Victorian House Renovation in Bloomingdale, DC
Ah, if only stripping away part I was the one and only part. But no, in addition to the bathtub, there are also countless (or 21) tin ceiling panels and salvaged real wood doors – the ones we currently have are hollow core uglies.
This pretty much sums up how I feel about this stripping project:
But at least we are nearing the end of suffering. Here’s what we have got so far:
Just a few more to go.… Read the rest
Hope everyone had a nice fourth – ours was great, we actually had about 15 people over to grill and watch fireworks. Our roof view is privy to a pretty spectacular amateur show in addition to the national display on the Harbor and the Mall.
Pictures by Sergey from 4 July 2011, please stand by for this year’s link.
Anyway, progress has been slow and steady on the construction front; Sergey is actually very pleased with the quality of the work.… Read the rest
We are in a serious stripping phase – out with the old paint, in with the new paint. In between – a whole lotta effort with every stripping paint method known to man (well, almost).
First up we have the old/new bathtub, which had to make it upstairs before it could begin its rejuvenation process (thanks neighbors!):
I was worried for a bit that it wasn’t cast iron because it only took three men to get it up the stairs.… Read the rest
Ah its good to be home. Sergey and I took an unexpected trip to Russia, a second home for us both. No serious reasons, thankfully, just an unexpected and opportune alignment of circumstances.
In my hometown of Petrozavodsk (yes it was cold).
Meanwhile progress has been chugging along here. Thank you to Kirill for keeping a watch here and sending us pictures. Here’s a recap of what happened over the last four days of construction.… Read the rest
Well here we are, another day, a few more signs of progress:
no that toilet there is not hooked up. its just there, along with a sink, to determine the final placement for the door (currently leaning against the frame).
I know its looking a little tight. But! the sink will be higher up. and consider these powder baths:
Source: savoringsimplicity, centsational girl;
And we also got some additional framing around our french doors
and finally, an obligatory tools shot, just for fun:
We are slowly getting there – looks like we have the outlines of the first floor half-bath taking shape. Here’s what greeted us at home:
A slow but steady progress on the week. We again asked our contractors to take pics, so here are so in process shots (sort-of)
the question mark is for the fact that I didn’t see much when I came home. Here’s what the kitchen opening looks like as of today:
not hugely different from yesterday:
whoever gets the most differences – wins!
anyway, we have got nothing to hurry for I suppose. One day here / one day there, at this point we will get there when we get there.
in the meantime, I might as well post about choosing colors shades of white for the kitchen.… Read the rest
Phase II is full steam ahead – no more wall!
Ok so when I came home I was actually kind of scared to use that part of the house, fearing an immediate collapse of some sort. But we are all good, my fears can sometimes be irrational. I did know that that wall was not load bearing – but still, I waited until Sergey got home to confirm that it was ok.… Read the rest
I think we have reached the point where demolition, renovation, and in general the house — isn’t so much fun anymore, and in fact, we would like nothing better but stop breaking things and stop camping out and get on with fine living. Oh and blogging about this is also getting tedious. But show must go on. whine or not.and blogging will too, so i can remind myself in the future what it takes to do house.… Read the rest
With our expanding plans, we are spending saving more money..on the demolition! Yep, it was time for the upstairs bathroom to come out. Our friend Kirill, who has been a superstar helper and hanger outer, came to lend a hand.
On Friday I cleaned out our bathroom, which actually give our tight space constraints already was a task in and of itself. Here are some before shots:
On Saturday, I took the first swing at the pinkbeige tile.… Read the rest
