ready, set, go

So, this happened today...

One side of the gate fell off it's hinges. Actually, the hinge broke. So the gate is now just leaning up against the planter. I think the deck wants a makeover as much as I do now... it's falling apart all by itself now.

Deck reno

The last few weeks we've been dealing with trying to find someone to redo our back deck. We've had quotes, negotiated contracts, picked out what type of materials we wanted, applied for credit, and are currently waiting for engineering studies, drawings, permits, and the work to start. Here are just a few pics of the current deck...

I can't wait for the new one to be installed, but at this rate, I feel like it's going to be late into the summer before it's all done, and I get to enjoy it.

New stuff

My first official day of 2 weeks vacation, and what do I do? I sit around all day waiting for the garage door guys to come and install new motors. They were supposed to be here at 9:00am. They finally showed up just after 2:00pm. The end result -- two new motors, new sensors, new keypads, new remotes. And because I needed something to do while I waited for them to show up, I cleaned. I now have new garage door openers and the cleanest garage in town!

reno bug

The new owners on the left of our house are renovating before they move in. The new owners on the right of us are now renovating. New flooring, new kitchen cabinets, new appliances. Dumpsters come and go, and appliance delivery vans come up and down the hill. With all the activity, I now have the reno bug!! I would love new flooring, paint, windows, and a new kitchen. But alas... my chequebook does not agree with me. Although, we might try and do a few small projects this year.

Fireplace

The stone guys came today. Below is a picture of what I think we are going to go with, as far as our new fireplace. I do have some work to do... like arrange the flooring before we go a head with things... but for now, I'm just dreaming of my new fireplace that may or may not look like this...

fireplaces

We went to a fireplace store recently to check out getting our old fireplace replaced. This is the fireplace upstairs...

It all started when we wanted to get new flooring. I realized that the fireplace hearth was cemented over top of the carpet!?! So, we need to think about redoing the hearth, and therefore we might as well replace the fireplace insert too.
So far, we have the quote for the fireplace, and now we are just waiting for the stone guys to give us their information.
When we went to the store, we had our niece with us for the day. So her and I had fun checking out all the stones at the back lot of the store. Especially the ones that were called "Smarties" :-)

aaack

Oh no!
I was cleaning today, and I found a hairline crack in my new toilet bowl.
While I'm lucky that I found it when I did (before it got worse, cracked all the way through, and got water everywhere), I'm upset because I can't use my new toilet anymore. We shut the water off, and drained it, and now I have to wait until Monday to see if hubby can get a replacement from work.
I actually like this toilet (as much as someone can "like" a toilet). But it's an older model. So, I'm not sure if what I'll get for a replacement will be similar or not.

Finally!

And we are done!
All the pulling, and scraping, and measuring, and cutting, and sanding, and painting are done. And the ensuite renos are complete. Well... complete in that we don't have to do any more "work". I still need to pick up accessories and things to put in the bathroom. But, the majority of the work is now done.
Before and After....
Gone is the pink cultured marble seashell shaped sink...

Hello new countertop, sink and faucet. Also note the moulding around the mirror.

We kept the cabinet, just gave it a fresh coat of paint, and some new hardware. Meanwhile, the pine cabinet that was affixed to the wall on the right came down. I had thought about painting it, and putting it back up, but I decided it was too big and bulky for the bathroom, and will replace it was some smaller (maybe glass and chrome) shelving instead.

Then there is the toilet, and the flooring. Gone is the "God only knows what color that carpet was" carpeting, and the "large pink flush a million gallons each time" toilet. 

Now, we have a white toilet, and new vinyl flooring (the flooring which I laid all by myself!!), and new baseboards too.

We even painted the light fixtures (from brass and off white, to chrome), replaced the electrical outlet, and light switch, cleaned and re-caulked the window, painted the window frame, filled holes in the door frame and re-painted it, and painted the walls (the same color, but a fresh coat).
I'm so happy with the results!

On hold

Well, it turns out our ensuite renos are on hold for the time being. The sink doesn't fit. Now... it's not as bad as you think. We got the sink for free... it was one that Hubby had dragged home from the throw away pile at work. So, while it's a nice sink, it does have some flaws. Not that I would notice... the flaws are only noticeable to those with a trained eye. But, it's just a hair too big to fit into the ensuite. So, we have to wait for hubby to go back to work next week, and order a new sink. No big deal. We'll just have to wait to finish off the ensuite for a week or two.
In the meantime, we'll just fuss with the detail finishes, and do a bit of touch up painting. Other than that, I think I'll concentrate on the rest of the house this weekend.... you know, the usual stuff... laundry, cleaning, vacuuming, etc... the stuff I haven't done all week because I've been working on the ensuite.

Countertops and Floors, oh my!

Today, the renos continued. I worked on the floor, and he did the countertop. He had a really hard time with the countertop. We had to cut 3 pieces to fit together in an alcove type area where the walls are not straight. He fussed and farted around with it all day, but the end result is just wonderful.

Meanwhile, I got to do the flooring. We had started wanting just to do peel-and-stick tiles in the bathroom but we really couldn't find anything that looked nice. And it turns out, that it's not so inexpensive... Over $100 for a small room. At one point, we ended up looking at Tarkett FiberFloor at Home Depot. It's a vinyl floor, but soft and cushiony. And you don't have to glue it down. It's a floating floor, and comes in tile and hardwood styles. It sounded and looked great, until the salesguy at Home Depot told us it would take 5-6 weeks to order. At the end, we ended up at a flooring place, asked them what they had in stock, and they sold us a 12 by 3ft 7 in piece of left over stuff... for $40!!
To install it, I first cut out a template, and layed it out on the deck.

 Picked it up and put it in the bathroom...

 Cut out all the holes, and trimmed it up...

 And then we painted and installed the moldings...

It was all a little harder then it sounds. I ended up having to cut it once, and then doing a lot of trimming after. But the extra time I took measuring and making sure all the cuts were just right paid off. The end result looks great, and I even got the lines all straight!

It's too hot to paint!

30 degrees outside. 27 degrees in the house. And what am I doing? I'm painting the bathroom!! Today, we sanded, washed walls, painted walls, painted the cabinet, and put the new hardware on.

 I think the fresh paint, and shiny new hardward gives the cabinet a new lease on life.

We had contemplated replacing the cabinet, but the room is so small, and trying to find just the right cabinet to fit was difficult. Not to mention how darn expensive cabinets are!! I never realized!

Gone!

The sink is out! The pink cultured marble sink is gone! It didn't go easy though. It was glued down so much, that hubby had to smash it into a million pieces to get it out. At least that's what he told me. I think he just wanted to smash something! :-)

Also gone is the toilet! And the carpet. Wow! That was tough too! Carpet and the blue underlay...

And then 2 (not one but two!) layers of the most hideous yellow and gold colored linoleum you ever saw. We spent hours pulling it out, and scraping, and scraping.

 

Today, we also took another trip to Lowes (this is our third trip since last Friday). This time it was to get paint, baseboards, and a few other supplies.

The before pics

We started on the bathroom renos already, but here are a few before pics of the ensuite... Note the pink marble countertop and seashell shaped sink! I can't wait for this to go!

 And the pink toilet!! Note the carpet too... carpet in a bathroom *ugh*!!

 It's a small room, only 8 feet by 3 feet.

But, in order to rip out the carpet, you have to take out the toilet, and if you are going to take out the toilet, you might as well replace the sink. And countertop. And paint. It's a total domino effect.