Category Archives: Reno

Three-Month Roundup

August 23, 2013Categories: RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

It’s Friday!! Does anyone else feel like this has been the longest week OF ALL TIME?!?! But at the same time, how is it already the end of August?!?!

Charles started his new job on Monday and has successfully made it through his first week. They sort of just threw him in the deep end and said, “swim!” but he’s done a great job. I’m really excited to see where he takes the business center…so many possibilities! And of course, I’m super duper proud of him!!!

Ok, that’s enough gushing for today. Back to the house…

On Tuesday, we hit the 3 month mark on our house renovation. While I know that so much work has been done in the last month, it’s also some of the hardest work to see. Reconstructing the rotten eaves and gutters takes A LOT of time. I’m not complaining…we’d rather it take longer and be done right, than have to go back in a few years to have it all redone!

To see what we accomplished in month two, look here. This is the broad list of things we had left to do as of the end of month two:

~~Scrape and prep interior walls, trim, and ceilings~~
~~Prime~~ and paint interior walls, trim, and ceilings (downstairs is primed!)
Remove all interior carpet
Finish electrical, including adding several outlets and wiring each room for ceiling fans (we are about half way done here!)
Repair all porches
Patch and paint the metal roof
Rework hidden metal gutter system and repair/replace exterior woodwork (all bad wood has been removed and the repair process has begun!)
~~Install new heating and air system~~
~~Repair mortar in the basement~~, and repoint front-of-house mortar (front mortar repair starts next week!)
Finish upstairs back bathroom (tile floor, plumbing for a shower, new sink)
Update downstairs bathroom (paint cabinets, new mirror, new light fixture)
Repair garage (it is currently sturdy, but leaning)
More landscaping

The entire downstairs (walls, trim, and ceilings) has been primed. When I last checked in, the kitchen was all that was left, but it’s had at least a coat now. (No more Carolina blue!! Yay!)

A new heating and air system has been installed. Well, almost. Once Charles and I clean out the basement, which will happen this weekend, they will finish running the duct work down there. Then all that will be left is to install the units themselves. Meanwhile, our house looks like this:

The electrician has started his work on the house, but it’s quite the daunting task, so it will take some time. I laid out our expected furniture placement for him on our floorplan, so that’s helping him determine where we need new outlets. I told our contractor, “just think Christmas!” Charles and I both go a little nuts at Christmas and I know we will be decorating every inch of the house, so the less cords we can have lying around, the better!

So much has been accomplished, but we’ve still got a long ways to go. Luckily, we are less than 40% of the way through our total budget, so that’s definitely a plus!

What are your thoughts? Care to take a guess on when we might be moving in?

It’s Gettin’ Hot in Here

August 16, 2013Categories: RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

Yesterday was day 1 of our HVAC adventure! We found out that most of our duct work is in good condition (miracle), so luckily we won’t have to do too much there. But both units – an AC unit and a heat pump – were completely shot, thanks to this fiasco.

Remember these bad boys?

Well now it looks like this:

Oh, and our yard looks like this:

I knew that taking out the units would have an impact, but I was totally shocked at how much space is now freed up in the basement! All of a sudden it is double the size we thought. Here are a few before shots:

And here it is now:

All gone!! Of course, there will be some duct work running through when it’s all said and done, but it will be very minimal and take up very little space. So here’s the scoop… we hired Jackson & Sons to get everything out and set us up for new systems (although we won’t be installing them until much later for fear of another theft). They ripped out all of the duct work and shotty insulation in the basement, disconnected and removed the two outside units, and removed the basement furnace. We plan to go back with a new heat pump and gas pack that will be much more efficient and cost effective in the long run. Also, I really want to install a Nest thermostat like this one.

In other news, the entire downstairs, minus the kitchen, has gotten at least one coat of primer! All of a sudden, the ugly green trim is almost gone and the walls are stark white and everything looks so much cleaner and so much bigger. It’s a little overwhelming!

The chandelier in the second picture totally looks like a ghost, right? ;)

The walls are stark white now so that our painter can see any imperfections that need fixing, but the final primer will be tinted in these colors, mainly because the cost to paint right now is just not feasible.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope y’all have a nice weekend. I’m hoping these temperatures will stick around for a while!

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Wood or Tile?

August 15, 2013Categories: Decor, RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

I’ve got another dilemma…

As I’ve mentioned before, the “master bathroom” is pretty much a blank slate for us. Which means there are tons of possibilities, but also lots of tough decisions! The main feature I’ve been going back and forth on lately is what flooring we should use. Right now, the floors are wood, covered with vinyl (and most likely asbestos-laden glue).

Here, you can get an idea of what is under the vinyl:

Looks like we definitely have hardwoods under there, but they are very “raw” and would either need to be covered up or refinished. Usually, I would never vote to cover up original wood floors, but I’m not sure if I feel that way in the bathroom. I worry about leaks and spills and several other things that could possibly ruin wood floors.

So, the question is, do we refinish the wood floors or tile over them?

