Monday, May 21, 2018

FULL HOUSE Renovation, Part 7 & Part 8

Day 32:  We are getting close to being done.  The washer and dryer were reinstalled once more, and except for a hanging bar, I think the laundry room is, dare I say, finished?

The plumber came and fixed the leaking toilet, and also installed the fixtures for the tub and shower:
Now to scrub out the construction dirt from the tub and we're almost good to go - still need to hang a shower curtain and rod.

Day 33:  Electrician, painters, and work crew.  I like the electrician, don't get me wrong, but I sure hope this is the last day I'll be seeing him for a long time.  He worked on our last outside floodlight and also switched out a bunch of outlets and light switches because they ended up looking dingy with the new paint color (and let's face it, they were 18 years old).

The painters did some more touch up, and they also painted our new front and back doors!  Here's the front:
Door is from Lowe's - it's the Therma-Tru Benchmark door.
I love this handle so much - I think it looks super sharp with the door design!  It's the Kwikset San Clemente Smart Key in satin nickel.  

The Smart Key means that you can rekey it to match your other locks, which is great considering we replaced the locks on the back and garage doors - but the ding dang Smart Key (really just a funny piece of metal) was missing from our box, argh!  Kwikset is sending out another one, but in the meantime, we need to make sure we have the correct key when we leave the house.

And here's the back door:
Outside...
And inside!  I was a little daring and had it painted black on the inside, which surprised my contractor when I said I wanted to do this, but with the large glass panel, it felt more like a frame this way.  Plus I thought it would tie in nicely with the black countertop that is nearby, and the other black accents.  When Jeff came home from work and saw it, he said it was stunning, so I guess I was good in going this direction with the paint color.

The cabinet guys returned and got all of the doors realigned, plus the correct hinges on the corner cabinet were installed:
Now THAT'S how it's supposed to open.  The garish gold hinge has been replaced with one that goes with the cabinet pulls.
Look ma, straight cabinet doors - oh, and grouted tile backsplash!

I forgot, the tile crew returned and grouted the backsplash.  The lines are so thin that I'm glad we went with the darker grout - it shows up just enough.

The bathrooms are nearly finished:
This is the smaller bathroom and it's actually finished.  Onto the decorating now.
The plumber is going to have to come back and redo the pipes - the turn off valve is sticking out beyond the pipes just a bit, but it's enough that the drawers won't close all the way in the vanity.

Day 34:  A new crew arrived this morning - the garage door crew!  Yay!!  Actually the garage door has been in for several weeks, but we had to wait for installation until the garage was cleared out of construction items (the tile took up a lot of room) and garage sale stuff.  Finally, it's here - and it's gorgeous:
Next week, we'll have our new black roof to complete the transformation!
Closer look - this is powder-coated steel, so the color should last.  We'll have the trim around the door painted with our exterior paint to freshen it up.

Jeremy also came by and we went over the last bit of items that need to be done.  Unfortunately, the plumber has become inundated with jobs, so we couldn't get him scheduled for a week, but hopefully most of the remaining items will be finished soon.

Day 35:  No one was scheduled to work, and to be honest, it was a nice break!  I did my volunteer gig at the hospital and then spent the rest of the afternoon putting things away in the kitchen, which was super fun as there's so much room to store everything now!

Day 36:  No one was scheduled to work again, which was awesome - I got my kitchen all set up!  Here's a few pictures:
One set of upper cabinets - I have so much room now that I can spread things out and instead of having to stack everything to fit, I can actually display them, which warms my display-loving heart!

Part 8

Things slowed down the next week - we were waiting for the plumber to come on Thursday and adjust the plumbing under one of the bathroom vanities, plus the painter needed to come and do more touch ups, as well as painting the trim around the garage door.

Day 37:  The crew came and installed new brushed nickel hinges on our doors, to go with our door handles.  Finally, everything in the house matches!
Oooh, so shiny!
They also hung the curved shower curtain rod which was no small feat, drilling into the tile.  It was very loud; they wore ear plugs while Paco and I took cover behind closed doors.

With the shower curtain hung, this room is finished!

