So far with the house we have:
Restored the backyard from jungle status to yard status.
Fixed the back deck and sealed it.
Powerwashed the entire house.
Stripped the front porch.
Remove all the carpet and gutted the kitchen and bathroom.
Removed damaged plaster in third floor.
Sanded and refinished most of the molding and woodwork.
Cleaned out the basement and replaced the windows (which were just falling out).
Pointed the chimney.
Fix any and all roof issues.
Rehung the gutters.
Cemented open dirt in the basement.
This week, the electrician has spent two days removing old wiring that was attached to nothing, rewired the basement, rewired the kitchen, and replaced more receptacles than I can count. Here’s a picture of two of the basement windows:
You can’t see it, because it has been removed, so I am asking you to look at something that isn’t there, but before, there were literally dozens of wires going everywhere in the rafters in the beams in the basement. There were receptacles that were not grounded, loose shit just hanging everywhere, fixtures with singe marks that did not work, etc. It’s all gone. I am having them remove any knob and tubing they find anywhere, too, even though none of it is active. I just want it out. Period. It’s the kind of thing that would be in the back of my head all day every day.
Here’s a picture of the kitchen from the living room, before and after:
We have ripped out the wall up to near the built-in cabinet. After we finish running beams in the ceiling, those vertical pieces of wood will be removed, and that is where the bar is going. On the living room side, there will be stools, on the kitchen side there will be cabinets below the bar.
I really wanted to get an upscale counter, but I just could not justify the money right now, so we are going with Golden Mascarello Formica, which is several hundred (I think about 400 for the whole kitchen), instead of multiple thousands. It looks like this and fits my color scheme, so I am ok with it:
If I hit the powerball or one of my billionaire friends (still waiting on that check, Mr. Soros) paypal me a million bucks, I will replace it later on if I don’t like the formica. Finally, a preview of some of the wood that has now been stained:
It’s going to be so pretty when it is done.
Flooring starts going in on Monday and the plumber should finish on Monday or Tuesday. Really starting to pick up steam here.
redshirt
Wow. That looks like a lot of work.
Did you do an estimate before you bought on how much you’d pay in renovations? I ask because I wonder if it’s smart to buy a house like this (for I assume a cheap price) if you know you’ll have to put in a lot of work to bring it up to snuff. It would make me nervous AKA I’m walking into The Money Pit.
Davebo
Very nice John.
JanieM
The wood and the kitchen are gorgeous. Wow, I wish I had some of that energy!!
BGinCHI
I was hoping, from the title, that this was a House of Representatives update.
What was I thinking?
House is looking good, JC.
Suzanne
It looks lovely.
There are some solid surface (Corian, Hi-Macs, etc.) that are not much more than plastic laminate and look a whole lot better than they used to. They actually have visual movement, like real stone, but they stand up much better. Might be worth investigating.
Betty
Tremendous progress. It will be fun to watch it all come together.
greennotGreen
I think I would be tempted to do some sort of light wax treatment to the banister to make the gorgeous details pop.
inventor
You’ve made some good decisions: Get the plumbing and electrical right, you’ll never have another chance like this. Keep the important elements like the built-in cabinet but update it for livability. If you must cut back, do so on things you can easily upgrade later if need be, like counter tops.
Nice goin’
Pogonip
Looks good!
WaterGirl
@BGinCHI: I thought the exact same thing! And then I thought, oh, an up date on Cole’s house, that’s good, too.
Gindy51
@redshirt: It beats buying a new house and replacing every thing in 10 years. Buy a cheap old house, gut it, put in new stuff. Wish we’d done it that way.
Gin & Tonic
@redshirt: It was a foreclosure. You can’t inspect it beforehand.
WaterGirl
@Suzanne: Wow, here in Illinois when I got Corian for my kitchen it was unbelievably more expensive than laminate. Has something changed?
mzinformation
It’s going to be gorgeous!
Woodrowfan
very nice!
What happened to the jerk that abandoned Walter??
BGinCHI
@WaterGirl: Bruce Rauner. That fucker ruins everything.
hovercraft
Thanks for the update. I have barely been able to restrain myself for the last couple of days from demanding an update. I love the woodwork, it was totally worth all of the work that has gone into restoring it. I hate it when you see people desecrate it with paint.
Mnemosyne
I’m trying to knit a shawl before a party on Saturday night and, if my calculations are right, it will take about another 18 hours of work.
