Let's Talk Remodeling

[triplefigs]

Next we had the cabinets refinished. Kept all of them white except for the island which is a brownish red (Lowe's Valspar Mark Twain Brown).

Then we had under cabinet lighting installed.

Next the backsplash went in. We used tumbled slate, and the color is Peacock. We used 4x4's everywhere, and used 2x2's to outline the box over the new cooktop and for the island.

 

[tiggger1]

wow I love it!

 

[triplefigs]

After the backsplash had been installed for 48hrs, I put on 2 coats of color enhancing sealer. I also recovered all the chairs in a rustic red fabric and replaced all the white switch plates with brushed nickel. Here is the finished kitchen. I am thrilled!

 

[triplefigs]

So before and after:

 

[triplefigs]

Half bath on the main. New fixtures and hardware, mirror, took down the wallpaper. Paint is the same green as the kitchen. The faucet is Price Pfister in brushed nickel, the mirror is from Lowe's, and the light is from Lowe's. The hardware is all brushed nickel and is by Moen. We also replaced every door knob on the main floor as well as all exterior knobs on the house with Georgian Nickel from Lowes. You can see it in the mirror photo.

Before:

After:

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Your cabinets are gorgeous! I can't wait to see them with the new appliances and the counters! I love the way darker wood looks with darker counters.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Triplefigs, I LOVE it! It looks pretty darn close to my remodel!

I love the way the slate backsplash turned out! We went with tumbled marble, but I sure like the color in yours!

I took my old backsplash out too, and was extra careful to not damage the sheetrock behind the tiles. Then, my husband decided he wanted to replace it all with cement board. If I would have known that, I could have saved myself about five hours of work!

 

[shovan]

Miss Jasmine, That is looking great! Can't wait to see the counters in!

Triplefigs, Beautiful Job! Love the backsplash & the color accent on the island cabinets! It looks beautiful!

We talked with the contractor & think we've found a way to fix the fridge problem without moving the wall. Do an open case door & make the door opening wider, & trim the edge on the cabinet next to the refrigerator. Not a perfect solution, but if the contractor thinks it will look okay, we're willing to go with it, to be able to afford the other things we need done. DH just received the new estimate that includes that, tiling the kitchen floors, repairing the wood floor in dining room, taking out the furdowns & glass cabinets over the bar, sheetrock on the ceiling to change the kitchen light, putting pendant lights over the bar, & sheetrocking the kitchen walls & the wall next to the bar. This estimate came to $13,500. Seems like it should have been a lot less, considering the wall won't be moved & doesn't include the granite countertop on the other bar. DH & I will discuss it tonight.

 

[BillSears]

You guys are amazing! Personally I've been wanting to do some remodeling for years but have been too afraid of the horror stories to hire a contractor.

I do have one big question though. How do you handle the contractor doing work in the house when you have to work yourself? I can't take weeks off from work to babysit the contractor when they're in my house. Is it normal to just give them a key or something and let them work alone?

 

[triplefigs]

Thanks, everyone. We did all these projects at once, so at any given time we had 5-6 subcontractors in our house. It was crazy, but we finished in less than 3 months. We had a general contractor coordinate most things, but the inside painting, granite, and backsplash I hired myself. We did leave the key for them which was very nerve racking. That's one reason we now have all new exterior door knobs with dead bolts (besides the fact we were changing colors... )

 

[triplefigs]

Here is our Master Bathroom redo. I think I am happiest with this, and it was only cosmetic. We didn't replace any fixtures or hardware. Just paint and new accessories. I'm amazed at the difference. Before it had burgandy/dark green wallpaper with PEACOCKS (hideous) in the bath and a plaid in the water closet. It is now a warm honey color (called Maple from Lowe's historic colors) and accented with the sage green and black from the rest of the house.

In Progress/before:

After:

 

[Miss Jasmine]

You guys are amazing! Personally I've been wanting to do some remodeling for years but have been too afraid of the horror stories to hire a contractor.

I do have one big question though. How do you handle the contractor doing work in the house when you have to work yourself? I can't take weeks off from work to babysit the contractor when they're in my house. Is it normal to just give them a key or something and let them work alone?

My MIL is retired and lives less than 10 minutes away from us. She doesn't drive so on days that workers will be there I'll pick her up and drop her off at the house before I go to work. The cabinet installer was a great guy though and there were times we left him alone in the house. We could have given him a key to let himself in or to lock up, but someone was always around at those times. I did give MIL one afternoon off last week as I left work early to give her a break.

DH and I work at a place that is usually flexible with our time. I can also work from home, which is what I did that afternoon.

 

[Galahad]

You guys are amazing! Personally I've been wanting to do some remodeling for years but have been too afraid of the horror stories to hire a contractor.

I do have one big question though. How do you handle the contractor doing work in the house when you have to work yourself? I can't take weeks off from work to babysit the contractor when they're in my house. Is it normal to just give them a key or something and let them work alone?

We were lucky to have folks we trusted and they were very careful about subs. We used our Garage door key pad - it allowed me to set a code that was only good during their work day. I only live 10 minutes from my office so I generally came by the house at mid-day to check on things. It would have been a real pain to have to come home more often or hang around.

 

[triplefigs]

This was the biggest project. We replaced 100% of the siding (we had masonite) with Hardi plank. The siding was really beginning to rot. We upgraded to smooth beaded, painted the entire house, replaced all window casings and sills with the PVC, new gutter and downspouts, and replaced the rotten wood on the porch and soffit. We also removed the 2 Leland Cypress on each side of the house that were very overgrown. Hopefully, the outside (except for a new roof in the next couple of years) will be in good shape.


Before:

After. The house is now a sage green with black shutters and door. The door has all new hardware in brushed nickel and new lights on the front. We also replaced all the exterior lights on the back of the house.

 

[triplefigs]

We also added a full bath to our basement and 2 closets. Here are the before/work in progress pictures:

New Bathroom. We took the vanity light, faucet, towel bars, and all accessories from the half bath we redid and saved a lot of money by recycling the same items. Then I got to buy new stuff for the upstairs where I wanted it!

New closet for downstairs in-law suite:

New toy closet (the pictures above where they were cutting the door). It is 5'x3.5'.

 

[triplefigs]

We also replaced all the brass lighting fixtures. The semi-flush mount fixtures went on the main floor. The sconce went up the back staircase. This is the new doorknob and brushed nickel outlet covers.

And with these photos, we're done (and broke)!

 

[triplefigs]

Am I There Yet, would you mind posting a picture of your kitchen? I know I've seen it before. I think you have the green wall color I'm looking for.

Thanks for the links. I'm sure I'll spend a lot of time there for the next few months.

I love all of the pictures posted. I'd enjoy looking at them even if we weren't considering a remodel! The Mickey head is really cool! I can't wait to see the afters!

I think it's my green, isn't it Dawn?

 

[triplefigs]

Must not be me... I did recently post a picture somewhere, and did just re-paint my kitchen. It's more of a warm gold color, but may have looked like it had a green tint.

Here it is:

That's beautiful! I love the curve.

 

[elizke]

Well we survived the first week! !!!

Really nice! The wood is very rich and will look very classy with the counter.

 

[elizke]

And with these photos, we're done (and broke)!

Really a lot of nice work done there. Love the kitchen.

That's some plaid in the original master bath! Love the new exterior.

And you take the cake for before and after photos!!