Victorian House Renovation in Bloomingdale, DC
Think we will get to 100 days of construction? That’s very plausible. Anyway, we are moving right along, and its almost as exciting as the very beginning of this whole thing (we are just more tired, so emotions are dulled). But seriously, this thing is coming together and we likey!
I know, this looks like a mess – and no the counter is not staying on top the island. But to me, its a beautiful mess.… Read the rest
We are making progress on the west side of the kitchen, which will house our fridge ensconced in a frame with a cabinet on top – for uniform height purposes, custom built open shelves above a base cabinet, a custom built bench sitting area for the island, and finally a pantry unit – produced by IKEA, assembled by yours truly (with some help). Somewhat like so, although the fridge and shelf cabinet have since switched places, since we were able to move a duct that was taking up space in that back corner.… Read the rest
And we are back to our normal pace. There’s lots of small (time consuming) things which are getting done around here. As you might have noticed we aren’t really putting time estimates on this thing anymore – it gets done when it gets done. the more important part – it looks good. Anywho – we officially have a kitchen counter:
There are two light boxes by the walls which are masking a little problem that we have — the brick surface is uneven, which means that there is a larg-ish crack between the wall and the counter.… Read the rest
Oh we have come so far! Look – we have a toilet paper holder!
But more importantly, we have finally added storage.
We had to get custom cut glass because the wall niche isn’t standard. but who cares?! we have storage. we can finally “move in” to our bathroom.I have had these knitted baskets with all of our bathroom crap sitting and waiting, waiting and sitting for probably a month now.… Read the rest
I was very happy with Thursday/ Friday progress.
Exhibit A: Plaster walls. Its actually hard to see the difference in pictures, but the base coat went on Thursday and top coat was all done on Friday. There is a big difference to the touch though – base coat is kind of grayish and is pretty rough and almost sticky —
The top coat is white and smooth.
Overall I am very happy with the job they did skimming the plaster and so happy that we decided to stick with the original decision to go with plaster on all walls which are redone (the rest of the house mostly has plaster walls save for a few places that will be redone eventually).… Read the rest
Sergey and I took a week long vacation – wednesday to wednesday – but the work continued while we were gone. I thought it worked out pretty well actually – anytime there was a question the contractors would text with a quick picture and we would follow up when we had time. We were still a bit nervous coming home, but this made us happy:
A couple of notes here: the dishwasher still needs a front panel – it will match the rest of the cabinets.… Read the rest
Its been very hectic around here, and not necessarily VIB related. Though the house always adds another layer to whatever else you have going on. Anywho, its been five working days since our last construction update, and what have we got to show for it? That’s what:
the beginnings of our finished tile floors! but before we get to this point, this also took place:
yes, the entire kitchen as well as half bath will have heated floors.… Read the rest
and Everywhere – a bunch of small things got done in the last four days. This can feel little progress, but I choose to look at it as indication that we are closer to the finish line than we know.
walls went over framing on the outside of half-bath (this just might be the first room that is done, done in this renovation):
Also the lay-out for heated floors is confirmed and is ready for thinset.… Read the rest
That was my reaction! Instant gratification – one day, one project, and d .o.n.e.
I need to figure out how to take better pictures of such a tiny space. But for now, here’s my best representation:
*The teal blue color is better represented in the pictures above, rather than this lamp picture. but see the wallpaper goes all the way over the ceiling.
So we are on to downstairs bathroom. In the last two days the contractors have finished drywall and primed all of the 2.5′ by 5′ space.
Ceiling:
Entrance, with a door frame:
and sink wall:
Except this part they had to do twice. And it was totally our bad. The plumbing lines in the first iteration of this wall were not centered but closer to the entrance. That’s because on the other side of that wall there is a stack and we had palnned to do a bump out for it.… Read the rest
