Last month I shared a first "Making it Home" post with you. I recounted the barely believable list of renovations that we managed to complete in the first few weeks of owning our home. I posted before and after pictures of our kitchen, playroom and the girls rooms...
Now I'm going to skip over a lot of work that we did (outside) and simply say that about a year ago our focus shifted to the yard. Over the Spring and Summer months, we fixed our deck, had a small pool installed, built a deck for that and put up a pretty unique toy structure for Layla.
We had intentions of getting back to the basement renovations and completing them before the end of the summer. But for one reason or another those "plans" never really panned out.
Then the plan was "by Christmas"... mmm... that didn't happen either.
Then "over the Christmas holidays"... not so much.
Sometime in February I made a call to the plumber to get an estimate for plumbing costs if we wanted to have a shower or bath put in to the laundry room and THAT kick-started our latest phase of renovations - less than a month after the deadline to claim the expenses on our income taxes (pfff... who wants to save $$$ on a several thousand dollar project anyways?...Right?... sigh...).
So this is what the laundry looked like a few days after I saw the plumber. It's really too bad that I don't have the real "before" pictures to show you. The old wood windows, the filfthy wood panelling on the walls, the hot water heater in the corner of the room... it was quite the laundry room. Needless to say, it was due for a make-over!
About a month later - we've hit a wall in our basement renovation. Literally.
In the t.v. room and hallway we've managed to install the new laminate flooring and prime and paint the walls and doors. All we have left to do on that "side" is the mouldings and we'll be ready to set up our t.v. and move the furniture in.
In the laundry room, we jack-hammered the floor to be able to add the plumbing needed for a bath drain (and to install a new toilet).
When Brandon started with the jack hammer, it was barely making a dent in the cement. I was thinking to myself "he is going to kill" - especially since it was my idea to complicate the laundry room renos by adding a bath in the first place!
The original pipes were MUCH higher than we were expecting so some of them took a beating from the jack hammer. At least now everything is up to code (back-up valve and all!). But sheesh - with the price of plumbing, I should HOPE that things are up to code!
One more thing about this whole "plumbing" experience. The plumber-dude convinced me that I should have these wall mounts installed for the access to my washing machine water and drain so that 1) it would look nicer and 2) I would be able to push my machine right up to the wall. I am not so happy with them.
First of all, they're ABOVE my washing machine so they don't look very pretty. Second, the way they were installed makes it so that the drywall won't go flat around them. Finally, they could have just been installed lower, at the back of the cupboard under my sink - that way I wouldn't have paid the extra $60 for these little plastic wall mounts AND I would have had easy access to them WITHOUT having to LOOK at them.
First of all, they're ABOVE my washing machine so they don't look very pretty. Second, the way they were installed makes it so that the drywall won't go flat around them. Finally, they could have just been installed lower, at the back of the cupboard under my sink - that way I wouldn't have paid the extra $60 for these little plastic wall mounts AND I would have had easy access to them WITHOUT having to LOOK at them.
So... back to the list of things accomplished in the laundry room.
1. Floor jack-hammered to have access to pipes.
2. Plumbing added for bath and brought "up to code" for everything else.
3. Cement poured into giant hole in the floor.
4. Sub-floor layed
5. Bath installed.
6. Drywall put up.
7. Drywall Joints
... and this is the "wall" we've hit.
JOINTS.
Plastering drywall joints is one of those things that you should pay someone to do. Unfortunetly we're already over budget and so we're trying to cut corners where we can. So far Brandon has done 2 coats of putty and sanding. It's starting to look "okay"... but there's still work to be done. The poor guy hates this particular job so much that he compares it to "scratching a chalkboard" and actually gets goosebumps just thinking about sanding.
JOINTS.
Plastering drywall joints is one of those things that you should pay someone to do. Unfortunetly we're already over budget and so we're trying to cut corners where we can. So far Brandon has done 2 coats of putty and sanding. It's starting to look "okay"... but there's still work to be done. The poor guy hates this particular job so much that he compares it to "scratching a chalkboard" and actually gets goosebumps just thinking about sanding.
We're both anxious to move on the next steps (there are oh so many steps to this!)... priming, painting, installing the floor, tiles in the shower, installing the toilet and sink... etc. etc. etc.
We just have to make our walls look good first...
(to be continued)
Posts
2 comments:
I got goosebumps just reading that Brandon gets them. Ug.
I can't wait to see the final room!
K from LifeofK
seriously? too funny.
get this though... B is a teacher... and he went out and bought a laptop with a touch screen so that he can write his notes for the kids like that (using a projector) instead of writing on the chalkboard(!!!)
Post a Comment
What do you think about that?