Finally, the Afters

Here, finally, are the after photos. Can I just say - I LOVE my kitchen. It's not HGTV perfect, but it's perfect for us!

Number One thing we love: all the little things that the reno has improved in our lives. We still have a small house in comparison to what you see on HGTV. No man cave, no walk-in, no ensuite, no granite (okay, a little - we decided for a little bling).

So the little things:

We can exit from our kitchen right into our back yard. I don't have to slog across soggy grass (we do live on the coast, so there is a lot of sog) to get my herbs in the winter. Yes, I live in Canada, no we don't get snow, but lordy, do we get rain. 

So a patio was a nice add-on to the reno. It was really well done too. Cost a bundle, but included new drainage, new lawn, the stupid "privacy barrier" (still mad at myself for that slip-up), the gardens and the patio.

We can exit from our laundry room now! Look at those stairs! Plus, that's a hot and cold faucet. For washing Max! No more bathtub for the poor pup.

We can barbecue all year. 'Nuf said.

I have wall space to put photos up. I have a whole wall of old family photos. I never had that before. I LOVE it.




We turned our furnace room into a sound-proofed rock-out room, complete with second tv and moved the gaming system in there. It's the neighbourhood teen hangout. eek!  Now we have a TV room AND a music room. Aren't we snooty?

Evan got his own room!






We switched to a gas fireplace (we had to - too close to the kitchen, potential for CO2 poisoning, etc.) No more slogging outside for wood. No hissing raccoons, rats and giant spiders. Just soggy soccer gear. Hooray!


We got a bigger bedroom at the back of the house, with a nice view of the trees or night sky, and a comfy couch ('cause we accidentally walled it into the room). I LOVE it.


   And finally...

   Our beautiful kitchen! That's a combo of granite, granite tile and laminate, all in the same colours.



Bonus? When you move the table beside the mystery box (which became extra counter space), we have a rockin' dance floor.


And that is worth celebrating!

Wow. That was a cliffhanger!

Hey ho!

I was just reading my blog. I'm stunned to see the last entry was so long ago. And yet...not. Because, you know, life. Plus, I have a grand total of 3 followers. I'm pretty sure two are my mom. Thanks Mom! And she's seen the before and afters in real life.

Pretty sure this is not a recommended pre-surgery activity.

So quick personal update: Dave had the surgery. Open heart - the full meal deal. He has a genetic defect that messes with the lining of the heart. Now my kids are monitored yearly and, well, there's a whole blog in that story too. But can I just say, the whole health care thing was put into some serious perspective? I saw the price list for ICU stays and whatnot posted on the wall by the sign-in area of the hospital and I felt a need to kiss my little plastic health card. I mean WOW I can't even imagine dealing with those costs on top of a reno. Cost to us? The plane ride to and from the Toronto specialist to have the surgery done. What a deal!

Our kitchen...full of bedroom furniture.

So, whilst in Toronto dealing with life, the reno ground to a halt. No homeowner to make decisions.

As you recall, I had no kitchen in my last post. And that is pretty much how the place stayed until I came back.

I left the three boys at home, my brother flew in to teach them the fine art of take out dining and neighbourhood-wide water fights. Post-surgery, I left Dave with his mom in Toronto to be entirely doted on. I figured the open heart surgery, facing mortality thing, gave him a pass on choosing finishings.

In the meantime...some before and afters

Back room/living room

Back room/bedroom

Brown room

Green room

Big door

Little door

We've got water in the basement which needs to be fixed - discovered the day the painter finished. And we're waiting on the inspector to approve the upgrade for the water line, then there's the fridge door issue, and the hood f - ing fan, and the washer and dryer are going to open into each other still because they installed them the way they are now and not the way we wanted them. Because, after a quick annoyed survey, contractors don't do laundry. Clearly, they are also believers in the laundry fairy. Now, a very annoyed laundry fairy, whose washer/dryer doors open toward each other and block access to the sink.

For sale: Bosch washer/dryer set plus pedestals $500; one insert-style hood fan and blower $500; sanity $priceless [update: sold 'em! Sanity went cheap, as of questionable quality]

Oh yes - and the big door/little door photos? That's the conversion from a family room to our bedroom. The framing went up while I was out one day. Caught me by surprise. I didn't know they were going to frame it so fast and I hadn't moved the couch out yet and it won't fit through the little door, so now I have a couch in my bedroom.Totally planned.

