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Yee-Haaaa.....The House!

User
9 years ago

It is getting closer. Can you believe it? After waiting so long, having so much prepurchased and waiting waiting for this moment, we are actually down to engaging subcontractors for the roofing, the cabinets, the countertops. Of course all the appliances are already ON HAND in my Teahouse, as is the 1350 sq ft of Bellawood 5" wide Select Ash hardwood flooring.

Here is a fairly good rundown of what is in the works:

1. IT DOES INCLUDE THE FRONT ENTRY. However the contractor (I'll just say Bobby from now on) had not
noticed that there would be a NEW ENTRY DOOR, which swings the other way, and which is 32" not 36".
So he will add the cost of a new door to the estimate. But, not so bad.

2. Bobby will add 2 pair of bifold French doors (he missed them) to the estimate.. They close off the living room as a guest room when needed. So when you come visit me, you can sleep in the living room. Lots of wall shelving (not book cases, but tracks on the wall with brackets/shelves) for DH's books. He has tons of them, heavy paper text books from years of teaching and studying engineering.

2a.The cabinet guy (James ) estimate included the shelves either side of my range, 6 of them, and I already have those 9x24 stainless steel purchased. So they come off the budget. In their place will be the heavy duty lifter by RevAShelf for the stand mixer which comes as a kit. I
think that will be best gadget in the whole kitchen. It can support 80 lbs.

3. Bobby was figuring on drywall, and I was figuring on beadboard paneling, which I'd like to have in the bedroom sitting area. And on the ceiling in the entire new portion.

4. Paint will be my choice, and I don't want CEILING PAINT. What I want is semigloss latex enamel Behr Ultra Pure White
for the ceiling and the woodwork throughout. My experience is it helps with light in a fairly dark room. I also want a
satin sheen on the kitchen wall paint, and really ALL the
walls. I don't mind blemishes showing. By the time you
put up your pictures and other furnishings, few blemishes
are noticed. I'll probably paint over the Warm Terra
Cotta in the living room, dining room, this week. Then
I'll paint white over the awful boring beigy color in
our bedroom. (What possessed me to do THAT!)The only places I won't paint will be DH's playroom and the bathrooms and the walk in closet. The dark chocolate color in the hallway will need a couple of coats of white to cover that awfully dark room. I can use a roller and not
worry about the paint dripping so much, the floors will be covered with new wood....:) I also must get the yellow mixed for us. I think a 5 gallon bucket of the yellow might be enough to do 2 coats on LR, DR, Kitchen, sitting room, and Master BEDROOM. I love that color. It is so cheerful. I need something cheerful.

5. The barn door hardware. That is what I'm supposed to buy, and he'll do the install. I'll get the old cypress louvered door prepared as I like, and he'll hang it and provide the pull/push set. Not a bad deal. It will look so good. And never be in the way.

6. I forgot to mention the doggy door. I'll find a model I
like and tell him to get one like it. For small dogs.
Lockable from inside.

7. New wood on the deck. I will take the old treated boards and save them for raised flower beds. Also the 2x2 inch wood bannisters can be saved for my flower pot feet. Perfect
length for whiskey barrels already. Just back out the nails.
I can take those off NOW, in fact.

8. There was no stainless steel countertop estimate either side of the range. Instead he had estimated for quartz. Took that part out, 2 36w x 24d pieces of quartz, and added the stainless will be about $400 MORE to the price. Yikes, it is more than quartz or granite, but it IS what I want. I remind myself that the purpose of this remodel is to get a kitchen that is nice and easy to maintain and I know I'm not going to change my way of living, so the SS is the way to go there. I don't want to look for a hot pad as I remove hot pots from the gas range..

9. The garden window is a bust. Not getting it. Instead Window man doesn't even sell them, they are difficult. So..I am getting a 48x48 picture window mounted in a sort of box
bumpout maybe 6 inches to 9 inches deep. Don't want to
block my view of the birds in the garden, it will be mounted at countertop level in what I call an "infinity" mount. Want all the light I can get into the house. He will then extend the countertop of quartz into the box at the sink level, and it will be like a deep window sill. How cool is that! Just like in Ireland! I can put some plants in it, but not African violets since it faces south..

