New Washer & Dryer

We finally broke down and bought a new washer and dryer. I started noticing a little bit of water on the pan below the washer and it was starting to make a loud squeaking noise occasionally.

We found a really good deal on the Maytag 5000 series set. This set uses steam in both the washer and dryer.

It was hell getting them up the stairs, especially the washer, it must weigh 3 times as much as our old washer. At each landing I had to remove the hand truck and reposition it because they were too big to turn on the landing. I also had to remove the door frame to the laundry room to get them in, there was literally no room on either side when I squeezed them in there. In the end it was worth it though, they are awesome. They use much less water and electricity, are super quiet, and clean great.

Laundry Room

I stopped working on the fence for a little bit to work on the Laundry room. I had to do this because we were quickly running out of clothes.

The first thing I did was run all the wiring in the floor that needed to be run, this includes the wiring for the overhead lights in the Dining room, kitchen, and bathroom below. With that done I laid R-30 insulation down and installed the sub-floor over it.

Here is part of the sub-floor going down:


Next I built the knee-wall where the washer/dryer will go.

I also installed the sub-panel, this will feed the upstairs rooms.


Here's a question for you Electricians out there, is this sub-panel wired correctly? The main panel is wired with a neutral ground so I added a wire between neutral and ground in this panel.

Next I hung the sheet-rock in the washer/dryer area. installed the dryer plug and vent hole after this picture.




Then I set up the washer and dryer.


This is all I'm going to do on this for now, we have a working washer and dryer and there are more pressing things to do... like maybe getting some electricity to the upstairs bedrooms. We're using flashlights to get around upstairs at night right now.

Building the deck and oven cabinet

I know I haven't posted in a few weeks but it's because I kept forgetting the camera, not for lack of work.

Last week I built the oven cabinet, installed the double ovens and the cooktop.



We also got our sink faucet in, it's a really nice bridge faucet in oil rubbed bronze from Signature Hardware.



We spent last weekend landscaping the front of the house. I probably should have rebuilt the front porch first but the yard was looking really bad.




The landscaping is a mix of boxwood, holly, gardenia, and azalea.

The big project we've been working on is the deck. First I had to tear down the old porch deck. I had to cut it apart section by section. I had wanted to save the flooring, it was a full 1" thick, but it was very moldy so I couldn't.


There is a well under where the porch was next to the kitchen door, I'm not sure what I am going to do with it.



With the area cleared out I could begin building the new deck. First I hung the ledger boards, Then I placed the piers that will hold up the brace beam. I dug holes at each location and filled them with concrete to give the piers a solid foundation. I also had to prime the side of the sunroom before I installed the ledger board on it.

Then I built the beam. It is built out of 2 pressure treated 2x10's sandwiched together. The span is 21' long, there are no 2x10's that long so I had to make each beam 10' 6". I installed an extra pier at the location where they meet in the middle.


The deck will extend another 2' 6" beyond the beam, right up to the old stairs. I plan on keeping them.

I forgot the joist hangers so I had to leave it at that today. Hopefully I can get back out there tomorrow and finish installing the joists and put the decking down.

Kitchen Cabinets

The cabinet guy showed up with the hood vent and the rest of our cabinets today (minus a door that he is still waiting on). The first thing I did was to install the final upper cabinet and install the mullion doors on the end cabinet (we were shorted a hinge).

Next I built the pantry and fridge cabinet (the pantry cabinet is the one we're waiting on a door for) and then installed the fridge.



We're really not happy with how the hood vent turned out. I'll probably end up getting the parts and building my own (if you want it done right, you gotta do it yourself...).


By the way, I dont know what the deal is with my camera, it's a new one and a really good one but these pictures do the cabinets NO justice at all. I think it's the lighting and the settings I have the camera on...



There is still a lot left to do, install the end panels on all the cabinets with exposed sides, valence above the sink, crown and light bars, toekicks, and build the oven cabinet.

Kitchen floor & bathroom demo part 2

Yesterday was a pretty good day for progress. The HVAC/Plumbers were out on the job for the first time. They installed the plumbing in the kitchen walls so I can now go ahead and put the insulation and sheetrock up. I'll be doing that this weekend. I was also able to get the sub floor finished in the kitchen.

I also began demoing the main bathroom. A nice surprise was finding the original wainscoting behind the ugly tile.


I'm demoing this wall because it will be used to run the plumbing upstairs. I also tore out the dropped ceiling.


I found a couple interesting things on the walls, they appear to be stickers.



Some of our appliances were delivered yesterday also.



The dumpster was delivered the day before. When I opened the door to begin loading trash in it I found that it wasn't quite empty.


I called the dumpster company and talked to the guy who delivered it but he seemed to think that there wasn't enough debris left in it for him to have had to get up in there with a shovel to knock it loose. I told him that if I fill the dumpster up and run out of room because of that then we're going to have a problem. The pile is over 2 feet high and covers the back 1/3 of the dumpster.

This afternoon will be more demo work and hauling trash out to the dumpster.

Kitchen subfloor & bathroom demo

On Sunday I started working on the kitchen subfloor. There were a lot of holes in the floor from moving the wall and it wasn't level. I had to remove most of the oak flooring that used to be part of the dining room as it was too high.


Then I had to add plywood of differing thicknesses to the area to build it up level.


Then I added plywood to the other low area to level it off.


With the floor now level I will be adding 1/2" plywood over the entire floor then putting the backer board on top of that.

We went back out on Monday to work on the upstairs bathroom. It needed to be demoed so the plumbers can rough in the new plumbing. Here is a before shot.


Here is after removing all the paneling that covered the walls and ceiling.



With the old paneling removed I was able to see that there was originally a closet that was smaller in size here. The green paint would have been the hallway and the unpainted boards were in the closet. It looks like in 1937 (the date on the tub, toilet, and sink) the closet wall was moved out a few feet to add the bathroom.

I also found lots of remnants of the original wallpaper that was in the hallway.



In the first picture you can see the cheesecloth that they hung the wallpaper on.

Yesterday we found a really good deal on a refrigerator. It was originally close to $3000 but was marked down to $1999. I told the manager that I would be paying cash and asked if he would take $1400 and he did! Here is a pic of the fridge, I found these pics online.


Tomorrow I will be picking up our new double ovens, I'm getting a really good deal on it too. It was originally listed at over $3000 but I'm getting it for $1199. Both appliances are completely new in the box.


Today I spent the afternoon underneath the house removing all the old cast iron plumbing and the old metal radiator piping in preparation for the plumbers, they will be starting on Thursday. I wasn't able to get all of it removed but I got a lot of it done.

Our 40 yd dumpster should be on site tomorrow so I can start filling it with all the trash that has accumulated so far.

Travertine flooring and backsplash

On Saturday we went and picked up the travertine. We bought a crate of 16x16 tiles. There are 160 tiles per crate. This should be enough for our kitchen and hopefully both baths. We also bought 10 boxes of 4x4 travertine backsplash. The floor tiles were $1.49 sq. ft. and the backsplash was $0.25 each!





We also went and looked at some appliances but the store was out of the ones we wanted so we'll have to find something else.

The work on the kitchen flooring should begin this weekend.