In the meantime, Dave found out he is eligible for the surgery he wanted, but big surprise, the first date is July 11th. That's two weeks from now folks! Nothing like looming open-heart surgery to get you energized. So here is a before and after photo of the back room. Don't worry, I'll get new furniture and pictures on walls over time. And curtains. This ain't HGTV. This here is the REAL housewives reality show. Worry lines included.

the mystery box

What is it? A time capsule? An exotic built-in cabinet? Or just the head room for the basement stairs? And what will it become? The kids vote for a fireman's pole to the basement or a pit, so they can chuck things at each other. I'm thinking a giant vase. or a hookah with a big caterpillar painted on the wall.

Fridge and stove arrive, but don't get excited

They never talk about appliances on HGTV. Other than colour. Ours are stainless steel, if that matters to you. And they are here. But not hooked up. Actually, they came before the floor in the kitchen because the fridge doors can't open. The kitchen guy did some measurements and pointed out that the door will hit the glass door when fully opened. Oops.

Look! A new floor!

Actually, the oops is that I knew that. I didn't like the initial design for that exact reason and had it changed. Then I got all excited about having a closet space for my gardening jacket and shoes (hey, my life rocks, what can i say). Then when we tested out the overall space by putting chalk marks on the floor and bringing the table and chairs in, we realized that there really wasn't much room if we added 18 inches for a closet. Plus, the closet would be really deep for a coat and shoes. So, we decided not to bother. I bet you've forgotten about the fridge door too, haven't you? See? Easy to do.

Long story short, the fridge came in, we did a bunch of test door openings and now I have my closet back!

The stove and fridge were to arrive between 12 and 2. I was walking Max, and got back at 12:15. Oops again. A note on the door said, "We can't fit the appliances through any of your doors. Have a nice day!" I'm not kidding. Turns out they were right.

So to recap the series of unfortunate events: I missed a design goof-up which required the fridge and stove to arrive before the back stairs were built and they wouldn't fit through any of the other doors. Sooo, they delivered them into my garage, then I paid $500 on top of the delivery charge to have four contractors move some temporary stairs around to the kitchen, then hoist the appliances up and into the kitchen. Yay me! My small consolation is that the stairs would have had to move at some point anyway.

In the meantime, my cabinets sit at the kitchen guy's shop, half built, waiting for the final measurements and the specs for the new f@!#ing hood fan. And we wash dishes in the laundry tub, cook in the basement, and eat out...

The "God, this takes forever" phase, Part III: Return of the Hood Fan

I hate hood fans. People on HGTV are never "oh, is that only in a 600 to 1200 cfm model? Well, that's just not going to work, is it?" No. On HGTV, it's all "oooo, I love the granite countertops. And everything is so open! And look at the view! But the pool is small. And gosh, only one walk in closet."

I need to reiterate at this point that watching HGTV has much much drinking game potential.

Back to the hood fan. There are three styles of hood fan (okay, there are the big-ass fancy ones for homes with giant islands, but I think we can safely ignore them for the moment): the chimney-style, wherein a person walks in a small kitchen and says, "your hood fan is gorgeous! and what a nice kitchen too." Then there is the under-the-counter style - the most common, where the duct goes up through a cupboard that holds oils or cookbooks or some such. Finally, there is an insert-style which is a little on the fancy side and requires millwork.

We started with a chimney-style hood fan. My "kitchen guy" looked mildly disgusted when I told him what I had ordered as it wouldn't "fit with the feel of the room." We're apparently going for a 1940s look...without all the bright red, green, or pink cupboards, gingham curtains, and giant white appliances. That is, a 1940s "inspired" look.Or something. All I know is that the kitchen guy does nice work and I have no flipping idea about things like hood fans. So, I said, "No problem, the appliance guy said that he'd call us before he sent our order to confirm the hood fan style." Which he hadn't done, as it turned out. But we were able to talk our way into paying more (wait, is that a good thing?) for an insert style hood fan and blower. Hooray?!

