Let's Talk Remodeling

[shovan]

I'm sorry Shovan. That really bites.

The coutertops are Cambria Quartz Welshpool Black.

And silgranit is manufactured granite. From the Blanco site: "SILGRANIT® is manufactured of 80% rock hard granite. Features of SILGRANIT include heat resistancy up to 536° F, stain, scratch & chip resistancy, impervious to acids & alkalis, easy to clean & maintain, colored all the way through and guaranteed with our no-hassle limited lifetime warranty."

Oh and the plumber didn't make it today, he had some issues at his first job of the day. However, he did say he would be there tomorrow.

Thanks for the sympathy! Again I love your countertops & the silgranite sounds like it's going to be easy to take care of!

I signed my first, probably of many to come, contract. They'll be be doing all of the above and replacing a door for $16,000. I explained about the floor seeming to be high so he said since I was having other stuff done he'd knock a thousand off of the flooring install. I figured it would be best to have the floors and walls done at the same time so I just took a deep breath and wrote a check for my downpayment.

Scary stuff, uh?! Hope this all works out well!

We might have some movement starting on our master bath soon! The state is now saying that our contractor only has to add business liability to his vehicle which he has agreed to do. So we can at least proceed with his submitting a bid to the state now. The state has also agreed to throw out the low bid from the contractor that we found out had gone bankrupt several times. So if the guy we like came come in anywhere under $45,000 (the bid the contractor with really bad workmanship submitted) he should get the job. We can accept either approved contractor but the state will only consider any payments based on the low bid amount. Sorry, I know all this red tape baloney is hard to follow. Anyway, we have some movement on all of this.
So, we are going to set up meeting with the contractor to finalize the layout & plans. And meet with the cabinet people to design the custom vanity! Some fun stuff coming!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

We might have some movement starting on our master bath soon!

Sorry "movement" and "master bath"...

Seriously, that is great news. Enjoy the fun stuff.

 

[anna_chronistic]

Miss Jas, that's a beautiful kitchen. Can't wait to see the final pics!

I need to find some good "before" pics of my parents' kitchen. It was small and awkwardly arranged. My mom used to say the original owner must have built the house and realized he forgot to put in a kitchen and decided, "Well, there's this sort of hallway space right here..." It took all last summer to completely gut and renovate the kitchen, redo the front porch and install a deck. My dad is all about routine and is usually pretty laid back, but he was going INSANE over the renovation. I remember he came in one night and flipped OUT because he couldn't set his coffee cup down on the counter as he had for the past 15 years. It was actually really funny.

The contractor (who is now like a member of our family) uncovered a beautiful original brick chimney we incorporated into the kitchen's design. About once a week, my mom still looks at the kitchen and just glows. She just loves having a nice kitchen. I need to figure out how to post photos...

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Miss Jas, that's a beautiful kitchen. Can't wait to see the final pics!

I need to find some good "before" pics of my parents' kitchen. It was small and awkwardly arranged. My mom used to say the original owner must have built the house and realized he forgot to put in a kitchen and decided, "Well, there's this sort of hallway space right here..." It took all last summer to completely gut and renovate the kitchen, redo the front porch and install a deck. My dad is all about routine and is usually pretty laid back, but he was going INSANE over the renovation. I remember he came in one night and flipped OUT because he couldn't set his coffee cup down on the counter as he had for the past 15 years. It was actually really funny.

The contractor (who is now like a member of our family) uncovered a beautiful original brick chimney we incorporated into the kitchen's design. About once a week, my mom still looks at the kitchen and just glows. She just loves having a nice kitchen. I need to figure out how to post photos...

It's simple! Go to www.photobucket.com and open an account. Once you upload your pics, cut and paste the link here, and presto! You've posted a pic!

We'd love to see them!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Sorry "movement" and "master bath"...

Seriously, that is great news. Enjoy the fun stuff.

Darn! You beat me to it!

Shovan, I'm glad everything is "moving" along! I wish I could get some movement in my master bathroom.

 

[SplshMtn99]

Hey there. Question about "That Home Site". http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/

I have the WORST time finding things I've posted / asked & if people replied? Am I missing something? It doesn't indicate you posted on a thread. I don't get any email replies or know if I even can. I can't seem to find a way to search for my posts?

Currently, I'm emailing myself everything I post to or might ever want to go back & read an answer to. Certainly, there has to be a better way.

What am I missing?