I think I’m screwed, but I’m going to try to knit like a fiend this weekend and see where I’m at on Sunday night. If it’s not good, I’ll still have time to switch to something else.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Wow, it’s incredibly charming and basically well built like they just don’t do anymore. What is that little door in the wall? For a telephone?
BGinCHI
@Woodrowfan: Buried in the …. I mean, um, he moved away.
Sarah
It looks great, John. You’re inspiring me to get the loose wires out of my basement too!
Suzanne
@WaterGirl: Yes, that stuff has come down in price a lot as more competitors entered the market.
WaterGirl
@BGinCHI: He really does. I can’t bring myself to say his name – or even type it. Oh how I loathe that man. Doing so much damage.
Olivia
Wow! You have really been doing a lot in such a short time. It’s beautiful. Thanks for the update.
Mary G
Wow that newel post is gorgeous. Are you talking about Butterum Formica? I can’t find Butter Cream. It’s pretty and generations of our moms lived with Formica just fine.
My kitchen still has the aqua tile put in in 1950. Counters would have cost me double what I spent for the rest of the kitchen, so I know where you’re at.
greennotGreen
@redshirt: About thirty years ago some people I knew sold their house. It was a pit. The roof was rotted, there was a two foot hole in the kitchen floor – a pit. They sold it for$70,000. Even though it was in a great neighborhood, I didn’t think it was worth that because it would cost at least that to repair it. Today that house is worth north of $500,000.
Besides, if you love it and you’re going to live in it, you only have to not go broke.
Manyakitty
Wow, that’s looking good! Thanks for letting us see the progress.
enplaned
@Gin & Tonic: And that’s a significant reason why foreclosures are cheap — you’re potentially buying a pig in a poke.
qwerty42
John,
The wood used in old houses can be spectacular (and interesting — what you may id as “oak”, can sometimes be chestnut — would have been ‘way common then). The finishes used back in the day can be somewhat odd though. Take your time with it and you’ll be very happy you did. Looking *good*. Thanks for the update.
Chat Noir
@BGinCHI: I thought the same thing.
I like the bar idea! House looks likes it’s coming around nicely, John.
laura
You forgot to add finding and rehabbing a good old pooch.
I wish you a lifetime of happiness in this old house.
Suzanne
Side note: please please PLEASE do not fill a house that lovely with shitty furniture from Ikea or Lay-Z-Boy or Ashley or RoomStore or what have you. There are beautiful, tasteful pieces in every style, from Shaker antiques to Eurotrash contemporary, and they can all look great. I see you as an Eames chair kind of guy. Just….no…..Nagel….end tables!
trollhattan
@WaterGirl:
Corian in my area is more than granite. Suppose there’s “off-brand” Corian but that made the non-selection easy-peasy.
What we found with a couple projects is by picking granite remnants at the yard left over from big jobs you can get it pretty cheap, i.e., on par with high-end tile. Yes, I expect Malkin to show up any day and at that point I’m doing the Defeatopublican cheer on her scrawny butt.
MattF
@hovercraft: Years ago, I knew some people who had a gorgeous set of rosewood bedroom furniture, bought back in the 1940s. And then had it ‘modernized’ with paint and ‘texturing’. I was appalled.
redshirt
@Gin & Tonic: That would make me even more nervous. Just off the top of my head I might budget 2 times what I paid for it in renovations. I mean, who could fully guess all the stuff you’d have to deal with. Mold? Asbestos? Lead paint? Insects/rodents? Who knows.
BGinCHI
@Suzanne: Cole needs some Ekornes (Stressless) chairs.
Made proudly in Norway.
trollhattan
@Suzanne: .
Are you unfamiliar with the Cole furniture oeuvre, or striving for an intervention?
trollhattan
@MattF:
Ah yes, I remember the days of “stressing” furniture by beating it with a chain or enhancing with some birdshot. It was a look.
WaterGirl
@trollhattan: Interesting. Is all granite dark in color? That’s what I think of when I hear “granite”.
Mai.naem.mobile
@Suzanne: I dont think its the material…its the damn labor. I was surprised but Consumer Reports had laminate counters as a really good choice considering everything(cost,wear,breakage.)
The wood is beautiful. We did the counters under the peninsula thing – its convenient and good use of space.
donnah
Major progress, great results! Nice work from the Cole team. Fingers crossed for decent prices in the upcoming phases.
