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I've been keeping a bit of a log on some of my other forums, so this is essentially a dump here. I'll keep it up to date when I make updates elsewhere, as well. Thanks for the great forum!
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Where we started...
The weird low-walled kitchen
The kitchen, the cabinets...
The divider wall, hiding the shelved walls of the "library"
Yesterday, we got a start...
...examining and evaluating and checking out what was what with the condo... The Photos - Prelim Demo
Bye-bye ugly crappy cabinets!
MY EYES! The wallpaper hidden under paint, revealed by removed cabinets...
The wall that keeps going and going (down to the neighbor's condo) that we intended to take out
Subflooring that is rotting, has soft spots, that we nearly fell through or is generally total crap This will (most likely) be paid for by the condo assoc, tho! :thumbup:
Surprisingly, we took out virtually everything that we could today. The wood floors came up VERY easily. The kitchen floors... not so much... We have to wait for the water to be shut off on Monday at which point they'll also be putting in new cutoff valves under the sink. The dishwasher, refrigerator and range will all be pulled out and the rest of the cabinets and flooring will come out. The partition wall will require a plan of attack...
Heaps of crap
Stopped for lunch and went and ordered all our appliances (existing are for sale if anyone wants 'em!). The wife got a new Sears card, which got us 0%/6mo. and also saved 20% by purchasing 3+ appliances, PLUS $100 rebate on the dishwasher. Overall saved us over $1000... :banana:
the fridge
the dishwasher
the range
We also met our neighbors today. They love us :
LOL
:
Oddly enough, the guy two floors down is a friend of my brother, so we've already got friends in the neighborhood.
Anyway, we're all exhausted but **** was that fun! Thought I'd share the beginning joys of home ownership.
Well, I got all the crap out today. Worked with two guys and a huge truck and filled the thing. Took 2 hours. lots of up-and-down the stairs. Got someone interested in the dishwasher, too... Now comes the WTF to do next stage. Subfloors need to be inspected and replaced, load-bearing wall needs to be addressed, additional demolition and some drywall work needs to be done... Cabinets arrive the 29th, appliances scheduled for the 30th... Deadlines for regular work are beating down my door
Ok, so we achieved a major milestone today... Subfloor replaced. Not throughout, just in the areas we intend to refloor. Even then, it's a HUGE HUGE difference. The condo association was kind enough to cover about 1/3 of the replacement cost. We had to pay the additional for leveling and I purchased the insulation myself.
We also installed R-19 fiberglass insulation between the joists to alleviate sound transfer to and from the unit below us.
First, they took it all out...
Then, they started to stuff insulation and level the floors in a rather ingenious way... By nailing 2x4's to the sides of the existing joists (some 2x12's running as much as 20ft!) so that the top edge of the 2x4's provided a new level surface on which to attach the new subflooring. At the same time, they reattached most of the cross-bracing between the joists, as it had come loose over time.
The old subflooring was in really bad shape, poorly installed and only 1/2" thick. The new stuff is 3/4" tongue-and-groove plywood, installed to much tighter tolerances. I intend to go back over the whole thing and seal any joints with Liquid Nails. We'll also probably end up putting a few boxes of screws into the subfloor to eliminate any possibility of squeaks.
So we have a firmer, stronger, considerably more level floor now:
To get an idea of just how much of a slope we had when you first walked in the front door, I think the paint/baseboard line at the back of the closet shows that pretty well:
It was quite uncomfortable walking in and sliding downhill immediately.
SO... Flooring is ordered with premium heavy recycled rubber underlayment to provide impact and airborne sound abatement - expected install around the end of the month:
Tile was ordered tonight. Expected install in about 7-10 days.
Cabinets are in, awaiting assembly:
Appliances are scheduled for delivery, electrician is coming in the morning to replace the fuse panel with a circuit breaker, drywall/framing is still a little up in the air... But we're making progress. I'm ending up as my own GC on the job, but eh whatever I guess it's fun
So that's about that for now. More to come later, I'm sure.
Among the things that have gone on:
- Removed mirrors from dining room wall (now cabinet wall)
- Framing and drywall begun
- Electrical work begun (very reasonable, very good, recommended! V&A Electric)
- Wallpaper stripping done in a few key areas
- Some walls stripped, skim coated and primed
- Cleanup the balcony up a bit after all the demo and tile cutting and such
- new doors and hardware throughout - on order. French doors as office entrance, pocket door for office closet door
- some other stuff, I'm sure....
On to the pics!!
My office, framed in...
THE wall, with its first piece of drywall - my office on the other side
The tile, looking even better with a few coats of sealer
The closet with the breaker box... electricians cut lots of holes
Oh yeahh....
a recessed light that will be going in the dining room area
The hideous bedroom wallpaper, painted over by the sales agent
The lovely bedroom wallpaper, scraped and soaked...
what was left after stripping
the very STICKY mass of wallpaper from the bedroom
My office taking shape
Soon to be a new kitchen... lots of work there...
More of the wall
From the living room... High enough to let light in without sacrificing privacy
update... hoped to get cabinets in today, but knew we had to paint the wall and areas around there before we put them up... So we did a bit more sanding and skim coating and painting today... Then cleaned the heck outta the tile so the guy can come tomorrow and grout...
Here's a few pics
looking toward front door...
dining area/looking from front door...
the front half of the kitchen
the back half of the kitchen
all for now. exhausted... up early tomorrow to install cabinets!
We've actually finished electrical and data/cable wiring, hung Ikea pendants (3) over the island, some under cabinet lighting (no lighting strip on cabinets), grouted the tile and just about finished drywall. The appliances (fridge and dishwasher, at least) were delivered today and there's priming, painting and cleanup to do before the hardwood goes in next week. The range and hood are on their way.
Then we have to install the doors, mount the hardware: all lower cabinets
all upper cabinets
get the countertops installed (Silestone Sierra) and figure out what to do for the side panels of the bar area and between the fridge and dishwasher. We picked up two tall (80") side panels in Rubik (stainless) for those tasks, but we're a little split as to how to set them up and such. We'll see once the plastic comes down after all the drywall dust is cleaned up.
__________________ Never discourage anyone... who continually makes progress, no matter how slow. ~ Plato Craig and Stacy - Slowly making progress since 2005
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