Taking Care of Business

After we had agreed to buy Skyline, and continuing until shortly after we closed, there was a flurry of immediate project work to do, most of it in the "boring mechanical stuff" category.

For instance, Skyline had a fuse box, and three connected sub-panels (plus a fourth, for the non-functional hot tub, but we'll get there later.)  We promptly got upgraded to 200 amp service, and a large, shining new panel, with lots of room for expansion.

Here's the "before" - more than a little scary.

We also had several necessary plumbing projects, including but not limited to...

Main bathroom: fix wobbly shower arm, replace tub overflow & trap, repair lav sink supply lines

Boiler: cleaned and tuned, replaced burners

Basement: move water line to prepare for electrical service upgrade

Old well: properly cap off

There were a couple surprise projects, too - like replacing the garage door, when D broke it; acquiring and installing a new oven, after we realized that the existing one wouldn't stay on for more than 15 minutes; and of course, re-wiring the electrical for cooktop and oven, so it would be up-to-code.

We still managed to get a few fun things done, though.  The nasty blue shag carpet on the stairs, and un-padded brown shag carpet in the basement were removed - and replaced by a beautiful vintage remnant of Armstrong Crowne Corlon sheet vinyl, and thoroughly-padded Shaw Solon 20 oz carpet in Caterpillar, respectively.  We were thrilled by the products and service of Maloney Carpet One.  I mean, just look at this!

Outside, we replaced the gutters with Leaf Guard and 6" downspouts.  Always get the oversized downspouts if you have the option.

We also had several of the maple trees severely trimmed, and removed a few diseased cedars (cedar-apple rust - very gross).

S built a brick and stone fire pit for the back yard, which has been fire department approved, and consistently draws the compliment of people asking who we had build it.

As the first 9 months at Skyline drew to a close, the state was hit by an epic ice storm, which caused us to wish we'd pruned or eliminated even more trees - but we escaped with only minor gutter damage and no loss of power.

After several hours of hacking at the downed limbs.

And it was kind of pretty...

Introductions

When we shopped for our first house, it was about nine months of open houses, scheduled showings, constant internet searching, and seemingly unending frustration.
Then, once we had it, the renovations started before we even moved in - a huge kitchen gut, followed almost immediately by a massive basement project.
The second time around, we knew more about ourselves, and the kind of house we wanted.  We were able to find and close on our house in less than 3 months, but have continued to "live with it" for over 18 months now before embarking on any major projects.
Yet, we're about to start some, so this is the perfect time to catch up on how Skyline was before it was ours, and what we've done since.
We have made some minor changes to the exterior, but nothing structural.
Here is the outside in Fall 2012 - photographs from the listing.

Here is the "before us" bedrooms, half-bath, living & dining rooms, and screened porch (hereafter "veranda").

Master bedroom

Guest bedroom

Office bedroom

Half-bath - part of the "addendum"

Dining room, with doorwall to veranda, from the living room

Veranda - covered, screened porch

Living room

Kitchen

Main Bath

We have made minor changes to the main bathroom, kitchen, and basement - but here's how it started.

Main Basement

Updated Basement

Since we acknowledge not everyone is as interested in a Spartan Green (Pantone 567) basement, we've spent some time updating the basement to be more university-neutral.

What's that lovely built-in DVD/bookcase, you ask? Why, a secret door, of course!  Pull the correct movie forward, and the door opens!

We use the room inside as an office.  It has a large cedar closet, and another secret bookcase door to the storage area under the stairs.













Looking toward the other end of the basement, we have the other closet on the finished side, and the three-quarter bath.

On the utility (unfinished) side of the basement are such interesting things as the laundry machines (2009), and the furnace.

Furnace (and central air) installed by previous owners (2006).





Also, is our wonderful tankless water heater (installed 2010).  This little guy supplies (nearly) unlimited hot water to showers (yes, both of them), dishwasher, and washing machine... simultaneously.  No kidding, there is no such thing as a cold shower in this house, unless you want one.

Last but not least - Basement ceiling: Part 4

Installing a drop ceiling seems like it ought to be an easy project.  I can assure you with a great degree of confidence that it is not.  Or, maybe it is, but only if you're less obsessive-compulsive than I am.

We selected a tile based on a few clearance boxes available at a big box store.  We then special-ordered the rest of it (still saved a bundle, since they gave us the special order at the clearance price!) and embarked on a long, long project.

Hearing about the tedium that is installing tiles is, well, probably as tedious as doing it, so let's fast forward:

In progress - the grid is attached, now just add tile.

Added light fixtures half-way through to help with the dimness.

Getting the tiles to line up just so, even when the ceiling height varied, was a challenge.

The three-day basement bathroom: Part 3

The rest of the bathroom was finished in about three working days.

From framing and drywall: 

 To shower installation and tile:

Mudding the new drywall and painting the block walls:

Floor tile and fixtures for the bathroom:

And oh-by-the-way we were simultaneously installing the laminate:

After appointing the closet, adding the baseboard trim, and some inspired painting - we were done!
(with everything except the ceiling... sigh)

Untold horror (or, There's a hole in the basement floor): Part 2

One expects changes when finishing a basement; that's the point, after all.  However, returning to your beloved home after a long day at work to find an enormous, water-filled hole spanning half your basement...

 That was a bit of a shock to the system.  Fun fact: the hole actually featured prominently in a 48-hour Film Project submission as the place where a character buries another character (it was a comedy horror flick)

However, the hole was soon filled with plumbing and gravel, and my nerves were soothed.

When the cement was poured, I couldn't have been happier:

What to expect when you finish a basement: Part 1

As has already been noted, I really, really like demolition.  So when we decided to finish the west half of the basement, I was very excited to rip down the acoustical ceiling tiles and tear up the sticky tile flooring.
This is the basement before we moved in:

The plan was to do all the demo ourselves, then get the pros at AIM Kitchen & Bath to install a second bathroom and walk-in closet, then we would paint and lay laminate flooring, install a new drop ceiling, and call it done.  No big deal, right?

Getting the ceiling tiles down was easy, if very messy (continual vacuuming required to keep down the dust and dirt that fell from untold years of the old tiles).  Poor SB then removed all the clips that held the old tiles to the furring strips.

Removing the floor tile was a much bigger deal than we expected.  The sticky vinyl tiles were really hard to get up, and there was another layer of tile beneath, which was tarred to the cement.  However, I got really good at zipping along with my oversize crowbar, and we put down rosin paper to cover the sticky bare surface.

In no time at all we were envisioning the finished space (please take time to admire my lovely artist renderings - blue is shower, green is vanity, yellow is commode)