Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 18

Where does the time go?  Weeks are flying by and August is almost over!  Initially we thought we would be done with most of this house by July...surely by August.  Then certainly by September.  Nope, not going to happen.  Can't say why our initial time frame was so off base. 😕

More scraping

I have plugging along with the continuous trim work.  Started and finished the large window in the dining room.  My mom keeps asking me "what have you done this week?"  and I keep telling her "still painting".  Which is then followed by "the house is not that big, you have been painting for months", which is then followed by "I know!"  

I wish the process was that simple...just paint it.  But it is the prep work with the trim that takes SO LONG!  It's a tedious job and my wrists are tired.  There are 19 windows in this house and each one was painted with latex over oil based paint without primer in between.  If you have been following, you will remember that means most of the paint has to be removed, because latex does not adhere to oil base paint if not sanded/prime properly first.  Whoever painted it previously just slapped the latex on without any prep and I suppose it looked good for a short while, but IT DOESN'T STAY ON!  I have completed 10 out of 19 windows.   Oh, and the trim around doors and floors and ceilings must be done too, because 'whoever' painted that as well. 😧😧😧

Window trim scraping

Floor trim

More of the same, it goes on and on

That is why is takes so long.  I scrape as much of the paint as I can get off, then I sand with coarse and fine sandpaper.   I can then tape off the area and get ready for priming with a primer made for latex over oil based paint.  It is then ready for painting!   I am surprised I have come this far since April!

We finally made a choice for our counter top, and ordered it this week.  Should be arriving in about 10 days.  The captain has been working on our kitchen island frame.  It is SOLID!  He tells me that if we have a tornado or hurricane, the inside of the island is our "shelter".  Tells me "one of those huge pecan trees out back could fall on it and it ain't going anywhere".  Ok, so we know where to go in case of imminent storm threat.

Island beginnings

Another view

Progressing along

Making sure it is level

It is not cabinetry style built, as the shape along with the post (which is a structural support for the back of the house) prohibits having cabinet storage underneath.  And our range will be housed in this island.  So really, cabinets would have been very time consuming and extremely hard to match the new kitchen cabinets.  But we will have a decent sized island, with plenty of surface area...(and somewhere to hide out in case of severe weather threat! 😉)

I park my car there sometimes!!

Joking aside,  we did have a storm pass over a couple of nights ago.  Lots of rain and lightning and apparently some wind.  Woke up to this large limb in our driveway.  This limb fell out of our neighbor's pecan tree and it's a good thing I did not park in the drive that night!  Our other neighbor asked to remove it as he is going to use the wood for his smoker/cooker.  So good use of the debris.

All in all, a busy week.  We are coming along and although it is hard work, we are enjoying our accomplishments.  

Until next time...

Enjoy!

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 17

The painters have finished the first coat on the exterior.  Captain Man and I will do the second coat (maybe).  We are happy with the results and love the color. Now we need to decide on a front door color.  Family, friends and neighbors have all indicated what they would choose.  I have my preference, but am still undecided at this point.  

 

One coat on

Looking clean!

Side view

This is what it looked like before!

We have had people walking by and telling us they like our front door color (the color when we bought the house is a bluish green) and they would not change it.  But we think we will change it. 

Our now turguoise front door with our new mailbox

 

We finally have a door on the bathroom! YAY!!!  We chose a sliding barn door.  Looks great, but was not a fun project for the captain.  This old house is not level or square, and trying to hang the door so that it looked level to the eye, but not slide on its own (it wants to move to the center)...well, it was a challenge.  So after many adjustments and several unneeded drilled holes, it is hung.  However, the hardware is not level and the door is not level with the floor, BUT the door slides open and closes without moving on its own.  Whew...we did not think it would be so difficult.  😟  It needs a handle and a lock on the inside, but then it is done.

Bathroom with a door!

I have been busy with the dining room ceiling.  I have painted it twice and still am not getting coverage.  I suppose I should have primed it first, but I did not think it was needed.  Obviously, I was wrong.  I really do not enjoy painting overhead and was hoping the second coat would do the trick, but it didn't.  

Not a good paint job 😕

Captain Man says I should probably cover it with some Kilz paint primer and then go back over with the ceiling paint.  That means I will have painted this ceiling 4 times!

Marking our kitchen island

We are now designing our kitchen island which will include our stove.  It will be nice to cook dinner while looking out of the big windows onto the river.  We are also looking at options for counter tops and kitchen flooring.  So still several choices to be made within the next week or so.

We did take a day off to spend with a dear friend.  Had a relaxing lunch and listened to some live music.  Nice.  I miss that!!

But need to get back to work...so for now...

Enjoy!

 

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 16

Four months...and we are moving along.  The weather has not been very cooperative in allowing the painters to get much done.  We are hoping the upcoming week will better for outside work.  Inside...Captain Man has been working on installing the cabinets.  This house is old and nothing is straight or square, so it was a bit of a challenge to get the cabinets aligned and leveled on the walls and floor.  But he did it (with some verbal encouragement 😟) and it looks great thus far.  

