We can't wait until it's finished!!! We're SO DONE with chaos in the house!!
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Kitchen install!!
So the kitchen is *FINALLY* being installed today and I got a quick glimpse of them during Marn's lunch hour and we love it! The counter is being measured tonight and the upper cabinets are going in tomorrow. The electrician is finishing his stuff on Monday to connect everything, and hopefully the counter and sink will be in on Tuesday/Wednesday? Here's a sneak peak, but the colour is a little off on these cellphone pics and they're of reduced quality. I'll get better pictures in later when it's done and maybe do up a post of the whole progression.
Monday, March 11, 2013
kitchen design
This is what we're thinking about for the kitchen reno now. Since the last post we were undecided about taking the wall down between the kitchen and dining room, but I think we've pretty much decided that we want an island. So that means, this minor kitchen refresh has turned into a complete gut and redo, including removing that wall and making it completely open. Something we hadn't planned on doing, but I think it's for the best long-term. We're already spending a decent amount of money, and we plan on being here for a long time, so better to do something we're completely happy with. No regrets.
Marn is meeting with the cabinet maker and a friend to this morning to discuss if the wall can actually come down without problems. I believe that it can as there's nothing under the wall and it runs parallel to the floor joists. A load bearing wall wouldn't be like that.
3D Views with the wall down looking in from the dining room. Basic design is the same as with the wall up, but we lose some upper cabinet space.
View from inside the kitchen looking out, thinking about a wall cabinet on the other side of the dining room to make up for some of the lost cabinets in the kitchen. I'm not sure if it will make the dining room too small, though?
Marn is meeting with the cabinet maker and a friend to this morning to discuss if the wall can actually come down without problems. I believe that it can as there's nothing under the wall and it runs parallel to the floor joists. A load bearing wall wouldn't be like that.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Mostly-New Kitchen reno!
We are doing a kitchen reno this spring. Not a complete rip out, but mostly new. We want to keep some of the retro feel of our current 50's kitchen, but in all honesty, it's probably going to have only hints of retro by the time it's done.
We're still in the planning stages, but I think we have a pretty good grasp on what's going to change... and it's a lot! The only thing remaining are the top cabinets. When we bought and replaced the flooring in the house, we originally bought enough of the walnut to do the kitchen, so we're going to bring that in throughout. All of the bottom cabinets and counter will be replaced, as well as the whole wall of cabinets where our fridge is. The (new, slide-in) stove will move to the opposite wall with deep pot drawers on either side of it and will have a hood fan over it that goes up to the ceiling. The (new, counter-depth) fridge will stay on the wall that it's on, but be centered and surrounded by new cabinets, pantry and drawers, filling the entire wall. The dishwasher will slide over towards the sink a bit more to make room for an under the counter microwave with deep drawer under it. The sink wall (with newly installed window!) will have 2 pull-out garbage drawers flanking both sides of the sink. One for garbage, one for recycle and compost - or something like that. And then the counter-top has yet to be decided on, but it'll either be grey or quartz (if we can find a good deal) in a white colour.
We are thinking a grey colour. Originally when we started thinking about this, we were going to keep a lighter colour of the sea-foam green that is in there currently - but that's changed. :)
Some things we had to compromise on because of the space we have or cost to do them are;
No eat-in or breakfast bar type of space - no room
No island - no room
Not knocking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room that we originally thought when we moved in - if we did that, the top cabinets would have to go too, and then it becomes a much bigger ($) project and we lose any retro feel that it might retain (plus, our house quite literally becomes one huge open space). If we did do that, we would turn that wall into an island extension, because we wouldn't take that wall out right to the window. The cost/benefit of that is something to ponder...
We're still in the planning stages, but I think we have a pretty good grasp on what's going to change... and it's a lot! The only thing remaining are the top cabinets. When we bought and replaced the flooring in the house, we originally bought enough of the walnut to do the kitchen, so we're going to bring that in throughout. All of the bottom cabinets and counter will be replaced, as well as the whole wall of cabinets where our fridge is. The (new, slide-in) stove will move to the opposite wall with deep pot drawers on either side of it and will have a hood fan over it that goes up to the ceiling. The (new, counter-depth) fridge will stay on the wall that it's on, but be centered and surrounded by new cabinets, pantry and drawers, filling the entire wall. The dishwasher will slide over towards the sink a bit more to make room for an under the counter microwave with deep drawer under it. The sink wall (with newly installed window!) will have 2 pull-out garbage drawers flanking both sides of the sink. One for garbage, one for recycle and compost - or something like that. And then the counter-top has yet to be decided on, but it'll either be grey or quartz (if we can find a good deal) in a white colour.
We are thinking a grey colour. Originally when we started thinking about this, we were going to keep a lighter colour of the sea-foam green that is in there currently - but that's changed. :)
Here's a pic of the inspiration;
Some things we had to compromise on because of the space we have or cost to do them are;
No eat-in or breakfast bar type of space - no room
No island - no room
Not knocking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room that we originally thought when we moved in - if we did that, the top cabinets would have to go too, and then it becomes a much bigger ($) project and we lose any retro feel that it might retain (plus, our house quite literally becomes one huge open space). If we did do that, we would turn that wall into an island extension, because we wouldn't take that wall out right to the window. The cost/benefit of that is something to ponder...
New Windows!
