Drywall Question

Next thing to tackle: whether to remove the current drywall in the kitchen. There are multiple layers of drywall such that the thick and wonderfully detailed window and door trims lay flush with the walls. To make matters worse, the drywall is glued on making removal annoying and time-intensive. Not sure to how proceed on that...

Removed Kitchen Cabinets/Countertops

Last weekend we went to Lowes and pretty muched guessed at what tools we could use to remove the kitchen cabinets and countertops. We chose well b/c the process was quite easy!

Cat hair b/w cabinets

Whats the dog doing during all this??

More cat hair...

Previous "brick" flooring

Cool tool cuts through countertops (was on clearance so figured, "why not?")

Long forgotten goodies under the counters

Getting Our Basement Dry

The water table is very close to the surface in our neck of the woods so damp basements are common. Our inspector advised us to "get the water away from the house" by getting new gutters, regrading the property, repointing the foundation, and removing the tree from the front yard (its wide-spread root system was pushing into the foundation).

While we were meeting with contractors and getting estimates we spent a couple of days (what we thought would take a couple of hours) using bleach to remove a ton of mold from the basement walls and we purchased a dehumidifier. The machine drips into a large container so that it can run constantly without shutting off to be emptied. Because our house is small a quiet machine was important to us. We researched and chose a Soleus Air CFM-40 40-Pint Dehumidifier with Humidistat. Weve been happy with it so far. We got ours from NewEgg (http://tinyurl.com/5lrydy).

The first *big* step weve taken is the removal of the tree. Check it out:

So long old buddy

Just how old was he?

Life after the tree...

Let us pay homage: Thanks, old tree, for your years of cooling shade, for your years of hospitality to dozens of birdy families, and for your years of standing guard of our little house...

Welcome! Have a look at our new place...

Come on well show you around!

Lets begin in the front yard

This grand Norway Spruce is wreaking havoc on the house

He is a beauty but he has to come down

We did some trimming-guessing what was plant and what was weed

Our horticultural knowledge limited to "leaves of three let it be"

Narrow side yard to the right

Wider side yard to the left

Ok lets go inside!

Heres our Family Room

Maybe have the couch here

Maybe a cozy fireplace there

And this is our Dining Room

Homemade closet (this will be coming out)

Not happy with the workmanship

Years old termite damage (ick)

Lets go upstairs-whoops, watch your step on those bum treads!

Cool window

But in bad shape

Heres our teeny tiny but soon-to-be super cute bathroom!

Maybe a clawfoot under the window?

Ok, heres the back room

Cream, green, blue, purple, then topped off with layers and layers and layers of white paint

This area will probably be our office

Cool vent

Poor trim work

Homemade wall/closet (this is coming down)

They painted over the door lock/bolt so owners installed these latches (rolling eyes)

Lets go to the middle room-this will probably be our place to just chill (nursery)

This is the other side of that homemade wall/closet

Old wood windows-were keeping the wood trims, replacing the glass

View straight down where water collects and enters our basement b/c the gutters are too small-were having new gutters attached to a fascia

View to the back

Our dirty gutters

View to the front (hello there Mr shed)

Attic access ("unusable space" our inspector said)

Again, not happy with the workmanship

...

This is "thee" master bedroom closet-we are researching alternative storage solutions :)

We love all the big windows!

More paint and more latches

And more paint and more latches

We were curious what was under all that paint

We used this to find out

Dont worry Mom we wore these

Bad wiring

Good wiring

Bad wiring

Lets head down to the basement via this used-to-be-a-doggie-door

Basements are kind of boring but the boy took lots of pictures

Thats our sewer pipe that needs to be replaced (we want cast iron, plumber says pvc)

Plywood "window" with kitty door

Theres our dehumidifer hard at work! Though it will eventually be hooked into our sewer pipe, it now drips into a large container working overtime to keep our basement dry

Our hot water heater-were replacing with a tankless

This little guy (a hygrometer) tracks our dehumidifying progress

MacGyver remedy

More white paint

Ruh roh! That doest look good!

Neither does this

Plumber said water company should replace for free

Joists to remediate old termite damage

Crazy wires-left message for electrician today

Pipe to nowhere...

Ew lets get outta here!

Ahh much better-our light filled kitchen!

Fridge will go where oven is, oven will go where fridge is

Doggie door alert! Our dog wants nothing to do with it

They had their 1940 washer/dryer in the kitchen-were moving it to the basment (and relocating basement door) to maximize kitchen space

A prehistoric looking thing we call a "slow bug" (my friend said theyre stink bugs)

Ok, wanna see the back yard!?

Evidence of door hinges over here...

Evidence of door hinges over there...if walls could talk!

Careful, its like a jungle out here!

So cottagey isnt it!?

...Our lovely radon tank

And radon pipe going nowhere (does it matter that rainwater gets in there?)

Maybe well keep the shed

Cool, a composter! Were thinking of adding a rain barrel also!

This is the otherside of that plywood window. Note the expanding foam (its everywhere-the foundation needs to be repointed)

Vines growing against house: bad bad bad!

Still trying to identify this...

...And that

There is some pretty stuff back here but b/c we have to get the land regraded a lot of it has to go

This guy stays though

I dont know what this is but doesnt it smell goooooood!?

Thanks for stopping by-come back soon!