More floors

Wednesday - All the wood flooring is laid and ready to finish. 

We have floors everywhere including inside our walk in closet. 

Friday - Minor setback: I received a tragic text while away for the week; a bleach bottle "exploded" on our new floors. I find it a little hard to believe that in a 60 degree room, a bottle of bleach spontaneously popped, but that was how it was presented to me. Regardless, whether it was an explosion or a pneumatic nail, there is a pile of sawdust on the spill and several extra hours of work. Oh well, nothing new. I am currently fighting the Expediter so a little bleach spill is small potatoes. 

Tuesday - Sanding has commenced upstairs and is finishing up in our unit tonight! Bye bye bleach spot! We love our floor installer. He is working hard tonight to finish all the sanding so that he can put our first coat of sealer down tomorrow! No stain for us, we're keeping it light and natural. 

Tuesday UPDATE - Whoa. First coat is going down tonight!! 8:30pm and he's still rocking!

Next Week - Build and install kitchen cabinets and then source our counter top. I can hardly wait. I got the building itch and already put together our bathroom linen cabinet. I just can't wait! Hopefully I will be an Ikea box building machine this weekend. Until then...

Flooring progress and 1st floor work

Busy, busy bees have been at work this past week. The flooring installers have made some major progress. It has been exciting for it to all come together and see how it changes day to day.

Day 1 - 2nd Floor Apartment livingroom, first pieces

2nd Floor Apartment progress looking from bedroom into living room

2nd Floor Apartment - living room installed

2nd Floor Apartment - bedroom finished

I experienced how much quieter it is underfoot while switching off all the lights upstairs after the craftsmen went home. I hadn't even thought about "quieter floors" as a perk! It is logical of course as a new secure layer has been installed on to what was a single layer of gaped flooring. We never had a squeaking issue per say, but it was a bit like my joints after a long run, softly creaky. But no more! The floors are on turmeric (happy hippie Advil)! It was a little eerie, I am sure to get over it quickly though. 

While the floors went in upstairs I was trying to finish patching up our window woodwork in our first floor living room. 

The wood paneling  below the windows were in better shape than upstairs, but still cracked and mottled with mystery holes. I swear, someone once upon a time, had a twitchy trigger finger and a power drill. The trim work however is new, as the old came off in order to insulate around the new windows, and was then salvaged to finish out the upstairs apartment in entirety with matching original trim. So much of it was already missing from our unit that it made the most sense to preserve it all in one unit, upstairs where it was needed. I am feeling pretty good about the results. I still have one final run before calling them FINISHED. 

It was pretty dreamy painting clean, new trim. Shhhh, don't tell. 

The flooring installers have since moved onto our unit and things are getting exciting!

Living Room sneak peak

Do you love the view of our storage room filled to the brim next to our living room? The fridge is indeed currently operational. Our bedroom however has been relocated completely into the basement as they started laying the floors in there today! 

Yes, that is early 1990s vinyl used as underlayment for the floors. It was already there, in good physical shape (mentally I can't comment), and a bit cushier than what is going in elsewhere. It is flat, even and tight, spandex for the floors. The floors are being nailed in so it didn't pose a problem to leave it, no more heat gun glue floor removal for this gal.

While the work continues upstairs, we are currently living a 6 year old's dream as our basement living pace became a giant pillow fort this week. Our mattress has become sleepover central as it is set up on the floor between the couch and floor. Sophie Dog is in Hog heaven. 

Floors and More

Ding- dong! Who's there? Floors, wood, hard, awesome. Hi-lo.

We had a big delivery today! All the wood, underlayment, polyurethane, etc for our floors arrived. We've got two big glorious piles of wood just waiting to lay on down. The wood will acclimate to our house for a few days and work will start on Monday (psst...it is Monday now, and spoiler, floors going in are glorious!). It is going to be a little tricky living at the house during the install. The second floor won't be any trouble, but we are still sleeping in the bedroom on the first floor and the only running water is on the first floor as well. 

Just look at all that glorious wood! 

We've tackled more difficult situations but the thought of moving completely into the basement isn't a favorite. We'll hold out until the bedroom is the last room left to install.  The second floor will also be the first sanded and sealed. Once it comes time to finish the first floor, we'll either clear out for several days, or in a dream world, we'd have a working toilet and sink upstairs and just camp out upstairs. 

