It's now March 1, a full month after we burst into the house wielding tools, paint, construction books on loan from the library, and welling with optimism. The optimism is still there, but its now tempered with the realities of our project. We are about 75% there! Before we get into the pictures, let's review a couple of our major revelations first.
Reality Check #1: We are giving ourselves an extension on our original timeline and now aim to be finished in another week.
Reality Check #2: STRESS, stress, StReSs. How does one prepare emotionally, mentally, and physically for the amount of stress that accompanies a renovation? Neither of us was prepared for this uninvited but inevitable element to the project. It sounds trite but it's so true, everything takes longer to do than you think it's going to take. All the finicky details of taking apart a house, cleaning it (with gallons of TSP) and putting it back together again add up to a slow-going but steady process.
Reality Check #3: Until the house has plumbing and heating, living in it for 4 days feels more like winter camping. Luckily Matt and his 2 best buds had lumber scraps to burn to keep warm. The ladies took off for a holiday in Victoria.
Borrowing from our recent Canadian Olympic mantra - BELIEVE - I'm breathing slow, deliberate breaths and chanting BELIEVE. The renovation will soon be complete! Looking at the below photos, the end is actually closer than it feels. We're so proud of what we've accomplished and so thankful for the help of family and friends who have supported us along the way.
Here are images detailing our progress thus far...
KITCHEN
30 Years of grease doesn't fade Jean's smile. It just earned the stove a trip to the dump.
The yellow countertop was trashed and a new dark-grain Ikea special was installed over the existing cabinetry.
New drywall for the back splash created a smooth surface for the new tiles. The doors will be re-hung this week.
Metro white subway tiles laid out in a running bond will receive a light-grey grout this week. Matt scored a decent faucet with a spray gun AND built-in soap dispenser from Canadian Tire at a 65% discount. The tile makes a HUGE difference to the space and it really looks spiffy now.
DINING ROOM & CHANDELIER
The previous tenant thought it was a good idea to paint a chalkboard on the dining room wall. It took 3 coats of primer to white it out.
Here is the chandelier after Jean scrubbed it with TSP.
Now with a coat of white spray paint, the chandelier sparkles like a fabulous flea-market find.
Peter is painting into the wee hours of the morning with 3 lonely lamps as his company.
HALLWAY & DOORS
The original Mediterranean-inspired linoleum was scraped off and yours truly had the joy of pulling out a zillion carpet nails with her bare hands (and pliers).
The dark brown doors were painted out with the help of this home-made accordion painting rack.
Here is the hallway freshly painted.
Paul Koopman to the rescue. Here he is just off the plane from Saskatoon rehanging all the doors. What he lacks in skill he makes up for in style. The coffee shop gals thought he was a hipster dressed up as a carpenter.
(The Dreaded) BATHROOM
The 6-layers (yes, that's right - 6) of spongy sub-floor revealed a sea of mold beneath. Rather than remove and repair, the previous owners thought a cover-up job was sufficient.
Mr. Safety here protecting his respiratory system with a heavy duty face mask.
Dave Croft arrived just in time to help notch the steel bathtub with a grinder.
Aren't they cute? Their smiles bely their true anguish over the trials and tribulations of tiling.
Tiling took SO much more time than originally expected. The plastic spacers help keep the tiles lined up and straight until the mortar dries.
Mixing the mortar is a slow, dirty, and noisy process. Essentially, you transform a giant drill into an industrial-size cake mixer to mix the powder and water into a paste.
Sylvie arrives to inspect the work.
Taking a Well-Deserved Break to Watch the Gold-Medal Hockey Game
very very impressive! thanks for the update. gail
ReplyDeleteyou forgot a couple of Reality Checks:
ReplyDelete#4: you have a kid!
#5: $
these have most significantly impacted our progress. . . we've become masters of the temporary solution.
Looking great guys! Can't wait to see the final product!
ReplyDeleteThe renos look fantastic. I think the tiling makes everything look really slick. xo Sarah
ReplyDeleteWhat a transformation! Very impressive.
ReplyDeleteHi, So thinking about the garden...... is there any sun at all? Take note over the next few months when it is sunny out, where if any sun falls on the yard. You won't have a clear picture till late spring/summer but you may not want to wait that long to get started?
ReplyDeleteIs there a back yard or will the front yard be multi purpose? Are you going to want a small seating area for a table and chairs?
The yard looks to be covered in rocks .. they aren't nice river rocks by the look of it are they? What is the soil like under those rocks? Is it dry or damp soil?
Are you thinking a privacy hedge along the front of the property behind the fence? Since the yard slopes from the front of the street back to the house (I think it does by the pictures) you might consider a berm in that spot for hedging. A small rather flat lot can look bigger and more interesting using raised beds, by that i mean gentle mounds of dirt....
Your fence looks good.... TTYS sarah
The concepts look lovely. I'm looking forward to helping with some painting and flooring. I'm a little skeptical about installing the flooring with scissors... it sounds ever so much more dangerous than running with them. xo Sarah
ReplyDeleteCarpet Cleaning Vancouver