10. James the cabinet maker is doing the shelving up high wall to wall, in dining room. ONE such shelf above the 2 wall cabs and across the sink in the kitchen so I can put LED rope lights up there on a dimmer. Maybe some puck lights LED beneath the wall cabs in kitchen and dining room. Two such 12" deep cabs are in each space. Glass doors will be on the ones in dining room, open no doors in kitchen. That will be my only wall cabs. The higher stuff will be in the row of W/D,fridge, pantry/laundry rollout basket. I already have the wall sconces with adjustable arms to go above the
sink. Two over the sink, and 2 more flanking the
range. I have a big flat round white glass CFR (?) compact
florescent fixture to go where the existing kitchen light
is, new one looks like a round cloud, general lighting you
know. And another one I'll go buy for the similar
location in the added on kitchen space. The NEW space in the kitchen will be 9' deep (existing kitchen is only 8' deep).
It will also be 17' wide, as compared to the existing
kitchen at ~12' wide.

11. Tracks for the shelf brackets will be needed to run on top of every stud in the bearing wall of the master bedroom and in the living room. That will amount to a lot of shelf brackets and wood for the shelves too. But that is the only way to assure those heavy books won't tear up the place. I can even leave them up with a Murphy bed in front of the tracks in LR when I choose.. No reason to remove them.

12. The new entry will have beadboard. Maybe the real thing. I don't have any OLD beadboard, but I don't see why I cannot afford such a small area to have the real thing. First
impressions count. So. I'll tell Bobby to do that.

13. I must pick out. windows/doors soon. Bobby said those are critical since he'll need them to close off the new construction weatherproof and secure, before he begins demo of old kitchen and knock down all but a portion of three walls. He will case out the broad openings, leaving "headers" for the beams across the tops.
None of the three will need doors, but will have old wall
left at the ceiling, and on the sides where they meet the
adjoining walls. I feel this will preserve the nature of the cottage. I think it makes it stronger too, but that is just my opinion.

13. A 3 gallon elec water heater under the sink for dishwasher and sink use. The tankless is fine, but I like HOT WATER for washing dishes. I did not want an "instant" elec
hot water dispenser, since we already have one "instant" which is the gas tankless. The under-sink cab will be 48" wide, the sink is only 30" wide. So that gives me a lot of room to work with. trash/recycle under the right, w/h and a
cleaning supplies dolly under the left side. Maybe dog
food too. Haven't decided yet. Tired of seeing dog food on
the kitchen counter.

15. Removing the 42" TV, it is already off the LR
mantle and stored in the walkin closet for a while. I need
help to carry it outside. Then I'll
mount the smaller (32" TV with 3 HDMI ports) on a swivel/tilt wall bracket in the dining room opposite the window seat. Wires will go through the wall into the closet behind it. This new utility closet is located in end of hallway to block existing doorway to master bedroom.. One side of the closet will have
shelves deep enough to hold the DVD player and the internet modem/router, and all the ugly wires and chargers etc. I can store my camera and GPS and electronic gadgets on those shelves. There will be space for bulk storage like T-paper, P-towels, soap, vacuum, broom, mop,
trash bags, whatever....and I suppose DH's towels and
linens since that is his small bathroom adjacent to this
space. MY towels are in the homemade shutter tower in the master bath with the clawfoot tub. I also plan to install a second return air vent with a filter on the wall of the master bedroom, once the wall replaces that doorway. It will make sure the air gets returned properly. I fear forcing return air to route entirely through the kitchen to get back to the a/c unit will create a wind tunnel--sure to mess up my cooking on the GAS STOVE. And, that would also pull cooking odors all over the house, even with a strong range hood fan.

16. There will be foam insulation sprayed beneath the entire
house once the plumbing and the flooring and the electrical
are completed. This should help immensely with cold floors in the wintertime. Our heat is electrical now. I can see down the road changing it for natural gas.

