Samma's got a brand new Blog

Cabinets, Faucets and Flooring - comments on each picture

Fun with Power Tools!

In a reverse homage to the Winchester Mystery House, we decided to remove our 'stairway to nowhere'.  And that meant JACKHAMMER! 

Whoohoooo!  Look at that step, getting sliced up like butter!   As I explained to Richard, Jackhammers are HOT! ;D 

And Richard definitely worked up enough sweat to prove my point.  His safety goggles kept filling up with sweat, and, unlike a dive mask, he couldn't just clear it by breathing out of his nose!  

I had to take a couple of turns with the Jackhammer as well.  Loud, but FUN!  

These should be videos, but they're not linking right.  I'll have Richard help me fix it after work.

P1090588

P1090587

And here is the finished job.  We'll use the rubble when we are ready to add to the concrete driveway.  The long term plan is to extend it down to the deck stairs, but that won't happen on this go-round. 

Where we are now ...

The local power company came out and modernized the connection from the power to the house, which means the roof is totally done!  YAY!

And, today, the stucco guy came out and finished the rest of the exterior, including 'erasing' the red mock-rock from the front porch!

I'm pretty impressed with the chemical stripper we used on the doors.  Oh.  And a pretty new flower coming up in the front yard. 

And, here's our green upgrades -- attic and underhouse insulation, tankless water heater is hooked up, and vapor barrier is on the ground!

Our Seagrass Limestone flooring came in, and the woven grass wall paper accent I've been thinking about seems like a perfect match.  The wall paper would go around the door, and above the backsplash around the sink.  Love the texture!

P1090538

P1090540

So next up is the hardwood floor reno, then the exterior power-washing, and then the external paint. 

Kitchen cabinets, plumbing, appliances, interior painting and moving in!  OMG!!!!

More new house bits

Atlanta has been talking about creating a Beltline, that will use old railways to create walking, biking, recreational areas that circumnavigate the city.  And our new place is going to be right on edge of one!

http://beltline.org/Portals/26/maps/Tour/blp_map_southeast_final.pdf 

We are right by #8

Also, we found rockers for the front porch.  The company makes a porch swing to match, so we think that's what we'll do there. 

P1090157

And, I've been sort of obsessed with replacing the cheap modern hollow core doors with vintage solid wood.  I found the sizes we needed on CraigsList, two of which don't need to be stripped at all.  Richard did a mock up install of the vintage glass door knobs and back plates for me, while we worked on stripping the other 3 doors we bought.  I LOVE this look!!! 

And finally, Richard had some fun with a couple of art shots taken from the master bedroom:

Status Update

The exterior of the house is pretty much done, and it looks GREAT!
all we're waiting for now, is a (you probably can't even see it) finish to the roof on the left side, the new paint, and finishing the stucco on the brick and edges .

Gonna do some quick before/afters, in anticipation of the BIG before/afters coming soon!  Projected 'done' date is endo of august, beginning of sept. 

Before:

P1040082

Now:

P1090338

Before:

P1040188

Now:

P1080969

Before, old school water heater; After, new tankless water heater: