Let's be honest.

My budgeting estimation was crap.

I mean, ok, it probably would have been closer to fine (though still not flawless) if I wasn't putting in an island, and thus moving plumbing. If there wasn't a random electrical wire that was discovered in the reno process and needs to be moved. But the fact is - I am and there was. Which means I have blown the budget already, and I didn't even buy anything fun like a fancy stove or something. So this means - definitely Ikea cabinets. No new appliances until next year. And maybe a great deal more eating at home for a while (if I ever finish a kitchen to cook in...).

So now I have to decide which electrician to call. Electrician A, who was there for 10 min, grasped everything I said, and called me back 3 days later with a price? Or electrician B, who was there for 30 min, did a lot of investigating, was slightly slower on the concept grasping, gave me a detailed estimate on the spot - but also sort of irritated me by wanting to do other work and by charging for said estimate? (I mean, do I really need to replace the doorbell wires? Yes, I know they are old, but everything old is not necessarily bad...). Roughly the same price. Which to pick?

And the plumbers. I wanted to go with the guy I used for everything else, but he was significantly more expensive. Looks like I'll be trying someone new.

Well THAT was messy.

And exhausting - it's taken me a week to get this post up!

There was destruction.

From Kitchen Reno 1

There were unforeseen issues.

From Kitchen Reno 1

And in there end, there were new walls.

From Kitchen Reno 1

There was also, as usual, a lack of good photos. Sorry, but I was BUSY.

So, the recap.
Day one - Dad ripped out plaster. I came home from work and shoveled plaster into garbage bags. Then R2 came home from the gym and carried said bags. Whew.

Day two - Dad created wall frameworks. I went to the hardware store 4 times (note - the open box is always missing something, and it doesn't matter how well you bungee 2x4x12's to a roof, they will bounce). Kaitlin came and ripped up the linoleum. Guess what was under there! Give up? Wood! Wood that will be nice all finished! Super exciting. In the process of removing the existing pantry wall skeleton, Dad noticed the ceiling dropped a little. Since he worries about knocking my house over, he decided a supporting header and some jacks to re-raise it would be a good idea. Small glitch - tin ceilings are not actually fastened directly to the ceiling. They are fastened to small strips of wood. Translation: there's nothing above the ceiling to push up against, thus the jacks didn't raise much.

Day three - I ripped out the rusted tin ceiling panel in the former pantry, while Dad continued to make walls. After viewing the tin ceiling construction, we went with brute force to get the new wall frame in, instead of trying to jack the ceiling back up first. After re-measuring and trimming (we all know measure twice, cut once - but we should all follow an amended version - measure twice, do math 3 times, cut once), we sledgehammered that baby in. Wall!

From Kitchen Reno 1

Then...we tried to remove the header and jacks. Note - next time, wait for Kelly to come home. Result - one dropped header, two spectacular bruises, and an adjournment for beers.

Day four - Dad went to Home Depot for drywall, since we needed to rent their truck to get it home (which requires you to already have car insurance, stupid Home Depot). Rubbish guys came and moved a ton of stuff. Casey came and showed spectacular electrical skills. Hobs came and showed excellent drywall screwing skills. I went to 2 different hardware stores. Then...there was a knife incident (3 stitches for Dad, drywall cutting can be dangerous), I used my new sawzall, and Kelly was a general all-round help and made us stop for dinner.

Day five - Dad took a well earned break and went to visit friends in LI. I went to the basement to turn the water on to water the plants. One would not think this was a dangerous occupation, except - plaster is heavy. And when you remove a lot of it, the floor rises up a little bit. Which means that the jack that was firmly against the floor and helping hold your floor level is suddenly no longer tight. And might unexpectedly fall on you when you breathe near it. Result - more bruising, plus a new fear of my basement.

Day six - Dad headed home. I cleaned. Then Kelly and I cleaned. Then I cleaned some more. And - it's still dirty. But at least it's now functionally dirty! Meaning, the most functional parts are clean enough...

So what'd we get after 6 days? Well, we got a LOT. Opened doorway, moved doorway, built what will someday be the new wall for the bathroom, got drywall up, got upper cabinets out, moved some electrical. What's next? I have one estimate for plumbing, and get another on Thurs. I also get the electrician estimates on Thurs. Then we schedule and get those moving! In the meantime, there's still a little linoleum to get up, and some tin that can be patched (though some has to wait until the plumbers are done). I could start removing the other paint. But really - I think I better get some cabinets ordered...

Slideshow:

And we're off!

Like a herd of turtles, as my family always said. Really, quite apropos...

The kitchen reno is officially starting. Dad's on his way here. Tomorrow he starts swinging the sledgehammer. It may not be as fully planned -ahem- as one might hope before they start tearing apart their house, but really - close enough. Maria came through big time with the plans, and the smart cooks I know have agreed this is a kitchen they'd like to work in.


My very patient cousin, and then Mom and brother and sister have gone cabinet shopping with me, and the light colored solid doors are definitely the winners. The exact configuration and Ikea vs Kraftmaid are still tbd.

I know the countertop material I want, though still have 3 colors to pick from. Icestone (made in Brooklyn of recycled glass in concrete).
Manhattan grey:
Denim moss:
Denim sky:

The plumber is coming on Wed to give me a work estimate. I think I'm going with casement windows instead of double hung so we can leave them open at night without worrying about silently entering psycho killers, or having to install bars. If the linoleum comes up cleanly, I'll just refinish the subfloor. We'll find that out pretty soon.

So what if I don't know yet the sink, or fixtures, or whether to buy a new stove. Don't rush me. This project is going!

I wish I knew what I was doing.

If I ever write a book (don't hold your breath, Mom), that'll be the title.

