Our house remodel...Othershoe, how is your New Orleans project going?

We are in the middle of our home remodel.  We had a new roof put on.  Now we're having work done on the inside. We had a wall knocked down in house, between the living room and den. Along with knocking the wall out, we also are having two sets of french doors and one large sliding glass door removed from the house, entirely.   And we're having all the windows replaced.  Meanwhile, the kitchen guy came and did the final measurements for new cabinets.  We went with the Chinese owned company for the kitchen.  Very interesting family.  The young man who owns the company came to the USA when he was 8.  I'd say he's late 20s/early 30s now.  His dad was at the Tiananmen Square incident and moved the family to this country sometime after that.  Dad went into the restaurant business here in the US.  Son is now making kitchen cabinets.  I like the young man.  He is an example of the American dream, but he wasn't born in this country.  

Now waiting for sheet rock to be put in tomorrow. Taking out that wall just opened the house up and really changed the look of the house.  I'm now looking at paint colors for the new room, for the dining room, and for the kitchen.   We got some paint samples yesterday at Home Depot.  Thinking of a gray color for the kitchen, but it has to be the right gray...I don't want a battleship gray.   We tested the sample we got yesterday on the kitchen wall and I am not sure it's what I want.  I dislike the process of choosing colors but I love it when I find just the color/look I'm looking for.

Here's the living room/den with the knocked out wall.




Cats are NOT happy though!

You are going to love the open space.

I already love it, even with the unfinished walls and sheet rock lying in the middle of the floor. Taking out that wall makes it a totally different house.

What are replacing the french and sliding door with? Did you decide on flooring.

What happens to all those wires hanging down? Is that the wall you're going to paint?

Construction looks awful....

We actually have two sets of french doors. Our house was built with a U-shaped patio at the back of the house. One set of french doors is in the Master bedroom and they open to the patio. The other set of french doors are in the mother in law bedroom, on the other side of the house, opposite the Master bedroom. That room had french doors that also opened to the patio, until we added on a sun room about 12 years ago. The sun room comes off the kitchen and is attached to MIL bedroom wall that has the french doors. So now those french doors in that bedroom open into the sun room. I think the idea when the house was built was to make a floor plan that would compliment a pool being put in the back yard. Both the Master bd and the MIL bd room would have had doors that directly opened up to the patio and pool. Back when this house was built, a lot of people were putting in pools. Half the houses in the neighborhood have pools. Our house does not have a pool. And I never really liked having outside doors off those bedrooms. The sliding glass door is the den and opens into to the U-shaped patio. We have never used it, especially since we put in the sun room. Access to the back yard/patio/grill area is now from the sun room.

So...we had code issues come up when taking out the french doors (code says windows/outside access must be a certain width/height). And our 4 foot windows in both those bedrooms do not meet safety code. But our contractor came up with a solution...the window replacements for the windows in those two bedrooms will be sliding windows. They will meet current safety code. In the Master bedroom, a transom window will be put where the french doors were. Just for additional natural light. In the MIL bedroom, the wall that had the french doors will be closed in completely. The opposite outside wall in that room has a window which will be replaced with a sliding window, to meet current code. The sliding glass door in the den will be replaced with two large windows.

The living areas all have tile flooring. The bedrooms have old carpeting. Flooring for bedrooms, I think, will be wood floors..we plan to do that ourselves.....but not for awhile. We'll take a little break after the windows/ living room/kitchen/dining rooms are finished.

Joani, great pictures of your remodel. It's amazing what taking out a wall can do!

Dreamsglore wrote:What happens to all those wires hanging down? Is that the wall you're going to paint?

Good question...the electrician was out last week (after the photo was taken) and took care of those wires. We're replacing the lighting in both the den and the living room (now one large room) with two matching ceiling fans. The electrician will be back to finish that up. The contractor will fix the ceiling where the wall was at and patch the holes where the old ceiling lighting was at. We have what is called a crow's foot ceiling pattern. It's better than a popcorn ceiling, but you have to have a special brush to make the design. He says it's difficult to make it match exactly, but he can make it closely match. I told him that's fine...as long as it's not obvious. We may have to end up painting the entire ceiling. But most people won't be staring up at the ceiling, I don't think. The wall that's unfinished will have sheet rock put up this next week. I'll then paint the entire room the same color. The blue will be painted over. I told the contractor that I will paint the walls, I just need him to get the walls finished and ready to paint. Hubby will put a strip of tile down on the floor where the wall was at...something to compliment the existing tile.