We decided to get new windows. It's been a sticking point in this house since we moved in. They were terrible. Painted and puttied shut from the previous owner. Hard to open, drafty, no screens, some were broken, and originally old... 1954 stamped on the inside aluminum! We priced it out ~2 years ago just after Des was born, but decided that was bad timing even though it was a good price. We at least had an idea on what we were up against cost-wise.
Well we decided to have another look and called a few companies. We really liked the one company, even though their Windows were probably a little more expensive than some others. They really seemed to be top quality, and all locally designed and manufactured (London) which is important to us. Centennial Windows and Doors. Even though the company research showed up clean with good reviews (most did say they were more money than other companies), there's something about (all) window companies that makes you feel like you're getting taken for a ride.... there's just something very "used car salesman" about it. We won't talk about price, because I still have trouble uttering the amount. :p
They started on them yesterday, and so far look great! They were supposed to be back today to finish, but a winter storm rolled in and they had to cancel. They'll be back on the weekend to finish. It would be nice to have them done before the weekend to get the house back in order, but there's nothing we can do about that. They were all put in except the one in Desmond's room and the two large picture windows (which is actually 6 windows total) in the dining room/living room. After those 3, they have all the trim and exterior finishing to complete. All windows except the large picture windows will be completely replaced down to the studs instead of "retro-fitted" where the original window frames remain. We chose that because we didn't want to mess with the "look" on the inside for those windows. They really give the room more character they way they are. We were told that you don't lose efficiency when you retro-fit - it's mostly just a cost savings and/or looks thing. So we found out that it's more expensive that way - more labour, you end up with slightly larger windows (because they're not inset into the existing frames), so more materials, glass, wood, etc..
I'll post some pics when they're done. For now, I just have a cell phone snap that Marn bbm'd me yesterday of the window in our room. So it's pretty low quality. SO excited!
It will be SO NICE to finally be able to easily open the windows, and not have 100 bugs fly in during the summer!! I literally had to step into it to open them and ensure I kept a straight back as to not injure myself!
Well we decided to have another look and called a few companies. We really liked the one company, even though their Windows were probably a little more expensive than some others. They really seemed to be top quality, and all locally designed and manufactured (London) which is important to us. Centennial Windows and Doors. Even though the company research showed up clean with good reviews (most did say they were more money than other companies), there's something about (all) window companies that makes you feel like you're getting taken for a ride.... there's just something very "used car salesman" about it. We won't talk about price, because I still have trouble uttering the amount. :p
They started on them yesterday, and so far look great! They were supposed to be back today to finish, but a winter storm rolled in and they had to cancel. They'll be back on the weekend to finish. It would be nice to have them done before the weekend to get the house back in order, but there's nothing we can do about that. They were all put in except the one in Desmond's room and the two large picture windows (which is actually 6 windows total) in the dining room/living room. After those 3, they have all the trim and exterior finishing to complete. All windows except the large picture windows will be completely replaced down to the studs instead of "retro-fitted" where the original window frames remain. We chose that because we didn't want to mess with the "look" on the inside for those windows. They really give the room more character they way they are. We were told that you don't lose efficiency when you retro-fit - it's mostly just a cost savings and/or looks thing. So we found out that it's more expensive that way - more labour, you end up with slightly larger windows (because they're not inset into the existing frames), so more materials, glass, wood, etc..
I'll post some pics when they're done. For now, I just have a cell phone snap that Marn bbm'd me yesterday of the window in our room. So it's pretty low quality. SO excited!
It will be SO NICE to finally be able to easily open the windows, and not have 100 bugs fly in during the summer!! I literally had to step into it to open them and ensure I kept a straight back as to not injure myself!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Leaks!
As everyone knows by now, we had our roof replaced recently. It was literally pouring through Desmond's ceiling on one particularly bad (raining Very hard) night. The glass light cover in his room was absolutely FILLED with water, right over the bulbs... scary. So we had to bite the bullet and replace the roof. We were hoping to hold out another year or so as Marnie had just went back to work and money isn't so abundant, but it couldn't wait. My tar patching wasn't holding at all (and in hindsight, I think I made it worse from walking around on it), so I had to go up and nail tarps down until we could find someone to do it, which helped a lot and even stopped it temporarily. I haven't been up in the attic since the new roof and since all of the water came through, but I suppose I should so that to make sure there's no mould or other problems occurring from that. I have yet to patch the roof from the water leaks -- add it to the list!
Well now that it's done, we're happy. No stress over the winter about it failing, which would probably be the worst possible time to have to do a roof as most businesses shut down over the winter. Some still do it, but I'm sure there's a premium for it. The guy who did the roofing mentioned that there was no rotten pieces of wood to replace and that it wasn't wet at all, or hardly at all, so that was also a relief. I guess my tarps did a decent job for the 2 weeks to find someone. From all the wetness in the ceiling, we're finding that it's cracked a lot at all the seams. The living room is bad and maybe the worst of it all, unfortunately. When we moved in, there were 2 cracks in the living room ceiling that we had fixed, and it's cracked at those 2 places again. There also a few water marks, and paint bubbling in certain spots and then of course the kids bedrooms. A complete PITA, but I suppose it could have been a lot worse.
Before and After!
