UPSTAIRS BATHROOM

Hello!  Happy 2012!  Except for little things, the upstairs bath is all done.  We are really proud of it.  After Cori made the bench with hooks for towels/robes, I made the old dressing table we got from Habitat into a vanity.  We used  the mirror that matched the downstairs bathroom dresser vanity for over the sink.  We were lucky one day at Lowes and found the exact size remnant we needed for the flooring and saved $50.  It looks like slate but is vinyl and cushiony to walk on.  The door is one of the coolest things.  We got it free when we went to buy another door for one of the bedrooms.  We decided to 'frost' the top window.  I happened to be on the internet and found that there was spray paint that frosted glass.  We thought we would try it since the door was free.  We found some vine-looking stencils that Cori stuck in the 4 corners and then she did the spray painting.  When it dried, in about 30 minutes, we removed the stencils and it came out great.  You can't see through it other than light.  It is pretty unique. 

  The plumbing was replaced in August in this corner in the bathroom and we put some planks on the wall that we had leftover from the ceiling in the downstairs bathroom.  We love the air compressor!

 I think I had posted a picture of the turquoise tub and sink before but wanted you to see the before/after side by side shots.  The new floor is more grayish than the picture shows.  We are pretty proud of this room.  We have to stop and stare at it whenever we walk by-ha!  I was going through my pictures and can't find the final project of Cori's bench.  I will take camera over there tomorrow and get one.  
Later...

The main floor bathroom is FINALLY done!

Hello and happy holidays,

I am taking a little break from the house down in Louisville and Cori is probably working her bottom off while I'm gone.  Heading home tomorrow so I can't wait to see what she's done.
 I have a few extra minutes in the hotel so I thought I would post some pictures of the bathroom  that is finally complete.  (the upstairs bath is almost done, too!)
I am putting before pictures of the tub area that used to have 2 sinks with a built in vanity.  There is also an alcove with the toilet.  It used to have two entrances.  One came off of the addition room but Cori blocked off that door so the toilet is more private.  Before the toilet area had a rotten floor and a bad wall behind the toilet from moisture.  There also had been a yucky shelf unit and old medicine cabinet across from toilet.  We found an old glass door cabinet on Craigslist that Cori built into the wall.  If you remember the dresser we got in September from Craigslist, it is now the cool vanity.  It came out gorgeous by cutting a hole for the sink and putting on a new faucet.  The floor by the toilet was tiled by me but Cori did a great job on the tile surround by the 'relaxation' tub.  The pine floor by the tub and vanity came out beautiful after being sanded (a lot) and stained.  It doesn't even look like the same room.   We love it!

Got to go see my grandon!

Taking a break from the house for this....

Brandon was 31 yesterday so I drove to Lousiville for a few days.  And I get to see my grandson, Isaac!!  He was 2 in September and I hadn't seen him since 4th of July.  Man, has he changed.  He knows letters and colors and can walk up and down stairs and runs a lot.  I am watching him all day while Brandon is working and Nicole out of town.  He's napping, so I'm resting...

Great deals

Hello,

I have been waiting to post our finished downstairs bathroom.  But it's not finished!  We were on a deadline to get it done before Thanksgiving because Dad and Sis are coming for the holiday, but our plumber went on a 2 week vacation hunting.  How dare he!!  Anyway, since we got delayed, we started on the upstairs bath.  Again, Cori used her awesome talent and made a cool bench/cubby/towel or robe hanger in the corner (bottom pic). It's not quite finished.  We are hanging 3 hooks and painting it gray.   The original bathroom had a corner vanity  (top picure) which we pulled out and we are putting in an old dressing table as our new vanity ($30 at Habitat Restore).  We got a deal on a sink -$3.50! (again at the Restore), and $60 off a faucet at Menards today.  I finished cutting the hole for sink today but we have to wait for the plumber to finish his plumbing duties! 
Family will start coming tomorrow. I am taking a few days off to eat and relax...

