Your vote counts....

I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day… The holiday was extremely relaxing for me. Because of the extra day off from work, I was able to partially finish the bathroom. Ok the main goal for the long weekend was to finish the bathroom. But I had minor set back…But, I’ll explain more on this in a little while.

My first priority in completing the bathroom was to repair the floor that had rotted away. I had cut and nailed in a new pieces of plywood in the damaged area.

After repairing the floor, I then installed the new peal/stick flooring. I could have installed ceramic tiles for the floor, but the floor wasn’t leveled properly. Here are the results.

Please note the window; there will be more on that in a few…
I then changed the knobs on the vanity. I wanted to change the knobs because the ones that are shown did not match anything in the room…

Before
After
Clsoe up of the new knobs... The knobs were selected, because they match the towel rack.

Once the knobs were installed, I then started to work on the windows. I initially wanted to install blinds to the windows, but realized that the windows were too small. So after a couple of days of debating with myself, I came across a window cover that adheres to the windows using water. Basically you spray water onto it and press it against the window. The pattern is pretty cool and makes the windows look like stain glass. Here is a picture showing the new window treatment.


I then wanted to make the floor have a better look against the wall trim. I was going to place caulking around the edges. So I began to tape the edges to give it a nice clean look around the edges.
But, when it was time to install the caulking, you guess it… I ran out of caulking material... Well I guess it can wait until tomorrow. But, the show must continue.

Anyway, I felt to finally complete the bathroom, I needed to put up some pictures. So while I was researching for some ideas, I started to look through my pictures that I took while I was in Paris, France, several years ago. I found some that could work, I first changed them from color to black and white. Then sent them out to get enlarged. Here are the three pictures that I plan on using. Although I think only two will fit in the room… So I’m taking a vote. Which two photos should be used in the bathroom?

Photo 1...Photo 2,
Photo 3
The size of the pictures will be 11 x 14 inches. Well, now that the bathroom is about 95% completed, I feel it might be a good time to start another room… The lucky candidate to be updated will be the living room. So here is a photo tour of the living room at it current condition.

As you can see, the walls are wood paneling with half finished trimming around the edges. The brick face was once the location of what looks to be a stove chimney, but has been plugged up. Also, several fake beams run across the ceiling. Not sure what I’m going to do with them… But, the ceiling fan has about an inch of dust that’s permanent. It certainly looks like the fan will be removed. Also, the window blinds do not work properly.
The wood paneling around the baseboard heater needs to be fixed also.

The brown carpet also NEEDS to be replaced... Actually, It NEEDS to be removing, to expose the hardwood floors underneath. Most likely needs to be refinished...

The light switches and plugs need to be replaced, to include covers. I doubt they are properly grounded...
The ceiling also has a hole that needs to be repaired. It looks like the previous owners were trying to put in some type of air conditioning system… But never finished. Which seems to be a recurring theme….

Those are the items that need to be updated within the living room. Well until next time, happy building…. Remember let me know what you think of the pictures... Thanks for your help...

Mr. Vincent van Gogh your canvas is ready.....

I have some wonderful news... The two monsters that have been haunting my house were finally removed by the tree busters. During the week of 14th of this month, the tree company came to the rescue. They certainly did an excellent job of removing both trees and cleaning up after themselves. The funny part was that my tenant had a day off when the tree company was on site. So to mess with me, she would send me text telling me that they were dropping branches onto the house. Needless to say, I decided to drive home at lunch time to see their progress…

However, when I got home, I ended up getting an ear full about the tree being removed. The tenant complained about the lack of shade and how the apartment will be much warmer. After about a half hour of seeing the progress and cleaning the blood from my ears, I decided to return to work. However, when I returned home later in the day, I heard some more about the missing tree and the lack of shade. I was however able to negotiate with the tenants that if I purchased some outdoor shades would she be suffice. So I did.

So you may wonder why I was so easy in getting the shades. Well I look at it like this. I’m in the business of having a home where everyone is happy. Thus, if everyone is happy, the house is not damaged for any reason. Also most importantly, rent is paid on time. But I should not fail to mention that the shades are considered an expense, thus a tax benefit. Everyone wins.

Now that they are happy, I guess I can show the reasons behind the complaints.

Here is picture of the tree in the process of getting cut down...

With the trees removed, there are a couple of added benefits. The pollen that came from the pine trees has subsided, sap no longer drips on the cars, and the risk of it falling on the house.


Let’s count the rings to see how old… I feel really bad cutting the tree because the tree has been around for such a long time. But the potential damage that it could cause will be no more...

However, this tree was a different matter. As you can see, the tree was completely eaten away from carpenter ants… I'm suprised it lasted this long...

The next thing will be to get the stumps grinded. But until then, this completes one more thing off the master list. But, now I can focus on the bathroom. I was finally able to complete the drywall sanding and mudding. The joint compound dust alone just sucks…

Once the joint compound dried and the sanding was completed, the room was ready to be painted. I had first prime the bathroom. The result of the primer made the walls take on the appearance of a blank canvas. The color that I decided to use to paint the walls was called “Raffia Cream”. The male definition of the color is actually called soft yellow. The trim color that I had used was "Cottage White" or rather just white... Not to bright or not too dark... Just White...

Here is picture showing the first coat of paint… After putting on the first coat of paint, I also decided to paint the ceiling with a white ceiling paint. The water stains on the ceiling are now gone. The picture is really not all that great... But soon you'll see...