Well now that it's done, we're happy. No stress over the winter about it failing, which would probably be the worst possible time to have to do a roof as most businesses shut down over the winter. Some still do it, but I'm sure there's a premium for it. The guy who did the roofing mentioned that there was no rotten pieces of wood to replace and that it wasn't wet at all, or hardly at all, so that was also a relief. I guess my tarps did a decent job for the 2 weeks to find someone. From all the wetness in the ceiling, we're finding that it's cracked a lot at all the seams. The living room is bad and maybe the worst of it all, unfortunately. When we moved in, there were 2 cracks in the living room ceiling that we had fixed, and it's cracked at those 2 places again. There also a few water marks, and paint bubbling in certain spots and then of course the kids bedrooms. A complete PITA, but I suppose it could have been a lot worse.
Before and After!
Notice the front of the house looks fine? The lady replaced the front half of the house and not the back for some unknown reason - cheapskate? had she done the whole roof, we'd likely have another 5-10 years out of it since the front was fine.
Good riddance red roof!
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Birthday Party!
We had Violet's 2nd birthday party last Sunday, and it was a really fun time. She was living it up and seemed like she had a blast with some of her friends and family. We really lucked out in that Marn's grandma called a few weeks ago and said she wanted to come down for a visit because her condo was undergoing renovations. It just happened to coincide with Violet's party so she was able to come and celebrate with us, which was great.
The bathroom hasn't seen much action since I painted the first coat, or since the party. It's basically done now. We hung a new mirror, and I touched up some of the mudding on the walls, so it still needs a finish coat and floor/door/window trim, as well as ceiling paint. It looks good and we got a lot of compliments on it at the party. :)
The kitchen saw some updates recently too -- we bought Marn's parent's appliances from them when they bought new ones. They look great and really update the kitchen, but the fridge was a little too big for the space. I had to cut out about 8 inches of the cabinet above it, and then when we slid it into place, it didn't quite fit width-wise either! We knew it would be tight as the dimensions were almost exactly the same, but we were hopeful. It's about 8 inches from going back all the way to the wall, so either the floor is not level, or the cabinets aren't. So, the plan is I'm going to sand the side of the cabinet down a bit to make it fit. lol I'm hoping to do that today.
The car situation has changed recently for us as well, and we've decided to sell my 2-door Accord instead of the older van (did I mention that we bought Marn's parents old van?) :-( It just makes sense. It needs a lot of work - as it always seem to need these days - and it wouldn't work for us if the van had to go into the shop for repairs. A rear-facing car seat will not work, and even it if it did, it definitely wouldn't fit two car seats. So, for a short while, we're a two van family. I say short while, because we're actually considering buying Dads BMW from him as he is trading up to a new one. Depending on the price (I haven't looked up prices on used ones yet), and the condition, I think it's a good move. It can still fit car seats in a pinch, will probably be better on gas than a van, and lets face it; it's not another van! He said it has less than 120,000 kms on it which I think is great. If we do that, we should be set for cars for a few more years. We aren't having much faith in the older van these days either, so it might make good sense to dump that now. We'll see.
The bathroom hasn't seen much action since I painted the first coat, or since the party. It's basically done now. We hung a new mirror, and I touched up some of the mudding on the walls, so it still needs a finish coat and floor/door/window trim, as well as ceiling paint. It looks good and we got a lot of compliments on it at the party. :)
Tickle trunk full of dress up clothes from Mom and Dad
Great Ganny checking out the 3D book from a grab bag :)
Checking out the Bathtub Toy Scoop with her helpers
Blowing Candles
cake smile!
The kitchen saw some updates recently too -- we bought Marn's parent's appliances from them when they bought new ones. They look great and really update the kitchen, but the fridge was a little too big for the space. I had to cut out about 8 inches of the cabinet above it, and then when we slid it into place, it didn't quite fit width-wise either! We knew it would be tight as the dimensions were almost exactly the same, but we were hopeful. It's about 8 inches from going back all the way to the wall, so either the floor is not level, or the cabinets aren't. So, the plan is I'm going to sand the side of the cabinet down a bit to make it fit. lol I'm hoping to do that today.
The car situation has changed recently for us as well, and we've decided to sell my 2-door Accord instead of the older van (did I mention that we bought Marn's parents old van?) :-( It just makes sense. It needs a lot of work - as it always seem to need these days - and it wouldn't work for us if the van had to go into the shop for repairs. A rear-facing car seat will not work, and even it if it did, it definitely wouldn't fit two car seats. So, for a short while, we're a two van family. I say short while, because we're actually considering buying Dads BMW from him as he is trading up to a new one. Depending on the price (I haven't looked up prices on used ones yet), and the condition, I think it's a good move. It can still fit car seats in a pinch, will probably be better on gas than a van, and lets face it; it's not another van! He said it has less than 120,000 kms on it which I think is great. If we do that, we should be set for cars for a few more years. We aren't having much faith in the older van these days either, so it might make good sense to dump that now. We'll see.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Bathroom floor
I grouted tonight.... waiting for it to dry before one last wipe before bed. As I was prepping the floor I noticed something with the mortar in between the tiles that I didn't like. I hope it's nothing, but I can't help but think that it could be a big problem down the road. I ended up using two different bags of mortar because I had a bunch left over from previous "jobs". 2 half bags, one was white, and the other grey. They were both the same "type" (Polymer Modified Mortar), but different brands, which wouldn't matter. The grey bag was much older than the white mortar. I think about 2 years, actually, when I did the kitchen floor in the old house, or possibly when I did the back splash. I didn't think it would be a big deal. It was never wet, or anything, and it mixed up ok. It trowelled on fine... but tonight when I was cleaning up the grout lines, the grey mortar was very soft compared to the white. In some cases it seemed to just fall apart and turn to dust when I scraped it, or if I smashed a little ball of it on the floor. This should NOT be happening, and it's making me very nervous that all of the grey tiles are going to pop off some months or weeks down the road. The mortar should be very hard, like cement.