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Hey there. Question about "That Home Site". http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/

I have the WORST time finding things I've posted / asked & if people replied? Am I missing something? It doesn't indicate you posted on a thread. I don't get any email replies or know if I even can. I can't seem to find a way to search for my posts?

Currently, I'm emailing myself everything I post to or might ever want to go back & read an answer to. Certainly, there has to be a better way.

What am I missing?

I remember that happening to me, but it's been so long I can't remember how it turned out. I'm wanting to say it took awhile for my posts to show up. How long ago did you try it?

 

[shovan]

Sorry "movement" and "master bath"...

Seriously, that is great news. Enjoy the fun stuff.

Darn! You beat me to it!

Shovan, I'm glad everything is "moving" along! I wish I could get some movement in my master bathroom.

Y'all are too funny! That was definitely just a slip of the tongue, but I am happy to have any movement as far as the bathroom is concerned!

 

[SplshMtn99]

Welcome! I think you'll find it calm and peaceful here, although we do tend to do lots of this ---> when we get estimates in. In really severe cases, you'll see this ---> , but it's all good.

Thanks for the welcome. I've glanced at a few of the projects going on here, & I feel like the poor neighbor. Being a condo, our projects are no where near the scale of most here. You call them remodeling, I call them redecorating since I don't get into walls & doors & stuff.

I'll fill you all in on our kitchen project a bit later.

 

[shovan]

I'm oh so very close on the doorknob decision. (I know - it so exciting.) Changing every knob in the house is so incredibly expensive. I decided on a lever style by Schlage - Champaign style - antique pewter color. My husband has decided at this point he likes anything I pick.

Upstairs we started on another project. We had arches in three doorways that just didn't fit the style of the house. Some arches are pretty in houses, these weren't. Our carpenter tore them out and the doorways are now framed for glass transoms. This happened this past weekend. The transoms are on order but the casing is in and surprisingly, the doorways seem so much larger now. I'll post pictures soon.

I have a landscaper coming out today. Wish me luck. Talk about expensive!

Anyone else?

Good luck with the landscaper! The landscaping we had done last year on the cheap definitely isn't holding up well, if we ever get finished with the house, we'll have to start on the yard again.

The antique pewter and glass transoms sound gorgeous! Can't wait to see some pics!

 

[shovan]

Thanks for the welcome. I've glanced at a few of the projects going on here, & I feel like the poor neighbor. Being a condo, our projects are no where near the scale of most here. You call them remodeling, I call them redecorating since I don't get into walls & doors & stuff.

I'll fill you all in on our kitchen project a bit later.

Welcome! I have to say I'm pretty jealous of your redecorating instead of remodeling. Sounds wonderful to me! Along with my remodeling woes, we've had fireplace & roof leaks, mold in my AC registers, pool pumps going out, you name it, it's going to need work! A condo has been sounding like a very good idea for a while now!

 

[SplshMtn99]

I remember that happening to me, but it's been so long I can't remember how it turned out. I'm wanting to say it took awhile for my posts to show up. How long ago did you try it?

I've been registered there for about 2 yrs. And I'm pretty sure I even posted there when I was planning the kitchen in the new condo we didn't move into. Not alot, but I posted. I've posted at least 4 things in the last week or so. Currently, the only way to find my posts is to remember what thread & go looking for the thread. BAD!!!!!!!!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I've been registered there for about 2 yrs. And I'm pretty sure I even posted there when I was planning the kitchen in the new condo we didn't move into. Not alot, but I posted. I've posted at least 4 things in the last week or so. Currently, the only way to find my posts is to remember what thread & go looking for the thread. BAD!!!!!!!!

Ohhhhh, I'm so stupid. I see what you're saying. Unlike the User CP here, where you can see subscribed threads, there isn't anything like that there, right?

I hate websites like that. I lurked more than I posted there, so I don't remember it being a hassle, but I can see how it would be!

 

[SplshMtn99]

Welcome! I have to say I'm pretty jealous of your redecorating instead of remodeling. Sounds wonderful to me! Along with my remodeling woes, we've had fireplace & roof leaks, mold in my AC registers, pool pumps going out, you name it, it's going to need work! A condo has been sounding like a very good idea for a while now!

I'll keep my condo too since military DH isn't around when I need him to be. We are DIYers. Only time we've ever hired someone was to replace windows & DH was his assistant to keep cost down. And once a painter because DH was too busy. I'll NEVER do that again. We are anal & I thought DH was going to flip when he saw the guys work. Recommended by neighbor contractor. DH has done painting, wallpaper, tiling, elec & plumbing, put in attic stairs & some little woodwork. I'm good at getting stain to match & planning every last detail & shopping. Not so good at deciding things. I second guess myself something terrible.

