Easter

april already.  We have had the beach house almost a year.  We closed last yr at the end of April.  On our anniversary.

This yr will be our 15th yr anniversary

So the kitchen.  I started the final demolition, J had to help finish with the big ugly stuff. What a mess. But it's gone, gone, gone.

I hired a new drywall guy, Tim.   One person worker.   Nice fella.

The leak, despite assurances of the contractor Ryan, was NOT fixed.   So he came back yesterday and added more caulking.   Both J and I have doubts this will fix the leak.  But it will cure in 2-3 days so then we will see.   I have considered just ripping out the door upstairs and replacing it with a new sliding glass door.   The door is about $600.  But the install will be A Lot more I am sure.

We tried to install the ikea cabinet.  But it is incorrect in depth.  And, ikea has since changed their cabinets---after 17 yrs same cabinet base!  So that means I can't get the correct size.   I'm not happy!   But we will probably use that cabinet in the garage. Because IKEA will not let me return it.

I will have to drive the 3 hrs to ikea with measurements and get the uppers now that the drywall is mostly done.

Maybe next weekend.

partial demo of soffit

full demo cabinets and shelves gone

with new drywall

So now onto granite snafu.  Javier sent his bro (Diego) to measure.   I showed him the vent hood and cooktop, gave him the specs and cut out templates.  The granite he brought Does not fit. They attempted some extra cutting to make it fit.   Looks like crap.  So they brought two pieces of granite about the size of a half a bar of soap to use as a "decorative " cover for the gap.   Again ---looks like crap.
So now they are gonna redo the granite. This time with a cut in it to slide the two pieces together over the two appliances. The granite seams are almost undetectable nowadays .  So I hope this will look ok.   Of course he said he would do it today,  Saturday, but just texted and said it was now postponed to Tuesday.
Surprised? No, me either.     He sucks at time management. His intentions are good though.  I'm  usually not this patient with a tradesman, but for some reason I like him and his brother.  They are  hard workers.  From Peru.

The fence guy was supposed to stop by yesterday to repair the fence he installed in December.  It is leaning and loose.  He again failed to show up or call ---such a dirt bag.   I, of course, emailed and called.  No response. I would like to stab them when they lie about showing up.  Not a fatal stab.  But something that teaches them them importance of follow thru.  Maybe just a firm kick in the groin. I finally called him today using a different phone, and I caught him at home, he PROMISED to come by tomorrow between 3 pm and 7 pm to repair the leaning fence.

So today I'm dead in the water.  I could paint, but I'm not inspired to do so.  I've found I need inspiration or it is a chore.

I have no oven and no cooktop STILL!   So the best I can do is microwave and toast.  This becomes unpleasant fast.  Fortunately, there is still vodka.

Tim the drywall guy was reasonable about completing the job ---pending the leak fix, he asked I pay him less $200 so he is motivated to come back and finish.   I agreed!

He accepted a check, but then sent a frantic text the next day saying that the bank would not cash it. So I went to the bank, and they had a different story---said he was a jerk, cussed them out and tore up the check in font of them.  His story was the ATM machine torn the check---funny! and sad, he said he did not have a  bank account and he could not cash it or deposit at his bank.

How in the hell do you survive without a bank account?

Almost spring

Well, per the calendar, it IS spring, but it's still cold.

We did a lot this weekend.

J nailed all the balusters onto the balcony so it would pass the city permit.  We had 6 months from early October.  So we are just getting it finished.  Inspector is coming tomorrow. I'll be happy to have that permit closed.   I did not like the inspector visits.  Nor the stupid regulations.  Plus they are so variable depending on which person you get.

I made sure J had a new compressor.  Our old one died.  I placed it in the curb for pick up at 5 pm, at 530 pm it was gone.  I don't know why I bother calling the city for bulk pickup.   The scrapers usually take most stuff.

new blusters on balcony- passed city inspection!!!

We have been struggling with the type of railing for the balcony for 9 months.  We wanted the metal line railing like you have on a sailboat, but just to do a small balcony would have been well over $1000
 The wood balusters were about $50.   They are a bit more obstructing of the view, esp from the prone position while laying in bed.  But they look nice and uniform.   And they were fairly easy.   I still have to paint them.
And if there are EVER kids on the balcony, the balusters are less than 4 inches apart, so the kids' heads will not get stuck. Like that is EVER going to happen--NOT.