Beautiful!
Anne Laurie
Good going, Cole! You’re going to have a very nice, livable house once the worst of the renovations are out of the way.
(When you’re a homeowner, the renovations never really stop, but at least you’ll be able to catch your breath between projects.)
Iowa Old Lady
You’re right that that’s unglamorous but useful work. Except for the refinished woodwork. That’s gorgeous.
raven
Really nice progress. We took out a wall just like that in our kitchen/hallway.
MattF
@WaterGirl: Depends on the source. Granite can range from black to white.
The Moar You Know
@redshirt: From my experience, absolutely not, unless you can do most of the work yourself. Which it looks like Cole & Co. can.
There’s some beautiful wood in that house and the detail on the bannister is just lovely.
What Cole’s done is appealing. The wife and I are looking to GTFO of California, and although our preference would be to move to another, less snobby and asshole-filled part of the state (we are natives so why the fuck should WE have to leave?) we realized those don’t exist anymore. So we are looking at other options. If we find a place with cheap property we could retire…
Gin & Tonic
@WaterGirl: Granite comes in nearly every shade under the sun.
raven
We used TRESPA for countertops, after a year plus we are really happy with it.
“Trespa is the brand name of a type of high-pressure laminate (HPL) plate manufactured by Trespa International BV, based in Weert, the Netherlands. Their panels are used for exterior cladding, decorative facades and interior surfaces. It is composed of woodbased fibres or Kraft paper with phenolic resin applied.”
It used used for countertops in labs and looks great.
Suzanne
@trollhattan: I am familiar with Cole’s furniture through the photos he shares. The end tables….OHMYGOD THOSE END TABLES. So so bad. And when I see a recliner with a lever arm to kick out the footstool, I just…..twitch. It’s the equivalent of those elastic-waist pants with all of the pleats. Definitely time for an intervention.
@trollhattan: There are alternate brands of solid surface that are just as good as Corian, they’re not “off-brands” so much as options. The price has come down a lot on that stuff over time because there are more competitors. We use a brand called Staron a lot in healthcare environments because it is tough but looks good.
indycat32
I don’t know the proper order for renovating a house, but I don’t think I’d put new floors down before I fix the walls and paint, especially if I was a well-known klutz. One tipped over can of paint would be a disaster.
trollhattan
@WaterGirl:
Granite has yuuge variation–light/dark; color/hue; pattern/interesting thingies to gaze at. Have even seen slabs containing fossils, which I could never afford but holy moly, so interesting.
Friends did their kitchen in soapstone (including sink), which is a very different look and a delight to touch–warm and satiny versus cool and slick granite. IIUC it’s somewhat regional and more available in the Northeast than out here on the left coast.
Suzanne
@Mai.naem.mobile: The cost of all construction is in the labor rather than the materials. Laminate isn’t a bad option, all things considered. It just looks like laminate. Solid surface lasts longer and is less scratch-prone, but countertops aren’t a hill to die on.
inventor
@MattF:
Wow….painting rosewood. I’m normally against the death penalty……..
WaterGirl
@MattF: Really? Glad I asked. I never considered granite because I like light colored countertops. I do love my corian, though. I got the color they called “linen” and I still love it after all these years.
JaneE
@BGinCHI: Second that. Best recliner I have ever had. Looks to be a lot safer for the animals too – no x-joints to pinch or worse.
Kristine
Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: Wow, who knew? (not me, obviously!)
hovercraft
@MattF:
Sacrilege.
Do not paint real wood period !
If you want painted wood work you should use MDF or some other cheap stuff, not real hardwoods.
Suzanne
@trollhattan: Stone (and concrete) looks good but requires a bit more maintenance than laminate or solid surface or quartz (Zodiaq and other brands). Has to be sealed annually because it is porous, so I like it for non-food areas. But for someone who is willing to maintain it, it looks great.
If you’re a green building person, tho, stone is possibly less desirable due to the energy required to get it at the quarry and to ship it. I am a germophobe, so I like the non-porous choices. Copper is my current favorite. But holy dollars.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: So did I. Politics on the brain at this time of year.
cgordon
I put Formica in my kitchen because I couldn’t decide on something else, and 15 years later I still like it. Also, I took a sample color chip over to the paint department and had a quart of paint mixed to match (it was a chocolate brown). I painted plain wooden knobs (60 cents each) for the drawer and cabinet door pulls. Custom look for a fraction of the cost of anything else.
