didn't sell them separate from the table they came with.  Ugh!  Guess we keep looking.

2.26.16

More siding today.

Most of the east side of the house done (and we got our windows back):

Just a tiny start on the south side:

And we found out they'll move the dumpster out of our driveway on Monday. Then we won't have to bug our neighbor and park in his driveway!

1.25.16

Easy one today--nothing indoors and just  work on the back of the house's siding.

We also met with the (indoor) painter to talk colors. I was excited to hear that the colors we're considering are actually pretty good choices. :)

2.24.16

Today they started putting the siding on.  However, it was terribly windy, so I think that limited the amount of work they could do outside.  I was thrilled to see that I don't hate the color!  (oh the stress of choosing colors...)

It looks so strange to see that side of the house w/o the door!

I think the white edges look really sharp!

And the white window trim really pops against this siding.

Especially at the patio door!  :)

You can see the old green trim on the top of this window.

Inside they did a bit more drywall:

Greg says we picked up a few inches in the width of the opening.

And the outlet box is mudded.

So far, so good.  I have to admit that it's kind of nice to be gone all day and come home to new stuff without having to be home supervising it all every day.

2.23.16

Lots more done today.

Drywalling around the patio door and over the missing door and window.

And the whole house is wrapped in the prep for the new siding.

Tomorrow I hope they'll start putting on the new stuff.  :)

2.22.16

Wow!  Lots of stuff done in the first full day of workers.

Look!  A patio door!  :)

The pocket door is gone and the doorway is widened.

Giant dumpster

Old vinyl siding gone!

More vinyl siding gone

Naked house front :)

The workers are really very good about cleaning up, but there is still a layer of drywall dust all over.  They do work so quickly that I'm hoping that it won't be long before they're done with that part.  :)

2.21.16

Today the electrician came to move the conduit from under the window.  We really kind of lucked out, because we'd realized AFTER signing the contract that we hadn't thought about wanting/needing a light by the new door!  So the electrician was able to wire for that and he also put in an exterior outlet (so we'll be able to use electrical things on the patio).

Conduit now running over the window

External outlet wiring

Wiring for motion sensor outdoor light

Tomorrow the dumpster comes and they'll start with the siding.

2.19.16

First day!

Already the demolition begins.  We are minus a door and a window:

North-facing door.  Gone!

North facing window. Gone.

as seen from the outside

And we are almost minus another window, except that the screwy wiring in our house means that we need an electrician before the window can actually be converted to a patio door.

See the conduit running under the window?  <sigh>

Old door and window

As far as what the "new" will look like, let's just say that it is probably good that this project is moving so quickly because I keep changing my mind on colors and over-thinking things.  This is a big deal and it's not like just painting a wall.

For the outside, we're going with Timber Bark (from James Hardie) for the siding.  Window and door trim, as well as gutters and soffits and downspouts will be white.

For the inside, we designed everything around the distressed bamboo flooring that we fell in love with.  Here's a picture from the website:

Distressed dark honey bamboo

We then chose the cabinets to accent the distressed look of the floor.  We're going with a hazelnut-glazed Newport style.  From the website (although it doesn't look this dark in real life):

Newport painted hazelnut glaze

And the countertops are what caused me the greatest stress.  But I'm pretty excited for our choice: HiMacs (i.e.: Corian) solid surface in graphite granite.  From the website:

Graphite Granite HiMacs Countertop

If you put all the samples together in the showroom, you get:

Whee!!!

2.18.16

When we bought our house (15 years ago), we had a list of things that just had to go.  Most of these things happened to be pink.  The people who lived in this house two owners ago remodeled almost everything in 1986, and they put in a LOT of pink.  Pink carpet. Pink linoleum. Pink drapes (not curtains--brocade drapes).  Pink flowered wall paper.  Pink painted siding.  

We’ve done a lot of update work ourselves, and we did put on an addition nine years ago (which was a nightmare, to be honest—we went with the cheapest contractor and you should never do that…). 

Because of the addition fiasco, we were a little spooked by the thought of another remodeling project, and we knew we didn’t want to be as "frugal" (cheap), and didn’t have the finances to pay someone, and didn’t have the expertise to do any of the additional stuff ourselves.  So we've been living in *that* house for awhile.  You know that one house on the block that's just kind of let itself go?  Peeling paint, overrun landscape, mismatched doors and windows.  We had gotten to a point where we couldn't do much more that the house needed ourselves, and with both of us working full-time now (hooray!), we don't really have the time.  Of course, we're a bit older now, too, and physical labor makes us hurt quite a bit more than it did fifteen years ago.

We started talking about finally re-doing the kitchen and when we checked, we were pretty psyched to see that mortgage rates are insanely low (seriously—we got 2.719%).  Then we thought that maybe we could also do some of the exterior stuff we'd been talking about for years, and apparently February is a good time to do exterior home improvements, as the bids came in with discounts if we let them start this month.

And so it starts tomorrow!

We’ll be doing some exterior and some interior stuff.  Most of it centers around the kitchen.  We’re closing off a door and a window, changing another window to a patio door, getting new cabinets and countertops, and new flooring (into the living room and hallway).  We’ll then get rid of the old cement step and sidewalk on the North side of the house (it was angled toward the house and flooded our basement).

Guess I should start with the before photos:

Window on north side of house that will go away to make room for more cabinets

Ugh.  Pink linoleum.

Pink linoleum and pink (cherry) cabinets

Door on North side that will disappear.  Also (not seen) pocket door will be removed and doorway widened.

Will finally replace Sauder pre-fab cabinets with REAL cabinets.  And that peninsula on the left will be gone.

Better picture of the peninsula that will not be in the new kitchen design

Lannon stone stays; vinyl siding does not--nor do gutters and downspouts and soffits

South side of house; vinyl siding will go and windows will get a facelift

North side of house with ugly, peel paint and chipped step and door that will go bye-bye

North side of house and window that will be gone

Lovely pink carpet in living room and hall (to left)

Window (East side) that will become a patio door

 You're welcome to follow along as we un-pinken our home.  :)