What's the shower tile - some type of quartzite? I like the transition to the limestone.
To be honest I am not sure. I picked them up at the Re-Store. I liked the color but there was only enough to get half the room, so I decided to do the (fake limestone) tile on the other half and split the room in 2 out of necessity.
I have seen much worse, one house in Marda loop area takes the cake (it was torn down) but impressive on your turnaround.
Sad to see how some people live
I have nothing to add except to say well done, it's looking great so far! Can't wait to see the house after it is all finished. Be sure to keep us updated!
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Thanks for the bump Clarkey, kinda forgot out this thread!
Well its been 11 months since my last update. We have lived through a winter and have learned a lot more about the house. First thing winter revealed to us - this house is cold! To be expected it is a 50's bungalow with 2x4 walls. Poor insulation by todays standards but the new windows and furnace hopefully have helped nicely.
The cold - last winter I noticed that my chimney stack from the basement let a river of cold air in from the roof. Like a serious river of cold air. When I investigated the attic this summer it turned out the chimney ran through the ceiling to the roof with no insulation around it. As in where it broke through the ceiling there was about a 5 inch gap of no insulation - resulting in all the cold air from the attic flowing directly to the basement. This fall I added a few batts of R-20 and it seems to have remedied this situation.
The great room - also cold - very cold. Last winter we burned a fire almost every night. Our great room was an addition in the 80s. They never brought the forced air into that room and only added electric baseboard heaters. We never turned them on, instead we bought a chainsaw and got firewood. I had noticed when we moved in that there was a small floor hatch to access the crawl space under that room. So this summer I investigated to find out why it was so cold. I had expected a 1 or 2 foot crawl space but when I popped the hatch all I saw was darkness and a ladder extending down.
What we have under the room is a half basement ~ 5 ft down with a concrete footing wall all around. No insulation on the concrete - resulting in a very cold room. This fall I framed out the walls and added R-20 insulation and a vapor barrier - noticeable difference already!
While down in this area we found out a way to run power through the house to the garage (via a trench out the back) to get a sub panel in the garage. Now I can have heat in the garage this winter. This work is currently ongoing - the heater arrived today! I can say that digging in my neighborhood is pretty crappy. The Laurentide ice sheet of 20K years ago left behind a heap of rocks. But by the end of next week the shop should be back in full heated swing!
Also while under this room we have found a way to bring forced air into the great room in the future. Perhaps a job for next summer - it is not a priority right now. I also have about triple the firewood that I had last year. We will not be cold this year!
Renovations - They have been slow. The winter being so crappy and cold last year really put a damper on things as I didn't have the ability to use the shop. That is why the heater out there has become the biggest priority for this winter. A warm shop will help me work on the baseboards and window trim which has yet to be completed after replacing the windows last winter. My wife is now adamant that is going to happen soon! lol!
We did manage to fix up our bedroom and make it a bit fun, nothing to crazy but a little paint.
Before:
Not the best photos but it gives you an idea of the interesting paint scheme. Also there are now two vertical grey stripes that frame out the green area. That area will serve as a larger frame for the king sized bed I am going to build this winter - in my warm shop!
Bathroom -
I fought will this pedestal sink. It lost and got tossed. The simple sink change turned into a variety of handymaning. Plumbing, drywall and a custom vanity for the new sink as it was to heavy for the wall. It was a pain but we have a much better piece in there now.
Now that it is colder we can move our work indoors. This winter we would like to paint everything and get all the trim on the windows. Seems like a simple to do list but almost everything needs to be re done right before it can get to the "I'm going to paint stage".
This summer we worked outdoors.
I had a patch of pea gravel and dirt in the backyard from where the former renters had an above ground pool. So I laid down some bags of dirt and seed and managed to get it to grow into a real nice grass patch. It has taken a lot of work but the lawn is looking somewhat respectable both in the front and back
My front steps needed work. When we bought they were covered in pressure treated ply and 2x6s. I removed all that to find a giant hole in the bottom step. I filled it with dirt and did a concrete patch. I then over layed the step with a cedar boardwalk that leads to our parking pad.
Before:
After:
We have since mulched the mound in a charcoal color mulch and the grass has come back nicely. I still have more work to do on the front steps next summer. Things don't happen quick here but they will look very original when I get to them.
That is all I have for now!
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Last edited by surferguy; 11-13-2014 at 10:58 AM.
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I'm pretty impressed with your tenacity. I can't imagine doing this to a house. But then, I'm not even big on the idea of mowing a lawn. *L* I saw a house like this, I'd be telling the seller "Call me back when it's finished. I'll look at it then."
"I'm here to inspect your studs."