WaterGirl
@trollhattan: I was about to ask what soapstone is, but remembered just in time that someone last week commented on the soapstone top of the cabinet I got for my screened-in porch. I do love that look and had no idea what it was.
grumpy realist
@WaterGirl: My condo has the most BUSY pink and black granite you ever did see for the countertops. Advantages: you can’t see the dirt. Disadvantages: you can’t see the dirt. Or anything else. I lost a screwdriver with a BLUE HANDLE once putting it down in the kitchen.
John, depending on how you clean, Corian will not stand up to 3M scrubbing pads. It also can easily be stained by dyes. You have been warned.
pamelabrown53
Looking fantastic! If I may offer a suggestion. Since $$$ is the issue, might I suggest a well sealed wood top island and if formica is a must then make sure it is solid core…meaning that even though it’s formica the color is throughout..
Another suggestion: if you’re not in a hurry buy a bunch of discontinued ceramic tiles. Bust them up. Find an art student at the University who would be willing to create a mosaic for a couple hundred bucks..
My point? Don’t be in such a hurry. You’re house has gorgeous bones and you don’t have to settle on black formica.
P. S. Don’t stint on a large, undivided sink. With all the money I spent on my kitchen upgrades, the big, deep sink was the least expensive and most desired.
raven
@indycat32: You just cover the floor.
Shantanu Saha
My house has turned into a money pit, partially because I did not want to skimp on systems to do just a cosmetic update. New roof, made more expensive by the revelation that much of the roof sheathing had rotted away and had to be replaced. New garage door. Extensive electrical work (lots of rats nests of wiring by clueless homeowners in the past). Lots of money spent on the pool. Gas fireplace to replace a deteriorating woodburning one that would have cost twice as much if I had to rebuild as a woodburning unit.
And the big budget buster: I decided to replace the two furnaces and AC units, none of which worked, with a geothermal heat pump. That project is going to cost me over $50k when done, partly because in order to qualify for a New Jersey energy efficiency assistance program, I had to do air sealing and extra insulation in my attic. The insulation contractor did explain, however, that the failure of the roof was probably caused more by humid air leaking up from the house than water penetration through the shingles. So I guess this project is preventing expensive repairs in the future. Plus, I’ll get to deduct 30% of the project from my taxes next year. That’s good, it will help me pay for the solar panels I plan to install next year.
waysel
@pamelabrown53: Anything resembling a tile countertop is a cleaning/ sanitation nightmare. Grout joints. We got rid of our 4×4 tile counters a few years back. Life is so much easier now. ( Mahogany with marine epoxy for some counters and granite for the rest.)
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: How’s things in Mad-Town? Getting any miles in on the bike? Been too long since I checked in with you….
BGinCHI
@Shantanu Saha: Is your new geothermal vertical or horizontal? Mrs. BG really wants to do this, but I don’t know if it’s really workable in the city, no matter what the internets say.
Julie
The wood detail on the banister is lovely. :) Also- I’m a fan of butcher block counters in old homes — less expensive and very easy to care for.
ChrisH
This just came up on my Pandora today and seems pertinent to John’s recent labors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyeMFSzPgGc
Mnemosyne
@inventor:
The house we lived in from the time I was in 5th grade until I left for college was sided with redwood that my (step)mom hand-picked and hand-stained.
After all the kids moved out and my parents sold the house, the new owners painted it white. My mom still cringes every time she has to see it.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: All is well. Fewer miles than I would like this year. Have you readjusted to non-Norwegian life yet?
John Cole
I’m going to worry about furniture when I have a place to put it.
redshirt
@BGinCHI: Vertical GT is just a well. Can you put in wells in your area? I have a vertical GT and they dug the well for it the same time the did the well for my water.
pamelabrown53
@waysel: @waysel: #67.
I basically agree re: tile and sanitation.. I hate grout. Still, if it’s well sealed, it could be a beautiful artistic stop gap until John Cole has enough money saved for a limited change.
Where I’m coming from is that such a lovely house with so many possibilities doesn’t need to be a done deal. The pic. Cole showed us of his dream kitchen is one that shouldn’t just “go low”.
P.S.. I can’t see Cole purchasing the demi-chandeliers over the island. Otherwise, the kitchen is um-tut-sut.
