Summer 2012: Bathroom - Construction and Finishes

We got the bathroom drywalled.
Our drywallers used Densheild (not our favorite product - we asked them to use cement board!) we had to put a moisture barrier behind the tile (not pictured).

As soon as we got the toilet set in place...we realized we had a big problem...water was leaking into the basement! We were able to figure out where the leak was coming from and had to open up more walls (in the downstairs bathroom) to be able to fix the leak. So, some idiot had a t-pipe that wasn't capped and the water just dumped into the basement. Needless to say, we fixed it!

This is our painted and cleaned-up living area upstairs. So much nicer than before!!

Here is our bedroom (which still needs some decorating work!). We painted the bedroom and also added the angled door to the bathroom. The door is a little funky but worked best with the layout of the bathroom.

Ta-Da...here is our bathroom! We installed an Ikea sink and cabinet which we separately purchased a low-flow faucet for. We also installed the same low-flow Toto toilet (Eco-Drake) that we used in the downstairs bathroom...we freakin' love that thing!

Summer 2012: Upstairs Remodel - Demo and Construction

 

We removed the carpet to find some pretty nasty laminate flooring below. But, under that was nice solid wood. We are salvaging the rest of the carpet in the upstairs and reusing the carpet we cut out for a closet.

 

We added plywood to give the floor more support and made a hole for the new door (from bedroom to bathroom). And, yes, that is Conor wearing cowboy boots!! 

We made the door to the stairwell taller so that we didn't hit our heads anymore!!

 

Here is our framed out bathroom wall from the hallway/sitting area. 

 

This is the framed wall from inside the bathroom...with new skylight!!

We realized that in order to make the most out of the small space we needed to put the door as close to the attic knee-wall as possible...so we had to cut the door to fit. Looks pretty good! It was a used door and works perfectly.

We installed a pre-fabricated cast-iron shower pan, included a little cut-out box in the shower and a bench in the shower. We also made some built-in shelving. 

We needed to add a soffit so that we could connect our new plumbing to the existing wasteline and run new water pipes from the basement to the second story. We also cut out the angled door way to find out that the door didn't have a header...and it was in a load bearing wall...no wonder the wall above was cracking! So, we added this bomb-proof 2x8 header with king/jack studs.

Summer 2012: Upstairs Remodel - Before

This is the door to the stairwell. It is currently too short and we hit our heads when we walk upstairs!! We are going to raise the door up higher.

 We are going to square out this door.

Upstairs where the new bathroom will go.

 Future bathroom space.

Summer 2011 - Kitchen Remodel

Here is the mostly finished kitchen. We still have some trim work and other minor things but it is pretty close to complete! We also added a new glass backdoor and got an island from Ikea.

Summer 2011 - Kitchen Remodel

After demo, we painted our existing cabinets. They were in great shape and limited the amount of waste and new materials needed. We were particularly excited about keeping them once we realized they were Youngstown vintage cabinets from the 1950's and pretty darn popular these days.

Next, we added new countertops. We installed Eco by Cosentino which are 75% recycled material and use a corn based resin to glue the material together. The countertops are beautiful and very durable! We also installed a new tile blacksplash.

Summer 2011 - Kitchen Remodel

We began with demo!

Summer 2011 - Kitchen Remodel

So, we took nearly a year off from house renovations to focus on work and school. Then over the Summer of 2011 we got ourselves into a huge project!! We decided to go for it and do a kitchen remodel and it was well worth it. We had already added the pantry and replaced the kitchen floors so it was time for a new paint job on the walls and cabinets, new counter-tops, new back-splash, some new appliances and a big hole in the wall. Just for a reminder here is what the kitchen looked like prior to the renovation.

Summer 2010 - Garden / Veggies

Here are some pictures of our yard, veggies and fruits. This year we successfully planted squash, zucchini, tomatoes, beets, and lettuce. We also had a cherry tree that we made some yummy cherry pie with and are getting ready to make peach pie with our peaches. Somehow our apples all went missing...weird!

August 2010 - Added Pantry

My parents came into town and once again we put my dad and Jason to work...making a pantry.

Jason demolishing the future pantry space.

Yeah!!

Almost finished pantry!!! Yeah, thanks dad and Jason!!

August 2010 - New Tile

We tore up our old and nasty kitchen tile and put down a limestone tile in the kitchen and entryway. We tested a non-petroleum based and low VOC product but cooking oil penetrated it. So, we ended up with something with more VOCs but was definitely more durable. It did have a pretty high recycled content...

January 2010 - Plaster Party

First layer of plaster goes up...

One week later the second coat went up...

Plaster room today...