But my joy can't be tampered by potentially tricky living situations (aka no toilet). We've lived through it all at this point anyhow. So, I am nearly bursting at the thought of our finished living room floors, I even giggled out loud when I saw the feature strip wood stacked into the space next to the oak. What is a feature strip? Oh man, only my favorite part about original old flooring. Here, for example:

image from Billy's Floors

The photo above is a bit wider than our feature strip, but the angles around our bayed window and the coloring is just about identical to what our finished floor will look like. We chose to go with a 3/4" Peruvian walnut for the single feature strip. Our white oak will be left natural and finished in a clear water based poly. I love the high contrast and think it will look perfect with the dark stain I have on our windows. 

This beauty below was featured on 6sqft.com and has me more than a little envious. Look at all those beautiful details, the carved wood screen between the two parlors definitely does it for me. And yet, to me, the simple inlay around the edge of the floors seems just as thoughtful as all the other wood work.  

While we can't afford crazy detailed mill work and paneling, nor would it be entirely fitting of the home and its original middle class neighborhood construction, we can place a few details back into the property to bring it back to life. The living room is our modern day parlor, our public space, even though it has moved to the rear of the house and combined with the dining room. These public rooms are where the decorative elements make the most sense, and from a budgetary standpoint, will be worth the most. We have a few other small details that we'll add back in, but more on that later. 

While Waiting...and Waiting

The perpetual wait for our plumbing inspection leads me to believe we'll never be finished. However, things are looking up in terms of the inspection happening soon. For real this time. Probably. Maybe. 

I finally convinced our plumber to give me his expeditor's phone number so that I can stop playing a sad version of the kid's party game telephone; going from Expeditor #1 - Plumber - Contractor - Me - Expeditor #2 -  and back again. It was infinitely frustrating. Expeditor #1 needed some specific changes on a few of our documents filed with the Department of Buildings, but every time those specifics were relayed to me, they turned into, "the paperwork is incorrect, I can't tell you exactly why", which then was related to Expeditor #2 with his charming response of, "nothing is wrong". This went on for MONTHS and Expeditor #2 even made changes, but somehow managed to screw it up again. I wouldn't recommend him as a door stop let alone to file paperwork that needs to be free of errors. This man filed my parents' building plans with the wrong address, which has led to numerous delays for them as well. 

That trauma drama aside, I am trying to finish up all of the tasks on my to-do list. 

Final coat of paint went on the rear bay windows today. Still waiting to finish the front windows; I have an appointment with the Marvin Window tech for a few latch and lock issues. But here's the view from the back:

They turned out rather pretty, but what a nuisance it was to paint them. I would never order windows unprimed again.  Hopefully I won't be putting that hard lesson learned into practice, as we shouldn't have to install windows again.

I also finished painting all of the doors upstairs! Oh how they sparkle and shine. 

I also have begun the annoying task of installing our HVAC vent covers. Technically the HVAC contractor should be handling this, but they aren't allowed back in our house. It is a small price to pay to keep the ignoramus away. I'll paint them the ceiling color when I touch up the ceiling closer to completion. 

And I making lemonade out of all the punctures in our bedroom wall their reckless behavior created. This portion of the wall is next to the vestibule and gets chilly. So, I used their Swiss cheese to add insulation. 

In other news, Sophie is helping us pick out flooring. She votes white oak. I approve of her choice. We're going with a 3.25" wide plank to reflect what was originally in the house. Remember all those hours I spent scraping glued down laminate tiles off of the floor? (I still have flash backs to the gas mask, heat gun, and chisel.) Turns out I succeeded in creating a nice and even sub floor, but the floor itself, can't be salvaged. It will remain in place, acting as the base for our new wood. 

Oh and what glorious wood it will be. The upper right quadrant of the photo depicts the white oak going in on the first floor. We are going with the lower left quadrant, red oak, for the upstairs. It is slightly less expensive and very similar, just a bit more pink in the undertones. For now, I think we'll do a simple sand and seal, no stain.

I am going to purchase the wood tomorrow morning and couldn't be more excited.  WOOD WOOD WOOD WOOD! We had some help early in the week getting the house ready for the wood delivery and install. It is a bit of a tricky puzzle since we are still living on the premises and there are building supplies everywhere. We did manage to move everything either onto a tiled surface, into the basement, or onto a portion of oak flooring that exists in our unit that we will keep, and sand down at the end of the install. I hope to have photos of our house with real floors soon. Even more hopeful of a passed plumbing inspection. 

