Demo has commenced on the first floor. Heavens above, I love sledge hammers. Leverage, I love leverage too. There is something so satisfying about using a long crowbar to almost effortlessly pry a solid piece of wood seemingly welded to the wall with miles of nails.
Here is a little before and after shot of the room we are readying for new framing, plumbing and electric. Bring on the new bath, closet space (WALK IN CLOSET) and laundry. Brrrrr, did everyone else just get the chills.
Yeah. It's pretty awesome. He-mann is awesome too. I have the power!
Isn't it beautiful?! The rough plumbing for the bathrooms and laundry on the second floor is complete. The kitchen remains to be plumbed, then SHAZAM, done! Well, perhaps a few more steps are involved.
For the moment I am gazing lovingly at our well laid out shower, jack and jill lavatories with water closet, and laundry.
Bliss.
This, plus the fact that the heat is finally working in the bedroom, has me tossing my footie pajamas in the air in a fit of semi controlled joy. We're not there yet, but I feel a glimmer of hope.
What?! You were expecting a photo of our matching Adventure Time Finn and Jake footie pjs complete with character hoods? I could possibly be talked into it, or out if it, depending.
Next up, drywall and more demo. We've been clearing out the middle room (aka playing house jenga) on the first floor that will soon become our bathtoom, closet and laundry. We've got some stress relieving demo ahead of us then framing will commence. I am not sure that all 4 adults, cat and dog will be comfortable with living IN the construction but I am going to try my damnedest to make it as undisruptive as possible. We'll be moving our livingroom around to accomodate opening the bedroom door into it and trying to seal off the construction zone. We'll see how it goes. I fully expect at least one houdini cat and dog escape into the rest of the house before I get it right.
Our plans for the new bathrooms and kitchen remodels were signed and stamped on Friday. We expect contractors to be swarming the house by late this week or early next (fingers crossed). I was looking back on our plans for the bathrooms and a few cosmetic things have changed, as well laid plans tend to.
The Plans (2nd floor)
New Bathroom - Jack & Jill
Formerly an interior bedroom with three doors and no windows, I redesigned the space and we will now have:
1. Laundry Closet (on the bottom of the drawing)
2. Master Bedroom, reach-in closet (on the left of the drawing)
3. Bedroom 2, small reach-in closet (on the left of the drawing)
4. Jack & Jill bathroom with two separate sink areas
Not a bad use of space for a former sad little bedroom, if I do say so myself.
The Plans (1st Floor)
New Bathroom - Master
Stacked right below the new 2nd floor jack and jill bathroom, this was also a dark, dreary place once used as a bedroom. The new plan includes:
1. Laundry Closet (on the bottom of the drawing)
2. Master Bedroom, walk-in closet (on the left of the drawing)
3. Bedroom 2, small reach-in closet (on the left of the drawing)
4. Master bathroom with shower
In creating the spaces it was important to try and stack the plumbing as much as possible to keep things less expensive. The drawings below are simplified versions of the actual plans and are easier to see how the two spaces stack on top of each other.
*Sorry for the very amateur sketchieness of the bathrooms. The ones on the architectural drawings left many measurements to the imagination and after 4 e-mails detailing what still needed to be moved in order that the plans accurately match the desired build, I simply gave up and drew my own, which the contractors are using.
Remodeled Existing Hall Bathroom - 1st and 2nd Floors
Essentially a clean and traditional update (a.k.a. gut job) to an old worn work horse of a bathroom. We are adding ventilation, lighting, and tub/shower niches. We are also reworking the sink and toilet arrangement in order to gain a few inches of wiggle room in front of the toilet and sink. Basically staying the same, but not. More to follow.
Remodeled Kitchen - 1st and 2nd Floors
We opened up an old passage between the dining room and kitchen. Remember this?
A video posted by iwearthepantsnow (@iwearthepantsnow) on
We are opening an old pass through, increasing its height. The kitchen layout has been untouched since 1912 and most likely provided a place for a small work table along one wall. There wasn't much in the kitchen by the way of built in cabinetry. We decided to move the kitchen sink across from its old position, add a dishwasher and a cabinet, and turn this single walled kitchen into a high performance galley kitchen. We'll triple the storage space, increase the lighting both natural and electrical, add modern conveniences and safe electrical outlets for all our tenants coffee machines and gadgets, create a nice flow from and to the living space, and add an breakfast bar dining option. There are a few differences between the rental kitchen upstairs and our kitchen downstairs. They layouts will be identical but we are adding a few simple items to our kitchen that aren't financially practical for the rental. More on that later.
As a reminder, this is where the kitchen started (after days of hauling junk and trash). I am closing my eyes and imagining all the sparkles and clean shiny surfaces. SQUEEEEEEZE!