I suppose I should Google mortar and shelf life, but I don't want to see the answer I don't want to hear right now. Maybe tomorrow, or next week.
This is what it looks like after two wipes.... a few more to go! But not tonight.
Hopefully everything will be fine, and I won't have to go back and redo it. THAT would SUCK!! Time will tell....
I suppose I should Google mortar and shelf life, but I don't want to see the answer I don't want to hear right now. Maybe tomorrow, or next week.
This is what it looks like after two wipes.... a few more to go! But not tonight.
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Bathroom counter
The new granite counter should be getting installed as I type (Actually, just got a phone call, he's not there yet... should have been there at 12 noon)
I primed the walls on Tuesday night but didn't get to painting them because the prime really lets you see spots that need more attention - there are a few. So I painted the cabinets white last night as I figured it'd probably be easier to do when the counter wasn't there. They look new again, with really old crappy handles, which we'll be replacing at some point.
We don't really know which black they ended up getting - we picked a nearly pure black counter, and then as a backup, a black with a little more white flecks in case they couldn't get the other in time. He called last night and said that it's ready to go, but didn't say which one he got in? I didn't think to ask.
So after today, I just need to touch up and then paint the walls, and install the floors and toilet, and we're done!
Well, hopefully it'll get installed today...
I primed the walls on Tuesday night but didn't get to painting them because the prime really lets you see spots that need more attention - there are a few. So I painted the cabinets white last night as I figured it'd probably be easier to do when the counter wasn't there. They look new again, with really old crappy handles, which we'll be replacing at some point.
We don't really know which black they ended up getting - we picked a nearly pure black counter, and then as a backup, a black with a little more white flecks in case they couldn't get the other in time. He called last night and said that it's ready to go, but didn't say which one he got in? I didn't think to ask.
So after today, I just need to touch up and then paint the walls, and install the floors and toilet, and we're done!
Well, hopefully it'll get installed today...
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Bathroom Reno
No pics, just yet...
but we decided to take out the bulk head in the bathroom. The little bathroom feels so much bigger now because of that. They also had two live wires feeding down through that bulk head to one light (one wire was capped off), so I removed those and replaced with one new wire. The old stuff was looking rather worn and gummy. Looked unsafe to me, so it's gone.
Marn and Candace cleaned and mopped the floors last Monday, which ended up being for nothing (other than piece of mind at the time). The place is a big dust bin, pig sty again....
The tub tiling is coming along slowly. On Sunday a friend came over to remove the bulk head, redo the wiring and start the tiles. We only got about 3 rows up as the other stuff took most of the day. I then did some more on Monday and got another 4 rows up. That brings me almost half way done. If I can spend an entire day on it, I think I'll get it done before Thursday night.
I may take Thursday off to try and finish it before the weekend where nothing will get done again because we're going to a cottage all weekend with the rest of the Family and leaving on Thursday night. There's still a lot of drywall and mudding to do.... and then the floors and toilet issue (flange needs replacing).
The goal is to get the shower in working order before the other stuff so that we can start using it again. The drywall, etc. is trivial at this point. We need a functioning shower again. We've been half staying at Marn's parents and showering there, and I've been showering at Mom's place when I drop Violet off when we stay overnight at our house. Mix in not having our 2nd car (we lent it to Adrienne for 3 days), and it's been a tough week/couple of days!
If we had a 2nd shower, this wouldn't be a big deal.
Anyway, here's hoping things work out tomorrow, if I take the day off!
but we decided to take out the bulk head in the bathroom. The little bathroom feels so much bigger now because of that. They also had two live wires feeding down through that bulk head to one light (one wire was capped off), so I removed those and replaced with one new wire. The old stuff was looking rather worn and gummy. Looked unsafe to me, so it's gone.
Marn and Candace cleaned and mopped the floors last Monday, which ended up being for nothing (other than piece of mind at the time). The place is a big dust bin, pig sty again....
The tub tiling is coming along slowly. On Sunday a friend came over to remove the bulk head, redo the wiring and start the tiles. We only got about 3 rows up as the other stuff took most of the day. I then did some more on Monday and got another 4 rows up. That brings me almost half way done. If I can spend an entire day on it, I think I'll get it done before Thursday night.
I may take Thursday off to try and finish it before the weekend where nothing will get done again because we're going to a cottage all weekend with the rest of the Family and leaving on Thursday night. There's still a lot of drywall and mudding to do.... and then the floors and toilet issue (flange needs replacing).
The goal is to get the shower in working order before the other stuff so that we can start using it again. The drywall, etc. is trivial at this point. We need a functioning shower again. We've been half staying at Marn's parents and showering there, and I've been showering at Mom's place when I drop Violet off when we stay overnight at our house. Mix in not having our 2nd car (we lent it to Adrienne for 3 days), and it's been a tough week/couple of days!