17. I left out parts Bobby and I talked about. But,
I'll go over this again and again. I'll be super busy for the next week visiting the cabinet man James, the countertop man David, the door/window man, and the roofing man William. Oh yeah. Would you believe that GREEN RED BLUE roofing colors are more expensive? Some types of roofing are not even sold in our area. So I'm looking for a soft gray with a touch of green in it. I'd like WHITE if I could find it, but not sold here. It reflects the intense heat that we have with a BLACK roof. I mean, that is terrible. Which is why I chose a WHITE CAR.

18. Baseboards 6" high + top molding and a toemold I think Bobby called it. It will match the 6" wide stuff existing at the top. I must begin removing this baseboard stuff any day.

19. The outdoor shower will reuse the rain shower head hot/cold controls, and hose wand from our old one, but totally new lines running to it. I'll buy a 36x48 shower pan to be installed flush with the deck wood, and I'll buy the large porcelain tiles which will cover the house wall with a waterproof barrier behind them. It can drain to the city sewer or bypass to use for watering plants. Either way, we'll still pay a sewer fee since all water metered (except on irrigation meter) has that sewer fee added to it. I will be able to roll my bird cages into the shower, or bathe the dogs in their portable galvanized oval tub out here. I sure do miss my outdoor shower since I took it down at the beginning of the summer.

Happy days are here again.
Wonderful. My morale went up 100%.

Present look front.

I'll look up the link to new design posted a few months back.

Comments (13)

  • phoggie
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Cute house! I am looking forward to seeing more pictures!

  • User
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, Phoggie. You can tell it is a small place. I'm changing the entry so there will BE an entry, the archway will remain but the peak will go away and a shed roof (extended to rise from near the ridge and that wide picture window will come forward to create a neat entry only as deep as where the archway is, coming across almost to the sunporch. Put window back in place, close off the old hole for the door, mount an antique cypress louvered door within a recess backlighted but framed out like a door, instead of a porch light. Once you step onto that tiny "porch" you will have the doorway to enter on your RIGHT HAND. When I open the door, callers do NOT see the entire house, just the entry. Plus, that will give me better chance to arrange furniture decently. I'm also removing the TV from the living room. It will go on the wall in the DINING ROOM visible from the kitchen and perhaps one chair in the living room. It will be mounted on the wall, full till and motion. We can view it sitting at the window seat, not turned on during mealtime. Although, I can play music or John Serrie type videos MP4 or whatever they are, which I really like, Don't think TV is the center of the family any more.

    What IS the center, and it will be obvious when the kitchen is done, is the HEARTH as in the COOK STOVE, the FLAME of the hearth is with my gas range. My small crown jewel of the kitchen, the 24 inch Bertazzoni! Do you know how much I've yearned to cook on a REAL STOVE again? It has been years, Phoggie! Yes, that will be in an alcove, a squared up "C" shape with a 2-stool bar blocking off view of cooking from the living room space. That's on the LEFT. The wall between dining and kitchen is coming almost all the way down, except for the "header" as I call it that extends from the original doorway to the beginning of the cabinets on the exterior wall. I'll leave a wall stub there 24" deep just like the base cabs. The 4" wall remaining will be cased out with white painted woodwork, wall switches for new electrical will be somewhere around that wall stub. You'll see the pictures or the drawings first. I already uploaded parts of it, I think.

    Although I must say, I've pretty much nailed what I want, and now the architect and the contractor are on board, because they see that what I want is doable on our budget. Which I'm not saying anything with $$$$ to it, because if you don't count it, it is not real money. I discovered that when I fell in love with HOSTAS. I simply adore growing them. So now I apply this to my project.

    I prepurchased a lot of things, so now THOSE ITEMS are not an expenditure of the REMODEL BUDGET. Correct? At least, it does not figure in the budget.

    I have my own brand of arithmatic.

  • desertsteph
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I like your math!

    so glad your remodel is starting - we've been waiting a long time!

