Oh work work...an update.

Two weeks ago

Today

We are moving along. The other walls are just about finished except this west wall.

It is covered in pine which I am working on clear coating.

This is the area in the 'dining' room. The wood is turning out quite beautiful. It is light and airy feeling. The bricks in the living room and the dark paneling is gone.

I don't have a photo of it 'finished' yet, but this should give you and idea of how it is moving along and what it will look like when finished.

Rich has finished this wall and he is now working on the ceiling and the west wall. The old tape job one the ceiling looked bowed and cracked so we are replacing that also.

We still have to pull up the carpet on the stairs and the living room floor. We are gaining little by little.

Of course Morris is still feeling slightly put out by not having things 'just so'. He is not used to having furniture moved constantly.

And he hasn't been getting the hikes that he is also used to.

So he does pull up a blanket and pout.

However, he likes it much more when I toss his blanket on the couch and he can lay there and watch us work.

I'm sure he is thinking that we could be done with this remodel thing any time soon and he would be happy.

Inside Work Remodeling Part 2

There is the pile of bricks we took out of the living room and a view of the side of the house that faces East.
My husband says that his little cabin in the woods has become a palace and he isn't sure he likes it.

He likes it. He actually loves it. But he is still having a time dealing with how 'fancy' it looks to him.

Inside however is another story. The addition is beautiful and we are now working on the living room walls. The paneling is gone and he has started with the Pine Wainscoting.
I think it will look fantastic and brighten up the house tremendously by the time he is done.

The changes are amazing and I am trying to keep track as we move along.

I spent a good part of the day processing corn and vegetables then I turned my attention to clear coating the basement stair rail again and then using steel wool to finish it off.

I am also working on the in the wall dresser to give it a better finish. I'm getting pretty good at refinishing I think!

Today I'll give it a rub down and another coat!

Remodeling, Part 2

The addition is now finished and we are all done except for framing a few windows.
That will be done after we have replaced the old dark paneling with light pine wood.

Yesterday and today we took down the bricks that covered a section of the west wall. It was where the previous owner had a wood stove when he first owned the house.

What he told us. He had a chimney fire and converted over to LP because the Fire Department is all volunteer and slow to respond.

We found that he had bricked over the fire damage. And while it was a bit concerning to see it, no structural damage had occurred.

This chimney fire occurred about 30 years ago and the previous owner died about 12 years ago.

The weather cooperated and it was cool enough to have windows open and a fan in one to suck out the dust.

And here are a few views of the outside of the rest of the house, I believe Lori Skoog wanted to see what it looked like.
So I remembered to take them for you Lori!

North Side Entrance and bedroom.

 We have some serious landscaping and grading to do yet!

East side of the house and the pile of bricks we were removing.

Part 2 of the Little House Remodel is ongoing. The exterior and addition portions are done and it looks fantastic.

Well now, let's catch up!

The orange peel spraying began/then the priming.

Oh the plastic! All over the place.

Everything got 'walled' off in plastic sheeting. And the orange peel was put on.
Unfortunately the day was humid so that was as far as they could go.



They returned the next day with plans on priming and painting. Kurt said he'd put down the flooring in the bathroom along with the vanity and the plumber would put the toilet in.

I secretly did the happy dance...several times. No midnight walks to the outhouse in a Thunderstorm!

Only the priming layer got put on, yet another hot and humid day prevented things from drying.

It looked like there was an alien in my new bathroom!
I couldn't resist a quick shot with my old pink camera.

The old part of the house is where most everything is stashed and covered. Thank goodness I had been putting a lot of thought to organizing how this mess was going to occur.

I have to climb over things to get the cereal, I have to wash very few dishes in the tub [I did it outside before the tub was installed], and we have become porch people.

Apparently we will be moving off the porch soon too. The siding is in as is the interior paint.

The kitchen cabinets should be delivered maybe...Tuesday?

Meanwhile, on Friday, they finished priming the bathroom, put in the floor and set the vanity and the toilet.

And the floor...

I was hoping that Rich liked the floor, I'd had to choose it on my own. 

I'll be getting some different pulls for the vanity, and I have a design for the shower curtain that may look pretty neat.  But one thing at a time.

So I don't forget, here is a photo of the OLD bathroom.

The new kitchen area looks enormous. I can't imagine it finished.
It echoes in there.

Things are really coming along. I am sorry to be at work Monday and Tuesday. But I should be happy with any progress that can be done.

Kurt from Crooked Creek Construction, LLC, is doing a fantastic job.
He thinks of everything.

Today's assignment is to go get the lights, the mirror and some groceries that are easy to fix on a grill, microwave, and crock pot.

Remodel Stress

Apparently we are in the 'worst' stage of remodeling.
The Drywall phase.
Put on the mud, and wait for it to dry. Nothing else can happen until the walls dry.

