Garage Conversion--Piggish About Space

So, we have a detached garage on our property that is not used for cars.  It's mostly used to store all of our crap that doesn't fit in the house (we don't have a full basement, just a 3 foot high crawl space and small area where the boiler is). 

The garage is 16 x 20 (give or take) which is a standard size for a 1 1/2 car garage.  In addition, there is a bump out on one side.  You understand that since I was fined and hassled about this bump out it will forever be mentioned, pointed out, and the fees we actually paid will always be higher.  I'm now saying that it cost us 1k.  I'm also thinking of putting spot lights on it.  And, since you're likely quite curious--here is the UNFINISHED bump out.

Extreme close-up because it's so darn pretty.

So we've been tossing around other things that we can blow what tiny bit of money we have left.  Central air conditioning?  Hardwood floors through the rest of the living room and extension?  Or, maybe we convert the garage into a "finished" area for the treadmill and kids indoor games.  DING DING DING!  I think we have a winner!

Central air would be nice and come this august I'll be wanting it installed immediately.  BUT, we do have air conditioning window boxes (ugly, inefficient, and loud--but they are effective and provide relief.)  We get hot here but central air is used maybe 3 months out of the year here. 

Hardwood floors in the living room and office would be gorgeous.  It would "finish" that front part of the house.  BUT, there are laminate floors in the living room now (which will mostly be covered by area rug anyway) and the only floor that is really desperate is my office.  My office is still just plywood.  But, I did stick a large area rug there and for now, it's fine. (The layout of the front portion of the house makes it so it would not make sense to put flooring down in the office without also putting it in the living room).

What I don't have is a place for my kids (mainly the very large boys that are continuing to grow) to play when it's lousy out like winter (which is several months here).  When their friends come over it accentuates how small our house is, the volume level is brutal, and they trash the place.  I would love for them to have a place they could go that was more in line with kids being kids.  I'd also like to be able to use the very expensive treadmill we bought last year without it being 30 degrees in the dark garage.  If we had heat and amenities in there, my daughter could play or watch some TV while I ran on the treadmill no matter the weather.  I do take her on the jogger but it's kind of mean to go running in the rain or lousy weather.  After all, it's my giant butt that's a problem, not hers.

So I've done a little research on converting the garage.  It's not as simple as I thought--there are some things to consider (and it's gonna cost ya.)  I've made some calls to try and pick contractors brains and get an idea of what it would cost if we hired the whole thing out.  That's not going to happen, of course, but maybe they can do the stuff that we are clueless about and we can piecemeal the rest together on our own as money comes in.

So, you think it's a good idea to convert the garage instead of air conditioning or wood floors, right?  Do me a favor and email Dave that you agree with me; he wants AC. 

Even the Boys Got a Cool New Room

One thing that was nice about this extension is that everyone got a new, bigger bedroom from the deal.  (This whole thing started because we wanted--no, we NEEDED another bathroom).  The boys went from sharing an 8 x 10 room (it can be done) to sharing a 12 x 13.5 foot room.  Max's favorite color is green, Luc's is Orange.  I wanted to make both of them happy but the room gets poor natural lighting, so I couldn't make it so dark.  I made the room light blue with darker blue trim and then used their favorite colors in stripes above their beds, and randomly in their room.

 

Even though the room is much bigger, space still gets chewed up with two boys; one of which is a serious packrat. 

In their old room, there was a built-in book case.  When they demo'd the room the bookcase came out in a solid piece.  It was just a large box, so I bought some trim molding and David fixed the book case to look like a nice piece of furniture.  For about $3 in materials, the boys got the tall/strong book case that you see here:

Since boys don't have a lot of clothes that hang on hangers, I was able to stow both of their dressers in the closet.  The two stripes together are my ridiculous attempt at symbolizing harmony between the boys.  (You know, like a black and white cookie? Look to the cookie!) 

 

Luc's favorite thing was that I painted their closet door and door in the darker blue.

 

He's still angling for his own room, but this will have to do. Besides, what he doesn't know is that it's not Max messing up his bulletin board....

