Stall Family Remodel: May 2009

Monday, May 11, 2009

A New French Door

Several months ago, i was walking through Lowes and found a French door that had been returned. I bought it and saved about $700. I wasn't quite ready for it so it sat in our garage until this weekend. I finally started work on the installation of the door. After having some electrical outlets moved (by an electrician, not this weekend remodeler), I was ready to start demolition. Fortunately, Corbin was around to help. We began by chiseling the bricks from the house. While the majority of the bricks come out fairly easy, it get difficult around the edges. Keep in mind, only selected bricks are removed on the edges because you have to re-mortar bricks when you got finishing the project. We got the bricks out and tackled the old window. Of course, we were too impatient (well I guess I was, since Corbin was just following my lead) to try to ascertain how the window would easily come out. We just forced it and showered ourselves with glass. Corbin had suggested putting a tarp on the ground so it wasn't too much of a mess. Once we had the window out, we cleaned up the mess, removed the old 2x4 studs, installed spacer studs and inserted the door. With the insertion of just a few shims, we had it leveled. The installation has completely changed the look of the back of the house and given us quick access to and from our bedroom.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

The Purchase

We bought this house in April 2008. I have wanted a fixer-upper for quite a few years and found this opportunity in November 2007. We looked at it for several weeks and then in December 2007 the Ice Storm devastated the magnificent oak trees and birch tree in the backyard. The backyard was such a draw to the house, we had to have the vision to see past the debris and sheared trees and see what could be. The entire area looked like the "trufala trees" in Dr. Suess's tale. Nevertheless, in April we sold our previous house and bought our last residence. We have been remodeling it ever since, and I expect that we will be remodeling it the remainder of our lives. I now know how my dad always had projects ongoing in the garage and around the house. Clearly, that kept him happy as it does me. Like our Home, this blog will be a work in progress and hopefully improve as I get better at "blogging"...and typing.

Flagstone Patio, In Progress

We hauled in about 4 cubic yards of base gravel to create a sturdy sub-surface for the flagstone. As with any construction project, you will find that each step needs to be completed in a certain order. Get the steps out of order and you create problems, usually extra work, for yourself. Here I realized that before i could lay the flagstone, I needed to pour the step/landing in front of the door( soon to be door). And, before I could pour the step, I needed to tear the window out and install the door. Accordingly, this project took me over a month.

The Remodeled Den

When we moved in, one of our first projects was to remodel the den, our primary living space. The den did not have any lighting and was wall-to-wall "pumpkin" colored wood paneling. We tore the walls down to the studs, hung sheetrock and installed canned lighting. We then painted and added both crown and baseboard molding. I could not find the baseboard molding that I wanted so bought 1x6 stock and routed my own design. After routing several hundred feet of baseboard molding, sanding and painting, I have decided that it is a lot easier to buy something close at Home Depot or Lowes. As you can see, we also removed the back door and window and installed an eight foot sliding glass door. Now, this was probably one of the most daunting tasks that I have undertaken. Once you start tearing out, there is no turning back. Well, we managed to get through it and that door is one of the main architectural features in our house. By the way, this is a good time to talk about finding bargains. Critical to do-it-yourself home improvement is to find the "deals"! And, let me tell you, we found the deal on this one. Picked up the door at Lowes and I am not so certain that the guy that reduced it for us didn't get fired. Nevertheless, we saved so much that I didn't hesitate the have it installed by a professional. Now, we have a huge span of glass through which to admire our backyard. Also in the photo, you can see that the fireplace and mantle have undergone extensive remodels. However, I will leave those for another blog.

Frustration!

We saw the concept of a wood stove vent at Metro Builders Supply and I thought, "Well, I can build that". Needless to say, it was not that easy. Nevertheless, after a great deal of frustration (anyone knows me understands that I don't do frustration well) I managed to get it built. The great thing about this hood is that i used nothing but scrap wood that I had in the garage. Peel back the exterior and it is not a very pretty framework inside but it is sturdy and looks as good as the one at the store...well, almost as good.