Long Awaited Face Lift

As the summer passed, we knew we were not going to be able to finish the outside ourselves before winter. We hired the Vinyl King to replace the gutters and windows and install new siding. We both took the week off from work for the face lift.
When the workers arrived early Thursday morning they got right to work. Joe Scalera ran the job. He said that bay window we ordered was the biggest one he had ever installed. When we looked in the truck and even the window guy was in awe of the size we knew we got what we paid for.

Click on any of these pictures to enlarge. some of this work was quite impressive. The workers took the old window out in no time. We were in awe of the big-ass-hole in the house when the old window was removed.
Getting the window from the truck to the front of the house was a job in itself, and it took six of us, Paul and Lee included to lift the window into place.
The crew of five quickly went to work performing their various functions with an impressive level of expertise. Once the window was secured, the insulation went up around it and scaffolding was erected to access all areas of the house.
It seemed like everywhere you looked more workmen were doing something. The rest of the windows were popped out and replaced with more efficient ones. Then the windows were framed. What was once old began looking brand new.
We stayed with white siding around the back of the house but the difference was measurable.
Lee had insisted on a six over one window design, and you don't see new windows like that often. It was a great choice and added lots of charm.
Looking out from inside the bay window is impressive. The center pain is 7 feet long by 5.5 feet high. That does not include the double hung windows on either side. This picture seems dark because the sun was behind the house, but the window brightens the living room all day long.
We chose a beautiful wicker colored shake siding for the front of the house. We loved how it made the brickwork look new. As the front of the house was covered we could see the character of our home was being transformed before our eyes. Vinyl King was remarkable.

As the workers wrapped things up late Friday afternoon we surveyed the job. Even out back where the color did not change, the new siding, windows and gutters made the house look brand new.

We began to worry if they were going to finish on time but they stayed until every last detail was addressed. Each member of the crew knew what he had to do.

Joe came by as they were finishing up. He looked over the job satisfied. He agreed that the colors and textures all worked beautifully together and still could not get over the bay window. Even though we had imagined how it would look when it was all done, we never expected the results to exceed our every expectation.

Our home was transformed into something of which we were quite proud.

Little Things Mean a Lot

Big deal.. running water. But this is particularly exciting because it is coming from the refrigerator and it was filtered and cold. Along with water we have a choice of ice, cubes or crushed. This is light years from what we had in May and there is more to this than meets the eye.

Our old water tank was a dinosaur. It was big and it leaked air making the pressure terrible. The tank was full of rust and silt that got stirred up every time we re-charged the pressure. We were going through water way too many water filters and the aerators on the faucets kept clogging up.

We replaced the tank with a smaller tank with an adjustable bladder and installed a new house filter. To increase the pressure in the house we also installed 30-50lb pressure control that is a bit higher than most, though from the stock in Home Depot is growing in popularity. Every little bit helps the plumbing in this house.

Now the water heater, furnace, water tank and filters are all new in the basement. What we didn't know was that the pump and drainage would soon cause us problems. The plumbing in this house was worse than we thought. Eventually it will all be new.

We added finishing touches to the bathroom. In all the construction we lost the connectors for the ceiling light fixture temporarily but happily found them and finished the job.

We painted the bathroom "cottage white" even though it looks more like a pale yellow. In this picture it looks off white. We were actually able to go shopping someplace other than Home Depot to pick up some towels and new artwork. We placed some long forgotten knic knacs on a shelf we made from an unused portion of back splash from the sink and we were finished with the bathroom.

Parties are getting more common in the house now that it has become livable. Originally we had asked Shima and Eileen to visit and check out the place. Shima was feeling a little overwhelmed with things and needed a break.

Since Donald and Anthony had never seen it either, we thought we would make it a "gay ol' time" and asked them to come along too. Once everyone arrived, (Shima fashionably late of course) we were confident that we had the perfect combination of people.

When we realized that Jack's birthday was the same day as the party, we had to throw in a celebration for him too. Annie and Jack have missed few events at the new house and like family, they get along great with all our friends.

Its becoming apparent that this house is party friendly and we love entertaining our friends together. Once again, Paul did his bit in the kitchen, serving up all kinds of appetizers and two kinds of shish kabob on the grill.

Lee made sure everyone was comfortable and enjoying themselves.

We certainly had the right combination of loved ones for this event and everyone brought desserts, not to mention birthday cake for Jack.

We ended up eating and laughing well into the night. Our "money pit" is turning out to be worth the investments.

Trudging Along

Though its not quite done, the bathroom came out nicely. All the tile from the 1960s are long gone, as are the fixtures. We replaced the sink with a vanity and granite top, a big medicine cabinet with internal and external mirrors and the tiles with a more modern look in a neutral tone and went with standard features. We need a coat of paint and personal touches and we're finished.

We stayed with a standard toilet, though it has an extraordinary flush and we connected it to the main well rather than the pumpless artesian well from which it used to get water. The only place that water now runs from the artesian well is the toilet in the cabana. That plumbing will be updated once the main house is done. The skylight (not shown here) really brightens up the room.

The kitchen is becoming the jewel of the house. This weekend we put the closet doors on the pantry which brightened up the room considerably. Except for some patchwork, trim, some molding and paint, the kitchen is nearing completion.

