Normandy Park Restoration

Came up with an idea over the holidays to take the back wall windows all the way down to the floor.  No question this would require additional cleaning, but it could really make the look of the house much nicer.  I did a rough mockup (ignore the trash in the back yard, that's in the works).  Here is what it looks like now. And here is what it might look like with the new windows (based on my crappy photoshop skills) As part of this, I would also cut the concrete in the patio and create a planted area between the windows and the patio, similar to this type: The raw glass costs about $600 per pane, and there are 12 panes if I do all of the back windows.  Not cheap, but potentially a really nice look. I won't be able to start on this right away, but I may go ahead and rent a concrete saw and cut the planter section.  Eventually I'll replace all of the rear patio concrete with concrete pads, but for now I can start with cutting the planting area.  On...

More work done on the kitchen.  Got the doors on the laundry wall cabinets installed.  Replaced the black test countertop with another cheapo white one.  Added a carousel to one of the corner cabinets, and put the drywall up on the framing walls on front and back.  Still lots to do.

Kitchen is actually starting to look like a kitchen. Countertops are temporary.  Won't really know what kind I want until after I put the cabinet faces on and paint the ceiling beams.  I'm probably just going to go with the all-white cheap Ikea cabinet faces for now.  I think later I'll want to have custom faces made by Semihandmade, but just don't want to fuss with it for now. Had the code inspector come out today and my wiring passed, but the gas line I had a contractor do did not, so I've got them coming back out tomorrow to fix it. Unfortunately there were 2 issues.  When I unwrapped the dishwasher it had a big dent on the back.  When I also took the film off the sink, sure enough there was a ding front and center.  Got the sink off Amazon, so I already have the return setup there.  For the dishwasher it's AJ Madison, so we'll see how that goes.

Great dollar-ninja deal, found a Wolf gas cooktop.  Not fully connected yet, will be soon.

Time for a shower, won't be using the kitchen for a little while If you look closely you can see little sticks stuck to the kitchen floor.  These mark the level point for the base of the cabinets.  I've started the cabinet base framing, and directing the vents.  There's a pretty significant drop of 1/2" from the edge of the wall to the end of the islands, so I'll be doing a fair amount of work to get those level, but it shouldn't be too hard.

Decided to go ahead and take care of raising the wall separations on the back wall in the kitchen.  Here is the start, at this point all I've done is remove the glass. One center section cut out. Here I've installed the new cross beams  And here I've put some temporary drywall in the lower sections to keep the elements out I also put some drywall in the upper sections, to use as templates when ordering the replacement glass, which I'll do this week.

Talked to the permitting office and they want all kinds of permits and evaluations in order to do the parking pad and retaining walls in front of the house.  So, as the first part I did a very sloppy mockup of the plan. Crushed rock parking pad with 4 tiered walls made out of grey basalt boulders in 1/2 man to 1 man size.  Based on my initial measurements I actually managed an even 6' of flat earth between the walls, with 10' of parking pad.  The ground between the walls will be level, the mockup shows some green between them just to show where the flat setback is.

Also got the workshop cleaned up, removed lots of trash, and installed some pegboard on the walls. Still more organization work to do, but I've been wanting to make that old workbench more usable to a while.

Got the window trim installed on the new windows. Not painted yet, but fully sealed and installed.  Both this side and 2 windows on the back of the house.

The rain chain on the front drain on the house was pretty much a failure.  Got ugly fast, and splattered water everywhere, so I finally got around to replacing it. Still lots of work to do in front, but needed this done before the rain starts.

Old crappy windows I'd removed the trim and put tape on in case they broke when removed.  I never did get around to doing that 2nd coat of paint under the eaves, and these pictures really show that.  One more thing on the todo list. New spiffy windows I'll need to hurry up and trim the outside before it gets cold out, then I'll get around to doing the interior trim.

Had to re-cut the stairs taking 1/8" incrementally off each step.  All but the landing are done.  The treads are still 2x8's.  I will replace them with 3/4" subfloor which will be topped with whatever tread material I end up using. I also built some temporary scaffolding out of the scrap wood I've already put some of the drywall up in the above picture, and finished it below. Just one piece at the top, and one at the bottom right to do, but don't need the scaffolding for that.  I took the scaffolding apart and stored it in the bike room, as I'll have to put it back up with I do the float and tape work.

All code approved and framed up. There's no point in doing the trim or painting the bookshelf until I get the drywall floated and taped, and I don't plan to do that till after I do the work upstairs.  Won't look like much till then, but it's fully functional. I'll probably get a twin size futon mattress that's about 4" thick and cut it down to fit as a seating pad. Now I'll finish re-cutting the stairs, and when that is done I'll cover that part of the stairs next to the support wall.