Then we had to empty the garage off all contents because they were coming to move it.  It is now a mini me.  It is in line with the home roof line as opposed to 90 degrees off.

new built-in book cases J made, in the bedroom/office area. 

J also finished the built-in bookcases. I have to paint them. (still)

Pigeon deterrents

J also was motivated to get the pigeons off the roofline becauses they poop onto the balcony. So he added these plastic and stainless steel bird discouragement spikes on the house edge.  We didn't know if plastic or metal was best so we got both and he arranged them in an alternating pattern.  Liquid nails did the trick, the adhesive that came with the product was crap.







We had electrician visit yesterday.  He worked on kitchen lites and addition of 220 and 110 outlets.  He also added a few halogen bulbs too.   Today I had the plaster guy do his thing.  First he had to repair the 8-10 cracks that had occurred in the past 6 months since he did the original work.
That was not to bad, he just rolled on the mesh tape and used the 5 minute plaster to swipe over the cracks.
UNFORTUNATELY, now I still have to prime and paint over the areas he re-plastered.

We also have electricity in the mini me garage and an outside plug for the GEM.

I had a new cabinet guy come today to estimate the cost and to plan the cabinet for the wall oven.  Although it is not ideal, he seems to think it will work with the pull out Rev a shelf.

He actually worked for the same cabinet guy that did our other two kitchens.

I tried calling that cabinet co. first, but they never respond.  Maybe I'm blackballed.
All I know is the older man was nice and I liked him, the younger guys seem lazy to me.


So I believe that the next stuff that has to happiness is this:

0. hang IKEA cabinet above refrigerator, cut out wood near pantry floor.
1. get leak fixed, flashing--general contractor, not contacted me yet, will call in AM.
1a. finish demo
2. dry wall, need to tell him not to do behind the refrigerator.
3. pick up granite and install it, the stone guy called today, told me if I picked it up and installed it myself it would be $150 less.  I told him YES, because it is a small piece and honestly, most will be cut out for the cooktop and vent hood. So it will not be that heavy.  Worry that the part he cuts out is centered just in the cabinet for cook top, not the entire 48 inches.
4. Get cabinet placed for wall oven.
5. get electricians back to hook up wall oven, dishwasher, cooktop and vent hood.
6. J is working on vent hood venting
7. worry if the european plug on the cooktop can be converted to US type plug or just hard wired in.....
8. paint, ? back splash?
9. door on pantry
DONE
Ok here are pix:

MOVING the garage

garage contents

new recessed can LED lights, in kitchen

new bank of cabinets for cooktop and pop up vent hood, waiting for granite

partial demolition of soffit in kitchen

work in Kitchen

We were able to secure the services of the framer who did all the work upstairs, Al.
He came out gave us a quote and did the job the next day. DONE like magic!!!

We had to scramble the night before and find a new back door, a Masonite (brand) that is rot free, because it faces the water.

We found one at home depot and also got a cypher lock for the door.  That's a locking deadbolt with 8 numbers, you get to select a 6 digit code and that is how you can get in.  There is also a key.

After J had ripped  out the drywall to make the refrigerator space, he found rotting and wet studs, so this is what Al replaced. Al also added 2 headers so we can add the cabinets above the refrigerator and the door to the pantry.

Today I had Dave come by and discuss the insulation, he is the salesman for the spray insulation company. Because it was such a small space, he told me how to do it myself to save about $200.  Thx Dave. :)

I have to get these sheets of spray foam insulation, that you cut to fit, then use the spray cans to seal the edges.

If there is room you can add batting type insulation. But that typically ends up being too thick then to add the drywall.

I'll see this weekend if I can find the stuff at home depot.

I also had the cabinets for the cooktop cut down from 24 inches to 18 inches.  This will hold the 2 burner cooktop and the 30 inch down draft.  I have that on order, it should arrive in a few weeks.

I'm picking up the cabinets tomorrow.  I will have to wait to get the granite until the downdraft arrives.  They use a laser to make sure the cut is exact.

We have discussed and planned lightening, one "can" light above coffee station, one above cook top, and one above sink.  All LED lights since they draw the least amount of electricity.

Then a fixture aimed at the bar top.

I also have the wall oven on order, but it will not arrive for about 6 weeks, it's on back order. But it's pretty cool, a 24 inch FAGOR wall oven 2 cu feet, fits a 20# turkey, and it has a right side hinge, so you can get stuff in and out easier.

