Tile Tile Tile Tile Paint Tile Tile Tile Paint Tile Grout

Man how time just gets away, we have been so busy lately that finding time to update everyone on the progress fell behind.  Where to start.  Well these little projects seem to come around with grand ideas of schedule but seem to somehow grow a schedule of their own. 

Tile going in after the border was resolved

Take this simple tiling job for instance.  After the discovery of the door hitting the tile we had to figure out how to make that one work.  So, we now have a door sweep installed on the door since we had to take it off to trim it anyway.  Which has now led to the discovery that there isn't any weather stripping around the door.  We are learning quickly that one little thing leads to another.  But all in good fun. It is quickly becoming hard work, but work that will certainly pay off in the end.  We are finally starting to see the rewards of some of our labor.

Greatest painter on the block!!

Day 2 of laying tile. Getting closer

So one of our biggest discoveries was after Les's great idea.  So we laid the medallion on the floor and took some measurements and figured, "you know, if we only had a 1/2" border we wouldn't have to cut near as much tile."  Well this was a great idea, so we started pounding the pavement looking for a 1/2" border for our stone medallion.  Come to find out, they lead you to believe there is a lot more out there than really exists.  So after a couple days of thinking and hunting we found a travertine tile that was made up of little rectangles that we could make work. So we bring it home, and go to work cuting the tile into the strips we need for the border.....Only to discover Les's great idea only worked in one direction. Which if you have ever drew on graph paper, or laid tile, know that if you don't stay on the module of the grid things do not line up.  So back to the drawing board to resolve our now complicated issue.  15  minutes on the computer and a little brainstorming was all it took, so the next night we were back in business, getting tile put down.  3 days of laying tile and we were in good shape.  Wish we could have done it all in one, but having to work from the center of the room outward made it difficult not getting trapped in the closet.

Welcome gift from neighbor!

 In the mean time, sunday was the neighborhood block party!! Organized neighborhood pot-luck where they block off the street and eveyone in the neighborhood is invited to bring a dish and mingle, byo plate and beverages.  Was really great timing for us, allowing us the opportunity to meet a lot of the other neighbors on the street.  We certainly do not have any regrets on the choice of neighborhood. Everyone is super friendly and very helpful.  Not sure a picture was posted but the day after I met one couple walking by the front of the house, they brought over a nice little bag of homemade bran muffins, their contact information, and information on joining the Historical Commission since I had expressed interest the last we has spoken.  Well that was before the block party.  At the party we met the neighbors on the other side of our house, who mentioned she had an herb garden.  That same morning we had bought a bag of cucumbers to make pickles, so I expressed a need for some dill. We all laughed since it was the one herb she didn't have this year.  Well sure enough the next night we are working on the house and she brings over a cute gift bag with a bunch of dill from one of the local markets along with a small loaf of pumpkin bread.  Certainly not a bad welcome to the neighborhood.  :)

A lot has gone on apparently since the last post...  We now have light in the dining room thanks to Amandas continued efforts.  This little package showed up last week. So the dining room is no longer a danger zone.

More to come....

Tile & Paint

New tile for the Entryway

As home renovations go, big ideas precede small set-backs followed by a few choice words.  This setback just happened to involve the front door not closing.  Oops.

With the addition of the Durock coupled with the height of the new tile our floor is now higher than the bottom of the door.  Thanks to the kindness of neighbors whose garages happen to be full of tools, we were able to borrow a saw and fix the door.

 

 Best installer hugs and kisses can buy.

Since the house is part of Historic Society we decided to play up the charm and pay homage by using the Historic Colors Collection by Benjamin Moore throughout the house.  We're using "Wedgewood Gray" HC-146 as the new color for the living room.  And we'll use "Swiss Coffee" for the trim color.

Instead of buying new trim we're stripping all of the old baseboards, rebuilding, and refinishing them. Les will be happy to have his clean garage back!

In their lifetime, the baseboards have been several colors.  Far as we can tell they appear to have been red, green, blue, and white!

Let the Demo Begin!!

(1) 90 yr. old farmhouse, (2) trips to Lowes, (2) trips to Home Depot, (1) trip to Lumber Liquidators, add a little determination and we're off to the races!

First order of business Living room paint and trim colors options.






Next order of business in the Kitchen is more of a game than work.

What goes up in the 70's must come down . . . who can pull the largest piece of wallpaper off the wall at once???

New hand-scraped hardwood floor samples and new mosaic foyer tile against the existing.  More pictures to come of the medallion that will go in the center of the Entryway!!







Before we even had the Kitchen boxes unpacked, we had our first project started.  Demo-ing the existing tile, adding Durock to the subfloor, stripping baseboards, adding new tile and patching the plaster walls of the Entryway and Closet.





I was afraid to whack the tile too hard, so I lost my demo-ing privileges! It's a good thing Les took over or else we would have been there forever. 

 All of the old tile and base boards were removed after just one evening's work and next Les added the Durock to the 3/4" existing plywood substrate.

The first box to move-in and my work here is done!