Monday, May 7, 2018

FULL HOUSE Renovation, Part 6

Along with the planned renovation, we've had some unplanned things pop up, like noticing that the garage door was cracked and not long for this world - couple grand to get a nice new one along with a new opener ordered and installed.

And then we had that hail storm, which damaged all the roofs in our subdivision enough that everyone needed a new roof, including us.  Another couple grand for the deductible - and really, that's a bargain to get a new roof, especially since our current roof was nearing the end of its lifespan (roofs don't go much beyond 20 years here in Texas, what with the extreme heat and occasional weather events like hail and high winds).  So fine, the entire exterior of our house will look nice and new, between the garage door, the roof, and the new (planned for) front door.

But then, last Saturday we turned on the air conditioning and...nothing happened.  Sigh.  I mean, sure,  it's 18 years old and gets nearly year-round use thanks to our heat and high humidity.  But REALLY?  Luckily, while it was in the 80s during the day, temps dropped to 60 overnight, so the house didn't get that hot, and our repairman came out Monday morning and got everything working again.  At least this didn't cost a couple grand, thankfully.  I'm pretty sure this is about it with all of the extra house items, gah.

Day 27:  This was a big day - the plumber arrived, and hooked up my kitchen sink!  For the first time in over a month, I had running water, a sink, and a working dishwasher!  I immediately used a real bowl for breakfast, knowing I could easily wash it.
Look how big this sink is!  I've wanted a single sink in the kitchen forever - I grew up with one, but all of my houses have had divided sinks.  Took me 32 years, but I finally got one. 

Jeremy installed the bathroom vanities, and the plumber got the sinks hooked up - they were a little weirded out by the Ikea plumbing/pipe system, but it all came together nicely.  Toilets were also installed, which are pretty spiffy - they are comfort height, modern-looking, skirted for easier cleaning on the outside:
The drawers aren't installed in the vanity, but the sink works!
 
The plumber wanted me to see this - it's the flange for the toilet - no wax rings with these babies.  He wasn't familiar with this system, but we did choose a new style of toilet (how many times can I say toilet in one post, I wonder?), and after he called the plumbing supply place where we bought these, he felt more comfortable upon hearing that this is what Toto (a higher end toilet) uses.  So between the Ikea plumbing and this new style of flange, we put him to the test today.

At the end of the evening, I was showing Jeff the vanities and new toilets, when he noticed that one was leaking slightly, ack!  He turned off the water to it, I texted our contractor, and while we weren't thrilled that there was a leak, it was no longer our problem - and this has been a huge bonus for us - yes, we are paying more for the renovation than if we'd taken on a lot of the projects ourselves, but we don't have to deal with the headaches when something goes wrong...and being as that's what we've had to do for our entire marriage due to budget constraints, I have to say, it's incredibly nice to be on the other side of things like this.

Day 28:  Another big day!  The carpenter crew arrived to put the rails on the drawers and get my kitchen cabinets finished.  OK, mostly finished - they need to return with a hinge for the corner cabinet door, and there are paint touch ups to be done, so unfortunately I still can't load them up with my dishes.  But hey, check out how cool it looks:
I have to say, this turned out exactly how it looked in my mind, so that's good!
Check out the pull out trash/recycling bin to the left of the dishwasher!
Even the cardboard and lack of backsplash doesn't detract from the beauty of the new cabinets!

They also hung the new cabinet in the laundry room - and I'm so glad I ended up having a bigger unit made, as it not only looks right in the space, but there's so much room for extra storage!  Just when I've made the effort to scale back on purchases, I now have the space for all the things, LOL.
As with everything, NOTHING is completely finished.  Yet. 

Day 29:  Tile!  This time, the tub/shower surround was tiled.  It wasn't finished, but they came close:
Check out that niche! 

Jeremy also came over and went through the house, marking areas that needed touch up.  I bided my time with not putting stuff away in the kitchen cabinets because of the touch up...getting a little antsy about that, to be honest.

Day 30:  I was gone pretty much all day and evening, so there were many surprises when I finally came home.  Most were good, but a couple...we'll, let's just say things need to be changed.  Carpet was installed in our bedroom and closets:
Crummy lighting here, but it's really pretty!
My closet - the carpet looks great with our old bathroom tile.  The painter will be doing some touch ups on the walls and then I can move my stuff back in.
The shower surround was finished and grouted!  The plumber will come on Monday to install the shower valve and head, and then we're in business!
Here's the first WTF moment of the evening.  See this?  It's not a toilet paper holder.  It's a towel ring.  It even says so on the box!  What's even more frustrating is that we have new toilet paper holders sitting with the new mirrors and shower curtain rod...sigh.  They also did this in the other bathroom, naturally.
Tile backsplash was finished in the kitchen, woohoo!  Waiting on grout because after it was started, we changed it back to a darker color and they had to order it.  At this point no one should be surprised in the least that the grout color has changed, LOL.
Other side - we really love this.  Oh, and if you notice that the cabinet doors are not level, it's because the hinges were swapped out to soft-close, which work great...but the cabinet guy didn't level the doors afterward, argh.
The hinge was added to the sink drawer front, but so far the sponge holder insert hasn't appeared.
Here's another WTF moment.  The corner cabinet door was finished (we'd been waiting on a hinge).  Looks good, right?
Um, NO.  So many what the FLAMING HOT CHEETOS (I'm trying to swap out my usual cuss words with baby-friendly words) here.  First of all, a freaking GOLD piano hinge?  NO.  Then, the door doesn't open very far, plus, it's just wonky and dumb.
It's a very small, awkward space to try and get in a Kitchen Aid mixer...