But we are still enjoying dinner outside. This weekend was one of the few we have had where temps went over 90, so we spent the afternoon in the pool and stayed outside as much as possible.

Summer Progress

We continue to make progress though the summer. The kitchen takes precedence, which required finishing the floor in the main living area. What Paul thought would take a couple of hours took him and Lee a full week working nights after work. With every floor board, Paul exclaimed,"now its REALLY looking nice."

As we encroached the Kitchen from the living room, we ran into a couple of tricky areas like the pantry and cubbies for the range and dishwasher. Pitoune had grown fond of the ugly yellow linoleum and wondered how she would get any traction on the slick new floor.
It was time to remove the old cabinets we were using as a make shift island and install the permanent one. This required some floor leveling where the peninsula used to be. Right on time, we got the phone call that our counter tops were finished and could be delivered.


Once we got the counters in and the floors were down, we could see the kitchen we so carefully planned coming to life. Even without paint and the finishing touches, we had transformed the kitchen into something that worked for us.



Although the living room is far from complete, the floor really adds a sense of home. The room is ready to be painted and furnished. But wait, before we do that, the picture window that Lee loves so much is coming out! Next we are planning a total face lift on the outside including new siding and gutters, new windows and a bay window in the living room. Keep posted, we will blog pictures here.

July 4th Weekend

Most of our friends spent 4th of July viewing fireworks, but we hung a flag and kept working away on the house. Things are really starting to take shape but we see that we have many projects started, none are finished. We continued with the kitchen cabinets, we still need to install the island and fix the plumbing before we can put down the floor. Then we can put in the counter tops and finish the lighting.

Also before we put down the floor, we needed to re-surface the sub floor in the living room. This brought the sub floor level to the kitchen floor so we can run a contiguous floor and it covered the badly damaged sub floor. (see "It's Just Cosmetic" section of this blog).The new sub floor looks and smells great, plus it gave us a chance to clear away the boxes and tools and other non essentials from the living room. The living room has not been this free of clutter since we moved in.

On Sunday (July 5th) we invited some close friends and neighbors from Lake Carmel over for a very informal get together. It was informal because we are in no condition to do anything else.

Alexandra and Vasili arrived first and we loved having them.

Bill and Carol showed up all smiles followed by Darlene and Will.

We all took a "nature walk" to the back of the property before settling down to eat beside the pool just as Jack and Anne arrived.

Food and conversation were plentiful. Everyone loved Carol's potato salad and flipped over Darlene's cheese cake squares. Everybody brought something and we had plenty of food left over!You could not stop Jack from talking about his lake restoration business and he even threw on his snorkel gear to inspect the pool. No problems reported by Mr Clean-Flo. Since it was only in the mid 70s and the water was even cooler, you have to give Jack points for enthusiasm!

Remodelling the Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of any home, and this one needed a transplant desperately. The obtrusive peninsula had to go and the electric range, though new, will be replaced with a new gas one.
We gave away the stove and most of the cabinets to our friend Darlene, whose dad is installing a second kitchen in his garage. The refrigerator will be replaced and re-situated and the cabinets on the back wall will be replaced with a pantry.

Since the new stove will require electricity for the microwave hood and ignitors on the gas stove, and will be located on the opposite side of the kitchen, we made the necessary electrical additions and added a gas line. The kitchen will prove to be a major challenge for wiring skills, because we wanted so many "extras" in our new kitchen. Even scaled back to budget, there is a lot to do in the kitchen, and when sometimes the switches did not work properly, we had to re-think and try again.

We plan on an island as the centerpiece for the kitchen that will require more electricity for appropriate lighting. The fluorescent fixture was removed and replaced with a temporary incandescent bulb while Paul wired for the new recessed lighting and installed 3way switches and dimmer switches on both sides of the for the new kitchen.

In place of the rear wall cabinets, we framed out a 7 foot pantry that we know we will never regret. Once the pantry was enclosed, we had no problem filling it with stuff that needed a home.

Some of the work we had to do for the kitchen may not be the most entertaining views on a blog, but it needed to be done and there was lots of it. Because we are entirely remodelling the kitchen the heat registers needed to be moved. In the pictures above, notice there was one near the door that we took out and put near the new pantry, and the one near the sliders had to come out to make room for the refrigerator. Some of the work, like the extension cord that was hardwired for an outdoor spot light, needed attention but really not worth photographing.
Then we found this contraption hanging from the ceiling in the basement that we removed. That may have been to heat the sliders or the basement, but whatever, we took it out.
As we began planning putting in the cabinets, we discovered that the kitchen window jammed in the humid weather and it was ugly and drafty, so we removed the old window and dropped a few hundred on a new casement window.
Unfortunately, our measurements were too small so we exchanged it for a double hung, which was bigger than the previous window but we opened the wall a little and got the larger window in.

The new window really brightens up the kitchen. and does not look so dated. Here's the kitchen almost completely gutted with a working sink. The electrical outlets on either side need updating and we still need a switch for a light over the sink.
Click on this picture to enlarge.

Believe it or not, this was not the worst of what we found under the cabinets, only what was left before we remembered the camera. We found decades of mouse shit in the kitchen.
Finally, we began installing the upper cabinets and the kitchen is beginning to take form. The upper cabinet enclosure will house the microwave hood over the new stove, an additional overhead cabinet will be installed on the right and will hover over the refrigerator.