Five Week Fixes - Week Two
Well I had a relaxing week! Ryan and I spent the last week away on a cruise (booked long before this house was in the plans but honestly, much needed). We had an awesome, incredibly relaxing break. While we were gone though, the work continued! My family drove down multiple times and put in hours of work while we were away (I don’t know how I’m ever going to make it up to them but it’s going to take me years!).
First, they built us the most gorgeous gate that my dad and I had designed together a few weeks ago. This was important to block off the backyard across the driveway so that Abby can be off-leash back there eventually. We went with a gate instead of a fence because placing it where we did means cutting our driveway down from three parking spaces to two. We couldn’t put the gate any further back while still keeping it in front of the side door to the house. With this configuration we can let Abby out the side door straight into the yard but still pull one of our cars into the back parking spot by opening the gate if we need to.
I knew we needed this gate for practical reasons and when choosing the design and hardware for it I obviously tried to make it look the best it could but I totally underestimated how awesome it would end up. Between the new roof and this gate the rest of the house is looking pretty shabby in comparison.
On the inside, the remainder of the upstairs was fully cleaned and primed and the bathroom reno began. When I say it was fully primed though.. well that’s in the past tense. The upstairs was fully primed until the original paint on the stairwell ceiling decided it just couldn’t possibly hang on any longer and started peeling off in huge sheets with the weight of the primer. We had to scrape/peel allllll that hard work back off the ceiling to get a clean slate to start again. Some days we win, some days the house strikes back! The bathroom has had the tub/shower fully removed I’m starting to get so excited about what the finished bathroom will look like!
The rest of the upstairs rooms are still looking great and painting will continue this week. Here’s another before and during of the second upstairs bedroom (feat. Abby).
Podcast studio (second bed) before: mismatched, chipping doors and trim, semi-gloss walls, missing outlet covers and a deathtrap ceiling fan.
During! One layer of flooring removed, light fixture out, walls, trim and doors primed, and our site supervisor for good measure.
I’m so so grateful for all of the amazing work my family put in while we were gone last week! Now we’re back and ready to keep pushing through for three more strong weeks of reno before we’re fully moved in!
To Do
Remove flooring in the entry, kitchen, hallway, landings, upstairs bedrooms, and bathrooms
Install vinyl tile downstairs
Install laminate upstairs
Install new tub
Tile both bathroom floors and the shower
Fence along one side of the yard
Frame out the new fireplace enclosure
Remove quarter round upstairs
Replace light fixtures
In Progress
Install blinds on all the windows (main floor, upstairs) - main floor done!
Clean all the walls with TSP to prep for paint (main floor, upstairs) - upstairs cleaned!
Prime and paint all walls and ceilings in the entire house - upstairs all primed with two coats.
Prime and paint all the upstairs trim and doors - upstairs trim and doors primed!
Clean door hardware - upstairs door hardware removed and cleaned.
Demo the bathroom - tub/shower completely removed.
Replace light fixtures - upstairs bedroom fixtures removed for painting.
Done
New roof
Install gate to close off the backyard