Mike in NC
Starting Monday we’re having our carpeting torn up and getting laminate flooring. Contractors estimate the job will take 5-7 days. Lucky we have neighbors leaving town to let us use their house if necessary. Might need to relocate the cats for the duration.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: Pretty much, yeah. It’s just IL politics and the fascists that are hard to take. We bought a house (bungalow in our old ‘hood) and it’s fabulous. So nice to have a porch and yard and garage. I’m a bourgeois pig now, for sure.
Coming up your way for some cross country skiing around Xmas. Will advise if we get to Madison.
BGinCHI
@redshirt: It has to be vertical in the city, I think. I don’t know how the hell they can do it, but I think they do. I’m not for it. Better in the country, I’d think.
BGinCHI
@John Cole: Why just worry when you can pre-worry?
Starfish
@Mnemosyne: May you not drop any stitches!
redshirt
@BGinCHI: Drilling a well has a pretty small footprint, and as long as there’s no underground pipes or wires it’s straightforward.
Chris T.
Look at you, using fancy homeowner words like “repointing a chimney”. ?
Shana
@The Moar You Know: John, it looks like the house is coming together nicely. You’ve got a lot of the unglamorous but necessary work out of the way, now the fun stuff starts. I like the choices you’re making about the kitchen, keeping the style of the house but modernizing.
It’s kind of like sewing. You have to make whatever alterations are necessary to the pattern, lay it out, cut the fabric. all that stuff before you can do the fun part which is putting it all together.
Moar: Hubby and I went back to Rock Island, IL, where I grew up several years ago to visit my dad and realized we could retire right then and there (age about 45) but we’d have to live out our retirement in Rock Island. Not worth it, but good luck to you.
karen marie
@cgordon: When I redid my kitchen, I used laminate. Black with very tiny white/gray flecks that weren’t really visible but softened the hard black. It looked phenomenal with the hickory cabinets. I loved that kitchen.
Shana
@pamelabrown53: Funny, I prefer a double sink. When we redid our kitchen a couple of years ago we put in one with a bigger side and a smaller side. The smaller side holds a dish drainer for pots and pan, things I’ll use again before I run the dishwasher. Much nicer than having it on the counter.
stinger
So much work, but such beautiful results! Thanks for sharing your progress!
les
Counter: we did foot square limestone tiles, nicely cheap, with a 5 ft. by 1ft. butcher block on one side. All cheap; don’t worry about losing the cutting board; don’t worry about where to put the hot pan. Roll out trash can under the butcher block. Love it.
BGinCHI
@redshirt: That’s my worry. That there will be stuff under us and that getting clear of all that will be a major hassle and expense. Will look into it, though.
bottyguy
@Suzanne: I endorse this. I very much prefer Corian like products to granite and the like, much less maintanence, some marks can be sanded out, works great for rolling out pastry.
Taylor
@Shantanu Saha: Also in NJ. I had open cell foam blown into stud bays from outside, as well as foaming the roof deck and the basement. Foaming the roof deck is the only option that makes sense if there’s an air handler in the attic. Makes no sense to be running house air through a space that’s 140F with R8 insulation.
The foam insulation was paid for by a zero-interest seven-year loan, plus a rebate from the state (which after administration and make-work was about $2K, every bit helps). The cost of replacing siding though was on my own dime.
bemused
@pamelabrown53:
My ideal sink area would have a large, long sink with a regular size sink next to it. Large sink for washing those awkward big cookie pans/pots and the other sink for a dish drainer.
Our son and dil give their new baby baths in their big sink setting the baby bath sling thingie and baby inside. Very convenient.
Birthmarker
Back in the 80’s we bought a brand new house with hideous carpet, best described as blotchy multicolored brown. My mother gave me good advice-“Live with it for seven years.” And that’s exactly what we did. I’ve seen those Formica countertops. They look fine. You have to touch them to see they aren’t stone. I’ve seen Corian that was shockingly scratched. My sister put in HiMacs and it screamed plastic to me. I have granite which I like, but I’ve managed to chip the edges in the sink area. So nothing will be perfect.
bemused
@bottyguy:
We have a Cambria bathroom vanity top. Love Cambria. Durable and easy to clean. If we ever redo our kitchen, I’m going with Cambria countertops.
Lizzy L
John, the place looks great! Thanks for Show and Tell. I’ve got no advice for you — it’s yours, you have to live in it. Do what you can, do what you want.
