New Look for Old Home

[MartySews2]

On Monday, we had our home repainted ... Here's the new look ... our lot is very large in the midst of the city ... I'm on the sidewalk ... Renovations continue ...

Our home June 24, 2015.jpg (138.21 KB) Viewed 5703 times

Side view of our home June 24, 2015.jpg (131.45 KB) Viewed 5715 times

Marty

[sewingrandma]

Like the color Marty. Our house is brick as are most homes locally. I'd love to add some shutters have the trim cleaned. Algae/moss grows on everything here and most homes are plagued with it. Years ago we had vinyl trim add so we wouldn't have to paint every few years and so far it is looking good, staying bright white. What are your renovations include now? I assume the bathroom is done.
We've been having a heat wave the last 2 weeks. So far one record was broken and one tied. Tuesday the heat index was 116!!! Needless to say I've not been outside much during the day. Terrible storms went thru early Wednesday morning and the temps have been closer to normal since. Seems funny to say that 89 is cooler.

[MartySews2]

Brockie , the bathroom needs some grout redone especially around the shower seat. Hopefully, that will be done tomorrow. Today, they are adding the cutting counter in my laundry room and will rehang the upper cabinet where I keep laundry supplies and miscellaneous stuff. They are also working in hubby's study ... repaneling the walls, adding trim work, and replacing some bad wood. I'm pretty confined to my bedroom at present. Probably in August or Sept, we will start the kitchen remodel. The porch flooring is being painted at this time. Maybe everything will be done by next week. It's been 6 weeks since we started the renovations and I'm ready for a break. I think the guys are ready for a break too since my contractor is on vacation and left me to oversee the crew. They are more patient with me than I am with them because I want it done yesterday. These 4-5 hour work days are too short in my estimation but then the extreme heat just wears them out. It was 98 degrees yesterday with a heat index of over 116. Not conducive to working outdoors.
Marty

[sewingrandma]

I'd be tired of having my house disrupted for 6 weeks too. Hope you are getting a price break since your contractor is on vacation and left you in charge When we had our kitchen remodeled they were in and out in 2 days. They came in and tore out the cabinets one day and that night we laid a new subfloor then they came in the next day and hung cabinets, put in the counter and sink and put up matching trim. We had picked out the cabinets/counter we wanted 6 weeks before and they were custom made for our space. It was labor intense for them those 2 days but we had our kitchen back at the end of that second day.
Sounds like you are having the same weather we are. Today at least it has been cooler if you can call 89 cool. Right now we are having storms roll thru the area.
Haven't seen Libby on the boards for a while. Hope all is well and keeping cool since she is further south than me.
Hope everyone is staying cool and staying safe if they are having this heat and storms.

[MartySews2]

Oh Brockie, the bathroom was totally gutted down to the support beams and joists which had to be replaced. Then it had to be built from scratch. We took out the tub and had them make us a custom spa shower. Each piece of tile was set one by one on the walls of the shower. There were over 200 pieces of glass tile. They had to cut a hole in the outside wall for a window to be framed and inset. Cement board had to be put on the floor and in the walls before drywall could go up. We had a different porcelain tile for the bathroom walls that had to be set piece by piece. We had a shower seat added along with handicap bars in the shower plus an inset shelf for shampoo. We had delays in getting materials that were ordered especially our glass shower doors. Our existing cabinets were removed, sanded, stained a beautiful walnut stain, and rehung. We had a custom ordered bathroom sink and medicine cabinet plus a quartz sink surround. New lighting went up as well as a vent fan and new electrical sockets were added. The ceiling was replaced and walls painted. Also, while the bathroom was being rebuilt, we had the laundry room gutted to the studs, added insulation to the outside walls, drywall, new dryer vent and electrical work done plus my cutting counter built. They still have some more work in the laundry room. Then for Father's Day, I had them removed all of the old southern pine paneling out of my hubby's study (piece by piece) taking care not to break any boards. We added a new ceiling, insulated 3 of the outside walls, sand and stain the wood paneling, and then put it back up again. There is electrical work being done in that room too. It still needs some more work, too. Then we had the outside of our home painted along with the shutters and front porch floor, had an outside faucet added along with having a vapor barrier installed under the house in the crawl space. There was burst pipe repaired as well as some work done on the sewer drain. All of this has been in the past 6 weeks. Hopefully, everything will be done by next Friday. I'm ready for a break as is hubby. We'll start the kitchen in August or Sept.
Marty

[sewingrandma]

Is everything done on your house for the summer yet Marty? Hope all turned out the way you wanted.
Do hope that when they start your kitchen everything will go smoothly so they won't disrupt for too long.

[jackbenson003]

Hey Marty, it's great work you have done. I am impressed and want to do same with my old house at Maryland.

[MartySews2]

Brockie, haven't looked at this thread for quite some time. Unfortunately, we ran out of money before getting to the kitchen. The bathroom and hubby's study plus the work on the outside of the home took almost all of the funds. I did get some improvements in the laundry room including a cutting counter for me. Now, I can actually cut fabric at home. Still working on storage solutions. After we get the loan paid off, we will do my kitchen but then again, I may not live that long. I would like more than anything to have the walls and floors in the kitchen done. Our estimate is almost $30K even though our kitchen is only 8ft x 6ft. This month, we had a gas leak and it was from the valves in the floor furnaces. We had to get those and the thermostats replaced $1300. I had to replace the 2 batteries that power my wheelchair ($375), and a rodent chewed the wires in our daughter's car which resulted in a large auto repair bill ($275). On top of that, we finally got the paperwork done to change ownership of our burial plots from hubby's parents to us. Cha-ching, it was another $300. All of this since the first of February and it's only the middle of the month. It will be quite some time before any household repairs are done.
Marty

[sewingrandma]

We never got started on our plans for renovations last year and this year doesn't look much better as the roof needs repair then the ceilings need repair where the roof started leaking this winter. Winter has been very wet this year too---almost 5 inches above normal for the area. The ground is mushy to walk on around our house and I can't let Abby out to play on nice days because of all the mud.