If we had a 2nd shower, this wouldn't be a big deal.
Anyway, here's hoping things work out tomorrow, if I take the day off!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Bathroom Reno
Last night I decided to take a few tiles off the wall to get a taste of what's to come this weekend. What I thought was behind the tiles, is not at all. I'm thinking now that the tile work in there is original to the house because it's plaster about an inch thick, then metal mesh, then sheet rock and studs, which are also tied into the existing non-tiled walls (so, the finish coat of plaster stops at the top of the tiles and then about an inch more of cement without a finish coat was added making the walls thicker where the tiles are). There will not be a usable wall after removing the tiles at all. Not even close. I have a picture of it which will make more sense when I post it.
So my goal of having the new tub in place for Sunday and ready to re-tile will probably not be happening. I'll have to gut the walls to the studs on Friday. I would love it if I can get so far as to remove the tub by the end of the day as well, but that might be a lofty goal.
Saturday and Sunday will most likely be re-drywalling, waterproofing the tub area and prepping for new tub placement. If I get to Monday and I'm able to start tiling the walls again, I'll be thrilled, but I think this is probably a very tight schedule.
The floor tile I'm not even thinking about right now as the walls have thrown a big wrench into the plans. What was going to be a "minor" bathroom reno is looking more like a pain in the butt large job....
So my goal of having the new tub in place for Sunday and ready to re-tile will probably not be happening. I'll have to gut the walls to the studs on Friday. I would love it if I can get so far as to remove the tub by the end of the day as well, but that might be a lofty goal.
Saturday and Sunday will most likely be re-drywalling, waterproofing the tub area and prepping for new tub placement. If I get to Monday and I'm able to start tiling the walls again, I'll be thrilled, but I think this is probably a very tight schedule.
The floor tile I'm not even thinking about right now as the walls have thrown a big wrench into the plans. What was going to be a "minor" bathroom reno is looking more like a pain in the butt large job....
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Moths... leaky house... renos
So, we're still cleaning out the cupboards, bleaching and steam cleaning, and still finding the little bastards. Last night, they were under the cupboard "protection wrap" in the corners. It's like a plastic film that sticks on the bottom of the cupboards to protect the glasses or the finish of the wood, or whatever. So all of that came off, and still a bit more to go tonight.
Moth sightings have definitely decreased since the weekend, but we did see one in the kitchen while cleaning last night. It won't be flying again any time soon....
To add to the stress and annoyance of the moth problem, we had torrential rain on Friday night/Saturday morning and I noticed a significant amount of water in the "finished" side of the basement. I can't say how much because we were literally on our way out the door to head to a wedding in Bayfield, so I didn't really look through it all, but there was enough that it pooled in a few spots and ruined many boxes of "stuff". What's in those boxes? I don't know. Probably toys, books, or picture frames. I cleaned up some with some towels, turned up the dehumidifier and we left it.
Reno for this weekend is still on. My "helpers" are all "busy". My one friend who's been bugging me for months to let him know when I'm doing it so that he can demo with me is conveniently camping all weekend, so he's out, and Dave is in a wedding and will be gone on Saturday and Sunday. The old tub is really the only thing that I'll need help on as it'll be big and awkward. And seeing as I've never really done any real plumbing, but watched many times, I may need some help with that too. My goal is to have the new tub in place, with plumbing done on Sunday. The other minor stuff like flooring, tiling and new toilet are pretty minor and can be done later and throughout the week. We'll be staying at Marnie's parents place while this is going on. Joys of having one shower in the house.
As for building permit, I called the city and talked to the person who "makes the decisions" on needing a permit and she basically said as long as we're not moving plumbing, doing a minor bathroom reno should be fine without one. They only want it if we're moving walls, plumbing, etc. I guess technically, we're moving plumbing, but it's so minor that I'm not going to worry about it. (We'll be moving it from the long-side of the tub to the proper short-side -- totalling about 2 feet). Why the person installing that tub did that, I'll never know - it's retarded and makes the already small space in it even smaller and tighter).
Moth sightings have definitely decreased since the weekend, but we did see one in the kitchen while cleaning last night. It won't be flying again any time soon....
To add to the stress and annoyance of the moth problem, we had torrential rain on Friday night/Saturday morning and I noticed a significant amount of water in the "finished" side of the basement. I can't say how much because we were literally on our way out the door to head to a wedding in Bayfield, so I didn't really look through it all, but there was enough that it pooled in a few spots and ruined many boxes of "stuff". What's in those boxes? I don't know. Probably toys, books, or picture frames. I cleaned up some with some towels, turned up the dehumidifier and we left it.
Reno for this weekend is still on. My "helpers" are all "busy". My one friend who's been bugging me for months to let him know when I'm doing it so that he can demo with me is conveniently camping all weekend, so he's out, and Dave is in a wedding and will be gone on Saturday and Sunday. The old tub is really the only thing that I'll need help on as it'll be big and awkward. And seeing as I've never really done any real plumbing, but watched many times, I may need some help with that too. My goal is to have the new tub in place, with plumbing done on Sunday. The other minor stuff like flooring, tiling and new toilet are pretty minor and can be done later and throughout the week. We'll be staying at Marnie's parents place while this is going on. Joys of having one shower in the house.