 

Upper cabinets

Different view

Opposite side-pantry cabinet

The captain also installed our over the sink and ceiling lighting.  There were so many beautiful choices, and I had a hard time choosing.  But once installed, we are both happy with the result.  

Over the sink, and the ceiling light

Upper and lower cabinets are in!

Opposite side with pantry

It looks like a kitchen now, not a work zone.  Still much to do...new floor, moldings, hardware, etc...but excited to have this much done.

Oops!

I have been painting along.  I went to work on Tuesday in our laundry closet, but when Captain Man looked, he noted no electrical outlet for the washer 😕   The outlet for the dryer is there, and the plumbing for the washer is there...but where is the washer electrical outlet?  So our electrician had to come back and install the outlet.  

Electrical outlet added

Painting in the hallway

More painting

And more painting

Yep,  I am riddled with paint specks that refuse to come off despite soap water scrubbing.  It is in my hair, and on my exposed skin areas.  I need to wear readers to see up close and all of these are speckled with paint.  My new perfume is Valspar.  But it is amazing to see the huge difference once each room has been painted. 

Another busy week for us.  We did take a few hours off this week.  I spent a wonderful afternoon with my two favorite girls, my daughter and granddaughter.  They came for a visit on Thursday and we had lunch and spent a few hours strolling around town.  Then last night, Captain Man and I had dinner with our great friends at Cinnamon's...a fantastic Indian restaurant.  It was a wonderfully relaxing evening.  

But...it is time to get back into work mode...so we are off to do exactly that.

Until next time...

Enjoy!

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 15

It is hard to believe that we are into August.  Almost 4 months have gone by since starting this project.  We do love this place, and are so happy we have it.  But it has been hard work...and a lot of it.  We are sore and tired.  We smell like paint and look like hard laborers.  My hair is tinged white, and although I have some natural gray, most of the white is primer that will not wash out.  When I am not wearing scrubs for work, my attire consists of faded, paint splotched T shirts and shorts.  Haven't worn make up since when? And forget about manicured hands and feet.  Captain Man did make time for a haircut last week, as he was looking like he had stepped back into the 60"s.  I am not complaining, just stating that we are working hard trying to make our house our home.

New window spot

Level and plumb?

The back of the house with new window added

What it looked like before the new window installation

Our new window is in and it was a huge process.  This property is in the historical district and before changing anything on the outside of the house, it must be approved by the Historical Committee.  This involves submitting a request along with pictures, drawing, etc., anything to show and impress upon the panel that any changes you plan to make will not take away from the historical value or integrity of the property.  Thankfully, Captain Man did his homework and provided them with clear explanation and supporting documentation to get their approval.   Once approved, then we had to find a triple wood window (the Historical Committee will not approve vinyl windows) to match the existing one.  That was much more difficult.  He found a company online that makes windows according to your specifications, and the shipping date was supposed to be approximately 3 weeks, which turned out to be a bit longer.   So that was probably over 2 months ago.  Finally the window arrived and it was damaged.  Bummer!!!   Apparently, it was dropped somewhere along the way.  So we had to wait for a replacement.  But once we got the new undamaged window installed, Captain Man was a happy camper.  The back of the house now provides us with a beautiful view of the property and river.  We love it!

Our view towards the side of the property

Our view of facing the river

The exterior is getting its much needed love as well.  One side is scraped, primed, caulked and painted.  All except for the trim.  

One side done minus the trim

The paint color choice that won out ... Muslin, with trim being Straw Harvest.  Excited!   

A few days ago

Our unpainted living room is being filled with kitchen cabinets.  Captain Man has been assembling the cabinets this week and hopefully most of them will be installed in the kitchen soon.  I have painted the kitchen/dining room and the laundry closet.  

Living room - that's a toilet in there?

Yep...working hard to get this home in shape.   We are so pleased and we are thankful that we can do this.  We hope to have many wonderful, happy memories to share with our family and friends in this place.   Can't wait!!! 


Until next time...

Enjoy!

 

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 14

Guest bathroom complete

Tile work in shower

Bathroom can be checked off list!

We have moved in!  The guest bathroom is done.  And we are pleased with the way it has turned out.  

It is a small bathroom, and we struggled with the sink.  At first I wanted a cabinet sink (for storage), but after looking at the finished bath, I thought a cabinet would make it seem too crowded.  I initially did NOT want a pedestal sink in this bathroom, but quickly changed my mind once I could see how much space we had.  And the pedestal sink works out well.  The bathroom is small but when you are in the room, it just doesn't feel cramped.  We are happy.