Counter Top Kerfuffle

Dang it, dang it, double dog dang it. I just want one instance of this project to go smooth as country churned butter. Today has been a series of unfortunate events, the most frustrating of which was in counter top land.

Originally when I was contacted for the counter tops to be scheduled for install, they wanted to come today, Monday. At the time I told them it was a no go and asked if they had Tuesday available. Sure, they can work that out for me. Fast forward, or if looking at it from today, rewind; I received a call Friday with our install window, for MONDAY. Fine. I would work it out. I can manage to be home between 3-7pm, I just want them installed, and if they are coming Monday, let's get 'em in. They also informed me the dishwasher was out of level and thankfully I had a meeting set up with our general contractor. Turns out the cabinet run with the sink was a smidgen low so this morning, our contractor and I spent a little time rehanging and leveling the snot out of them. Wipe hands, walk away triumphant. Now. Today. Two o'clock, while AWAY from the house, I get calls and texts from Christopher who was supposed to be at work by 2. Guess who showed up? Come on, it is an easy one. That's correct, the counter top installers!! Sure, not a huge problem until I am told there is a nub on the back of one piece that was either measured incorrectly or something was different about the set up when it was measured. 

Yeah, that doesn't look quite right. There seems to be a little somethin' somethin' extra up top.

Ok. Breathe. I ask, can't they just cut into the drywall and slip it into place? Nope. They won't touch it. Alright. So now I am racing back to the house so Christopher can get to work, hoping I can convince them to stick around while I cut the hole or convince them to cut the nub of shame off and install it. 

Update: After dashing home from Satan's sauna, aka the subway, I get some great news. Christopher, using his wiles and charms, convinced the installer to cut the nub off without pulling the middle men into the picture. Or perhaps he threatened them that I was on my way home and wouldn't let them leave until they fixed it or I cut it off myself. Snip, snip? He was probably just sweet.

Here's a peak at the pretty new counter tops, with sink and faucet. (Come on plumbing inspection!)

New dishwasher still under wraps, just waiting for everything to get hooked up.

This beauty of a faucet was originally intended for our apartment unit. I got it at a steep discount as it is an older model and the new design lacks a very faint shell imprint on the handles. It is Kohler and super sturdy and lovely. I couldn't find anything that cost less for the upstairs rental without getting into something with plastic valves. So, we decided to use this one upstairs and spend the extra on a faucet with a polished nickel finish to match the handles and knobs in our unit. I like it equally as much, I think. I'm now doubting my choice seeing this gorgeous large gooseneck installed. 

A parting shot of Sophie Dog checking it all out. Check, check, check. Approved. She tells me I need to get to work on the backsplash. She wouldn't be wrong.

Demo and Drywall

Could there be any more demo? Yes, the answer is always yes. The pot of gold at the end of this never ending rainbow of fun is that the drywall and plaster patching has begun! I couldn't be more ecstatic!!

After months, nay a year, of looking at some of the most horrific plaster : curdled cream ceilings, yellow peeling tendrils of cigarette infused paint, holes upon holes that were progressively added to by our esteemed HVAC contractors who performed their work liberally with a hammer and a dash of laissez-faire. I am ecstatic for the drywall and plaster crew to be making progress. Did I already mention that? Perhaps I did, but I was distracted by the glorious photo of Christopher and myself in our adult onesies. Why you ask? (Personally I'm surprised it took you this long to ask that vital question or perhaps you were so shocked into a comatose state of utter disbelief). Either way, the Adventure Time onesies both exemplify our childlike joy at the glory of the 2nd floor walls being covered up, and secondly, my friend promised cookies if I posted it. There you go, cookies conquer all, even your gentile sensibles. 

Now, a parade of drywall photos...

Laundry closet - wet walls left open for plumbing inspection

Kitchen looking into Dining & Living Room

Kitchen BEFORE The Fix. Notice just how yellow those walls look against the new white. Don't Smoke Kids!

Kitchen AFTER - notice the LACK of yellow

Christopher super thrilled to be returning to demo work. Just look at those results. 

That's all for now! Plaster contractors are hard at work and we're anxiously awaiting our plumbing inspection. 

Full steam ahead, almost

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?