It is scary at first....until it all starts coming together.

Nekochan wrote:

Dreamsglore wrote:What happens to all those wires hanging down? Is that the wall you're going to paint?

Good question...the electrician was out last week (after the photo was taken) and took care of those wires.   We're replacing the lighting in both the den and the living room (now one large room) with two matching ceiling fans. The electrician will be back to finish that up.  The contractor will fix the ceiling where the wall was at and patch the holes where the old ceiling lighting was at.  We have what is called a crow's foot ceiling pattern.  It's better than a popcorn ceiling, but you have to have a special brush to make the design. He says it's difficult to make it match exactly, but he can make it closely match.  I told him that's fine...as long as it's not obvious.  We may have to end up painting the entire ceiling.  But most people won't be staring up at the ceiling, I don't think.     The wall that's unfinished will have sheet rock put up this next week.  I'll then paint the entire room the same color.  The blue will be painted over.   I told the contractor that I will paint the walls, I just need him to get the walls finished and ready to paint.   Hubby will put a strip of tile down on the floor where the wall was at...something to compliment the existing tile.  

Recessed lighting with dimmers....put them in...it makes a world of difference.

I still have not unpacked our boxes from the move. I did unpack a few dishes and pots, but that's it. We're kind of still camping out in the house. But there is no point in unpacking everything when we're doing a major house remodel.

Yes, it's scary. Until the wall actually came down, I wasn't so sure what it would look like. But it's actually better than I thought it would be even though everything is still a mess.

My mind just becomes mush when I try to make a lot of decisions at once...choosing kitchen cabinets, choosing a color for them, choosing a counter top (we decided on quartz), choosing hardware, choosing a sink, choosing a faucet, buying new appliances, deciding on lighting, deciding on paint colors, choosing tile for the living room floor (we haven't even gotten to the kitchen back splash..we'll have to choose tile for that). So I told my husband that when we go to Home Depot or Lowe's (we've taken many trips to both!), I want to focus on just one or two things during a trip. Otherwise, it's overload for my brain. lol. So yesterday, we just got paint samples and looked at tile for the living room floor. I didn't want to look at anything else in there.

Joanimaroni wrote:

Nekochan wrote:

Dreamsglore wrote:What happens to all those wires hanging down? Is that the wall you're going to paint?

Good question...the electrician was out last week (after the photo was taken) and took care of those wires.   We're replacing the lighting in both the den and the living room (now one large room) with two matching ceiling fans. The electrician will be back to finish that up.  The contractor will fix the ceiling where the wall was at and patch the holes where the old ceiling lighting was at.  We have what is called a crow's foot ceiling pattern.  It's better than a popcorn ceiling, but you have to have a special brush to make the design. He says it's difficult to make it match exactly, but he can make it closely match.  I told him that's fine...as long as it's not obvious.  We may have to end up painting the entire ceiling.  But most people won't be staring up at the ceiling, I don't think.     The wall that's unfinished will have sheet rock put up this next week.  I'll then paint the entire room the same color.  The blue will be painted over.   I told the contractor that I will paint the walls, I just need him to get the walls finished and ready to paint.   Hubby will put a strip of tile down on the floor where the wall was at...something to compliment the existing tile.  

Recessed lighting with dimmers....put them in...it makes a world of difference.

We talked about that with the contractor..for the area in front of the fireplace, especially. For now, we're just putting in the two ceiling fans. We'll see how that looks when it's done. I've also thought of recessed lighting for the kitchen.

We are putting a new roof on and putting in a new sliding glass door to the deck. Our daughter had a sliding glass door with the blinds in the door, and we liked her door and are going to try it.

The house once belonged to a manager of a major league team. He lived quite modestly after retiring from baseball, and the roof had layers of roofing which need to be stripped and new plywood. In the early 60s they moved the house to the current block foundation, and the kitchen floor is not level, but otherwise it is a great little house which once the roof is put on we really do not have to do a whole lot. We got the shingles, decking material, and the sliding glass door for less than 4k, and will pay a guy 3.5k to strip the roof, repair the decking boards, shingle, and install the sliding glass door. I used to do the roofs, and the doors, but just do not have the strength to be lifting bundles around on the roof. It is a nice change to watch somebody else do the work.