Your project does sound like a headache. But it will be all worth it when done.

 

[shovan]

I'll keep my condo too since military DH isn't around when I need him to be. We are DIYers. Only time we've ever hired someone was to replace windows & DH was his assistant to keep cost down. And once a painter because DH was too busy. I'll NEVER do that again. We are anal & I thought DH was going to flip when he saw the guys work. Recommended by neighbor contractor. DH has done painting, wallpaper, tiling, elec & plumbing, put in attic stairs & some little woodwork. I'm good at getting stain to match & planning every last detail & shopping. Not so good at deciding things. I second guess myself something terrible.

Your project does sound like a headache. But it will be all worth it when done.

I know what you mean about hiring people & being disgusted with the work! My dad was really into carpentry, so I'm nutty about the sanding, painting or staining stuff! And DH's dad was a contractor, so we sort of know how things should be done & how it should look, which sucks since both of us have health issues that keep us from doing much of the work ourselves. I was very happy with this last guy who did our little remodel on the kitchen & who will do the bathroom. My only gripe was his sanding on the baseboards. Just not smooth enough for me. I'm going over it with steelwool & will put another coat of sealer on it. I'm considering asking him to let me sand down the doors & woodwork for the bathroom & bedroom when we get to that point.

My decision making could use some help too. Thank goodnes for these threads! I tried gardenweb & HG's threads but I found the just too difficult & gave up on it.

 

[Hixski]

Right this very moment DH is installing the last 2 doors we are switching out. We are changing from the fake wood hollow core to white six panel. Once those are done we have 2 sets of bi-fold doors for our secondary bedroom closets and we are done with our door project. We have a few more pieces of baseboard molding and WE WILL BE DONE with that project. I am telling you changing every darn piece of trim and door in a house is a project. Especially when they are just primed and you have to paint every last piece yourself.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Right this very moment DH is installing the last 2 doors we are switching out. We are changing from the fake wood hollow core to white six panel. Once those are done we have 2 sets of bi-fold doors for our secondary bedroom closets and we are done with our door project. We have a few more pieces of baseboard molding and WE WILL BE DONE with that project. I am telling you changing every darn piece of trim and door in a house is a project. Especially when they are just primed and you have to paint every last piece yourself.

I admit, I'm procrastinating about painting our doors and trim. There is so much that I'll have to sand down first, and it's so hard to keep the dust from getting into the grain of our hardwood floors.

I am absolutely dreading it. At least yours is already primed. I have to go backwards, and get the old paint off, and then do it all over again.

 

[shovan]

I admit, I'm procrastinating about painting our doors and trim. There is so much that I'll have to sand down first, and it's so hard to keep the dust from getting into the grain of our hardwood floors.

I am absolutely dreading it. At least yours is already primed. I have to go backwards, and get the old paint off, and then do it all over again.

Eeeww, that is going to be a mess! The little bit of sawdust that was brought in on the wood flooring (for the small repair) was definitely a pain to get out. If your woodwork is already painted couldn't you just prime it before painting again or is it stained & you want to paint?

 

[SplshMtn99]

We have hollow core stained doors also. They are on our list of things to change. However, we like stained wood & stained trim. The thought of trying to stain & match 15 doors is something I dread. We know the painted woodwork & doors are in & looks nice, but we don't really care for it in this condo. The thought of painting over stain grade wood saddens me.

The condo we were supposed to move to had painted doors & wood. It was one of the only things I didn't like, but was going to have to live with.

I guess its because I grew up with painted cabinets, doors & woodwork. It was my job to go around each Sat with 409 & a damp clothe & clean all fingerprints & marks off the paint. Wood doesn't show that stuff. I think painted trim that is knicked & scratched just look ratty & not something I want to keep up with.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Eeeww, that is going to be a mess! The little bit of sawdust that was brought in on the wood flooring (for the small repair) was definitely a pain to get out. If your woodwork is already painted couldn't you just prime it before painting again or is it stained & you want to paint?

For the most part, it's all painted and in good shape. I should be able to clean it really well, and then paint it. Thank goodness there is now water-based acrylic too!

But - in some area, particularly around the french doors in my breakfast room, and some window sills, where the paint has chipped down to raw wood, so I'm going to have to sand it all down. About 2/3rds of my house is hardwood floors.

I know it took FOREVER to get the dust out after our bathroom remodel, from sanding down the walls. I'm just dreading it.