Doing The Right Thing: Why Bother?

For the first time in 3 years, ours is not the only house on the block undergoing some type of renovation/construction.  As I took my son to preschool yesterday morning I noticed a house under major renovation.   In the driveway was enough plywood  and 2x4 lumber to stand at least 4 feet tall, a large dumpster, and porta potty.  (I admit it, I'm jealous.  I wish Bob & the gang used a porta potty instead of my house).

As I drove by I slowed down to see if I could figure out what they were doing.  A large section of their roof was gone, old insulation covered the lawn, and it was clear they were adding a room over their garage.  On the way back from dropping off Max, I regarded the house again and it occurred to me, "Wait a second, where are the permits?"

On Long Island, certainly our township, (not sure if this is the case across the country or not) you are required to get a permit for just about anything you want to do to your house.  On the one hand, how incredibly annoying to ask for permission to do something to your own house.  On the other, some people are clueless and might build an apartment building next to you--so it's there for our own protection. 

Once you file for a petition, you must post large signs every 75 feet around your property listing the date/time of the hearing before the zoning board (so people can come and complain and say they don't think you deserve an extra bathroom in your house).  In addition, you must mail a notice (which is HAND DELIVERED by the postman) letting everyone within 200 feet of your house about your plans. 

I never saw a sign on their property.  There was no notice mailed to me.  There is no visible permit sign in their window.  MY permit cost me a tremendous amount of money and grueling time delays.   I remember our fear in INSULATING the extension before getting the inspection done for fear of jumping the gun (and subsequently having to deal with the grumpy inspector and beg him not to get too angry).  Meanwhile my 2 year old has freakin' pneumonia and the house is maintaining a balmy 57 degrees.

Do I sound bitter?  Do I?

Construction Debris Scavengers

I have forgotten about construction debris scavengers, CDS, until I saw one memorable one out of my daughter's window tonight.  She was out for her usual evening walk and I saw her eyeing some of my yard--knowing her style I watched her closely but she continued on her way.

A CDS trolls home renovation/construction sites looking for good scraps to take to their own home.  We had an arrangement with Bob where he would leave us the good scraps of wood and other materials and the rest went into the trash.  The construction trash needs to be kept separate from our regular household trash.  (Trust me, I got a nice letter reminding me about of it from my town throughout the construction)

So at all times of day and night, you'll see people walk over or drive over with their trucks looking through the gold mine.  When you're putting up a house, there's a lot of wood that is considered scrap but is perfectly great for other projects you have around the house.  For example, I can't WAIT to see what Dave builds with the 20 foot long 2x10 pieces of lumber.

Anyway, one day I said to Dave, "that woman is taking our wood.."  He went to the window and said as politely as possible, "Ma'am, that's not trash. We're keeping that."  She said, "Well the guys working here told me I could take it."  Dave laughed and said, "Well, they were wrong.  It's mine."  (Personally, I know she was lying.) She then said, "Do you want all of this?  How about I just take these pieces?"

I'm not really sure why she figured we needed to negotiate on what things of OURS we wanted to keep.  In the end, each day Dave would run to the scrap pile and pull out all the materials he wanted to keep and get it under lock and key.  Because, apparently, even if it's in your fenced-in yard, it's fair game for the CDS.

 

Technorati Tags: construction scraps,scrap wood,scavengers,lumber

Pulling Furniture From the Trash and Making it Great

I belong to a group on yahoo called "FreeCycle."  The general theme of the group is to try and keep things from the landfills.  It's pretty amazing how many things get posted--some really great stuff sometimes.  The other night I happened to scroll through the list and saw someone was getting rid of a dresser.  I needed one for my daughter's room so I emailed.  As it turns out, she lived only a few blocks away from me.

I text messaged Dave and he got the dresser on his way home from work.  (Actually, he came home, got my van, and went back--all at 10pm at night.  He's a good guy).

The dresser had a few damaged areas that I filled with wood putty and then sanded down flat.