Good choices seagoat. I roofed my cabin... it sure was easier when I was younger. And I don't think my back could muscle around a sliding glass door anymore. I'd like to say I'm smarter now... but I may just be weaker and slower... and I'm not happy about it.

Roofs in Florida are crazy expensive now.

PkrBum wrote:Good choices seagoat. I roofed my cabin... it sure was easier when I was younger. And I don't think my back could muscle around a sliding glass door anymore. I'd like to say I'm smarter now... but I may just be weaker and slower... and I'm not happy about it.

My husband did roofing for a couple of summers many, many years ago. But there is no way his 50-something year old body was going to be putting a new roof on our house today.

Nekochan wrote:

PkrBum wrote:Good choices seagoat. I roofed my cabin... it sure was easier when I was younger. And I don't think my back could muscle around a sliding glass door anymore. I'd like to say I'm smarter now... but I may just be weaker and slower... and I'm not happy about it.

My husband did roofing for a couple of summers many, many years ago. But there is no way his 50-something year old body was going to be putting a new roof on our house today.

Lol... my hands, knees, and back hurt for a month... and it's not a very big roof.

We are putting the sliding glass door in this afternoon. No problem getting the old door out, but the new door is so heavy, and I simply have about 30% of my strength, we are insulating and will try to lift the new door into the old portal.......done this 10 times, but weak........really really a huge advantage to be strong......youth and health are wasted on the young.......I would give anything for a month with the strength I had at 30.

The young don't realize it, but it's true. Youth is wasted on the young.

2seaoat wrote:We are putting the sliding glass door in this afternoon. No problem getting the old door out, but the new door is so heavy, and I simply have about 30% of my strength, we are insulating and will try to lift the new door into the old portal.......done this 10 times, but weak........really really a huge advantage to be strong......youth and health are wasted on the young.......I would give anything for a month with the strength I had at 30.

Lift it into place? That sounds like a VERY bad idea... I did one a few years ago with two other guys. We would've failed without flat bars and a stepped bottom I built to flush it up. I hope that "we" you speak of isn't you and your wife... that wouldn't be safe.

Lift it into place? That sounds like a VERY bad idea.

My wife and I have done so many......it is liking riding a bike. We got it on the deck, and took two hydraulic floor jacks and tilted and lifted it under the siding with the top flange, and simply slid and leveled the bottom. The hard part was taking it off the dump truck, and carrying it over to the deck. The installation is second nature for us. We will trim it out later tonight, and adjust the rollers......done deal.

Your wife is a saint.

Neko.....If you are thinking about recessed lighting....Do it now. I can't stress
it enough. I put in 6 with regular indoor flood lights and a dimmer. It was a last minute idea and the best couple of hundred dollars I spent.

Your wife is a saint.

She really is........The last year she was teaching in a school from Kindergarten to fifth grade. She was the art teacher. They were introducing various staff at the beginning of her last year, and not once during any introduction did the students clap or yell.....they sat quiet......until they announced the Saint.......the students just erupted in cheers and clapping.....it was quite embarrassing for my wife because it did not stop......the kids loved her because she could bring 30 years of construction experience to create great projects for the kids.......but the bottom line is she is intelligent, tough as nails, and never afraid to tackle a project.....we made a good partnership.

She also had a sense of humor which the kids understood. She made a four foot by four foot cow which she painted and set up in the main office of the school. Each week she would dress the cow a certain way. Parents and students at the beginning of each week would visit the office to see what the cow was doing, she had the alien cow, the roller skating cow, the cow who did not get all the toilet paper off(the principal freaked because she thought it was inappropriate but by the time 40 parents had visited her office laughing, she did not get reprimanded), a no cow tipping where the cow was upside down, the unicorn cow, the alien cow was wrapped in foil, and the next week she had the zapped cow......and a big ball of tin foil and no cow, the pizza delivery cow with pizzas, the bicycle cow, and the one that kinda crossed the line.....the cow pie cow where she took a tin pan, and the same foam we will fill the voids on this door, and painted it brown. Parents and kids would just come in a cry with laughter......she is missed, but she has that rare spatial aptitude where she can figure things out in a construction project. We have built about almost 10 houses together, and she gets better and better.........the carrying heavy stuff is getting tough with me getting weaker.