If we refinish the floors, here are a few options that I really like:

If we choose to do tile, I like these options:

I feel like, honestly, we can’t really go wrong either way. Both would be beautiful. What do you think? Would you choose tile or wood?

picture sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Lucky Number 13

August 12, 2013Categories: RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

Welp…we’ve officially been at this for 13 weeks now! Time for another photo round up. Check out Week 13 pictures, as well as all other pictures from the project, here.

A few important happenings…

1. We discovered some pretty cool scored plaster in the downstairs bathroom after ripping out the sheetrock. This bathroom was remodeled (I’m thinking in the 70’s), and sheetrock was added then. So we were excited to find such a cool feature hiding back there! No definite plans yet on how we want to finish the walls in there, though. Some parts of the exterior wall has had to be removed due to mold. Gross.

2. I think we’ve finally settled on a set up for the guest bathroom of the office upstairs. We measured and the pedestal tub that is in there now (original!!) will fit on the far right wall under the smaller window–with about an inch and a half to spare! But the contractor says it will work and he can make it into a shower/tub, so yay!! I’m so happy we get to use that tub.

Here’s what we’re thinking…since Charles and I both really hate shower curtain liners (they stick to you and just make you feel icky), we especially don’t want a wrap-around liner like most claw foot or pedestal tubs require. So we’re going to do something a little different. But we figure, hey, it’s our house…it should be exactly how we want it! Our plan is to tile the entire floor and also half way (or more) up the walls surrounding the tub. Then we are going to put a drain in the floor on that side, with the floor slightly sloping to the drain, and a small little tile “lip” on the floor to separate off the shower area and keep water from running everywhere. Then we will hang a tension rod above the tile “lip” for a shower curtain. Sounds complicated, and confusing, but it’s actually quite simple. More on that coming later!

3. The “removing of all rotten and unusable wood” phase of the project is now complete! The carpenters have already started going through the eaves and stabilizing them with new treated wood. We got some pretty good pictures of it yesterday. And thanks to my hubs for leaning way over the front upstairs porch railing to get me some good shots because I’m a scaredy cat! Stay tuned for a more in-depth post on what exactly is going on. For now, I hope you enjoy the pictures!

4. And last but certainly not least, we officially have interior primer!!! The formal living room got a coat of white primer on Friday, and let me tell you: it is amazing to see how what you thought was white is actually a really nasty yellow brown dirty don’t-want-to-touch-it color! (Hint: see the doors and mantle.)

Have a fabulous week, everyone!! :)

{If you would like to be a guest blogger, please comment below or email me. Thanks!}

Shutter Talk

August 8, 2013Categories: RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

This week the shutters are getting an overhaul. We had a few good ones, but the majority needed a good bit of work. But at the cost of over $400 per pair, we decided to make do with what we had! So right now, our backyard looks like this:

If you’ve been following, you may think that the shutters were black, but they were actually a very deep green. Even up close it was hard to tell sometimes. Right now, they are getting a coat or two of a “peel stop” product so that the paint will stick and last longer, and then they will be painted black.

Our plan is to use the best ones in the front and down the driveway side of the house (where they are most visible). We will repair what we can of the rest and use them in the back and other side of the house. Our long term goal is to replace them all over time, but for now, this will work. It’s all about that first impression!

Speaking of first impressions, we are having the front of the garage painted to match the house. Contrary to what we assumed, the garage (or carriage house, as it was once known) is actually original to the house, and has always been painted to match. The sides and back are covered with shrubbery, and can’t be seen anyways, so for now we are just doing the front. (We’re cheap, I know! But if we have to cut some corners, I’d rather cut them here than in, say, the plumbing!) Here’s a shot of the first coat. I can’t wait for those doors to be squared so the whole building doesn’t look so lop-sided!! Better yet, I can’t wait for the whole garage to be squared, doors to be updated, and new lighting put in. But hey, I’ll take what I can get!

{If you would like to be a guest blogger, please comment below or email me. Thanks!}

Up on the Roof

July 26, 2013Categories: RenoSarah @ 702 Park Project

Just like many houses of the same period, our house has a “hidden gutter system.” Or should I say, had? First, let me explain a little more about this kind of gutter.

“Since they are not readily visible, they typically don’t alter the historic character of buildings and don’t detract from or conceal decorative cornice details. Unfortunately, being unseen often results in neglect. The simplest form of maintenance is keeping them clear of debris. This is necessary for any gutter system to perform its duty, but with built-ins, trapped, standing water can lead to a shorter life and very costly repairs.” (source) Because the gutters were not cleaned and maintained in the many years before we purchased the house, most of the gutters and soffits were rotten. It’s amazing to think what an easy fix it would have been had the previous owner simply had the gutters cleaned annually. But, that’s just not our luck I guess. So the “investigation” to see how much of the woodwork was salvageable began this week. As of yesterday, here’s what the eaves look like.

As you can see, we basically learned that very little of the wood was usable. So it all came down and was sorted into different piles. Next, we will begin to replace and repair what’s now missing.

On the bright side, the interior is starting to get cleaned out (slowly but surely) so that we can start with the primer. You can even see floor in a few rooms now! (Oh Floor, how I’ve missed you!!)

Well, I’m off to the mountains to celebrate my mom’s birthday with the family. Looking forward to relaxing and “tubing” down the river all day tomorrow! Happy birthday to the best mom there is!! I love you!!