Day 38:  No work, but that was good because we had to prepare the yard for our new roof.

Day 39:  The roofers arrived just before 7:00 am, worked all day long, and finally left around 8:30 pm that night...and they have to return the next day because we have such a big roof (five gables...it's a little more complicated than a standard roof).  I'll have more on this, plus pictures, in a separate post.

Day 40:  Roofers were here bright and early, and then I went to work at the gift shop.  Shortly after I came home in the afternoon, the plumber arrived to fix the valves under one of the vanities so the drawers could finally be installed, and most importantly, close all the way.  Ikea's plumbing system works, but only if the plumber installing it understands how tight everything is in their set up.
Hey look - drawers!  

The crew came and took care of some more odds and ends, and with that, we were finished for the week.  Still to come, another visit from the cabinet maker to tweak a few things, and the painter for more touch up.  But other than that, we are just about done with this renovation!

22 comments:

  1. Everything looks so lovely Shelley! What is the paint color in your kitchen? I was thinking about doing something similar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The gray is Sherwin Williams Silverpointe. It's what we used throughout the house, but it looks different in some rooms depending on the light. We really like it - it's a true gray.

      Delete
  2. So nice! And woohoo to be almost finished!! I covet your pottery bowls with the open weave, btw...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, those pottery bowls. They are practically antiques at this point. They are from Eucalyptus Pottery, which used to be right down the road from where my Grandmother lived in Del Mar, California. They shut down shop after decades in business several years ago, and I'm sad about that as I'd hoped to find a red bowl for my kitchen counter. We used to go shop there for seconds, which is what all of the bowls that I have are. I love them.

      Delete
  3. OK, I'm coveting your new front door. You have what I really, really wanted but back when we were doing doors and garage door, etc., the contractor talked us out of getting a new one because we have an old solid wood door and they just don't make them any more. Also, Mr. Helen did the painting and well, ours just don't look as nice and smooth as yours and that's all I'm gonna say about that lol.

    Everything is really beautiful. Pray for me to win the lottery and I'll fly you out to help me decorate the new house I'll buy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get that about old wood doors...but sometimes, it's OK to go with a new one. Of course, I also get that certain contractors don't see that.

      Delete
  4. Oh so exciting to see everything near completion! And how fun to fill up your kitchen cabinets with your pretty Fiesta ware! I like the garage door too, and the front door handle. And I love that you painted the back door with the black frame--perfect! I like those curved shower rods. I didn't know they had to be screwed into the tile--that would have made me nervous--worried that they would crack the tile!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My thoughts on getting the shower curtain rod screwed into the tile was do it now, while I have extra tile and contact with the tile people, in case it needed fixing. Happily that wasn't necessary.

      Delete
  5. It all looks amazing. You really do have a brand new house!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Everything looks so shiny and put-together, Shelley - you did a great job designing it all, and sticking to your guns when someone tried to talk you out of your choices! You're never going to want to leave the house now, right? It'll be good to have it completed and just enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are so pleased with how everything turned out - I guess all those years of watching HGTV and TLC paid off, LOL!

      Delete
  7. Wow, it looks like you changed about everything. Looks great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We did - unintentionally, but that's how it went about!

      Delete
  8. How exciting! I know you're happy to have your home back! Congrats...it all looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks - and I sure am glad to be living in my entire house again.

      Delete
  9. Everything looks so sleek and clean. I love your taste in design. Your front door looks amazing and your garage door is beautiful..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well thank you! We are still surprised when we turn into our cul de sac and see the black garage door, but surprised in a good way. :)

      Delete
  10. Woohoo, so lovely! You sound like you're being very patient with all the come back and do this, and one more time for this contractor, etc. Getting so close! I mean when you can put dinnerware in your lovely cupboards! So great that you have space to let things breathe in there too.
    I love that the door is black on the inside. Well done, Shelley.
    It all looks so nice!
    Chrissy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much! I think if my contractor and crew were a pain to deal with, all of the coming back might bother me, but they are really nice so mostly I just have to make sure I'm home when they want to come over.

      Delete

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!