I wanted to paint the dresser white to match the rest of her furniture (also, all great deals).  I used the color, "white dove" from Benjamin Moore--very pretty (and was featured in House Beautiful I'm told).  For furniture you want to use a semi gloss finish.  I also like to thin my paint (don't use water) with paint thinner.  Water makes the paint dry faster--not what you're looking for with furniture.  Paint thinner will allow the paint to dry slower which makes it smoother, and you'll see less brush marks.  You can sometimes use a roller, but you need a great foam one.  Most of the times, rollers show little dimples (think: orange peel) all over the piece.

I did prime the whole dresser first though. (it does have drawers, I just didn't have them in while painting and sanding)  Now, if you have an old piece (which this one definitely is) it may have kind of a funky smell to it.  It's in the wood.  What you can do is use a 3parts water/ 1 part bleach combo and spray the inside of the dresser.  Do it lightly. But the bleach/water combination will kill the smell.

I wasn't sure what to do with the handles so I have painted them to match the dresser.  I may still do something interesting to them in the future but for now, I think the dresser looks pretty damned great.  And, you cannot beat the price.

 

Technorati Tags: freecycle,painted furniture,refinish furniture,white dove paint,paint thinner

Installing Pre-finished Hardwood Floors

I got the estimate from the floor guy.  4300 bucks.  That adds up to around $13/square foot to install prefinished hardwood flooring in two rooms.  Someone do me a favor and see if it says, "shmuck" on my forehead.   That is an OUTRAGEOUS price. 

I'd really like to install the prefinished hardwood because we can avoid the headaches of sanding and staining and varnish.  No matter what they say; it freakin' stinks up the house, there's dust EVERYWHERE, and you can't put furniture on your floors for days.   Last time we had our floors refinished we stayed in a local hotel for a few days and our kitchen floor is already showing a LOT of wear and it's only been 2 years.  UGH. 

I did a little web research today and found some good sites on installing wood floors.  One in particular had a lot of information (but we're going to keep this from Dave.  They say installing hardwood isn't easy.  Pfft!  Childbirth wasn't easy either and I did that 3 times!)

So I told Dave about how I wanted to go to night school and learn carpentry.   Not to brag, but I DID earn an A in wood shop back in the 8th grade.  (That was back when wood shop was still a class and 12 and 13 year olds handling giant saws weren't a big problem for people).

Dave likes the idea of getting one of those pneumatic nailers.  He asked, "how much would we save if we did it ourselves." 

"Thousands Dave."

"What?"

"Thousands.  I can get the materials for about 12 to 1500 bucks."  (If you do your shopping and really look, you can get the hardwood flooring sometimes as low as 2.50/square foot).

I think he's sold.

 

Share on Facebook

 

Technorati Tags: prefinished hardwood floors,installing hardwood floors

Painting My Front Door

Like I said, I really want a new door.  This one is actually fine (I think) but I just would like a nicer one.  It's a steel door by Stanley.  If you have a steel or fiberglass door you can paint it anything you want.  Fiberglass doors can even be painted to look like wood.  (Wood is cool, but not nearly as efficient and doesn't have the life span of steel or fiberglass.)  Dave thinks I want all evidence of the previous owners out of the house--there might be some truth to that.  This is a picture of the front of the house last fall (hence, the scarecrow and it's not as big as it is now).  It had a maroon door and shutters.  I hated the shutters (they didn't serve any actual purpose) and every house in the neighborhood has gray siding and maroon doors/shutters.  I HATE being like everyone else.

So when it came time for Bob to reside the house I told him to nix the shutters.  I bought some paint from Benjamin Moore in town.  That little paint shop is so happy they are on my walking route each day.  Paint cans fit nicely in the basket of my stroller.  I bought the color, dove blue.  Or dove gray.  Dove something.

We are definitely going to have to address the rotted out frame around the door.  That's what happens when you have lousy gutters.  I really never realized how important gutters were for a house.  Not only do they move the water away from the foundation (well, supposed to) but they keep the water from dripping constantly down off the roof line down on to your porch and bouncing up onto the door frame.  Last year we had the gutters positioned correctly.  There was a big whole in one of the planks on the porch.  It was from water continuously coming down and beating on the wood.  As it turns out, it was also bouncing up and hitting the bottom of the door frame.  Water is incredible.

