Seeing the House through the Walls

You know the old saying, "You can't see the forest through the trees"!  Maybe the title doesn't have quite the same ring, but you get the idea.  You spend so much time during a renovation staring at the walls (literally!), that it's very easy to lose track of how the house looks...  Writing the last post made me realize this.  Before, I had at most two weeks of pictures to go through to show what's changed, and when you're there every day, two weeks out of an (ultimately) 9 month project isn't much time, so there never seems to be substantial changes.  However, the last post had such a large gap that I had two months worth of pictures to go through, and suddenly it was plainly clear that progress was actually being made.

Now there's still dozens of little things to be done, and this still drives me nuts, but going through those hundreds of pictures (it should not surprise you that I take a lot of pictures of this house at every stage!) at least gave things a little perspective.  I'm not quite yet willing to say we're almost done, because there's too many open things, but it's getting closer!

Now is the part where I get clever, because that title has two meanings!  ;-)  Because since the end of the last post (actually, this happened before the last post, but it took me too long to get that one together), the walls have actually been painted, and thanks to the walls, it suddenly looks like a house!  The first time I saw a sudden step change was the day the walls came down, the next time was the day the walls went back up, and now the third is the day the walls have been painted.  So it seems that progress is all about the walls!  So here's the latest* crop of pictures!

The living room in the front of the house, complete with new floors and fireplace

The fireplace and mantel came out very well in the end!  The bricks match the existing ones in the exposed brick wall, and you might just think that the fireplace was original!

The back half of the living room with a view into the kitchen.  The whole first floor feels much more open with the divider between the two halves of the front room and the wall between front room and the kitchen removed!

The kitchen with everything in place at last! 

The new back doors in the kitchen came out really well, and actually let more light in

An outside view of the new back doors in the kitchen and the master bedroom upstairs 

Looking down the stairs towards the front door

The landing upstairs with a view into the front two bedrooms and the new linen closet

While the first floor and landing on the second floor had a pale yellow paint on the walls, to give them some subtle color to complement the warm red/orange of the brick wall, the bedrooms upstairs have a little bit bolder colors.  The front bedroom is tannish/peachish color that makes it feel like it is in direct sunlight, even though it's not

The middle bedroom shape turned out very nicely in the end, and will be a perfect office.  It was initially meant to be a red color, but it turns out when you try to pick a lighter, brighter shade of red, you get neon pink.  So it settle with more of a light orange.

The clawfit tub looks really good after being refinished, and fits in the guest bathroom nicely

The vanity, counter, sink, and mirror in the master all came out very well, all that's left is to tile the wall around the mirror

The shower is also still missing the glass, but everything else is done

Looking down the hallway towards the stairs from inside the master bedroom, the brick wall and the floors match each other really well

The master bedrooms is nice and bright with the new doors and a brighter, warmer yellow color

* As usual, the amount of time to pick the pictures and get the post up means there's newer things, but they were the latest when I started this post!

An actual progress update...

So, now that you know why I've been so busy and haven't written anything in so long, I figure I should actually provide a progress update.  It's amazing how when you don't post an update in 2 months, you have too many pictures to sort through to find the good ones, and it took me a while, but here's a bunch of new ones!  And trust me, there's a lot!

The kitchen finally wrapped up in mid March with the installation of the counters, but the cabinet doors still weren't in.  The new cabinet doors finally came in, and about 75% of them were warped and didn't fit properly, so Lowes/Kraftmaid had re-re-order a bunch of the doors, and it took another three weeks for them to show up.  They were better (not perfect, 2 or 3 still aren't quite right, but they're close enough that I don't think it will be a huge issue).  The counter tops went it and the backsplash went up, and so the kitchen is now substantially complete!  They're currently just finished up the trim, and have the pendant lights over the peninsula to hang yet, and they have not yet installed the new french doors in the back of the kitchen, but it's almost there.  Also, those doors are a long story in and of themselves, but suffice it to say that after a 6 week wait for backordered parts, everything is in and ready to be installed.

Lots of boxes of new doors!

The final doors, after the warped ones were re-replaced

The sink and countertops came out really well

The backsplash worked out amazingly, goes with the counters and cabinets

The whole left side of the kitchen, nearly complete.  Just a few finishing touches left, such as faceplates, hanging light fixtures, etc.

The double oven in place.  The boxes sitting on top are the pieces for the back doors, which are yet to be replaced.

The front room is just about as done.  Since my last post, all the floors were torn up, the ceiling was opened up, new electrical circuits were run, the new floors were put down, and complete brick fireplace was built and a set of gas logs installed (the fireplace came out amazingly well, and it really looks like it's original to the house!).  Now they've just finished closing it in, and all it needs is to be painted.

As Murphy's Law would have it, when they tore out the sheetrock in the front room, there was no tar at all on the brick wall!

