Front Walkway

We got a warm day in December so it was on to patching up the mud hole in the front. As it turns out, there was a good bit of sidewalk that led up the old side door that went away...so now here it is moved to the front. It goes over top the trench for the geothermal - hope it doesn't settle too much (I compacted it as much as I could). Looks pretty good, I think.

Geothermal

So...after we finished the renovations we decided to bite another bullet and install the geothermal heating and cooling. We drilled two new wells and trenched a line into the house. This of course tore up what was left of our sidewalk, so that will be next.





Here's the unit in the basement. Looks space age...we're waiting to see how well it works. And we're waiting for the big tax refund for installing this energy efficient option!

Renovations: Final

This is pretty much it - the new house.

The outside is finished and the leaves are off the trees. The sunlight comes streaming in our new kitchen windows and the master bedroom is so bright. It is amazing!



One finishing touch: the powder room corner vanity with vessel sink - Pat's design!



What an adventure - this major renovation - not for the faint of heart (or wallet). We still have some finishing touches and a lot of moving in yet to do, but we are glad to be here in our new house!

Renovations: Week 9

Here are a couple more views, as things develop. We feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to bring our vision for this house, that we've loved for the last 15 years, up to date and up to its fullest potential.


We can't wait to use the new bathroom. The tiled shower looks so inviting and airy. The green corian top in the bathroom is in place and the plumbing is hooked up and ready to go. The tile floor is heated so once we get going, this might be a hard room to leave...


Here you can see the Corian countertop in place in the new kitchen. We love it! And the view from the front - wow!

Renovations: Week 8

The kitchen is taking shape. Now we can see the cabinets in place and some of the trim going up. Here are four of our main contractors, guys with whom we have spent quite a bit of quality time, lately:


Josh is Rocky Drass' nephew. He has worked very hard on our project doing all kinds of general labor. Rocky, our GC, is up on the ladder installing some crown moulding.


Adam, Rocky's brother, has also been on the job almost every day. He's done a lot of general carpentry and construction. You can also see that the painting is well underway.

Our roofer and sider, Scott, is putting the finishing touches on the siding on the back of the house. Now you can see that the cabinets are all in - we are waiting on the counter tops!

Renovations: Week 7

Week 7 saw so many changes - almost as much as in the beginning when demolition started. The big difference though, was that these were finishes - the things that really matter and would really show. So...we spent a lot of time looking at finishes, visiting home remodeling stores over and over again - until we finally came up with what we thought would be a winning combination.

This is the tile and our compass mosaiic installed in the front entryway. We carefully aligned the compass rose to true north. We think it looks great.



The painters are busy at it again. Choosing a color scheme was no small chore either - lots of paint samples and changing our mind. Thanks to Bobbi and Katie for their input. But now we're there - the whole house inside is getting new paint. How fresh!

And...we're getting all new wood trim inside. Here the painters are staining and varnishing the new pieces (right).



Here's a last minute change order. We really hadn't completely decided on the laundry room orientation, but once it was roughed out we knew we wanted a window in there. So here it is - and what a difference it makes in the laundry room space!



The new cabinets are going in - WOW! We love oak - that's obvious. But one funny item here - I found a scrap of wood in my wood bin from the last kitchen I built - in my last house almost 20 years ago! The wood scrap is an almost IDENTICAL match - color and wood. I guess our taste is consistent.




Our driveway has been full of trucks and our house has been full of workmen for months! They are nice guys but...



- Chuck and Pat

Renovations: Week 6

It is now the end of week 6. It's hard to believe how far we've come - the house is so different now. Demolition is over - it is all new construction and finishing now. The drywall is done although there are still a few rough spots and there's some small additional patching to do. The old doors have mostly been removed and a few new ones are in. The oak will look fantastic when it is finished. The electrical is mostly done and the plumbing is ready to receive our new fixtures.