As for building permit, I called the city and talked to the person who "makes the decisions" on needing a permit and she basically said as long as we're not moving plumbing, doing a minor bathroom reno should be fine without one. They only want it if we're moving walls, plumbing, etc. I guess technically, we're moving plumbing, but it's so minor that I'm not going to worry about it. (We'll be moving it from the long-side of the tub to the proper short-side -- totalling about 2 feet). Why the person installing that tub did that, I'll never know - it's retarded and makes the already small space in it even smaller and tighter).
Monday, July 26, 2010
Bathroom Reno
Well, we are almost set on starting the bathroom reno this long weekend, but just realized one little niggle in the plans. We didn't think of the permit that we most likely need. I guess because it involves plumbing, you need one. Otherwise, it's probably fine.
Now, most people will say, screw the permit, don't tell them, or I wouldn't bother, it's a minor reno. But, I don't know... I don't want to get fined. There are a LOT of homes around our neighbourhood undergoing major renovations, so I'm sure the city inspectors are out our way often. Would they even know that we're doing the bathroom? Probably not if we don't put the tub and toilet out on the roadside!
So, I don't know if we're going to go ahead with things just yet or not. I've heard it can take weeks for Waterloo to approve your permit, and that's just not cool....
I might give them a call this afternoon to check, or I might not.
Does anyone know what happens if they "catch you' without one? Just pay the permit fee and wait for approval, or is there a fine?
Now, most people will say, screw the permit, don't tell them, or I wouldn't bother, it's a minor reno. But, I don't know... I don't want to get fined. There are a LOT of homes around our neighbourhood undergoing major renovations, so I'm sure the city inspectors are out our way often. Would they even know that we're doing the bathroom? Probably not if we don't put the tub and toilet out on the roadside!
So, I don't know if we're going to go ahead with things just yet or not. I've heard it can take weeks for Waterloo to approve your permit, and that's just not cool....
I might give them a call this afternoon to check, or I might not.
Does anyone know what happens if they "catch you' without one? Just pay the permit fee and wait for approval, or is there a fine?
Thursday, July 22, 2010
MOTHS!
Since the day we moved into this new older house, we've had a problem with moths. They were a nuisance more than anything, and we didn't know where they were coming from. We thought they'd just go away eventually. Well, they haven't so we started looking around more closely. I had done some reading on them, and apparently they're really tough to get rid of once they "take hold". Great. They try to get into any grains, flour, or cereal's that they can, and even will eat through plastic bags to get to them. A lot of sites say that whenever you buy this kind of food you should deep freeze it for a few days to kill any that might be there from the store, and then after that it should always be stored in hard plastic (air tight) containers, never plastic, or paper bags.
So anyway, we started seeing disgusting little larvae around and thought, that's it. We need to do something about this and started cleaning out our pantry.
They had completely infested a few boxes of open cereal (that we haven't used in a while, thankfully!) and other things (almonds was the other main thing, which I thought was weird). It was SO gross.... It was supposed to be Marnie's "job" last night, but she couldn't handle it anymore so I finished. Everything that was open and had the potential of getting infested or exposed was thrown out. At least 20-30 lbs of food was tossed. Our cupboards are completely bare right now. No crackers, cookies, grains, flour, rice, cereal.... nothing except canned goods and unopened pasta.
I'm not sure what we do now, but I think the next step is to wash the cupboards again with bleach this time (we washed them when we moved in). I have a feeling that Marnie is looking for someone hosting a Tupperware party. I'm hesitant to buy or put anything back in those cupboards until we have a few weeks of no moths flying around (they seem to only come out at night). The problem, though is there are these grain moths, and then other kinds as well that will eat your clothes instead of food, so we may be in for a surprise when we pull out a nice sweater for the fall. We're SO ANNOYED at this. And disgusted...
So anyway, we started seeing disgusting little larvae around and thought, that's it. We need to do something about this and started cleaning out our pantry.
They had completely infested a few boxes of open cereal (that we haven't used in a while, thankfully!) and other things (almonds was the other main thing, which I thought was weird). It was SO gross.... It was supposed to be Marnie's "job" last night, but she couldn't handle it anymore so I finished. Everything that was open and had the potential of getting infested or exposed was thrown out. At least 20-30 lbs of food was tossed. Our cupboards are completely bare right now. No crackers, cookies, grains, flour, rice, cereal.... nothing except canned goods and unopened pasta.
I'm not sure what we do now, but I think the next step is to wash the cupboards again with bleach this time (we washed them when we moved in). I have a feeling that Marnie is looking for someone hosting a Tupperware party. I'm hesitant to buy or put anything back in those cupboards until we have a few weeks of no moths flying around (they seem to only come out at night). The problem, though is there are these grain moths, and then other kinds as well that will eat your clothes instead of food, so we may be in for a surprise when we pull out a nice sweater for the fall. We're SO ANNOYED at this. And disgusted...
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Pics
Somebody loved Blueberry Pancakes this morning!
Easter pictures that never came...
Helping Dad in the yard with her new Easter Present - a rake!
opps... missed the bag!
Favourite toy(s), Dolly and stroller. She has two, and they get equal playing time.
Daddy and Vi having a snuggle with Echo. She's taken to not liking him so much these days because he keeps whacking her in the head with his tail so this was an attempt to get him in the good books again. Every time he comes around she turns away, covers her head, or screams at him to "go", or "back up!", or "out!" It's pretty funny, but he HAS really whacked her hard right in the face... I KNOW it's hurt a few times (he hurts US in the legs, never mind the face!)