TaMara (HFG)
John, have you checked into manufactured quartz? Beautiful and much less expensive than, say, granite.
I have granite and hate it. Easy to clean, hell on dishes. I’m sure mostly because I’m a klutz, but still, painful to lose favorite pieces because they hit the counter wrong.
TaMara (HFG)
And the renovation is looking great. Can’t believe how much you’ve done in a month +.
Chris T.
@Shana: We did a double/split sink in our previous (pre-move) kitchen remodel, and a single big sink in our current (post-move) remodel because we discovered we prefer the bigger single sink.
Chris T.
@TaMara (HFG): We used manufactured quartz (for both remodels!). I like the look of granite but we hated the idea of having to seal it regularly. The quartz looks just as good and is no-maintenance. It is, however, rock hard (pun intended), so you can lose the occasional glass or whatever that falls over.
NotoriousJRT
Finally news about something positive getting done in the (a) house. Congrats, Cole! Keep up the superb work.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne:
Doesn’t that present a problem if the event is on Saturday?
randy khan
I am loving that newel post.
randy khan
We have stainless steel counters, which we love, but I don’t think they’d work in the kitchen as Cole is thinking of it.
Gin & Tonic
@?BillinGlendaleCA: She didn’t say *which* Saturday.
HRA
John, I am glad you are making progress with your house and it already looks interesting.
Here we started renovating 3 years ago, The outside was a lot easier than the crawl of doing the inside while living in it. We have already spent 3xs the original price and have 2 rooms to do yet.
I must mention when I bought this house it was set on fire twice before we moved in by the next door arsonist fireman. It was all gutted and done 30+ years ago. It really needed a new remodel now.
One daughter lives in CA and pored her own concrete counters.
Suzanne
@John Cole: Just hold on to some dollars to get furniture that befits that lovely home.
Suzanne
@TaMara (HFG): Quartz is my favorite. After copper, but that is only in the cards if I win the lotto.
JJ
That’s a lot of strong work and in a short period of time. I found y’all around the time you bought this place last summer. The first posts I saw were your rescue dog, the primaries and this house. I thought, “I’m in!”.
jayjaybear
From watching a lot of HGTV, I’ve hypothesized that construction best-practices of the turn of the last century were designed to be the source of major heartache for turn-of-this-century renovators and restorers…
Suzanne
@Birthmarker: There are some solid surface options out now that look soooo much better than they used to. The original colors did look really plasticky but they have some that came out last year that look a lot more like natural stone, with movement and veining and the like.
Garbo
Thank you. I was just wondering about how things were going. The newel post is gorgeous. Did you have the electrician put in some USB-charging-capable outlets in the kitchen? Those would be handy. Also, I think you said you’d have glass front cabinets. You might want to think of soft in-cabinet lighting because the kitchen will be open and having mood lighting in there would be nice in the evening. Because MOAR opinions on what you should do with your own fucking house are just what you wanted.
Suzanne
@jayjaybear: Being an architect, I get annoyed when people try to copy architectural elements from the past in modern materials and methods. Like, no. Houses built in 1900 should look like it. Houses built in 2000 should not look like houses built in 1900 plus a three-car garage and a RV gate.
rikyrah
Looks like an unfinished basement. You going to do it now, or later. The wood is going to be amazing. I can see it. Hope you kept the bathroom off the kitchen and are thinking about adding a shower so that guests/ kids can use it.
Bard the Grim
Congrats on all the progress, especially regarding the roof and gutters! And I know it’s been mentioned before but you really need to check the grading–where will all that water go after it’s been efficiently collected by your pretty roof and channeled into your sparkling new gutters and downspouts? Once the ground freezes it can’t soak up the water. You’ve probably heard that water generally runs downhill, which means into your basement if the grading around the house isn’t right. As you might guess, I have personal experience with this sort of thing. Heed me!
Ella in New Mexico
@John Cole: House is looking good, John, furnished or not.
My two cents: in our 40+ yr-old home, we had large, deep cabinets in which everything we placed shoved to the way back and got lost. I spent years bitching about not being able to find things because they were hidden in the deep, dark three-foot recesses of the cupboards.