My Creative and Talented Sister

Just looked at the last post.  Wow!! Time flies.  I can not believe it has been more than a month since I posted anything. 
We have been working almost everyday and making lots of progress. (We did take time off to go to my niece's wedding in the Keys ).  In a few days we got two rooms done-the back room (with the new roof) and the dining room.  They were pretty simple once we had the drywallers do the ceiling and back wall.  Cori watched them and now is better than the professionals.  She closed up one of the doorways into the bathroom because it opened right into a view of the toilet.  After mudding and sanding, you can't even tell a door was ever there.  In the photo, the door was on the right.  (the other door is a closet) .  The color is an olive green with antique white trim.  The dining room is more of an olive gray with same color trim.
We are almost done with the bathroom.  It is going to be soooo wonderful.  (I'm going to enter it in a before/after contest !). We only have a few things left to do and then I will post pictures. 

Here's what Cori did today- We had an old cold air return in living room that was falling apart.  It was large and would be expensive to get a new one, like $200 for a vintage one.  Well, Cori looks at it, grabs some wood, air compressor and steel and makes a cool perfect one.  She is awesome. She gets an idea in her head and can whip it up in an hour.   (the floors look bad now, but after they are sanded and stained a little darker, they will be beautiful.  photos on that in a few months :)  )

Back room getting done..

Good morning,
We are whittling away at projects the last few weeks, so nothing has really been completed.  I learned that when you work on a house that has sooo much stuff to be done, you can't just concentrate on one room.  There is always something that pops up that needs your attention first, or you run into problems, or you don't have the right tools, or the weather is nice and you have to get the outside projects done, etc. etc...  We have been trying to get the main floor bathroom done.  So far, we have all the drywall up and floor underlayment down.  Next, we are going to tile.  Will send pictures later... But, I have posted pictures of the addition room on the back of the house.  This room had a flat ceiling and was rotted and disgusting looking, especially after the first day when I took down the drop ceiling.    The roofers came in and took off the whole roof and put a new slope on it.  Cori and I put in insulation between the studs this week and the drywallers came to do the back wall and ceiling.  They did it and the dining room ceiling in ONE HOUR!  Then a lady 'mudder' came over to mud all the seams and corners.  It takes her 4 days because she waits for it to dry between each coat. ( She is the one that makes it pretty so her cost is 3 times the drywallers).  After that is all done, we will blow in insulation through the unfinished closet ceiling and add some paint and then that room should be done. (all except wood floors , which will be done right before we put it up for sale )
Cori just texted me-it's 8am on Sunday morning! I better get over and help her do some projects this morning..

ROOF- 3 days turns into 3 weeks !

The roof is finally done!!  What was supposed to be 3 days took over 3 weeks to complete.  The problems started when I noticed on the 2nd day that they were putting on the wrong color shingle.  After that, a roofing crew left to go do another job, a few guys quit and a few got fired.  Then came Labor Day weekend and I think noone wanted to come back to work.   They ran into problems with the attached garage.   The last people who attached the garage and roofed it (50yrs ago?) kinda just threw it on there.  There were valleys and bulges and holes and saggy places all over.  After 3 different ideas, they went with one which included building up a slope on the whole back of the house.  They had already ripped off the flat roof which was on the addition on the back of the house and made that a slope, so they incorporated that into the garage addition.  The garage 'workshop' area ceiling is about 3 foot higher than before, so we have a loft in there now-ha! The whole thing looks wonderful.   Better than I hoped for.  And a little more money than I hoped for, too!!  Now we need to get new gutters and power wash the house and it will be (almost) brand new.

We got all 4 basement windows repaired, reglazed, repainted and back in, so Cori and I are putting in window wells today.  That way we can bring in a load of  dirt and build up around the foundation so water flows away from house.  Of course, it looks like we have a chance of rain for the next 7 days!  At least we got a new roof to keep us dry...