Two weeks later, the kitchen guy looks at the specs for the hood fan and says, "You do realize that this is a 36" wide hood fan and you have a 30" wide stove?"To which I said, "what?" because I love looking like an idiot - which is a good thing because I so often do. Another little thing you never see on HGTV: homeowners looking confused. Homeowners looking baffled. Homeowners looking murderous.

My kitchen guy was gentle, "Don't worry. We'll just hang hockey helmets on either side of the hood fan. No problem." To his credit, he took the appliance store to task because he sends a lot of folks their way and they should have caught the error. And his tirade was effective...I just bought an under counter hood fan at another store. Anyone need an expensive 36" insert-style hood fan???

Did I mention I hate hood fans?

Drywall, Stucco and Asbestos

The guys in Tyvek suits just left with a bin full of asbestos flooring. 1940s tile glued to hardwood which was nailed to a subfloor on a subfloor. On top of the 1940s tile was 1960s linoleum, 1970s linoleum, and 1990s white, pink and grey tile glued to wire mesh. Yup. All 5 layers plus a layer of subfloor are gone. It took 2 days of slamming, cutting, and smashing. The drywall screws in the basement ceiling all popped out, along with a couple of junction covers and a light fixture. I wonder how much asbestos dust ended up in the basement...and into my vacuum cleaner?

before

during

The drywall guy came and did his thing for two days, plastering and drywalling. The stucco guys were here too. Today, they flung rocks at the wall like it was a Jackson Pollock painting. Very cool. Here are some pics:

Wall comes down

The wall came tumblin' down! They left the sink for me to use for the weekend...

Boring stuff III: the back yard

Before

The mud pit

The design

During building

Patio and turf

We decided to do something with the back yard, since it was a mud pit, and Max was tracking most of it into the house. We hired a landscaping company to do the patio, then we got a little excited and had them install a drainage pipe, turf, and privacy screens. Ka-ching!! Not quite, but almost as much as a kitchen...

The "God, this takes forever" phase

Here is a list of some necessary items that you will never see on an HGTV show: choosing where electrical outlets go (which side of the door will I put my light switch? And in which order? Outside, kitchen, under the counter lights left to right? Or right to left? How many pot lights? Pendants over the peninsula? Does that alcove need a light? And the deck? Over the sink? What about outside lighting?

Heating. I can have a duct go up or down, not both. So, my kitchen will be warm and I have a wire for a heater in the laundry room. Hey, it's just the magical laundry fairy in there anyway. Fairies don't feel the cold. We're tough.

Drop-in sink or under-mount? Will we have granite $$$ or laminate countertops? Now, that you will see on HGTV. All those whiny, house-hunting entitled folks simpering over granite - which makes a great drinking game if you combine it with "man cave" and "walk in closet."  Just make sure it's not a school night! Granite is nice, and we like quartz (hey, it's the new granite!) and recycled glass (very cool), but decided retiring before we're 100 is also cool. Maybe we'll throw some stone at the peninsula - add a little bling... Hell, we're up to 61K before electrical, plumbing, stucco, or any of the fun kitchen design decisions. We might end up with plywood...the undermount sinks go well with stone, but I dunno. I'm not sure I love the look - although they aren't as dumb as the giant country pantry sinks. I'd like to be able to stand upright and reach the bottom of the sink. But maybe that's just me.

Counters and cupboards in the laundry room? Hmmm...maybe re-use the upstairs counters and cupboards. Which side do the dryer and washer go? I hate that the doors crash together.

Cupboards to the ceiling? Yup. Because we're tall and we have limited storage.

Choosing a fridge took us days. Counter-depth? Side by side? Water and ice? We went with double bottom-freezer, French-door and ice, but no water dispenser. Why? Because we have a narrow, galley kitchen and a full door fridge wouldn't work. Plus, I'm sick of bending down to find stuff in the fridge. And no water because they're a pain in the ass and need repair. Ice, because it has an easy "off" button, so what the heck. I didn't go counter-depth (see Retire by 100 comment above); besides, it didn't fit a pizza box (mandatory!).