Finished the primary framing.  Will finish the interior drywall and electrical tomorrow. The shell is made from 3/4" subfloor, and I'm putting drywall over it.  Probably overkill, but should make for a very solid, durable frame.  Most of the interior will be white drywall, but I have some left over hardwood flooring sample that has a really pretty pattern when stained and coated, I have a sample in place in the top image.  Won't be able to do the exterior drywall until I get the electrical and structural inspection done.

Got the drywall pulled off, and had the code inspector come out and review my plans.  Here is the existing framing. Still full of all the junk.  Below I've gotten the main framing done. Had to put some joist hangers on the floor joists per the code inspectors requirements.  Decided to go ahead and overbuild it and added a 2x10 support header over the opening to provide extra support for that span.  Next I need to plan out the wiring and build some of the bookshelves.  I'll have to put drywall under the stairs for code fire barrier, but I'll put a fascia over it, as I don't want the look of drywall in there.

Busy starting on re-cutting the stairs and came up with an idea for the basement.  Right now the area under the stairs is used for storage.  I have a door for entry.  However, I think I will do something like this. I did some checking and I should be able to make a space at least 4-5' wide, and build some shelving into it.  Seems a better use for the space. The sample above is a bit craftsman for my place, but I should be able to put a more modern spin on it.

All done with the exterior of the egress window.  I reused some of the rock I had in the front yard at the top.  I'm tentatively planning to use some 1/2 man gray/black rock for my landscaping.  When I get that rock I might redo the rock rim with those. I will also need to haul off the dirt I dug up, but will wait till I start on the landscaping to do that, as I'm not sure where I'll need that dirt.  When I get around to it I'll also do some white trim around the window, but I'll do that when I'm doing the rest of the exterior trim on the other windows.

Did more work on the egress window, but not worth showing.  I did manage to do some serious trimming on the shared hedge between my neighbor and I.  It had become so large an unmanageable that it was time to cut it back.  Didn't have a very good picture of it before, except for this shot I took of the car. Here it is now.  It's almost 6' shorter in some areas. You can actually see the house over the hedge now, where before you couldn't.  Right now it's thin and ugly, as we (my neighbor helped) cut so much out it exposed a lot of thin areas, but it will grow back in.  Plus, having it this short makes it much easier to maintain, as previously, even on a ladder you couldn't reach to trim the top.  Now you can reach everything with a hedge trimmer.

Finally found someone willing to take down the big Birch tree that was overhanging the power lines.  Been wanting to get rid of it for a while, but it wasn't at the top of the priority list.  But it makes such a big mess when it drops little branches all over in the Fall that I didn't want it around for another Fall.  Here is the before. And the after Now that it's gone I might do some landscaping before fall if I have time.

Ran across this kitchen and really like it.  Might plan on doing a similar color scheme.

Decided to break down and go ahead and get the kitchen cabinet shells.  Goal here is to verify fit and functionality.  I got a couple of drawers with simple white faces as well, so I could get used to how they fit and usability.  Cabinets are all Ikea Sektion.  I looked at other alternatives, but nothing gave me the flexibility I wanted except these. For now they are just set in place.  Discovered a few minor fit issues, but nothing huge.  Will also be able to fully evaluate usability as well.  Haven't decided on the flooring yet, or even it it will go below the cabinets.  I'm thinking not for now, but we'll see.  I did discover that the water line for the external hose is exposed now, so I'll have to figure out what to do there. This will allow me to work out the wiring and plumbing before committing a lot of $$$. However, they seem to fit well, so I'm thinking this will be the final layout of the low cabinets.

Playing with the toy I've deferred for a while.

Got the far side of the patio cleaned up.  That section uses some pavers rather than concrete, and they are poorly placed, but at least it's clean now.  I also pulled out a large bush that, while pretty, was overgrowing the stairs way too much.

Today is trash day, so I was able to get rid of the yard waste bags and clean up a little.  Obviously I still need to clean up a lot more, but at least it looks more usable now.

Also picked up a new bed frame this weekend.  Wasn't really happy with the old one.  The under-storage never worked out well.  Found a bed frame and tall chest for $200.  Much better setup.  There was a mirror in the headboard, but I never put it in.  I might see if I can get some artwork in there. Wired it up with LED lights, and fit an air tunes receiver and amp in there so I have wireless audio plugged into the whole house server.  Haven't finished the drywall under the window, once that's done the last piece of window trim will go in.

Ran out of crushed rock, which I figured I would, but the stump hole is done.  Here it is leveled, with a weed barrier installed. And with the rock in I sprayed it with the hose to keep the dust down and let it settle a little.  Here is a shot from the inside. Not sure if I'll fill it with more crushed rock, or go with some river rock, but I'll probably leave it alone for a while so I can concentrate on other stuff.