Easter pictures that never came...
Helping Dad in the yard with her new Easter Present - a rake!
Favourite toy(s), Dolly and stroller. She has two, and they get equal playing time.
Daddy and Vi having a snuggle with Echo. She's taken to not liking him so much these days because he keeps whacking her in the head with his tail so this was an attempt to get him in the good books again. Every time he comes around she turns away, covers her head, or screams at him to "go", or "back up!", or "out!" It's pretty funny, but he HAS really whacked her hard right in the face... I KNOW it's hurt a few times (he hurts US in the legs, never mind the face!)
Friday, January 22, 2010
Flooring is here
Not here here, but ready for delivery which is happening on the 27th, and installation hopefully shortly after! We are excited!
The dry-waller has been coming every day this week after work to patch and mud and will be done tonight after finish coat/sanding. He's done the major stuff, but there's little touch-ups here and there that need to be done before it'll be ready for prime and paint. I'm hoping to start that this weekend, and also to finish removing the little bits of wall paper still stuck on the walls, and then sand. By Sunday night, I want the walls clean and patched completely, ready for painting.
I also have grandeur idea's that I'll get around to screwing down the sub floor squeaks, and patching the hole in the sub floor from the half wall being removed, and also start the prep for tile in front of the fireplace.
I say Grandeur because Marn's gone all day on Saturday, so it'll be a Daddy-Vi day all day... and you just don't get much done with her these days. She demands too much attention!
We also decided to get an Energy Audit done on the house to take advantage of some last little rebates before the end of the month. They are coming on Monday morning to do that. We had planned on getting 2 new toilets, and with the rebates, it pretty much pays for itself just on the 2 toilets alone when you consider the region rebates ($60), HRTC (15%) and the Eco-energy audit rebates ($130 each toilet) together.
Anyway, things are starting to happen now. Hopefully we'll be off the sub floor and back into a more normal house/routine soon!
The dry-waller has been coming every day this week after work to patch and mud and will be done tonight after finish coat/sanding. He's done the major stuff, but there's little touch-ups here and there that need to be done before it'll be ready for prime and paint. I'm hoping to start that this weekend, and also to finish removing the little bits of wall paper still stuck on the walls, and then sand. By Sunday night, I want the walls clean and patched completely, ready for painting.
I also have grandeur idea's that I'll get around to screwing down the sub floor squeaks, and patching the hole in the sub floor from the half wall being removed, and also start the prep for tile in front of the fireplace.
I say Grandeur because Marn's gone all day on Saturday, so it'll be a Daddy-Vi day all day... and you just don't get much done with her these days. She demands too much attention!
We also decided to get an Energy Audit done on the house to take advantage of some last little rebates before the end of the month. They are coming on Monday morning to do that. We had planned on getting 2 new toilets, and with the rebates, it pretty much pays for itself just on the 2 toilets alone when you consider the region rebates ($60), HRTC (15%) and the Eco-energy audit rebates ($130 each toilet) together.
Anyway, things are starting to happen now. Hopefully we'll be off the sub floor and back into a more normal house/routine soon!
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Inspection minor issues
Well, the home inspection went well. There were 2 "issues" that they wanted addressed. The first, they said that the sump pump was not working. So after being told that, I went down to check it out and it seemed to be working fine after giving the float a little shake. I messed with it for 5 minutes, and every time it worked. So I don't know what they were doing, but cross that off the list.
The other issue was in the electrical panel. We had another outdoor outlet put in for the backyard, and when the guy who installed it ran it in the panel, he didn't have the correct breaker, so he just tapped into the existing outdoor GFI circuit. Apparently, you're not allowed to "double-tap" that kind of circuit, so we need to get a breaker and move that line to it. About a $30 fix, hopefully.
Thankfully, they didn't notice the window sill I was talking about yesterday! It makes me think that the inspector they hired didn't do a very thorough job. The bricks are visibly deteriorated and easy to spot as a potential problem, and the sump pump took me 5 seconds to "get working".
Anyway, I was under the impression that they had financing worked out already, but apparently not. They still need to confirm that and have the lawyer look over the deal, then we go firm with it. They need to do that by October 10; the time that our new house needs to go firm.
The other issue was in the electrical panel. We had another outdoor outlet put in for the backyard, and when the guy who installed it ran it in the panel, he didn't have the correct breaker, so he just tapped into the existing outdoor GFI circuit. Apparently, you're not allowed to "double-tap" that kind of circuit, so we need to get a breaker and move that line to it. About a $30 fix, hopefully.
Thankfully, they didn't notice the window sill I was talking about yesterday! It makes me think that the inspector they hired didn't do a very thorough job. The bricks are visibly deteriorated and easy to spot as a potential problem, and the sump pump took me 5 seconds to "get working".