This week we'll show a few videos of the progress. First, here is the outside of the house from the front. Nothing happened here this week (all work was indoors) but it was a nice, sunny afternoon when I took this video showing where we are now:

This view shows the rear. Nothing happened here this week either, but it's a good overall view:

Here is the master bedroom suite. A lot happened in here this week; the drywall is all finished, primed and some painting has happened. The room will be a light sage green with one darker green wall. The old door is removed, the master bathroom has received one coat of paint and the concrete tile base is in for the shower. Rocky ran the wiring for the heated floor but the element was too long; he took it back out to swap for the right length.

Finally, here is the kitchen and much of the downstairs work. We're almost ready for the new floor and the cabinets. A first coat of paint has been applied to most of these walls - you can see the color choices.

That's it for now. Next weeks photos and/or images should really showcase some bright new materials!

Renovations: Week 5

Rocky calls our house a "craft house" and it sure doesn't look contemporary anymore. Here's a link to an HGTV article about the "Arts and Crafts" Architectural style: http://www.hgtv.com/home-improvement/arts-and-crafts-architectural-style/index.html We now seem to have some elements common to that style. I find it interesting that the article prominently mentions Frank Lloyd Wright as the most famous architect who defined Arts & Crafts. Our house is no FLW, but the corner windows do remind me a bit of things I've seen in his Falling Water and Pope-Leighy houses.


The most interesting part of this transition is that we really added very little space - we only added about 40 square feet upstairs (extending over a small patch of low roofline) and about the same downstairs (the new laundry room is in former garage space). Yet WOW! what a difference - we love the stone, the siding and the new front entrance.




Suddenly it is time to select paint colors. Pat worked really hard on this; two of her best friends helped with color and theme selections - thanks Bobbi and Katie! We went to the Benjamin Moore store and selected from THOUSANDS of colors then brought home samples to paint. Pat is busily painting our test panels. Good thing we did - only two of our in-store choices will go on these walls!




Here is the loft prepped for paint. It sure has been fun (NOT!) walking around up here this weekend (my office is the door in the back).




The master bedroom drywall is all in; master bath to the left and closet off to the right. We love the new view out the front and side windows!




The kitchen drywall is in and the first coat of spackle is on. As you can see we'll have all recessed lighting.




Here's the new laundry room. One more window will go on the back wall providing a view into the back yard. We'll be re-hanging our old laundry room cabinets (they are in excellent shape) above the washer and dryer.




Before all the drywall sanding starts, we had to move EVERYTHING else into the basement. What a weekend! We emptied all the living room shelves, five closets (including our master bedroom closet which until now had been taped off), and we moved lots of furniture out of the way. Whew! It all fits in our basement - look!



It will be fun putting it all back. No, really - and you can help! Volunteers??????

- Chuck and Pat

Renovations: Week 4

Here is another one of the many full spaces - the garage. To the left are our old kitchen cabinets; We will eventually install them in either the garage or basement in a work area. Buckets of spackle await the drywall hanging, and our Amish masons are loading grout into the garage for next week's construction of the stone facing in the front and on our chimney. Maya in the foreground is supervising the project.



Rocky's trailer sank deep into the mulch off the edge of the driveway when he delivered it. The siding sits in a stack ready to go, and the yellow scaffolding will be erected around the chimney by the masons.



At left below, looking through the plastic sheeting for dust control, Chuck is checking out the fridge in our temporary kitchen. Hey, anything good to eat in here?

Below right - the new kitchen - all studded out. We just passed the electrical inspection, next comes the insulation and the thermal inspection. Then it's drywall time...



Here's a neat view: the photographer is in the new laundry room, shooting across the hallway (door to garage is on right), through the new powder room, through the new kitchen and out the new front windows.



Pat is checking out the garage from the new laundry room. She won't be able to do that anymore after the drywall goes up, but there will be a new window to the backyard to her right (after it comes in; we added that detail later, as a change order).

On the right, another view from inside the new kitchen. Power room is to the left and you can see out the garage door and out the garage window in the background.



Living in a stud house is fun. You can see what the spaces will eventually look like but it is so light and airy!!! Ha Ha - it's also buggy and dusty!

New week - DRYWALL!