#diy #demo #renovation #restoration

A video posted by iwearthepantsnow (@iwearthepantsnow) on Jun 25, 2015 at 12:50pm PDT

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!



Onwards!

Now you see it. Now you don't.

Upon finishing the demolition for the second floor and basement, I got a hold of a clean out company and said goodbye to the evidence of all our hard work. Finishing the demo doesn't keep me from waking up in the middle of the night thinking of some small thing that we forgot to take out or remove before the cleanout crew paid us a visit. That sounds very ominous now that I think about it. It brings to mind big white vans from Jersey pulling up to "clean up a nasty mess". But they were very polite and even attempted to half-heartedly sweep up after themselves. The great news is that we can see the floor! The bad news is that we can see the floor! Here are some before and after shots for your viewing pleasure.

basement bedroom and game room

basement exercise room

2nd floor kitchen and living room looking into bedroom 

2nd floor small front bedroom and back yard

The clean out ended up costing us in the ball park of $1500. Yet when you consider all the concrete block hiding under that red awning in the middle of our back yard, concrete backed tile from the basement demo, and the plaster and lathe we took out from the second floor, it was a heavy truck and a half of trash we got rid of. They did recycle the metal. We didn't see the money from it, but I do like that it was recycled. I can't imagine finding the energy to take it down to the recycle center myself at this point, so someone else might as well.

I'd rather spend my energy fixing up the items going back into the house. I've been working on picking paint colors for the cabinetry and stumbled across a great clean white from Benjamin Moore called Snow Fall. I decided to test out their Advanced Alkyd Paint on something small before tackling all of our kitchen doors and drawers. I am in no way feeling like our kitchen is small when I look at the pile of doors that I have to paint. I tried finding a company in town that would take them and paint them in a spray booth setting but alas, for NY, our job is too small and no one wanted to mess with it. So, that leads me to this:

I love the size and quality of this bathroom medicine cabinet but I do not love the faded gray-brown wood finish that has antiquing in all of the crevices. It doesn't go with anything else I have picked out for the bathroom but I figure a lovely semi-gloss paint job will spiff it up nicely. I prepped it per instructions, cleaning, lightly sanding and wiping off any excess dust with a tack cloth. I removed all the hardware and the two mirrors that were accessible. I patched a few dings in wood as well. I bought the brush that the Benjamin Moore dealer suggested and went to town. I was a bit bothered by the bubbles that formed in the self leveling paint. For the most part, it did indeed smooth out over the course of it's drying cycle but there are still bubble holes that I had to sand down and I am hoping a second and third coat will alleviate the problem. 

I am suspicious that the brush I used for the first and second coat, which super smooth, wasn't soft enough. I ended up with some fine brush marks left in the finish. The whole reason I threw down the cash for the Advance paint was for its durability and smooth near factory finish. I will be sanding between the second and third coat and using a different brush for the top coat. Fingers crossed.

Demo Down

OOPS, left this post languishing in "drafts". UPDATE: Our portion of the demo for the second floor and basement are complete! The back yard is also in a much better place. Update to follow.

We are nearing the end of demolition that we can accomplish on our own. We have one more opening to create in the upstairs unit that will be used for the new laundry closet! We've finished opening these two bad boys up so that we can get new doors in the right place for the closets and Jack and Jill bathroom that will occupy the left hand side of the middle room in the photo. 

And speaking of laundry closets, our new washer and dryer was delivered a few days ago! We have no hookups yet, but I lovingly caress them everytime I pass them, letting my hand trail languidly aling their glossy white...ahem...yes, we have a washer and dryer. There was a slight scratch on the door of one of them so I refused delivery.  They got it back on the truck and called Lowes back, they didn't want to gonthriugh the return as I am sure they would loose money having it returned then having to sell it again as damaged. C agreed to take it back into the house if they refunded $100. Soufs like a win-win to me. We can use every cent we can get and I figure everytime I see that scratch I'll see $100 instead of a brand new machine already dinged. 

While we wait for another cleanout to clear away our demo debris, we gave our hands a break from the power tools by spending a few hours in the back yard cleaning things up. 

It still feels like America's Most Desperate Landscape to me but it is getting better bit by bit. 

And for the daily pretty, we pulled the trigger on this queen pullout couch from West Elm. It is on sale now and hopefully will arrive just about the same time we are ready to finish up the basement recroom. 

Come to me my pretty!