The electrical panel was moved from in front of the chimney, because this is where the fireplace would go

The new home of the electrical panel in the basement

The front room with the old framing around the chimney completely removed.  The newly exposed brick would be covered up again, which is a shame, becuase it was in much better shape than the other wall

The framing for the new fireplace

The ceilings torn open to re-run the wires, redo the lighting, and run new AC ductwork

While the ceilings were open, I had the electrician run conduits throughout the house for low voltage wiring. Rather than run phone and cable wires, both of which I likely will have no use for, I can now run water wires I need to, and even rerun new wires later as technology advances

The conduits to the back of the house running towards the kitchen.  This will give wires to both the kitchen and the master bedroom.

Once the framing for the fireplace was closed in, the brickwork started.  Luckily, my contractor found more bricks that matched the ones in the now exposed brick wall!

The brickwork progressing towards completion

All the new planks for the wood floors piled in a corner.  The new floors are red oak finished with a cherry stain, so that the shade will go nicely with the brick wall.

The completed brickwork on the fireplace and the new floors laid around it.  The empty area in front of the brick is for the hearth, which will be slate and sit flush with the wood floors.

The stain on the floors works well with the dark reds and oranges of the brick wall

The stairs and railing were also refinished to match the stain of the floors, as will the mantle on the fireplace, eventually

The completely framed and bricked fireplace.  The brick design above the fireplace is meant to look as much like it is original to the house as possible, hence the detail over the opening and the top courses of brick stick out so as to support the mantle, which will also be oak and stained to match the floors.

The hearth under and in front of the fireplace is black slate

The fireplace complete with the installed firebox that will hold the gas logs

The ceiling after close in, with the new lighting arangement, which more evenly distributes the recessed lights throughout the room.  Previously, with the partial partition between the living room and dining room, there was essentially two rooms, and the lights were not even between the two, leaving one darker than the other.  This would look really weird now that it's one big room, so the lights are now more even across the entire room.

More contractor artwork!

I replaced a bunch of the old doors that weren't in great shape, saving only the nice glass-paned ones 

The trim laying on the floor, waiting to be installed around the base of the walls.

Upstairs is in roughly the same shape.  All of the walls, except for a single wall separating the front spare bedroom from the rest of the house, were completely removed and all of the floor boards torn up.  It made the house look amazingly huge, with no walls!  They then put down a modern subfloor, framed out the new walls and reran all of the plumbing and electrical (basically replaced all of the aged iron pipes and cloth wrapped electrical wires).  During this process, they actually found more gas pipes from the original gas lighting system the house had when it was built, which is very cool!  Now the walls are all closed in and the new floors down.  Again, the rear doors in the master bedroom have not yet been installed, but aside from that, all that's left is trim and paint.

The second floor with no walls and no floor!

From the first floor, with the ceiling removed and the second story floor removed, you could see straight through to the ceiling, and even at times, the inside of the roof!

The front bedroom initially had two closets, but the middle bedroom's closet was repurposed as a linen closet off the hallway, so the middle closet from the front bedroom was reversed to have its door in the middle bedroom.

Looking back through where the two bathrooms will be to the master bedroom

Looking into the middle bedroom.  The space to the left of the window will be part of the guest bathroom.

The AC system left standing after the walls were taken down.  It had to be removed to make room for the guest bathroom, and was placed on the roof instead.

A bunch of old ductwork sitting out front to be hauled away 

In order to hoist the new AC unit onto the room, we had to call in a crane

The new AC unit sitting on the roof

The ductwork in a new mechanical space behind the closet now repurposed as a linen closet.  The need for this space was the main driver in making that a linen closet.

Now that the walls were down, they had to know how to put them back up!

The first frames of the walls starting to come together, looking from the master bedroom through the master and then guest bathrooms

The walls of the guest bathroom with the middle bedroom visible through it

Standing in the door to the front bedroom looking towards the back of the house.  The door to the linen cloest is visible on the right side, followed by the door to the middle bedroom behind it.  On the left side, the edge of the stairs is just barely visible.  Looking towards the doors at the back of the house looks through the guest, then master, bathroom.

Standing at the top of the stairs looking at the door to the middle bedroom (left), linen closet (center), and door to the front bedroom (right) 

The framing for the closets between the front and middle bedrooms.  All the bedroom closets have additional space above the main closet that in most houses, is lost because you can't really reach higher than the top of the door.  The upper closet will have its own door.  This closet in the middle bedroom will be the termination point for all the wire conduits, as the middle bedroom will be the office, so this is the most reasonable place for the computer hardware closet!

Standing at the top of the stairs looking down the hallway into the master bedroom at the back of the house.  The door on the right goes into the guest bathroom, and the next door on the right goes into the master.  Note that the wall between the two bathrooms is not up yet in this image.

Standing at the back of the master bedroom looking towards the front of the house.  The master bedroom closet, which is front and center in the image, also has a matching upper closet.  The master bath is visible through the closet walls.

Standing in the master bathroom looking through where the dividing wall will be into the guest bathroom, and then the middle bedroom on the left.  The iron pipes in the foreground will be removed and replaced with modern piping.

Standing in the doorway to the middle bedroom, the new shape of that bedroom is visible.  It is smaller, but not too tiny, and will make a perfect office/study.  As far as resale goes, it's pretty common for DC rowhouses to have a small middle bedroom, which can often be a nursery or small child's bedroom just fine.