My hope is that we can just replace the frame for now and save the current door. Anyway, the next few days are going to be wet so I took advantage of the warm dry weather and painted the door.  I don't have a storm door on the front of my house, so that means the door needs to stay open when I'm painting it.  I can't close it while it's wet either.  So I hung some plastic sheeting.  Three different people (USPS and then UPS were two of them) commented on my nice front door today.  (Groan)  Pictures below show plastic sheeting and door from the inside and one from the outside.

 

I did the first coat very early this morning.  I sanded it down as best I could (the door is beat) and then wiped all the particles off.  I put a second coat on a few hours later once it seemed to be dry to the touch and then took down my plastic sheeting so that it could get more air.

So here's the next problem.   That little piece of tacky wood with the 30 on it (also previous owner's item) needs to go.  I need to repaint that porch and guess what we're doing about that door handle? You guessed it, it's GOT to go!   The front door makes a huge impression on your house.  In fact, now that I look at this picture I'm wondering if that light fixture is all wrong.  (Dave would kill me.. it took him forever to put that thing in there).   Doesn't that door need some cool molding around it?  I really need to hit the lottery.. a girl with this many ideas should have more spending money.

 

Technorati Tags: front door,steel door,fiberglass door,painting a front door,painting a steel door,front door makeover

Paint Cans

I know you thought I was kidding about the paint cans.  So here you go:

This is a corner of my office.

This is the entrance to my office.

This is a corner of my kitchen.

This is the mother-load of paint.

Why so much paint?  Because every room in the house, other than our old bathroom, had to be painted.  And I'm not even done yet.

Crap.

It's Not Done Yet: Annabelle's Room

Annabelle's room isn't done but it's not bad either  (and as you can see, she likes it). I made a few hasty errors that I now have to repair.  I was going to put her bed in one direction and painted a letter "A" surrounded by flowers to go on top.  Once I got the bed and dresser in there, I realized it wasn't going to work.  So I'll need to sand that area down, paint over it with the leftover paint, and move the "A" to where her bed is now.

 

I would leave the "A" above the dresser but I have a large mirror that is supposed to go there--and her bed is needing some sprucing up.

 

The open items on her room (besides additional decorating) is finishing the ceiling paint.  I had already painted the ceiling when Bob & the gang decided to do a repair near one of the light fixtures.  So, that needs to be repainted.

 

In addition, I want to hang drapes from the archway in her room.  That arch doesn't really do anything other than trick your eyes.   The ceiling of the new portion of her room and the ceiling of the old portion did not line up by about 1/2 inch.  (I know, I know, don't ask).  So, the only solution was to either tray the ceiling (2k) or leave an arch (free).  In a panic I called my girlfriend Vicky who assured me an archway would be cool (and she really does have great taste and is honest--so it's not like the time my mother said that the perm looked nice on me).  So the idea is that one side of her room is sleeping, and the other side is play.  Here they are making full use of the play area today.

I've had a few people ask me if the boy's have noticed that Annabelle's room is larger than theirs.  I'm not sure it actually is--and I'm afraid to calculate the square footage.  Right now I mostly hear how unfair it is that they share a room at all.  Luc has asked several times if he can sleep in the garage.  And, there are many times I'd very much like to oblige him.

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: painting,ceiling paint,archways,children's rooms,decorative painting

It's Not Done Yet: The Office

When we did the extension, we were able to add a very needed office area for me to get work done and also make it a temporary guest room.  Of the house, this room has the most egregious to-do list.  Right now my office is a nicely painted shed with electricity. 