Anyway, I was under the impression that they had financing worked out already, but apparently not. They still need to confirm that and have the lawyer look over the deal, then we go firm with it. They need to do that by October 10; the time that our new house needs to go firm.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Home Inspection
The people who bought our house are doing the home inspection today at 1pm. They want to "rush" it because they want to firm everything up before they hand in their notice to the apartment they're currently in. It should be fine, except for one small "issue" with one window sill. It's been an issue since the first year we moved in. Instead of using one solid piece of concrete for the sills, they laid bricks down horizontally. Not a problem, except that the mortar keeps on cracking and falling out, leaving the bricks very loose. It's never caused a problem as far as water leaks or anything that we know of, but if the home inspector sees and notes it, they might want us to fix that before going firm. It all depends on what the inspector says. We had the builder fix it once already, but I don't believe it's covered anymore (it fell under the 2-year warranty. The 7-year is for Major Structural Defects, which this is not).
Echo is heading to doggy day care again for the day...
PS, it's also Marn's LAST DAY at home with Violet!!! :(
This is her new face (while waiting for our Chinese food)... we're not really sure what it is, but she does it a lot lately. Marn thinks she's trying to imitate her when Marn tries to act surprised or happy about something. She's also saying "Happy" now. She started saying in after her Birthday party. It kind of comes out as "ha-pee". We thought she was just imitating again, but she says it all the time, if you ask her to.
Echo is heading to doggy day care again for the day...
PS, it's also Marn's LAST DAY at home with Violet!!! :(
This is her new face (while waiting for our Chinese food)... we're not really sure what it is, but she does it a lot lately. Marn thinks she's trying to imitate her when Marn tries to act surprised or happy about something. She's also saying "Happy" now. She started saying in after her Birthday party. It kind of comes out as "ha-pee". We thought she was just imitating again, but she says it all the time, if you ask her to.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Accepted!
They accepted the deal this morning! Wow... it feels very surreal right now. They still have the home inspection and lawyers "approval" before it's official, but as of right now, we've just sold our home!
Monday, September 28, 2009
House!
We received an offer to buy our house last night. It is on the verge of being low-ball and insulting, but our agent prepared us for it to be low. The buyers did a market analysis of some other houses in Baden, but neglected to include homes that were comparable to the lot size and location with ours. So their comparison come out to look like ours was way overpriced. Anyway, it's funny that this offer even came in because earlier in the day we received an email from our agent that said they were going to continue their looking around. They sent the email on Friday morning.
Their exact words were;
"We have decided to continue our search. Certain things about the house we wouldn't be comfortable with include the location of laundry, the size of the en suite, and most importantly basement size (little small).”
So, there must have been something that they really liked about the house, or location. Marn thinks the lot is what made them change their mind and decide to put an offer in. What made us extra mad is not only the low-ball offer, but that they wanted all of the appliances including the washer and dryer. That's about $6000 worth of extras. When you include the Deck and Shed, that's more like 12,000 of "extras" that they are not getting with any other house on their analysis. Not to mention the court location and large lot that the others also don't offer!
Regardless of the price that this may end up at, this becomes more interesting because our agent also had a couple through (twice) who really like the place and were going to decide about an offer this weekend. They were away for the weekend, so won't know about the other offer until this morning. So hopefully they'll decide to put an offer in as well. The PROBLEM with this scenario is, we need a quick closing date and the people with the offer
We should know by tonight what's happening!
Their exact words were;
"We have decided to continue our search. Certain things about the house we wouldn't be comfortable with include the location of laundry, the size of the en suite, and most importantly basement size (little small).”
So, there must have been something that they really liked about the house, or location. Marn thinks the lot is what made them change their mind and decide to put an offer in. What made us extra mad is not only the low-ball offer, but that they wanted all of the appliances including the washer and dryer. That's about $6000 worth of extras. When you include the Deck and Shed, that's more like 12,000 of "extras" that they are not getting with any other house on their analysis. Not to mention the court location and large lot that the others also don't offer!
Regardless of the price that this may end up at, this becomes more interesting because our agent also had a couple through (twice) who really like the place and were going to decide about an offer this weekend. They were away for the weekend, so won't know about the other offer until this morning. So hopefully they'll decide to put an offer in as well. The PROBLEM with this scenario is, we need a quick closing date and the people with the offer
We should know by tonight what's happening!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Happy 1st Birthday Violet!
Violet is on the verge of walking on her first birthday! Marn told me that she stood up by herself and took about 4 steps without help tonight. Up until now, she's been "walking", but with lots of help, and while falling forward. She's on the brink of getting up and around and we can't wait!
Some good news regarding the house; the first couple who came through the house on Friday last week is coming back for a 2nd look today (Wednesday). They are clients of our agent, so fingers crossed! (It means that his commission goes down if they end up buying it).
I just feel bad that I've been away all week so can't help get/keep the house cleaned up. I was supposed to fly out Wednesday at 6pm Central, but there's one other flight leaving at 10am, so I'm about to call Air Canada to change to that flight. It will cost $75 to do it, but I think it's worth it to get home 8 hours earlier. I'll miss the last little bit of the conference here, but most people leave in the morning, so there's not much going on anyway.
Some good news regarding the house; the first couple who came through the house on Friday last week is coming back for a 2nd look today (Wednesday). They are clients of our agent, so fingers crossed! (It means that his commission goes down if they end up buying it).
I just feel bad that I've been away all week so can't help get/keep the house cleaned up. I was supposed to fly out Wednesday at 6pm Central, but there's one other flight leaving at 10am, so I'm about to call Air Canada to change to that flight. It will cost $75 to do it, but I think it's worth it to get home 8 hours earlier. I'll miss the last little bit of the conference here, but most people leave in the morning, so there's not much going on anyway.
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