first floor renovation | flooring days and snow

As the end of 2016 is quickly coming to a close, I have given myself the goal of finishing my first floor renovation series. We are almost finished with our second renovation job (ie tree falling on house) so it is really way over due. That being said, I am seasoned enough into motherhood to know everyday is different and that things often don't go as planned...

*This series was written while we were undergoing construction several months ago - hence the present tense. If you missed the first post of this series check it out here , second here, third here and fourth. 

On Monday of this week, the drywall crew returned for a quick sand and then turned the project over to the hardwood flooring guys. There were no hardwoods under the old pantry and closet so new boards had to be feathered in. Not a big job but about two days of demo and re-laying. 

On Wednesday, we woke up to about 3" of very wet snow and news of a bunch of power outages. The floor guys called and said they won't be able to make it over and I began planning a lovely snow day of movies and cooking for Jeff and I. Then we lost power...We tried to make the best of the day by going to lunch and then a movie, waiting to see if the power would return. At about 6pm, the power company posted that they planned to have power back on by 10:00pm the next day!

With no heat and a dark house, we decided to go to a friends house for the night. We had already been planning on moving out of the house the next day as I, the 7 month pregnant lady, could not be around the refinishing fumes. The bigger issue then became how the hardwoods guy would be able to work without power....

Luckily, they had a generator and the power came back on around noon on Thursday. This meant they were only a day behind schedule and we could come back to the house on Saturday. So we spent Wednesday to Saturday at our friends who so generously took us and the dog in. 

With the snow and the hardwoods being freshly stained, no other work was done for the week which was a bummer. This put us at about two weeks of feeling like things were moving sort of slowly which in a projected 4 week project can be hard to not get anxious about.  I, however, did my best not to nag our contractor too much as he has not let us down yet. I think I was somewhat successful...

cement tile
june 16, 2014

flooring decisions
october 15, 2014

stair runner reveal!!
may 13, 2015

first floor renovation | drywall days

*This series was written while we were undergoing construction several months ago - hence the present tense. If you missed the first post of this series check it out here , second here and the third here. 

The drywall crew got delayed and ended up starting a day later than expected. They hung all of the board in a day as well as taped and started mudding. On day two, they finished their first coat of mud with just a short day of work allowing it to dry. They will be back for two more short days applying a second coat of mud and then a quick sand. 

With the drywall up, comes the first happenings of things really being put back together. The space looks a little smaller and closed in but its nice to be able to see the individual spaces take shape. As anticipated, its been a messy few days but overall not too bad.

So far, its been a pretty quiet work week which has made me a little nervous that our great progress is slowing. As a professional, I know this is just how construction goes - some days/weeks with lots of things going on and then a bit of a lull - but I will admit it can be hard to not get a little anxious about things dragging on (especially while pregnant!). After drywall, comes the floors which could also mean a slower few days of work as I am unsure how many guys can be in here working at one time. Below are a few pictures from this week's work.  

Want to read more? Check out one or all of these related posts. 

fireplaces part 2
july 2, 2013

black fences
march 28, 2014

our bad ceilings
february 2, 2015

first floor renovation | framing days

*This series was written while we were undergoing construction several months ago - hence the present tense. If you missed the first post of this series check it out here and the second here.

Today, we are on the sixth and final day of framing. The drywall contractors will arrive first thing Monday (its Friday as I write this) to close it all up. The framing has included 4 openings and the built in as well as the dividing wall between what will be our mud room and kids playroom. All openings are in our back hall which now feels like a nice transitional space rather than the dark and cramped hallway it was before we started.

The dividing wall between the mud room and playroom ended up being a last minute add on and is setting us up for what will be phase two of our first floor renovation. As we talked through things with our contractor, we just realized it made no sense to re-drywall and paint walls that we were planning on opening up in the near future. So we made the call to put in the wall as well as rough in the plumbing and electrical to give us more than a jump start on phase two. With this decision, the toy room will be ready for use and will just need a new light and probably a change out of the carpet. Phase two (which will hopefully happen in the fall) will then be just the mud room build out. This will include new flooring, cabinetry and appliances as well as the final plumbing and electrical work to get the washer and dryer moved upstairs and out of our nasty basement. It really won't be a very big project which makes it tempting to tackle now but we just don't have the means (financially or mentally) to undertake the work. By postponing the room, I will give myself the time to pick out the finishes I want and not have to rush to find something in a day. And even though the space won't be finished, it will still be super functional for us as a drop all space - coats, shoes, dog kennel, cleaning products etc. 

Thus far, the work has really gone as planned which is always scary to say/type out loud. The contractors have been great to work with and knowing that the project is short has made the construction process quite easy to live through. I feel totally confident that moving forward with the project was the right thing to do as Jeff and I have been able to give full attention to the project and we haven't had to worry about meeting the needs or schedule of the baby. The space is turning out beautifully - even better than I could have imagined. The only thing that is really frustrating me at the moment is paint color selection....I have till Monday to pick out my colors so the clock is ticking. Below are progress images from the past week or so. 

Want to read more? Check out one or all of these related posts. 

home feature: dutchess county residence guest house
august 20, 2013

structural work in our project room
november 6, 2014

antique home style
march 16, 2015