Well they have been sanding the portions of the walls that are dry.
Next is the spraying of 'orange peel'.
After that dries, they put on primer.

After that dries, the put on paint.

The bathroom is still not operable.  Not complaining, but this is the hardest part. They can only go by small steps at a time and you cannot rush a good job.

The guys have been great through it all and I couldn't ask for a better crew.

However, I felt bad for Morris last night when he went in the house -- he has been staying on the porch for most of this.
He began to gag and couldn't breath. Of course he is close to the ground and I image the drywall dust irritated his lungs. He does have issues with ragweed so much so that I have to be careful not to take him hiking when the pollen is heavy.
Anyway.
I vacuumed and worked on cleaning up an area. 

This morning heated water in the crockpot to wash with and felt like a true camper when I washed my hair and took 'a bath' standing up in the kitchen in the pre-dawn light.

All good things come to those who wait, right?
I also got called into work for today so we'll see how things progress today without me around.

Yesterday I avoided the dust and mess by going to the neighbor's house to do 3 giant loads of laundry. 

I am a bit thrown off by all the things that I can't do during this portion of the remodel.
So yes, I'm feeling a bit stressed today.

Dry walling is dusty

And so is ripping apart the house.

Which is exactly what has gone on since I last posted.  The dryer, wash machine, toilet, ... all gone. 
Most of the week was spent without power during the day time hours as the electricians and plumbers worked on putting in outlets in the new sections.  The plumbers drilled through the concrete floor and hooked up to the existing sewer lines.
These lines were a mystery as the builder of this house is deceased.

New water was run for the shower, the toilet, the vanity, the washer, and the new kitchen sink.

Old:

New:

Not exactly the same angle as the old shot, but the 'new' door was boarded over to keep critters out until the real new door can go in.

New bathroom, sort of partially done.  It is bigger than the old and there will be room to actually store my towels in it instead of the coat closet!

What you don't see in this shot is my dish pan and Dawn detergent for washing bowels and cups up.
And was is nice to be able to wash up or take a bath!

New bedroom with hole in the wall. An in the wall dresser is being custom made for us to save on wall space.  Cool right?

The entrance to the bedroom is on the far left of this photo. The doorway is the entrance to our new basement.
Maybe it won't make sense to those who read this, but it is a perfect solution to the addition for us.
Wait until you see the door we use for that entrance!

Last but not least, is a shot from the dining area towards the back door. The frig is stored right now in the future washer/dryer cubby.
I will have the frig near the back door. 
I will have gained 9 ft of kitchen when I only had 2 ft of kitchen previously.

To me, it is a big deal all the way around.  
Today is more sheet rock work and mudding work.

It is supposed to be 95 degrees and very hot today. I do not envy the guys doing this work, but I am also happy they are not on the metal roof trying to work.

I think after chores I will retreat to the porch and busy myself with something 'crafty'.  I don't believe that I can do anything in the house but stay out of their way until they are done this evening.

Then I will have the weekend to enjoy some peace and quiet.

We had storms yesterday and that made things quite muddy around our place.
It is also evident that after all the work is done, we will also have to redo the driveway.

We will hopefully get at the yard mowing before the weekend is out too.  But the weather has not been cooperating!

I'm looking forward to when the guys pack up their stuff for the last time.
I bet they are too!

Eating Area and Wallpaper...ugh!

Today we started on the 'eating' area of our little house. I took a break from removing wall paper as I'd gotten to Rich's corner and stared at his stuff.

What on earth would we do with all of that stuff?

It is piled in broken down boxes and no matter how I tried over the years, I could never get him to totally clean up and put away the Stuff.

Of course we live in a Tiny House and when stuff accumulates, it needs to be weeded out and put somewhere.  However, this tiny house has no extra storage.  
For the remodeling, I started last year packing away any extra Stuff that I could.  
I stored it in a shed in plastic tubs.

Yesterday I handed Rich a large plastic tub and let him go at it.
He cleared just enough Stuff so that I could move the table and get at the wall.

You are looking at an area where the flooring will be replaced, ... we are pulling up the old tiling as we go along.  The brown wood will we replaced with a very light colored almost blonde wood.
The windows of course will be replaced and ... AND! No wallpaper!
I'm considering colors for the walls now.

The Stuff will reside somewhere else and I am thinking of getting a corner cabinet of some sort for Rich to put all of the paperwork Stuff that he keeps [and rarely looks at] into and out of sight.

We are doing a wood laminate floor and there will be so much more storage once the remodel is done.

So there it is.  Ugly as all get out right now, but perhaps cute as a button once it is finished.

The cabinets will be hickory and I would like a very very light light green for the walls.

When I was a kid we rented a house that had a putrid green paint on the kitchen walls and white cabinets.  I recall washing those walls and wishing the paint would fall off.  It never did.