All that is left for that guest bedroom is a piece of colorful art to place on one of the floating shelves.  I am looking for a small print or canvas of the Pamlico River.  So I am on the lookout during the limited time we have to roam around the area.  It is there, just need to find it.   Until then, we are using that space on the shelf for extra towels.  But it is done!  

My armoire...love, love it!

Our bedroom is livable.   It is painted and cleaned and has a bed and dresser.  No pics to post at this point, because we need more furniture and needs some personal touches.  

This house does have a negative...no closets...well it does have one closet in the master bedroom, but it is small.  Captain Man and I both knew we did not want to alter the integrity of the rooms by adding a closet.  It would look too obvious that it was an add on.  So, I went about searching for an armoire/wardrobe.   Most of the ones that we were drawn to were expensive.  I wanted something that would fit with the style of the house, was well built and BIG!  Everything I saw that met my wants/needs were well, outrageous.  So, I started looking on Craigslist and found one.  It was big, made of solid wood, and the style was point on.  And the price....you will not believe....I am embarrassed to even say. I am so, so pleased with the piece.  It is gorgeous and holds lots of clothes!  Now we are looking for a bed frame and another dresser.  Oh, and a rug.  Once we get the room  almost complete, will post some pics.  

I am still working on trim work, and painting, and vacuuming dust.  But we are here and I am happy.

Until next week...

Enjoy!

 

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 13 Part 2

Ready for a new paint job

Our painter started working on the outside this week.  It will be a tedious job with lots of scraping and caulking, and so far she is doing a meticulous job of prepping.  The front of the house is not quite as bad as the rest due to the protection of the porch, but you can see from the pics, this house is long overdue for paint.

Side view

The other side

 

Our front porch

The rest of our week has been spent working at our regular jobs and cleaning inside.  I am sure we will be vacuuming sheet rock dust for months to come.  After our first round of cleaning, we opened up the A/C vents and vacuumed those.  Captain Man installed a new thermostat and turned on the much needed A/C.  We waited for a few minutes, but no cool air.   We had to have the A/C serviced, but now, thankfully, we have a working A/C.  So, so, so nice after working here for last few months in the humid heat.  

base cabinets for the kitchen

More cabinets ready to go into the kitchen

Captain Man has also been busy assembling the kitchen cabinets.  We chose a ready to assemble cabinet and we are pleased with the construction, no particle board.  We went with a white Shaker style, which seems appropriate for our craftsman home.  We did run into a snag though.  We originally ordered a "pantry" cabinet and turns out...when we opened the box, the face frame was missing.  😢  But the company was easy to work with and our face frame is on its way.  Can't wait to get them installed in our kitchen! 

It has been a busy week for both of us.   But we are getting close to moving in!!!   Yay!!!

Until next week...

Enjoy!

Our River House Fixer Upper - Week 13 - Part 1

We have a working bathroom!  The tile work is complete and it looks great.  Am so pleased.  

Almost done

Grouting complete

Captain Man sealed the grout that evening and the next day he installed the sink and toilet.  And it works!!! I am so excited...a working bathroom after 3 months.   

Our guest bathroom

We still have to hang the mirror, get some shelving, install the outlet covers and a few other minor things, but it is almost done!!! 

Ceiling fan being installed

The master bedroom also has a new ceiling fan (a must have for me) and although rather ornate, it blends in well with the craftsman style of the house.

Our working fan

I have completed the scraping of trim in the master bedroom.  A major accomplishment on my part.   This room has two large windows side by side measuring over 7 feet across, plus a small 15 pane window in the corner.  Then a fireplace mantel and base board trim.  This house also has picture rail trim close to the ceiling.  It is a piece of molding that is attached to the wall, usually aligning with the tops of windows.  This type of molding was used to hang artwork on hard to penetrate plaster walls.  It was popular in New England and in southern homes during the Victorian Era.  You can sort of see it in the pic above.  

Scraping along

Moving along to the mantel

Working on the other side of the mantel

You can note what appears to be cigarette burn marks on the mantel.  The mantel had several coats of paint, one of which was PINK.  Yep, the mantel was once painted pink.  Once I scraped off the many layers, I saw lots of these burn marks along the edge.  While I was scraping, I was imagining what the history of this house must be, and envisioning the man of the house coming home from work and having his cigar or cigarette while staring into the fire, with a shot of whiskey or brandy and contemplating his day.  Maybe placing his cigar or cigarette on the mantel and forgetting about it, thus leaving these burn marks in the wood...  I know, too many paint chips... starting to affect my brain. (Yes I am wearing a mask.)

Scraping done and one coat of primer

I have a coat of primer on all trim and on my next day off, I should be able to get a couple of coats of trim paint on, and this room will be ready for a serious cleaning and maybe some furniture?  Captain Man and I need to go shopping.  😉

The sheet rock guys are done.  We were so glad to say goodbye to them...you were great guys, but we are happy to get you out of here!  Means some stuff can get finished!

Until next time...

Enjoy!