May 29, 2013 -What we have done on the house so far, Part 2.

So, one of the reasons we bought our new home was the unfinished basement. We like to be able to mold our home to suit our needs, so, an unfinished basement gives us a blank slate to play with. Unfortunately, this one was kinda gross. With evidence of past floodings, a pane of glass broken out of the slider,  somewhat elevated radon levels, and a general lack of having been cleaned meant it was off limits to the children until we could address some of the issues. Here are the pics of the basement from when we moved in, notice the lower part of the insulation was ripped off, they claimed damage from a dog, we are more inclined to believe they were trying to cover up for past water damage.

So, the 1st things we did to make it more kid safe, were to chemically clean the floor, tear off the bottom half of the insulation because it was loose and we didn't want the kids to touch it, we upgraded the radon system from passive to active with a fan to suck the radon out, and we painted the floor. Painting the floor served to hide the old stains, get rid of any cement dust, and further aide in blocking the radon.

Then, we started to address our other need down there. Shelves to hold all that stuff laying around on the floor. And, that meant we had to build a room to put them in. So, our 1st room, the storage closet, was born.

We have also been able to address the issue of the broken slider, by, installing a new french door in it's place.

Then, as we have had a couple hundred dollars here or there, we have been able to further frame, wire, insulate, and drywall more areas of the basement. 

 

Being like other parents, the kids get their stuff 1st, but, we have now gotten to our room too. This was an expensive one, not for the crown moulding we added, but, because it involved upgrading to furniture that fits our gigantic bedroom. We had wanted to build our new bedroom set, but, I saw this set and it was just what I wanted without all the time and labor, involved for us. So, we took the plunge and got it.

And, where did the other furniture go you say? Well, it has become the guest room furniture. Complete with a new stand we built to hold the TV.

And, now it goes better with this other little project we did this year, paint and crown moulding in the guest bath.  I will also note that we painted the kids bath early on, but, I will refrain from posting that because the colors are too similar to the original to tell the difference, plus we may gut it at some point.. We  also painted the master bath a pale green early on, but, I will hold off on that one for now as well, because we need to gut it at some point too.

 
 
                             Looks like I nearly forget the garden boxes we added in the backyard.  .

And, I think that brings us to our most recent projects. We have had to save and dig deep into our pockets for the most recent upgrades. Okay, maybe not so much for this 1st one, but, the next one is the big one. It is a little small, but, the 1st pic is an attempt to show how the front of the house used to look. The next one is a little bed of shrubs I was able to create by transplanting some of the plants from the front yard and the one below that is of the new plants we put in front of the house to replace the overgrown, dying ones that were there.

And, because we have wanted the luxury of being able to walk out our back door for over a year now, we have been setting some money aside and finally got enough pulled together to start our back deck. This one is still a work in progress, but, we have made some significant progress, enough to warrant a couple of pics of it. When we are done there will be a roof and more railing, but, that will have to wait for another post. 

May 29, 2013 - What we have done to the house so far. Part 1.

We have had a busy year and 4 months in our new home. We have been working hard on repairing some issues and making the place our own.  Just wanted to get some side by side before and afters to show the progress we have made.

Our very 1st project was to take these 2 closets and re-purpose them. The pantry was too small. And, we weren't going to benefit that much from this coat closet.

So, the one became our broom closet. And, the other a much larger pantry.

                

Another big issue in our home was the kitchen. At a distance it wasn't so bad, but, the cabinets were kind of gross. We couldn't get the sticky from greasy cooking off them. The back splash behind the sink showed evidence of water damage and one was burnt on the bottom of it from a toaster fire or something. So, we took advantage of a kitchen Dad was redoing and were able to get all new cabinets for free. We just had to pay for counter tops, backsplash, and new flooring.

Here is a closer look, a shot of the gutted kitchen, and evidence of the underlying damage we repaired.

Gutted kitchen. 

We had to bleach the floor and replace drywall and insulation behind this section because of an ant colony living in the wall.

Most of the cabinets moved on to a new home, but, we kept 3 to hang in the laundry room. This improved storage space and I no longer feel like everything on that shelf could fall down on me at any moment. We also painted the laundry room and hung the hanging rack shortly after moving in. We have most rooms painted at this point, but, the rooms needing water friendly paint were 1st on the list. You can't see it in the pics, but, there is a slop sink in there by the washer.

With the flooring from the kitchen also running into the 1/2 bath, we coupled it's renovation with the kitchen renovation. The toilet in there was so bad when we moved in that it flushed twice every time we flushed it. We also discovered more evidence of past water issues in there as well.

 As I have already mentioned, there have been water issues. The most worrisome one for us to deal with was the sump pump. It didn't turn on one night our first week in and we had to kick it back on and clean up a basement an inch deep in water until 2am. On other occasions, it would kick on and not turn off. Fixing this problem was a multi-step process. First we had to redirect the large amounts of water that kept it working like crazy, which meant we had to dig a trench and run pipe to the back corner of the yard.

2nd we had to get a new pump. This was our nasty old pump. We think they replaced the original malfunctioning pump with another old pump that was also iffy about working. Sorry, no pick of the new one, but, we rest easier at night when it rains now.

As the warm weather hit, the need to send the children out into the yard became important, which meant we needed a fence, to close in the 2 sides that were unfenced, to feel more secure about leaving them out there on their own, and something for them to do while they were out there. The fence we decided was worth hiring out, but, the play set was designed and built by us. 

 Not all of our projects have been out of necessity, some have been to make the house more fun and homey.
Like painting Corinne's room and the dining room.

Actually, the dining room still needs flooring, so, this one is to be continued. 

And, Jamie's room has morphed a couple of times already, first he got blue walls and Thomas the Tank Engine appliques, then, we built him a new bigger boy bed and eventually a matching night stand, and switched to Transformers appliques. Meanwhile, little brother advanced to big boy status and got the bed and dresser Jamie had.  And, green walls with Cars appliques. 

 

Back to school

This is the first time I/we have lived anywhere that school started before Labor Day, so, back to school time felt like it snuck up on me fast this year. But, I was still no less excited for the end of summer bickering to be over, and, the children were excited for the back to school shopping and beginning another year's adventure at school.

Jamie started 3rd grade this year. His teacher's name is Mrs. Lee. Kind of funny because he also had a Mrs. Lee when we were in Strasburg for Kindergarten. Corinne is in 1st grade this year. She has Mrs. Pellath. We have been told she is strict, but, fair and the kids love her. Not that that matters, Corinne is such an agreeable kid, she gets along with most anyone. And, while it was a close call for having him ready, Morgan and Mommy are very happy he is off to his first year of preschool. He would have felt left out otherwise, but, now he gets to have his school, and his bag, and his lunch box, and that is very important to him. So, Mommy is happy that he is happy, and happy for some new found freedom 2 mornings a week too.