So why would I even consider it again?  I think I can find a nice light green/grey color.  I don't think I want white in the kitchen section.

Maybe off white in the eating section?  That sure would brighten things up!

Well off to peel more wall paper and sort through more stuff.

Oh Yuck Wall paper ~

Wall paper on drywall that was not primed is a royal pain in the ... -ss to remove.
I however did find a secret weapon that helped.

I watched YouTube Videos on 'How to Remove Wall Paper' and it all looked easy.
Just wipe with hot water, spray with hot water, use Dawn, and it will just peel right off and then you wash with hot water and vinegar --- or Dawn Dishsoap and get the glue off.

Easy Peasy.

Wrong.  All the walls shown had been primed.

Suggestions for taking wall paper off from un-primed walls?

Take down the drywall and start over.

Wow, that was not helpful and not what I wanted to hear. Another person wrote, get a steamer and it goes really well. The trick is hot water.

I started thinking about the Dawn Dishsoap and how it breaks down the water surface tension and allows the water to soak into the material.

This paper was nasty grungy.  After taking down the wall of photos I was grossed out completely.

Yuck.

Above the small closet door that is under the stairs:

Super yuck.  Why hadn't I seen it?  
In truth, I wanted to get rid of the wall paper years ago, but Rich didn't want to start a project like that.
So I began to ignore the ugly stuff.  I thought...one day I will get the chance to remove it!

And ... now I do.

Morris is on the stairs supervising the stripping.

And it doesn't come off very easily.

So I decided to take some Oxyclean and dab it onto a cloth, then wipe the surface of the wall paper and spray it with warm water.

Well not only did it help the water absorb into the wall paper, but it took some of the grunge out too.  Of course I sprayed up towards the ceiling and then wiped with the Oxyclean cloth and found that my ceiling was going to need a very good cleaning also.  

Insert a large groan ... however I am prepared for that and I figured it would be coming next.

Meanwhile, back to the paper.  Sometimes it would come off in larger strips and sometimes it wouldn't.

Between chores and errands, this section took all day. I'd be really discouraged if I had larger rooms to do.  But this is such a small house that I only have two partial walls left.

I was extremely surprised at how much cleaner and brighter the wall was after the paper removal.

Considering that it wasn't a primed wall, I didn't do too badly. Some of the dry wall finish came off but hopefully we will be able to repair that fairly easily.

Meanwhile Rich has been working on the bricks that had been put in the living room when Glen owned the house and had a wood burning stove on it.

Before the work started

All of the brick will be removed

After one day of removal.

This is a dusty and very noisy project so hubby has been doing it a bit at a time.

He will also be removing the very very dark paneling and replacing it with light colored 'car siding'.  He wants to retain the 'cabin' look with wood and I wanted bright and light walls.

This will be our compromise.

So onward.

Morris?

He is getting accustom to the work now.  He still dislikes the shop vac but it doesn't freak him out anymore.

I might take a day or two off from the wall paper peeling.  I'd like to do some hiking now that the outdoor temps have risen above the zero mark.

Wallpaper Removal

With the cold wicked outside weather and temps in the minus 0's, I thought I'd make an attempt at seeing just how hard removing the wallpaper would be.

I decided to try it on a wall that will be removed during the remodel.
First, I did some research on the how to aspect of removing wallpaper yourself.
The videos looked embarrassingly easy. Just hot water/Dawn mix or Vinegar/hot water...or use chemicals from Home Depot, Lowes, or some other store.

I decided not to use the chemicals.  I wouldn't be able to air out the house during the frigid weather.

So I picked a day to begin.  I quickly found that the walls were not primed underneath.  The wallpaper would not come off in beautiful long strips.
It was going to be a painful long ordeal.

First a shot of the wall.  Remember it will be removed during modeling so this was a good place to start.

And so I began.  The length of time that I worked on this actually was about and hour and a half.

But the process was slow until I began to figure out the best way for the removal. Below is a shot of the wall, and yes most of the floor tile has been removed also.

Short video:

Day two I started on the living room wall and around the doorway to the bathroom.

The small electric heater next to the bathroom was also removed.

The door frame to the bathroom had to be removed also.  In some places the wallpaper was under trim and in others it isn't.

Anyone looking at this interior and the wallpaper would agree, this little house really needs a face lift inside and outside.

This is where I stopped last night.  It looks like a mess and it looks like it was impossible work.

This section is coming off a little bit easier perhaps because I am learning to do it better as I go along.  I'm not in a mad rush and so the mess is minimal.

Crooked Creek Construction, LLC, will be doing the addition and the exterior work.  This portion of the remodel is going to be our job.

I'm actually looking forward to NOT looking at that awful wallpaper anymore!