First Things First

I need a floor and a door.  There are some issues with the flooring.  One, it is not level with the adjoining living room.  Before you ask--I don't know why.  Had I not been chasing Bob & the gang out the door with a brick, they may have had the time to explain or offer to fix it.  I had a floor guy come in on Friday to give an estimate.  They have to build up the office to meet up with the living room and the living room was never in line with the hall so that has to be built up too.  (all I hear in my head is cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching).  I really wish I could go to night school for carpentry.  Actually, that's not a bad idea.  I've always wanted one of those pneumatic nail guns...

Right now I have a very large area rug covering the plywood flooring.  What you're seeing in this photo above is the laminate floor from the living room (and a few paint cans--we've decided to consider the large number of paint cans throughout our house objet d'art.) 

Second, the living room floor is laminate that I want yanked out.  (I'm not knocking laminate, it just doesn't match the hallway). Ideally, the oak floor will flow from the hallway, through the living room, through the office making the entire house nice and uniform.  And, since we're now expecting new furniture for the living room soon, it's best to get that floor addressed before we start filling the room.  The doors can't go into the opening until the floors are complete and to be honest, I'm a bit hesitant about putting french doors in for bit--my kids are a little nuts.

In an effort of humiliating myself into getting this room into shape I'm going to show you what a god-awful disaster it is.

I managed to get some frames today for the artwork I want on the walls (that's what you see leaning up against the foot of my desk).   I need some shelving and found his old book case that I need to paint to make it look like something decent. What color will I paint the bookcase?  I'll just pick up one of the many cans laying around and see who has the most still in it.

And there you have it!  My office--the worst room in the house. 

Patio, Phase 2

Like I said, last spring after coming home from picking up my son Max at preschool, I fell down the stairs and broke my foot. It's not particularly cool to break your foot while falling down a flight of stairs. Honestly, you feel like kind of a dork. I've been walking down stairs for many years. The fall could have been worse because I was carrying my one year old daughter Annabelle at the time and she could have been hurt--but she wasn't.

Since we moved the wall back three feet from the original position, the concrete patio was now two levels. There was the dirt area that was a couple inches lower than the old concrete slab.

So, as I went to step from the last stair to the landing, I missed the old concrete portion and hit the dip in the ground. I rolled my foot and since I was holding my daughter, had no way to stop my fall. As I came down I clutched Annabelle like a football and put my other hand directly behind her head. I came down right on top of her--my finest ballerina moment.

Max had already run into the house and came back out saying, "Hey Mommy, wacha doin' down there?" I smiled and tried to remain calm (while my unhurt but very freaked out daughter screamed her head off) telling Max I fell but was fine. I actually broke it in several places and a year later, still have moments where it aches.

So, as soon as I could reach a phone I called around to find out what it was going to take to fix the patio. Here are more photos of additional patio and basketball area that needed to be repaired.

You can see the compromised retaining wall in this shot and how close it was to the Bilco doors for the basement. We also had them move this wall back a couple of feet too.

Enter the Irish Mason Billy. Billy was nuts but cheap, so he was hired. He probably would have made more money on the deal had he not done so much damage. He said he could remove all the old concrete, the old basketball court, the pile of rubble stored behind the garage from the FIRST wall that collapsed, and pour concrete (including fixing the extended retaining wall) for a VERY reasonable price. We said, "deal" and he may have lost his shirt because he hasn't return any of my phone calls since.

First Problem

Here are some photos of the guys doing the work. See how close that little backhoe is to our house? Well, as he pulled on a hot water tank they found buried in the ground with a chain, the chain snapped and came up and hit the frame by the kitchen window. I was so relieved it didn't come through the window that I let the damage slide.

Second Problem

There's something very frightening about seeing a fully loaded cement truck that close to your back door. Eleven yards of concrete is quite a load. In fact, it can shatter the sewer pipes going from your house to the cesspool. That one I was not willing to let slide. Seeing your washing machine back up into the bathtub will make you pretty angry--particularly after you've said, "you know, my cesspool is right there, are you sure he should have that truck there?"

Sparkling clean patio above, new basketball court below. Seriously, how lucky are my kids anyway? That Max better wind up being a star--do you know how much that boy of mine has cost me so far in his very short little life?  The doctor says he's going to be tall (scary tall). Is it wrong to make him do drills every day and sleep with a basketball? I don't think so either.