Renovations: Week 3

So...what do you do with all that stuff that used to be in your kitchen, your laundry room, your closet, your pantry and on, and on, and on? Answer: move your daughter back to college and take over her room! Well that's part of it - the basement is pretty full too. Here's Chili's room now:



Our New Kitchen: Below you can see the dining room that is now serving as our current kitchen. We moved some basic food items and the microwave in there, followed by the stove and refrigerator. First though, Rocky had to enlarge the doorway to fit the fridge (and that was going to happen anyway) and then he built a tent around that doorframe. For now, we're washing dishes in the basement utility sink.



This tent, complete with zipper access, went up between the new kitchen and the living room. For those of you familiar with our house, the loft is above at the left. Before the renovations, there was a small pass-through window from the kitchen to the family room adjacent to the living room. Now, behind the plastic and the temporary studs, you can see that we've opened the wall all the way to the ceiling. You can see the light from the new kitchen windows at left coming through.



At left, below, you can see the new laundry room taking shape behind the studs separating the garage. At left was the former back door out of the garage, now to become a new window. The washer and dryer will go against the wall opposite the studs.

At right, below, Rocky (our general contractor) is stepping off the stepladder after adjusting a bulb in the new light fixtures in the kitchen. The view out the new windows is to the right, the new opening to the family room is on the left and the entryway to the dining room is off to the upper left in this picture.

One of the biggest surprises early on was that the floor joists above the kitchen ceiling ran perperdicular to what we, the architects and our contractor originally thought. This necessitated installing a massive composite beam in the ceiling to take the bedroom load; it along with some new wiring and plumbing is shown below left.

Below right, the new powder room is framed out. You can see the space for the fridge with the icemaker water supply towards the right; a floor-to-ceiling pantry cabinet goes behind that. In the far reaar of this image is where the laundry room goes

Back outdoors, meet a few of our other contractors: Nick is Rocky's father and he's a skilled carpenter. He shares his knowledge with his grandson Josh, on the right below.



Here's how the front looks this week: the new front porch is finished and the roof is going on. We chose a moderately brown, architectural shingle with a textured look. We;ve had great weather for the project so far - and this week was great with temps in the upper 70's and nice dry air. Hope it holds until the outdoor work is done!



- Pat and Chuck

Renovations Week #2

During week two, the demolition on the outside was completed. To prepare for the siding, the new windows went in on the entire house. In this picture (left) you can see the house wrap and four new windows; the new kitchen and front bedroom windows are not in yet. The green house wrap is ready and the old porch is long gone...

The picture on the right shows the beginning of our new porch. It will have exposed posts with Douglas Fir planking inside. It lets a lot more light in, and its height allows people arriving at the house to actually see the front door. Now you can see how we tied back in to the rock wall.



Here are two more views of the front; at left before the new kitchen windows went in and at right, just afterwards. So much more light gets in - amazing. We don't have the interior picture to go with this, but Rocky had removed part of the powder room and our small kitchen pantry closet to make room for these. We'll have kitchen until Monday of week three, then it's sledge hammer time...



Moving to the back of the house you can see the exposed chimney. No more siding there either - it will be covered with a stone veneer that matches the front wall. That and the new windows are about the only change in the back; we replaced the sliding door in 1995 when we moved in. It, like the new windows, is Anderson and is aluminum clad outside in terratone. It's not quite as good as new but still looks and works great.



On the inside, here's the view in our master bedroom towards what will be the new corner of windows - two facing west (on the right, already in position) and four facing south (currently a big hole that will be used to bring in drywall). The west facing and bottom two south facing windows are fixed and the two top south windows will be another gliding set of windows. The small bathroom window at left is a casement.



Here's where the new master bathroom will be. It's about the same size that we had before, but it will have a glass-enclosed, tiled shower only without a bathtub. We can't wait - it's going to be great!



There are many other changes out there; in every room we have some exposed drywall cuts where the new windows went in. It is hard to keep the dust down but we're trying and Rocky is working hard to keep everything covered. A lot of effort also went in to the placement of a massive, composite beam in the kitchen ceiling; while they were pounding it in to place the desk in my office two rooms away (where I was trying to work) was bucking and jolting like a wild horse! It is exciting to see all the changes we've been planning for so long start to take shape.

- Chuck