Last year, my husband began taking all the lower cabinets and converting them to pull-out drawers. (kind of like the ones in your stock kitchen photo above, but he varied the depths to accommodate our needs) He bought nice oak for the fronts, built the rest of the drawers out of cheaper wood, and put them on rails. I now can see all my pots, pans, lids, bakeware, mixing bowels and small appliances from a top-view just by opening the drawer. I can’t imagine if I ever build a new home or renovate another kitchen not having pretty much all the lower storage areas drawers.
Highly recommend it.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@redshirt: Aren’t you supposed to be working on your bunker?
jayjaybear
@Suzanne: Are you aware of McMansion Hell?
Elliott
Sweet!
redshirt
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Compound.
And it’s mostly done. I just need to finish up one more wall next spring. 90% zombie proof after that.
jl
I thought this was a post on the the House elections. But it’s Cole’s old house again.
Cole, I think the old house is fine. Sand blast the grime out, wash it down with some kind of high test acid or germ killer stuff. Some throw rugs for bad spots on the floor. Good to go, IMHO.
Edit: Look at it this way. The animals will love it, and you won’t get upset when they piss poop and uptopple and scatter and spew various stuffs all around. Winding the job down now is win -win all the way around.
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Next Saturday, not tomorrow.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@Mike in NC: Congrats on the new flooring! We had the same builder’s carpet in our house for 15 years, along with a cat with a love/hate relationship with her litter box. It was work, as you can imagine. Early last year we got rid of the carpet and looked for the lowest-maintenance, most pet-friendly option we could come up with, and ended up having laminate installed through most of the house. Still looks like it did the day it was installed, and maintenance consists of sweeping. We’re very happy with it.
Also, if you’re worried about spills: in my experience, I’ve found that the floor will be just fine if you live like a normal human being and don’t leave puddles everywhere. Just wipe them up if/when they happen, and don’t worry.
Suzanne
@jayjaybear: Yes, and AAAAAHHHHHHH MAKE IT STOP.
I hate it. Contemporary buildings should look contemporary. Buildings in the southwest should not look like buildings in the northeast. Architecture should be highly contextual, attuned to place, time, climate, function, culture.
Something else that pisses me off: buying a big house and then having only a huge TV and a leather couch in it, with no art or decor or anything. Huge TVs piss me off as a rule, but when they are composed into the room, they can be less awful.
Ruckus
@karen marie:
That sounds like what I did in my last house. I took out a wall, built an island in oak to go with the cabinets already there and laminate that sounds exactly like what you described.
luc
Granite or look-a-like counter top options are something quite American.
The rest of the world can’t deal with such busy looking surfaces; I am suffering every day from this sight in our house.
jl
@Suzanne: I am clearly a boor. I am usually indifferent to interior decor, though clumsy architecture annoys me. As for decor, if it is mine and i pay for it and own it, the checklist is:
Is it cheap? ( I was going to use ‘inexpensive’, but why lie? Cheap). If yes, check.
Color scheme: Is the color scheme so crazy that it will cause optical illusions, seizures or make you throw up when you are sick? If no, check.
Is it easy and quick to keep clean? If yes, check.
I think that is about it.
PGFan
Fabulous!
Suezboo
John, that banister is going to be lovely when all oiled up (like a hot male stripper) but what of the actual stairs ? Do you intend to A) restore with new risers and/or treads B) paint them all vibrant and now! colours or C) cover their sins with a stair runner carpet? Please advise.
Concerned in the Cape.
jak
It has been a long time since I’ve seen real 2x4s. Nice. Not the nominal ‘2x4s’ that are sold now.
Egilsson
Are you insulating the snot out of the walls while things seem open? Even in West Virginia it seems worthwhile, and really tightens up a place.
laura
@The Moar You Know: Come to Sacramento! It’s a city of neighborhoods, a “tree city,” affordable, arts, bikes, bay area and Sierra adjacent.
Also, plenty of assholes, but a swell town.
Montarvillois
Whoa Nellie. I haven’t been a regular reader for some time. Always very interested in the pet situation and avoiding the political stuff (too depressing), I’m lost tract of what’s been happening with John Cole and his animals. Lately noticed a new dog and cat and now a new house. Can someone provide a brief review of the household changes?
Steeplejack
@Montarvillois:
Cole bought a dilapidated house on foreclosure and is renovating it with an eye toward moving in next spring.
An abandoned dog was found in the house, was given medical care, named Walter and rehomed with a blog reader in Minnesota.
The current cat is Steve, who has been in residence for quite a while. No changes on that front.