The next thing on the list was the floor… Initially, looking at the floor I felt I could first remove the peal/ stick tiles, and then put down a new set of peal / stick tiles on top of the existing vinyl flooring... Of course that was the plan…

When I started to remove the peal/stick tiles, the vinyl floor started to peal up also. So I made the decision to remove the vinyl flooring. By the way, have I ever told you how I really hate removing wallpaper? Well multiply removing wallpaper like 5 times when removing vinyl flooring…Basically you’re on your hands and knees scrapping up the glue and vinyl flooring residue with a 3 inch scrapper trying to reuse the sub-floor. Don’t forget painting a glue removal solution onto the floor…

Here is a picture showing both the peal/stick floor on top of the vinyl floor. While I was working by the door, I instantly found leveling compound. It looked like the previous owner tried to build up the floor by using the compound… It’s a form of cement that helps in leveling floors. Here are the results from that… I have no explanation why it was built up… But I certainly know what is going to happen to it.


Of course I can never leave well enough alone… For some reason, I just love digging into things and finding problems… It’s going to be my downfall someday… Anyway, while I was working on the floor, over by the radiator, I discovered dry rot… The sub-floor was breaking apart as I was pealing the floor up. So I removed as much of the dry rot as possible until I found workable sub-floor. It also looks like the radiator may be sinking into the floor… Sounds familiar?

Although luckily, this radiator doesn’t weigh about 300 lbs..

I think the pressure vent that was previously used on the radiator didn’t help the floor. Basically the vent would allow water vapors to be sprayed onto the floor. Thus the floor would just absorb the water.

Most of the day consisted of scrapping and stretching… It became tedious. Once I felt comfortable that I removed enough vinyl and glue residue. I moved onto installing the mirror. I wanted to let the removal solution used on the floor dry before I put the new peal /stick floor down.

The next couple of pictures show the new mirror and electrical covers installed. The GFI and switch covers were painted with a dark spray paint that gives a hammered effect. Well enjoy…

The man in the mirror… Hey look, now I can shave without having to move my face. Anyway, the only thing left is the floor and window treatments… Also on a final note, the Vincent Willem van Gogh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh) reference is because of the blank canvas for the bathroom. But lately my left ear has been hurting. It actually feels like a bug has bitten me inside my ear… But no, I have not cut off my ear…. But it has crossed my mind… But, I’ve enclosed a link to read more about Mr. Vincent van Gogh, enjoy…

Anyway, I figure your going to ask, "Why did you put the reference about Vincent Van Gogh?" Well my answer is, I don’t know… It sounded interesting... Anyway, until next time... happy building...

Popcorn anyone?

I feel pretty bad, because I didn’t fulfill a promise that I’d made in my last entry. Previously, I stated that I would give an update to my current project, mid-week… But things certainly didn’t go according to plan. No shock there… From Tuesday to Wednesday, I was in Atlanta Georgia, for work. Then on Friday, I had to drive down to Newark, New Jersey for a family issue. When I returned on Saturday, I was so exhausted that I went to sleep in the afternoon (4 pm) and didn’t wake up until the following morning (Sunday). Honestly, this traveling stuff is for the birds… It’s really starting to catch up to me…

Anyway, let me explain what I’ve done thus far to the bathroom. Last week, I basically showed you the “blank canvas” of the bathroom. I started to update that bathroom by first removing the medicine cabinet. I never liked the medicine cabinet. The medicine cabinet mirrors were too small. I felt that I could not fit my big head within the mirrors to see myself shaving. Also, part of cabinet was being held by grimy duct tape.

After removing the medicine cabinet, I could see why that wall was cold in the winter. The cabinet was exposed to the outside wall with no insulation to protect it.

I remember the previous owners stating that they had updated the bathroom. But I felt it was not my style or rather my flavor. I always thought that statement was also funny because of the duct tape décor. Anyway, the previous owners had cut the studs to mount the cabinet into the wall. So I decided to place some sister studs, just in case I needed something to support what ever I decide to put in its place.

I also stuffed some new insulation between the studs. That is when I realized that I needed to put up some brace boards, partly, because the wall was built out from the studs. For some reason the studs were set back about ¾ from the drywall.

Once that was completed, I cut out a piece of drywall to fit in the vacant spot. I also placed a new piece of drywall by the heater. Additionally I replaced the old plug with a new GFI plug.

After completing that, I decided that it was time to get a new light fixture. Recently I found a place in West Springfield that specializes in lights. So I drove over and found a light fixture that would match things nicely. Prior to installing the fixture, I was reminded of a time where I had…..
Yes, before I installed the new light fixture, THE POWER WAS SHUT OFF!!!! I also had to install a new junction box for the wire connections. Here is a picture of the new light fixture. Look at that, it matches the sink…

Now comes the hard part…. MUDDING…
Actually, it's really not that hard, it’s just time consuming and messy. Dust gets into everything and everywhere. But it has to get done, if I want the room to look nice.

For the ceiling repair, I used a small paint brush and just dabbed at it… I’m not a big fan of the popcorn ceiling look but I really don’t want to remove the ceiling. It doesn’t really match the ceiling extremely well. But, the damage ceiling is really not noticeable anymore

Anyway, now I just need to sand things and I should be ready to paint the walls pretty soon. Well, until next time…