While I knew this would all be taken care of, I went to bed and stewed over everything.  At the end of a long day, these dumb things overshadowed the pretty stuff.

Day 31:  The painter showed up, followed shortly by Jeremy.  I showed him the problem areas, and he agreed that the corner cabinet needs help.  The towel holders were relocated, and luckily the holes in the wall worked for the actual toilet paper holders.  Lots of paint touch up happened, plus the hole in the drywall that has been there for several years thanks to a plumbing issues was finally patched up, yay.
Look ma, no hole!  

And that ended week six of the renovation. 

20 comments:

  1. So funnyy about the toilets--my father-in-law needs new toilets and he was just talking about the waxless ones!

    I love your kitchen--I wish we could do a whole house renovation like this too! It's just gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had no idea about the waxless toilets! And thanks, I love my kitchen, too. :)

      Delete
  2. Oh my goodness, I sat here reading alternately oohing/ahhing with chuckling and just holding my mouth open in astonishment that some of those things weren't corrected right away! Hooray for a general contractor indeed. Everything is looking so fabulous though!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There have definitely been some ups and downs with this renovation, that's for sure!

      Delete
  3. Your kitchen is beautiful! I chose the same backsplash tile and stainless appliances when we did our kitchen reno. So I bet if the contractor was a women she would have known those were towel racks and not toilet paper holders...haha . Glad you got it fixed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really love the backsplash - it's clean and a nice backdrop for my colorful Fiestaware. :)

      Delete
  4. Wow! So many good things to comment on! First, those toilets!!! I saw those at Lowe's, and I wanted one so bad. Maybe I'll get one in the next year or two. I really love those pulls you have on your drawers. It just makes the kitchen look super. I'm not sure, but it seems like you have even more storage space than before! The corner cabinet--
    hopefully they will put an outside hinge on it so that it will open up flat against the drawers next to it. I love your new carpet. Its such a soothing color. And the niches in the tub/shower! You know I love those. It looks like you got a double niche there! In the kitchen it looks like there is a long tall cupboard next to the doorway--what is that for? I'm so happy for you that most everything is coming together just the way you wanted it to!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I definitely have more storage in the kitchen, plus it's easier to access, what with the drawers in the bottom instead of doors. That corner cabinet will be fixed - in the meantime, I'm squeezing items inside and it's such a great use of space for things I rarely use, like my crock pot.

      I was surprised about the double niche in the shower! That will be good for soap or a razor. The tall cupboard by the doorway is my floor-to-ceiling pantry - I'll take pictures of the inside soon. It's less wide than my previous pantry but much more efficient and holds so much more. :)

      Delete
  5. Having replaced quite a few toilets, that flange thing is really intriguing! And seriously WTF with the towel holders. Contractors sometimes just don't pay attention and you would think it would be obvious or you would at least check that what you are installing is actually what you are installing. You know, like measure twice, cut once?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Believe me, I know! And regarding the flange, I was shocked to not see a wax ring. Modern toilets...who knew??

      Delete
  6. I'm glad they'll go back and fix those things. I think men wouldn't care if you just set the toilet paper on the floor LOL. But they really should be able to read the package!

    Everything is looking so beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha Sarah, you are quite right about what most men care about.

      Delete
  7. The kitchen is just soooooooooo gorgeous! LOVE! I would be anxious to put stuff away too. But yay for being able to wash and use dishes! Our diet was SO crappy when we were doing stuff like this... it's nice when you can eat more normal and use your kitchen!

    Oh gosh. All those little things would make me BONKERS! I am glad you are finding them and having them fix them before they are GONE! Do you know what a punch list is? (I work in the architectural industry) I wonder if you should do one with them on the last day when everything is supposed to be complete. Maybe you already have it scheduled (and you are catching stuff now, which is even better).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know about the punch list, and in my mind it stands for "get this stuff fixed or I'll punch you" - but I'm not saying that out loud...

      Delete
  8. It's all so pretty!! Is it sad that I got excited about the skirted toilet?? That's genius!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, so lovely! Hang in there, Shelley! You're getting somewhere!
    Yeah, same as Jill, I thought the toilet was a good idea. You said it's at comfort height. I'm intrigued. And
    I'm really wondering how embarrassing it is to test drive the various heights in a showroom?
    The tilt out trash can is neat. (or slide out?)
    Like a marathon, the finish line looms my friend. Chrissy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, it was a plumbing showroom, so they were probably used to it, LOL. Being a short person, it's taking a little to get used to it, but remember when I used to workout with Brad, and he'd kill my legs so much that it would be a challenge to lower myself down to the toilet? These comfort height commodes would take care of that problem!

      Trash can is slide out and holy cow, we both love it so much. :)

      Delete
  10. I'm in love with your kitchen, love love love!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow, you really are getting an entire home makeover, huh? So sorry about the damaging hail and AC unit, but I'm glad they are getting fixed! The house looks great! Can't wait to see more! :)

    ReplyDelete

Comments are now moderated to prevent spammers from leaving, well, spam - but rest assured that as soon as I read a real comment, I will publish it. So please, comment away, even though the blog is officially closed. Thanks!