We had our back steps changed too which I was really happy about. The previous ones were brick, there were two steps, and the top one was not wide. The kids would always come up right behind me when I would open the door and I was always worried someone would fall off the top stoop. Now it's one wide stoop. They poured concrete right over the brick and covered it with pavers. Makes for a much prettier back door, don't you think?

Third Problem

Just as Billy was getting ready to leave the job, he decided to grate the dirt a little more on our front yard with the bobcat. (Billy pretty much never left the seat of the Bobcat and barked orders at the workers he picked up on the corner who didn't speak a word of English.) Billy backed up, brought the bucket around, and chipped the brand new front stoop. At first he made light of it but there was no way to patch the concrete. We had the concrete dyed a sandy color and you can't just make a small bit of it (you'd have to dye an entire yard of cement). So, he offered to cover the front stoop with pavers to match the back door at cost. I jumped at the deal and I'm happy that I did.

Billy was fast, cheap, reckless and may have a drinking problem. But, I have to say that every time he screwed up he was quick to repair problems and didn't make me work for it.

It's Not Done Yet: Our Bedroom

I had a friend recently ask me why I hadn't posted finished pictures of the extension work we had done this year.  Well, I'll tell ya why... 'cause it ain't done yet. But, here's what I'm going to do.  I'm going to show you all the things that aren't done in my room so far. 

Here's our bedroom.  I'm really happy with the room's colors, the layout, the private master bathroom that never smells like a boy's locker room, the fact that my children have not been able to break down the door because of the deadbolt I had installed, but mainly I'm pleased with how our bedroom floor came out.  But, if it were not for the Roomba we have, I would be cursing it.  The dark floors are gorgeous and make quite an impact, but they show every single infinitesimal spec on the floor.  Like I said, thank god for Roomba because I pretty much have to vacuum every day.

Now, here's why my room isn't done.  See those boxes of flooring attempted to be hidden in my husband's closet?  They still need to be laid in the closet, TV area, and linen closet.  After that, we can nail in the trim that goes around the room.  In addition, the cheap bastard in me really wants to know if there is leftover flooring that I can return to Ikea.  Each of those boxes (there are 3 in there) are about 50 bucks a piece.  Hey, money's money and Momma wants to anchor her bed with a gorgeous area rug.  (You learn these things when you constantly watch HGTV decorator shows.)

This area below was once the boys built-in closet.  I don't know if you remember or not, but the original room was theirs first.  We removed the built-in, (were able to save it and it's in their new room) and left it as an inset area for the TV and components.  We plan to put more shelves and maybe some doors halfway down, but for now it looks like this:

Extreme close up!  Notice that there is no flooring in that area too?

You would think that this kind of badgering would make my husband want to finish it, but alas, all he's thinking is "when is this woman going to leave me alone already?"  I swear, this is the last floor he has to do! 

Patio, Pavers, and Ethnic Groups

When we first bought our money-sucking-sponge-of-a-house, there were a few obvious repairs that had to be done.  The house had a lot of qualities that we liked--first on our list was that we could afford it.  When I saw the walk and patio, I knew this was something we could negotiate with on the price of the house and also, my dear ole stepfather happens to be a mason.  Actually, I should qualify that: he's an Italian Mason. One thing I learned with this ever continuing project is that different ethnic groups are "the best" at different things.  (And listen, I'm just telling you what they all told me--so don't start sending me emails telling me I'm racist.) Apparently, the Irish are good masons too (said the man we hired for phase two).  In addition, if you have some concrete work to be done (we have, and do) you want to hire a Portuguese team. 

The Plan

The height difference from our driveway to our patio (and back door) is about 7 feet.  And, there was this really nice concrete ramp coming down from the driveway. I used to hold my breath every time I saw my 2 year old son Max running down it hoping he wouldn't trip on one of the MANY cracks. 

Next to the ramp was a retaining wall that had collapsed.  The owners stacked block in front of the collapsed wall, threw a little trash behind it (I'm not kidding, you wouldn't believe all the crap that they threw back there) and considered it repaired.