  • Shades_of_idaho
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I hope you will bless us with blow by blow photos like you did on the last remodel. It was so fun seeing the progress.

  • User
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Shades, I sincerely hope I am up to it. I'll be in the way of every subcontractor on the job.

    I picked up enough of the American Olean 2x4" subway tile squares yesterday for the backsplash at Lowes. I already have the tiles for the exterior wall behind the shower outdoors. I used those tiles in larger format for the master closet floor, and in the mosaic 2x2 sq ft format on mesh for the master bathroom. I like them. They are Italian porcelain not glazed, just total same color all the way through the tile. The hardness on those are rated 5, the very hardest, for public spaces indoors and outdoors, and they don't crack with the cold. Not that I have to worry about that here, I'd be more critical of that rating if I lived in Alaska or some place really cold.

    I think the most critical parts of the whole remodel will be the roof, the quality of the floor installation, the upgraded electrical system, the quality of the cabinets as well as their installation, and the quality of the windows. Suitability I guess. And I know what I want the windows to do--echo the style and design of the sturdy Lexan window walls of the sun porch. The windows will be something I am super careful about. They must have that open sunny feeling.

    In my head I have a vision of keeping my cottage style, with a cross between industrial and homey casual. All cleared away, everything with a place to go but relaxed, not all of it visible at one time. That's why I have a galley kitchen with a "L" shape to it. The original kitchen is the galley, left and right. Then the new end with be sort of right angles to it, and thus kept hidden. Sort of fool the eye. The original kitchen footprint is 8deep x 12 wide, with 6' opening when the dining room wall is mostly removed. It T's up to the new portion of the kitchen which is 9deep x 16-17 wide behind that. Part of the long view down the outside wall will be broken, so you don't get the full picture of the washer/dryer (stacked) and the cabs either side of the counter depth fridge. Likewise, you don't see my baking side, and the toaster oven and pegboard where I'll hang stuff a la Julia Child's kitchen. Sigh, I do so adore Julia's kitchen! That hidden part which faces the back deck, sort of has its free end (like a finger) pointed at the fridge,

    My "work triangle" is according to my own way of preparing and cooking meals. Still a triangle, but it has a twist to it.
    Eight feet between sink and range, directly across from one another. I guess it is about 8 to the fridge from the range, and then about 6 to the sink from the fridge. The end of the baking peninsula can serve as a countertop to set stuff going into and out of the fridge, which is about 4 feet across to that appliance from the peninsula.

    Works for me.

    The cabinet man, James, will be building the window seat as a low cab, heavy duty vertical file drawers two of them beneath. I'll have the right thickness of a cushion/mattress/whatever to complete the dining height bench seating. Just deep enough for sleeping so-so comfortable but not TOO TOO comfy.

    I haven't ordered the barn door hardware to mount the old heavy cypress louvered door to the master sitting area yet, but it won't be long. I had an estimate 2 years ago, when my plans were just beginning, and as soon as the new/current price is known, I'll order them to be shipped.

    The real issue right now, is the two exterior back doors I want will take 3-4 weeks for delivery. I want fiberglas, full double pane LoeE high impact with blinds in the middle. I have that now for the front door, and enjoy the amount of light coming into the house. The all-window wall across the back needs to have the two exterior doors onto the deck look the same, so I won't be reusing the old back door.

    Presently, I am cancelling the part of the remodel which will give me a front entry. It is a matter of slicing off that to stay within budget, or omitting some parts of the job that will give us a really nice kitchen that satisfies my desire to break out of this BOX. If I had gone with IKEA cabs as I originally planned, I could have the new front entry. However, my DH wants good cabs and to keep him happy, that is the option. Oh well, I am big enough to handle great cabs by a good cabinetmaker!

    The base cabs will be on legs, shaker style doors/drawer fronts. Painted white. Did you ever have any doubt that I'd want a WHITE KITCHEN? With YELLOW OCHRE LIGHT walls?