This will sit above my lovely 18 inch bosch dishwasher, that I am anxious to get installed.  I will have an extra 5 inches next to DW so we will add a pull out cabinet for either rolls of plastic and foil wrap OR cookie sheets/cutting boards.

So here are two pix:

old nasty door with rotted wood

lovely clean, strong headers for both pantry and fridge area, new door, and cabinet with granite will be the new coffee station.

The insulation will be above the new door and in the currently exposed walls. 

Today has been SUPER windy, gusts up to 50 mph.  J's plane was on a delay for 1 1/2 hrs on tarmac due to wind.  But he finally got to work! 

The wind is STILL howling!

Done wallpapering!

Don't let the other DIY "you tubes" fool ya, wallpapering takes a VERY LONG TIME.   Now perhaps, I had a special case, because I had SO much prep work to do, but still, it you want it to come out decent, you gotta take your time.

It's all the details like around the corners, edges, and around the window sills.

I was ORIGINALLY going just 1/3 up, but the walls were in such bad condition, I did a plate rail hight vs. a chair rail height.

But, I'm done--at least in the living room.

I even had to wait for one more roll to arrive via UPS.  But fortunately, it came Friday...so I had to finish this weekend, so J can add the last bit of plate rail molding.

Here are some pix:

had to do 2 coats on ceiling

covered with some prep completed

in a holding pattern, waiting form more wallpaper to arrive





ALL DONE!!!!!

the color is called: FUN YELLOW, on the walls, the ceiling is 1/2 FUN yellow and 1/2 white ceiling paint. 

plate rail height, headboard, paintable wallpaper, needs paint!
I plan on painting the beadboard a shiny or at least semi-gloss white, as well as the molding.

I also did a bit in the bathroom.  

NOTICE the lovely pattern on the vinyl floor!!!

Improved with black tiles, and notice the AWESOME sliding farm door, the handle I bought for $2.50 from a used boat store, it's a big cleat!

Just HARD labor

NO sexy before and after pix today.  I am just documenting the HARD, manual labor that is part of a home reno.

Today I was up at 530 ish...  waiting for the sun to rise so I could shovel more gravel in our dirt driveway, esp. since it is supposed to POUR tomorrow.

While I was waiting for a bit of daylight, I started to prep. the walls in the living room for paint and wallpaper.
The walls are original, with so many holes and patches, and old bird poop, (I believe, previous owner had birds) with gouges and screws and nails in the most unlikely places...I could go on and on, but please believe me, the walls are gross and disgusting.

Last night I used this spakle that is brite pink, but dries white and filled in as many of the holes and cracks and gouges I could find.

So I had to sand the filled areas first. That was messy. I used electric sander and the dust billowed.   I had the small vacuum on just to suck some of the dust from the air.

I have been reading another blog about paintable wallpaper and the prep needed. So I started washing the walls with a heavy duty cleaner called TSP.
It's a powder and you dissolve 1/4 cup in 2 gallons water.
They recommend you start at the bottom and go up to avoid dirty streaks.  I HAD NO IDEA HOW dirty the walls were before I started washing them.  They were super gross. I had to change the water and TSP every arms reach.

I was using a quart container,  each time I'd fill it with TSP solution, scrub the section, then dump the disgusting water in bath sink and filled up my container with clean water. Then I had to go back and rinse the section I just cleaned. You can not leave the TSP residue on the walls.

You have to wear PPE:  I used safety goggles, a N-95 mask and long sleeves.

That was ONE wall, of 4.

So then I had to shovel gravel for about 45 minutes, trust me--that's a work out. I had it measured: 20 shovel fulls per cart, then dump and spread with metal rake.
Still not done, but I had to go meet a guy from Craig's list. He was selling a rain barrel and I needed one, actually two. But he only had one.  So I got it.   Saved about $55 by buying it used.

Also had to get stuff for wallpaper: size and wallpaper paste (glue)  ---not many places carry it, I finally found it at TAYLOR's DO IT center.   Sherwin Williams and Lowe's did not have it.

Size is a pretreatment that you put on the wall before wallpaper, or you will NEVER EVER be able to get the wallpaper off.  It's sorta like a primer.  It's actually kinda like a watery starch.
Also got a few plastic drop cloths.

I was also looking for carpet squares, or carpet tiles.  To cover the horrid vinyl pattern in the bathroom.
No luck.  I KNOW this bathroom will be demolished, but probably not for close to 2 yrs, so I want to fix it just a bit.  It is SO ugly.