This picture  shows the house on the left with the walk and patio in front of you and the driveway to the right.  Any wonder why we jumped at buying this place?  (What the hell were we thinking?  oh right..we could afford it...)

Phase One: Retaining Wall and Steps

Without getting too  mason-talk on you, the walkway and retaining wall needed to be done at the same time because they tie into each other for support.  There was an additional retaining wall that needed to be repaired (beyond that umbrella you see) but we could hold off on that for a future date.  

Actually getting my stepfather to Long Island is an incredible feat. My parents live in Upstate New York--and I'm not talking Westchester.  (Get out a map, there's a whole mess of land above Westchester.)  They are about as far north of New York as you can get, they live right by the Canadian border.  I normally can only get a visit from my parents if I have a c-section.  Now, the walk WAS important to me... so I got pregnant (I'm a team player).  I was able to casually mention to my Italian-over-protective stepfather Al that the walk was dangerous and boy I hope I don't slip on those steps this winter--you know, with the new baby in my arms.

A few weeks later, Al arrived ready to work.  It took him almost 2 weeks and he did it completely by himself.  It was an impressive amount of work and I think he did a fine job.  (I do need a few tweaks done but there's no way I'm having another baby--so I may have to hire someone local)

In order to maximize the patio area, we hired a guy with a back hoe to come in and push the earth back about another 6 feet.  We decided to tier the new wall in two levels.  Al said in his thick New Jersey accent, "It's a long drop.  Know what I'm saying?  Fall three feet and you get your feelings hurt, fall six and you break sumthin."  As it turns out, I really like the look of the tiered wall even if it did encroach on the patio area by a few feet.  (I learned all about encroachment earlier this year when I got fined for an encroaching pop out on my garage.

The wall, steps and walkway was an expensive project even though we didn't have to hire it out.  The estimates we received from masons in the area were anywhere from 20 to 35K .  We spent about a 1/3 of that and the kids got to spend a lot of time playing in dirt and hanging with Grandpa.  

 

The wall and walkway were finally finished and that was the extent of the work we could do that summer.  Phase 2, the patio floor and back retaining wall, got fast-tracked when I fell down the stairs holding my daughter and breaking my foot in more than 9 places (she was safe an unharmed) two years later.  Would it be considered irony to fall down the stairs that were built in order to not fall while holding the baby? 

 

 

Technorati Tags: pavers,patio,steps,retaining walls

A New Front Door

A friend came over this week to check out the house.  As I gave her the 10 cent tour I realized how many times I said, "well, what we're going to have here..." and "imagine a floor there..."  On top of finishing parts of the extension, there are general maintenance issues that have come up as well (and many other unfinished projects in the yard--like a railing for our stairway from the garage to the patio).  I started to prep the front porch to be repainted and noticed that I could stick my hand through the casing on the front door.  No need for me to keep locking that pesky lock at night.

Now, I've come to grips with the reality that this house will never be done.   It's time you do the same.

I've started looking at entry doors.  In all honesty, I've wanted a new front door for a LONG time, but this is the perfect excuse to get one.  I called Bob--this is not a project for David (unless we want plastic sheeting for a front door for the next few days.  I'm sure the kids would think the raccoons would be great pets.)  Bob said it was no problem, remarked that he thought I didn't want to spend any more money (since we didn't do the floors), and said to call him when I had the door.

Here's what I'd like my entry to look like:

Having side lights and transoms would be the coolest.  Unfortunately, the front of my house actually looks like this:

So because of the hallway configuration and height of the roofline, there is no room for sidelights and transoms.  I'm hoping Bob can at least do some decorative molding work for me like in this picture:

Here is the door I'd like for my house: it's a Thermatru door.  I like all the glass to let in lots of light in the front hall.  Of course, at this point I have no idea what it costs and what Bob will charge to put it in.  At the end of the day, I may be trolling the clearance aisle at HD or Lowes.

 

Technorati Tags: front entry door rotted door casing