Standing at the entrance to the front bedroom, leaning over the opening for the stairs (the railing is removed here, but will be replaced, don't worry!), looking towards the back of the house and down the hallway to the master bedroom.  All of the walls, except the one dividing the bathrooms, are in place. 

Finally, the wall between the bathrooms (left), takes shape.  This picutre is looking at the master shower, so that pipe in the middle is the drain.  The valve for the shower control is in already on the right wall, and the other piping in the wall is visible to carry water to the shower in the master and to the sink in the guest.  The hole in the wall is the recess for the shower niche in the master shower.

Once all the walls were up, the new floor boards were laid, here looking towards the master bedroom in the back

The new floors in the master bedroom, not yet finished.  Additionally, the piping in the bathrooms has been installed, as visible through the closet walls.

The middle bedroom, complete with walls and new floors.

The floors in the master bedroom, now with the first coat of finish.  As with downstairs, they match the brick wall very well.

Another angle of the master bedroom.  The hallways and steps are visible on the right edge of the pictures. 

The middle bedroom with new floors

Now that the walls were up and floors were down, it was time to reinstall the doors!  The bedroom doors were all saved from before, because I like the glass paned doors.  Also, the closet doors, which are all new, are visible on the left.  The upper door is cut out of the image, but matches the lower door.

Bifold closet doors in the master bedroom, with matching upper doors.  The upper doors are actually fullsize doors that were cut down, because it was easier than buying custom doors.

The bathroom doors are both pocket doors to save space, which avoids the need to have space for the door to swing open.

Finally, it was time to close in all the walls, and make the place look almost like a real house

The closet in the front bedroom, after the walls were all closed in

Adding the trim along the base of the brick wall

Standing at the top of the stairs, again looking at the front two bedrooms and linen closet door.  The AC return vent is now above the linen closet, and the wire sticking out of the wall is for the thermostat.

Looking the other way, down the hallway to the master bedroom

The new nook in the middle bedroom by the window, which will probably make for an excellent reading nook!

The master bedroom after being closed in.  All that remains is to replace the rear doors, then add the finishing touches (paint, trim, lighting, etc.)

The radiator for the middle bedroom sits in the middle of the room ready to be put back in place.  Behind it is the closet, which will hold the central junction box for all the wire conduits.

The left wall of the closet will be designed specifically for hanging equipment, such as a wireless router or audio/video distribution box

All of the conduits terminate along the base of that wall

Rather than sheetrock that wall, it's paneled with wood, to make it easier to nail any necessary boxes and cable routing restraints

In addition, the enlarged master bath and new guest bath have taken shape.  The bathrooms are tiled, the master vanity is in, and all that's left is to wait for the granite company to cut the bathroom vanity, then they can install the bathroom fixtures and shower glass.  

The guest bathroom, with the toilet drain installed.  This drain is actually in the wrong place, so they had to move it later.

The bathrooms were closed in with more water resistant wall paneling

The guest bathroom all closed in

After close-in, they started the tiling.  The brown stripe is the detail tiles around the top of the hours, it's just that the backing paper hasn't been removed yet.

The finished tile in the guest bathroom shower

The clawfoot tub will be installed in the guest bathroom.  Here the tub is shown before (left) and after (right) being refinished.  It looks like a completely different tub!

The tub in place, with the shower fixtures installed

The master bathroom, before any of the walls or plumbing was installed

The master bathroom, with walls and starting plumbing

Looking through the opening for the master bathroom's pocket door

Recessed lighting in the ceiling of the master bathroom

The new plumbing the wall between the bathrooms, which replaces the old iron pipes

The wall where the sink and vanity will be

The pocket door for the master bathroom

The shower being closed in

The fully closed in shower, with the shower niche still open

The exterior wall insulated and closed in.  The drain in the floor is for the toilet.

All the tile for the master bathroom sitting on the floor in the master bedroom 

The vanity in the master bathroom is from a remnant slab at the same granite warehouse the kitchen counter came from.  It's actually engineered quartz instead of granite, and the shelves for the shower will be cut from the same stone.

A pile of piping from the master bathroom!

The shower floor is 2x2 tiles, while the rest of the floor are 12x24 tiles from the same series, but white instead of grey.  The shower walls will be the same 12x24's, but in the same color as the floor.

The shower walls tiled.  The detail stripes use the same 2x2 tiles as the floor, with blue accents. 

The vanity installed in the master bath.  There was an issue that the original vanity didin't fit, because the plans had the incorrect dimensions for the width of the house, so the bathroom ended up 4" narrower.  Thankfully, I was able to return the wrong cabinets and get new ones of the right size.

So things have finally started to come together.  There does, in fact, seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel.  And hopefully, my next house update will be able to definitely say that we will actually be able to move into the house!  Then we can get all of our stuff out of storage, unpack, and finally have at least a weekend or two of peace and quiet with nothing to do!  (Only 1 or 2, because neither Betsy nor I are people that can sit around and do nothing, so we'll definitely end up finding new projects to fill that time... ;-)  )