I did grab a cute wooden Xmas ladder 75% off, and then spray painted it black to use as a towel rack in the bathroom.

So when I finally got home, about 3 pm, I realized I still needed paint.   I took the color I liked from Sherwin Williams and the folks at Home Depot match it for about $15 less per gallon.
I had a 3-4 month old gallon of white I had purchased in the "oops pile" and I just had that tinted to the Sherwin Wms color.

I also needed ceiling paint.  Based on my research, I am painting the walls and ceiling the same color, Fun Yellow, but the ceiling gets 50% tint and 50% white.  Also ceiling is a flat finish, walls are eggshell finish.

I hope I have better luck with this ceiling, last ceiling I painted, I over reached and fell off the ladder and broke my arm in 4 places. It was actually the ball of the upper arm, that ball that fits in the shoulder socket.
That was unpleasant.  So far that has been my only broken bone. Bones heal in 6 to 8 weeks.

Oh, while I was at Home Depot, I had them shake the can of orange, or cantaloupe. I then painted the front door. THE inner front door.  Yes, we are replacing that too. But who knows when, and it was so gross, I couldn't stand it any longer.  Plus, now I can paint those accent pieces on the new garage.

Then I covered everything with my plastic drop cloths, and commenced to sanding, then wiping and vacuuming.   Then I had to mix a batch of TSP again.  Don the PPE and start scrubbing, dumping, cleaning with rinse water and repeat.

I'm done with the cleaning of the walls. I did not clean the ceiling.  I should clean the ceiling.   I'm too tired. I will address it tomorrow.  Now it's 9:15 pm.

I need some hand lotion, mine feel like those guys that just climbed some peak with bare hands.....odd thing is I have been wearing gloves for all my activities...but with it being cold and winter and wet---hand skin dries out pretty quickly.

OK that's it for the glamorous reno work today.  Maybe tomorrow I will have pix. My plan is to:

1. clean ceiling
2. paint ceiling
3. paint walls
4. start wallpaper, it will be a bead board pattern, but I was gonna do a chair rail height, but now I'm thinking a plate wall height.  It looks more beachy that way I think.

I will research it tonight.

Dead of winter!

I was reading a weather review of our zip code, it said the coldest day of the year, statistically from 1974 until 2012 is Jan 19th.   That's it, that's the coldest----but last week it was 18 degrees and the past few days it has been "wintery mix" at 33 to 32 degrees.

So it is a perfect time to do some YARD work.

We have a dirt driveway, not kind to cars and muddy when it rains.

So I ordered more gravel, this time 8 tons--which is about $350 including delivery.

have tools, ready for manual labor

8 tons of gravel

IMPROVED driveway!

Not completely finished with spreading, but enough for today.

Happy New Year

So much going on over the holidays, not much reno happened----other than the fence and garage.

J was happily surprised.  It has been tooooooo cold to do any further painting. Tonight, I hear the low will be 18 degrees.

Wow, and we do not have a fireplace in this tiny house--wish we did!  We have a chimney, so maybe one day I can hook up a wood burning stove. But that's a long way after we finish a bunch of other projects.

The day after thanksgiving, I took advantage of the 15% off at the rustic hardware store and bought the parts to make a sliding barn door for the bathroom. Here is the website:

http://rusticahardware.com/barn-door-hardware/


here is what our new bathroom door looks like:

CLOSED

OPEN

We bought the door at a architectural resale shop in Norfolk for $55, it is solid, heavy wood!  I just did some scrubbing and lite sanding and an all over with Murphy's Wood cleaner.  J did all the hard work of drilling and attaching the sliding apparatus. It has a U shapped metal piece at the bottom that keeps it in line and from flapping; the sliding mechanism is very smooth and quiet.
I have a large cleat I bought at a used boat store that we are going to add as the door "KNOB."

I LOVE IT!

It is like having a pocket door, but better.    And we gained a lot of space in the bathroom from the old door that would open into the bathroom space and block the corner.

We are going to EVENTUALLY rip out this entire bathroom and push it two feet to the left, but this will be one of the later projects, after the kitchen is finished.  We intend on reusing this same door though.


I was shopping for single wall ovens, did not buy one yet, but I have seen a few for around the $700 range.
This week, I will try to repurpose the porch as a dining space and workout area.  We will see how far along I get.