Drywall Up

It's starting to come together now that the sheet rock is all up. Next is to put up some joint compound and drywall tape to seal it all up, then I can prime and paint it.

Insulation Up

I didn't even consider putting the money into insulation before, but considering I had the studs up and no drywall on yet, I took advantage of the opportunity and put insulation in. Should make it much warmer down here in the winter, and easier to heat. I've blown the budget so far anyway, mine as well embrace it right?

Basment framing finished

Finished up the framing, electrical is run. While taking things apart, I popped out the old window and replaced it with a new vinyl one.

Basement, Stage II

Next step was putting on the Thoroseal. Took a lot more cans of it than I expected, but the end result of a strong moisture barrier is now there. It also took me one trip to the eye doctor. Thank God, everything is OK.

Basement Begins

The previous walls have all been torn down to expose the bare concrete. We will waterproof seal the concrete to prevent any future mold/mildew problems, and to make it smell fresh and not like a typical "basement".

Good Fences = Good Neighbors

With the new neighbors moving in, I quickly lost my desire to go relax on the new patio. The relaxing/quiet backyard lost its privacy, and I hate losing privacy. I held out for a house with woods behind it for a reason! So, the wide open space that used to be next door is now the resting place of many children's toys. I don't have kids, so I can't relate to what it's like, so far from me to pass judgement. Instead of complaining and waiting [read: hoping]for something to be done about it. I recruited some help, and we put up a 64 ft fence in all of four hours. The accomplishment felt great, and the end result is even better. Nice, private, and a professional looking job if I do say so myself.

Paver replacement

Time for these horrible pavers to go away. They're clumsy and easy to trip over, and frankly arent very aesthetically easy on the eyes. Replacing these with some modern stone pavers all the way to the back should give a much needed update, and be safer to walk on. This should also result in less mud when coming into the house. Ill also be adding a patio while I'm in the process.

I'll post more updates as I finish the walkway between the garage and house, and the patio. The pavers have all been laid down, but I haven't put down the polymeric sand yet, as it's been constant rain and I need 24 hours of dry for it to work!

Kitchen Finished

I'll still need to pick out some hardware (deciding between knobs or bars) for the cabinets, but I'd say we're 99% there, so close enough to call it done. Glad the hard work is over in this room (especially the sanding of plaster walls), and the cutting of the granite. I'm happy to say the hard work was all worth it, though.

Bathroom almost there

We cut the granite today to fit on the vanity, cut out the sink hole, and put the sink and faucets in. Still have to plumb in the water lines.

The Kitchen Continues

After concentrating solely on the bathroom the past week or so, it was finally time to try to take the kitchen the rest of the way. We needed a carpenter for the crown molding, as we couldn't get it up fitting just right and didn't want to risk ruining the molding. It took about 4 hours or so to get it all up by a professional, so it likely would have been twice that for us. I'm really happy with how it came out though.

We also mounted up the rest of the cabinet doors. The glass door cabinet's shelves were surprisingly a pain to get in.

I also put up the hanging light above the kitchen sink. Unfortunately it uses "candelabra" lights, which of course no one would keep handy. I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks lit up.

Finally, and probably the biggest piece of progress, is I picked up a few of the countertops. I went with Absolute Black granite. We cut them ourselves to save cash, and as it turns out the granite really isn't that expensive, almost all of the big expense in getting granite put in is the labor. We only got some of them up, but I'm pleased with how everything looks

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Bathroom updates

A lot of good progress this weekend in the bathroom. All the grouting was finished, which is a huge relief. I chose to use an epoxy grout, which is impenetrable and maintenance free, it never has to be sealed. The problem is that you have to be careful using it to make sure no residue is left anywhere, because after 24 hours it basically becomes permanent. Luckily I didn't have any issues.

I also picked up a Kohler toilet that was on sale at Home Depot. There is new trim on the floor, and new heating covers on the baseboard heaters. I straightened out the fins so hopefully it will keep it pretty warm in there. Also began the installation of the shower fixtures. That's a pretty simple job, but I didn't want to make a 5th trip to Home Depot for the day for the missing part that was needed.

Shower tiling finished

The tiling is finished in the shower. I put an accent row in of smaller porcelain tiles to break up the 20"x20" porcelain tiles on the rest of the walls. There was an unlevel area, and using the big tiles would have been difficult, so it was as much for function as it was for aesthetics. I'm happy with how it came out. Now onto the big project of grouting this with my first try at epoxy grout.

Bathroom floor tiled

The bathroom floor has been tiled. I can't say how glad I almost all of the tiling is done in the house now. All that is left is the entrance way to the house, which isn't a big area. Now all that's left for the floors is to grout them, but I'll be waiting to do it all at once with the shower.

Shower Tile Started