Hot and Cold

Day 6: April 16, 2008

Yesterday (AKA Day 5), nothing seemed to be photo worthy which Scott translated to mean that nothing was done. I will reserve judgment on that. Today (Day 6), I arrived home to find a shovel at the bottom of my stairs- good sign since I didn't leave such a tool lying around. To my delight I found the hot and cold valves! Woo Hoo!

The washer and dryer will live near that toolbox and bucket.

Honeymoon is over

Day 4: April 14, 2008

After a weekend of dirt discovery and a trip to the local laundromat, the romance of this whole remodeling thing has vanished. I'll be honest, I feel like I have sand in my teeth as I write this.

Today I was hoping to come home to a drastically different construction site. Instead, the only chance I could detect was a hole in the wall where they are venting through the roof. It looks pretty much the same from the stairs and I wasn't willing to wade through the sand to take a closer look.

I learned this weekend that I love of doing laundry on Sunday mornings in my PJs in the comfort of my own home while watching Sunday Morning on CBS. I will never take this mundane chore for granted again. We packed up two baskets full of dirty clothes, our concentrated All, Bounce sheets and hangers and headed to the coin operated laundromat. For some reason I imagined new, clean, quiet machines with credit card payment as an option. No, no, no. These places are stuck in a time warp with their machines from the '70's. Our clothes smelled like burnt rubber after spending 30 minutes in the dryer with only one temperature setting- scalding. I have made the decision to go with my original plan- buy more undies and socks to help us get through this phase in the remodel without anymore trips to the laundromat!

Liz, I'll let you use my dumpster if you let me use your laundry room!

The Big Dig

Day 3 & 4: April 10 & 11, 2008

Day 3 of construction looked very similar to Day 2 and rather than risk losing the interest of my devoted readership, I would combine day 3 and 4. Aaron called me the evening of Day 3 and informed me that it was spent marking things for the plumber as he was going to start his work the following day. Aaron warned me that it was going to be messy and loud. A little dirt I was anticipating. What I wasn't ready for is below.

After a long day at work and a 2 hour journey home (I won't bore you with my tales of missing buses and walking through the slushy rain/snow mix), I arrived at home around 7:30 PM. This is the vision I had the moment I stepped in the door. A gigantic sandbox.

I do not envy the plumber- this is dirty work! I imagine it is pretty difficult work too- jack hammering through concrete. The small photo on the left is to show our new utility sink - exciting.

After realizing the scope of the trenching, I realized I would have to abandon all thoughts of keeping things clean in my house. Finally! An excuse for the dust! It was strange going to bed knowing there was a big hole in the basement. I kept wondering if animals could somehow get in.

Day 2: April 9, 2008

Insulated and framed the east facing wall of the bathroom space.

Ever since I became interested in remodeling, I actually envied homes that had dumpsters sitting in front of them.

Before and After (Day 1)

I know we have all seen dungeon-like basements so I realize I shouldn't be ashamed of the below photos. But, I am experiencing a certain level of vulnerability by posting them. The disorganization, the stains on the walls, the random brew supplies hanging off of walls makes me feel so exposed. At any rate, here are some shots of what is now a construction site. As I mentioned earlier, we are concentrating our renovation efforts to the north west corner of our basement. I will provide daily progress posts so you can seek how quickly (and slowly) this space starts taking shape.

Left side of the North facing wall (58th Street side). Future site of finished laundry space.

Right side of the North facing wall. Future home of a 48" sink vanity.

A pocket door will go where the laundry basket is hanging out.

This is where the toilet will sit (where the beer shelf is now).

This is where the 48" shower stall will live.

April 8, 2008 - Day One of Construction

Note: the washer and dryer have been disconnected. Can I use your laundry room?

Disgusting double utility sink is GONE. Actually it is sitting upsidedown in my backyard if you want it.

I never knew that insulation and 2x4s could make me so happy!

So, I wouldn't want it to look like this for months on end but the space already looks better to me.

While I have never had a contractor inside my home doing work, it seems Aaron left things very tidy.

Let the Work Begin!

Aaron called today and he is fixin' to start our basement bathroom project this week! Of course I immediately went to a couple of local home improvement stores to purchase all of the parts that will make the whole. Yikes! I did lots of research so intellectually I knew the costs involved. Let me tell you that nothing could have prepared me for the range of emotions to follow after purchasing: a shower stall, toilet, vanity, vanity top, sink faucet, shower faucet, tile and pocket door. Of course it doesn't help that I found a dent and a crack in my precious Prius before this spending spree.

For those of you keeping score, yes, this means I made a tile decision. It came down to finances and flexibility.

This choice is also inspired by Liz Hruska's main bathroom which I covet. I suppose I am technically being true to the era of my home though nothing is original so I am not sure what actually existed 60 years ago.

Because everyone loves before and after photos, I will post the before shots this week. Then the fun begins- the original purpose of this blog- a daily update of the construction progress/process. Stay tuned!

This Can't Be Good

I am taking a "time-out" from my working from home activities to share a startling revelation I just had. I looked up from my laptop to find this:



Clearly it is a stain. Probably from water. Tell me there is nothing wrong with my roof. Refer back to my list of "unsexy" projects to recall that we have already dealt with this issue. Say it ain't so!

This is specifically where the stain is located:

Good thing Aaron the contractor knows a thing or two about roofs. I will inquire with him to determine potential causes. Maybe it was always there and I just now noticed it? Maybe a coat of paint is all that will be needed? Wishful thinking I am sure. Maybe this will be just the excuse I need to get rid of that hideous texture on the ceiling!

Anyone out there have some suggestions of what this might be?