But really, I do. I mean, in everything. I spend most of my time in every day life muddling through (doesn't everyone? I hope?). And then I come back to this renovation project. With all this stuff that needs doing. I've been getting some comments from friends recently that they're very impressed with my "know how", and with all the work. How do I know what I'm doing?

Here's the answer guys - I don't. No idea. Don't get me wrong, I've been very lucky to grow up in a very DIY family, and therefore have faith in my ability to figure it out, and enough grounding in certain things to understand what I'm researching. And people to call (hi Dad. So glad you answer your phone at random moments.) for advice. I'm willing to put in the effort because it's damn satisfying to see something I've made better. But I don't know what I'm doing, as a whole. Even the stuff I would have said I do know how to do - like paint - constantly has new things come up that I didn't know how to deal with before. For instance, did you know that the line between the red and yellow paint on the hallway wall would be visible after a coat of primer and two coats of paint? Yeah, me neither. Should have sanded that down. Oops. Every project I've done thus far in this house has elements of "if I'd known X it would have looked much better when I was done".

Which leads directly into this kitchen reno. Plans aren't quite ready - but yes, I'm doing it. And no, I don't know what I'm doing. I've done some research. I've consulted some knowledgeable people. I know some basics. But at the end of the day - I'm gonna call for some friend reinforcement, pull out the sledgehammers, tape up the plastic, and start swinging. And hope that I can figure it out along the way. If I can't - well then, I guess I'll find a contractor real quick. If I do - it probably won't be perfect. But at least the next time I renovate a kitchen, I might know what I'm doing. So - anyone up for some on the job learning?

All these things - just no pictures.

I just keep forgetting to take them. But there has been lots going on in the house lately!

Firstly, finally, the hallway walls are painted! Still have to figure out the moldings and the staircase, but the walls are now a lovely grey-blue. SO much better than the weird two-tone thing going on. And SO MUCH brighter! Many thanks to the friends that came together for the day long painting extravaganza to finish it.

Lots of work going on in the back garden. There was a plant sale at the Botanical Garden, amongst other things, which have all led to a back yard that really looks like a pretty yard, and not an urban wasteland! Or at least - the yard part looks like a yard. The patio part is a little urban wasteland. But it's coming along! The "cat-repellent" plants seem to be helping a bit too, which is quite nice for being able to sit down at the table and not smell cat poo.

Those are great things! Last week's broken sewer pipe in the basement was not such a great thing... There was some early-century living required for a bit. But that has been repaired. If nothing else, at least THAT particular piece of pipe can be relied on not to break for a while...

I am very beautiful.

Nope, I'm not bragging. Just sharing the text message I received yesterday - from the contractor I hired to skimcoat the ceilings. While he was IN MY HOUSE. With KEYS. Can we say awkward??? It was just a generic compliment - he's married, and that was his last day of work so I wouldn't be running into him again - but really. This is the kind of message you send your clients? Oy.

(A friend reminded me that his livelihood depends on his rep, so he's probably not going to copy my keys and murder me in my sleep - ok, I watch too many crime dramas - but I still asked R2 to check the house to make sure he wasn't hiding in it last night :P).

Anyway, the hallway ceilings are ready for painting! He didn't quite do as much as I was hoping - he didn't patch some spots on the molding, and he's not quite the perfectionist that I am - but it looks damn good. Already much better than I could have made it! So here's to painting this weekend. And with any luck, a hallway that looks somewhat normal!

Look, pretty!

I planted a tree in the backyard! Thanks to Max, who found a tree giveaway at work and reserved me a tree, Cornelia has been added to the backyard. I think she's making a difference already! Now, if only I can manage to keep her alive... (crossing fingers away from my non-green thumb...).

Colors. Have some. Need more.

So, does anyone else have any interest in paint colors? Thought not. This is for you, Mom.

I need a color for the molding. The horrid peach pink shade in the hallway just isn't cutting it... Here's the current color palette of the house. And - I swear it isn't actually this ugly in real life.

I have all these nice paint chips... Help. Suggestions welcome!

Adventures in lame-handed painting

As it turns out, it's not the actual painting/priming that is difficult one-handed, it's the prep work. Perhaps this should not be shocking, but I was a little surprised... But after sanding the last coat of compound, then cleaning up the dust, then washing the walls - that was one tired right arm!

At the end of the day, the long hallway wall is about 3/4 primed. I had some small technical difficulties along the way. Like - R2 kindly set up the long ladder for me to reach over the stairs before she left for the day, but I needed to move it in order to reach one spot on the wall. Um - can't move the long ladder using only one arm. So - that spot not sanded, therefore not primed. And the wall over the stairs would require lots of ladder shifting to paint, so that one isn't done either. I'm also messier when painting using only the right arm - but I have to say, no longer looking at the red/yellow wall is a vast improvement. Even if I'm now looking at splotchy primer ;) Look for more lame-handed painting to come!

Did I mention

That I fixed the fence? 'Cause I did. Before and after below. Dang those winds - and all the things I know now about fence creation with lattice that I didn't know when actually creating the fence...

From Re-fencing

Did I also mention I was trying to fix my elbow again? Yeah. Fun fun. But enough already with the tendinitis. I mean, not only does it make picking up a beer painful, but the hammer swinging was really not joyous. So all real work is on dr-ordered hiatus. However, I am looking forward to trying right-handed painting this weekend. The last hallway wall needs one more light sand, and it should be ready for the priming! If the right-handed priming goes well, then I'll actually paint too... Don't get too excited to see results yet, though. One friend has already told me she has "a feeling it's going to end with a quarter of the wall painted and you with a beer in your right hand - icing your elbow". Only time will tell... Wish me luck!