The range. I'm still getting google ads for Wolf ranges. Sigh. So pretty. BUT, the 100 years thing, right? So, KitchenAid, all gas. I haven't cooked on gas since university. Should be interesting. Apparently, roasting peppers is a must on an open flame. If you read the foodie websites, roasting peppers is hugely important, so choose your range carefully! Induction cooktops won't cut it. Although they are very, very cool technology. And, very, very expensive in range format - and guaranteed to break immediately, should I drop a pot on the top, which I would, since I never ever have, but now mustn't, so, obviously, would.

The flipping hood fan? I don't care. But apparently I should have because I chose the wrong one and had to go back and re-order an "inset" model. It's going to look very pretty, and it will hopefully not sound like a jet engine when turned on (because it's 600-1200 cfm variable settings, which is loud, but has a 10 inch pipe which should soften the sound). So there, another decision no one is interested in, but that makes a difference. Of course, by buying an inset, we require millwork, which will be pretty, but that 100 year thing again...

I chose a chunk of granite - for the bling - which will then determine the laminate colour, cabinet colour (some sort of off-white), and floor colour (marmoleum, by the way - very durable and not as cold and nasty as tile or as comfy but ugly as cork). Of course, I am about to meet with the kitchen guy - something to do about arches, peninsula depth and cupboards versus drawers.

I should point out too, that in choosing some of these items, we realized that our bed will be on the other side of  the fridge and stove, so soundproofing must be considered. So that I am not awakened when the coffee-making fairy turns on the jet engine fan after burning peppers over the gas range.

Kitchen guy is here. Must go!

Boring Stuff Summary Part 'II: the laundry room

Not much to say about this space. It's probably the warmest room in the house - nicely insulated. A door will be cut where the sink used to be, then the laundry moves into the new space. Hopefully, we can move some of the kitchen cabinets down into the laundry room. They're putting a warm water tap on the outside of the door for washing Max.

Boring Stuff Summary! Part I: The Furnace

Something else they don't show you on HGTV: the long, long days where it seems like nothing is happening. It is - the headache-inducing racket is proof. So I'll skip to the before and after photos to borrow a bit from the 3 months in 30 minute TV shows. The list to the left is pretty typical: back fill gas line, sheathing, dig trough, break concrete, drill soffit vents, clean and organize site.

More boring stuff

The furnace switch to gas was a bust. We started wanted to get rid of all our ductwork. We looked into ductless heat pumps, but they were expensive and not very effective for an old house like ours. We'd have to spend thousands on supplemental electric heat. Very cool technology though. We briefly looked at wood heat (cheap, but dusty and a lot of work), then into switching to electric heat, but our electrical service would have to upgraded, our floor isn't insulated, and smart meters are coming. Maybe not the time to switch to electric heat. So...gas. The gas furnace arrived and I was please to see how small it was. Hurray! Then, they installed it and I realized that by having to hook it into the existing ductwork, it takes up the same amount of space. Plus, it has all these idiotic pipes coming out of it. The big white pipe in the photo is the worst. It has to be on an angle and it has to vent to outside. So now I have a giant white pipe running across a wall I was hoping to put a TV on. It also pokes out of the outside wall beside the gas meter which covers half my walkway. There's also the copper gas pipe, a second white pipe for fresh air intake, AND a water pipe. To top it all off, the high efficiency fan sounds like a jet taking off. Not what you want in a music room. Now we have a giant, insulated room inside a room. Such a disappointment!

At least we seem marginally warmer. I haven't seen my first gas bill, so the jury's still out.

Basement ready for a makeover

Here's the basement storage room. Lots of the stuff is gone. Lots was sold, bags and bags donated, and everything else is in the big yellow cube or the garage. I think having a team like on HGTV would have been nice, but I had complete control by taking it on all by myself. Bwaa ha ha!!


This will become the music room. The furnace will be downsized to gas, drywall is coming, and the asbestos tape around the ductwork is going. Don't know what the heck we'll do about the floors. Gotta do something to cover all that lead-based paint. I wanted heated floors, but our house is pre-code, so the concrete floor is not insulated, and the heat would go down as much as up. What to do? What to do?

Foundation walls

Building the frame for the concrete foundation wall, then the foundation walls.

The swamp

February 17: Concrete footings are poured. Then it rains some more. And more. And more.

The yard is a swamp. My dog needs a daily bath, along with my floors...blub, blub...