Renovation Staycation #1

This week mom and dad are on vacation so guess what they are going to be doing…??

A RENOVATION STAYCATION

With mom and dad here for 6 days we got a lot done….here is the quick list:

fixed the fence that fell over in the wind storm
dismantled the fireplace in the living room
installed a new garage door
built a new workbench for the shop
finished up the garage insulation, plywood, painting and tool installation
removed the stump from the driveway
broke up some test holes in our basement slab where new footings need to go
set up our Sitka office (finally)
cleared the drain on the patio

FENCE MEDIC

Dad woke up and as he stood at the kitchen window he noticed the fence…on the ground. Sheesh…it must have been windy. The fence has been a concern since we bought the place since the posts are not cemented into the ground. Yes that is right, dig a hole and just shove a post in it and it will stand up….right?!? (WRONG) We weren’t sure if the fence would hold up until next year…it didn’t. So in an effort to buy us some time we temporarily resorted the fence and put in some more privacy pieces to block the walking path sight lines.

: We resupported the fence from the back

: Added a few boards along the bottom for temporary privacy

HULK SMASH

Mom has been itching to destroy the fireplace in the living room. Apparently she really didn’t like it, good thing we are planning to relocate the fireplace to another wall and put in a gas insert instead of the wood burning. There is something to be said for closing up an old chimney that looks like it should have burned the house down years ago.

: Look how happy she is with that chisel

: What is under the mantel

: Removing the facade brick by brick

: Stripped down to the actual brick enclosure that ties into the chimney

: Making a temporary cover for the fireplace

: The end result…fireplace camouflaged

A RETRO VIBE

When picking out a new garage door we wanted to get something clean and simple yet not boring. We looked at a variety of garage door options and found the usuals, square windows, no windows, wood grain, industrial….but nothing really grabbed us. Then Adam found the perfect door…yes…its perfect!

: Goodbye old tiny dirty garage door

: We removed the door tracks on the inside

: The door is gone…now for that silly red wall

: This was holding the red wall

: That is what years of rust will do to a bolt. It’s so skinny!

: The rusty bolts were not going to come off easily so the the power tools came out

: replacing some rotten wood before the new door arrives

: Resupporting the beam that someone ‘notched’ for the old garage door opening. This is NOT how you instal a door opener

: All cleaned up and ready for the new door

: The new door arrives…

: They install that thing so fast

: Look at those awesome windows!

: I think they had this door installed in less than 2 hours.

: Perfect!

A NEW BENCH

For the shop we wanted to have more workbench space so Adam made one (of course) and it is beautiful!

: The workbench top takes shape

: Then the rest of the supports

: The support leg…beefy

: The tools we can’t live without. Milwaukee Drill and the Dowel Max

: prepping the top for the metal

: Gluing the metal top on

: The metal top all glued together

: A test fit

: Adding the connection to the other work bench

: Frame installed…and painted red of course (its Adam’s favorite)

: A finishing touch of black texture on the edges

: The final install

GARAGE IS….DONE?!?

One of our goals has been to get the garage workshop up and running so we can use our tools easily while doing the rest of the renovation. It has been a fair amount of work to get the garage finished as we really wanted to do it right. (Shocking)

This week we finished up the insulation, plywood and painting. Got the benches built and installed and the tools and storage organized and put away. The shop is by far the nicest part of the house now.

: The cabinets get installed

: Still a little messy but it is looking more like our garage…not a dirty dungeon.

: 3 bikes fit into the shed perfectly

: Our Sitka DIY Bike storage rack

: I think the bike storage work pretty well

: Reassembling cabinets

: Cutting up some shelves for the shop

: Just needs paint now…mom…your turn!

: The last few sections of plywood go up

: Adam and his new chop saw…the first test cut

: Hanging cabinets…its tough to make them look level when the shop isn’t level

: Everyone is working…well…except me (lol!)

STUMP OUT

Our driveway as it stands is long and narrow…but there is room to go to a double width as long as we get a few obstacles out of the way. One of those obstacles is a stump from a tree that was removed before we bought the house. It sits near the edge of the driveway about half way in…we could have left it but I know one of use would hit is eventually.

: Dad (Ron) got in there with the chain saw then dad (Len) tried the sledgehammer but it just bounced off

: so the ladies got in there and finished it off

A FEW TEST HOLES

We have been working with an engineer to figure out what is needed to raise the support beam in the basement to flush. In order to complete this task we will need some new footings for new columns to support a much bigger beam. Dad and I rented a jackhammer to break up some test holes in the floor slab so we could get an idea of the soil underneath. Hopefully we will be able to get a soil test done to make sure we don’t need any extra reinforcement for this new beam.

: The trusty steed

: making holes

: what we found…mud and water…hmmm

THE REST OF OUR FUN

We did a few other small things around the place this week too. Mom removed the grate covering the drain in the patio to clean it out. We tested out some landscape lights. And of course finished unpacking our office and putting up a little paper shade for privacy until the new windows and blinds are ordered.