    Wish I had the old sign used to be along Highway 90 in Louisiana for THE WHITE KITCHEN.....near Slidell, and where my brother lived until he died in 2013. And beside Honey Island Swamp, where he and I ran swamp tours for a couple of years after I quit working in the oil field offshore. Personal and very nostalgic for me. Perhaps I should paint such a picture myself and hang it near the kitchen. Hmmmm. Why not.

    More to come. Stay tuned. :^)

  • Shades_of_idaho
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Is this the old sign?

    Here is a link that might be useful: The White Kitchen

  • lavender_lass
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Congrats ML :)

    You've been planning this for so long...I hope it all comes together smoothly, quickly and is all you hope it will be!

  • wordie89
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Adorable house and your plans sound thoughtful and will make the most of space. Thanks for sharing!

  • EATREALFOOD
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Best Wishes Mocassin…The outdoor shower sounds great.
    There is nothing like showering outside on a hot sunny day.(I have only used an outdoor shower a few times in Jamaica, W.I and at the local beach).
    I am positive that considering your planning all of it will turn out fantastic !

  • User
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, look who showed up! EatRealFood, it is so good to see you again.

    The final plans should go to the city for permitting by the end of this week.

    I got in the Rustica Hardware stuff for the barn door setup. It will serve as the interior entry to the sitting area of the master bedroom. The door itself is a cypress louvered door recycled from our river house destroyed by Katrina in 2005. I have two such doors, but one is 2 1/4" thick and super heavy. The other is 1 3/4" thick. Both are 83" tall. I'm leaving it to the contractor which to install. Based on his choice, I'll be removing lots of the old chipping paint, but not ALLL SIGNS of the paint, since I want it to remain OLD LOOKING.
    I think they date from about 1945. They served as storm doors for two different entries to our house.

    I'll try to give an updated pic of the layout of the kitchen and the master bedroom and dining room. I'm also adding a utility closet in the existing hallway, space which came available when I eliminated the doorway to the master from this hall. Thus, what happens is the hall bathroom now is rather dedicated to the OTHER bedroom (it is a 2 br house), and perhaps usable by guests, but essentially the house will have 2 master suites, once the door into the hallway from the dining room is closed and latched. I think this will make the house of interest to two roommates as a rental in the future. That is my thinking while working out this plan.

  • mushcreek
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    ML- Just getting caught up on this thread while I wait for the sun to come up. I'm looking forward to watching your progress- it sounds exciting! I have ten antique doors to remove paint from, so I feel your pain, and then some.

  • User
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the sympathy, Jay. Mine will be the ONLY old door in the place, and I regard it as an art object more than functioning doorway. With just the two of us living here, and central heat/ac, I'd don't plan on closing it that often. I got the barn door hardware in this week, Monday I think, and it is industrial style and probably oiled metal. Not stainless. The bushings in the two wheels on the top track are not nylon or whatever, but the durable stuff, which is why I went with Rustica Hardware. I found it on the website BarndoorHardware.com ... take a look at the pictures of ideas there.

    Last week, I purchased the unglazed porcelain Italian tiles from Lowes, same type and color we used in our master closet on the floor. These will be mounted on the exterior wall of the outdoor shower. Turns out I have enough bullnose 12" long strips to frame it in, same color/same brand. There were other leftover tiles my DH had stashed in his workshop, and I gathered those for use inside my Teahouse, once it is cleared out. I might lay those inside the entries, just a pad not a full covering.

    I had ordered the shower pan from Home Depot, but it arrived damaged. It was fiberglass and had a big chunk broken off. Fortunately, I returned it same day and called the contractor. He said he could have a galvanized shower pan fabricated much cheaper and just right for dropping into the deck level with the deck wood, so nothing raised up. I'd be able to roll bird cages into it quite nicely. Also could give the dogs a bath using their galvanized oval bathtub set on my teak shower bench....I've had that bench for YEARS, waiting for such an opportunity to use it!

    Hopefully, our project will be done before Christmas. How neat is that! I was beginning to think it would never happen.

  • lavender_lass
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Great news! Pictures? :)