Through the years...

Rummaging through some old pictures...

Circa 1996

Circa 2001

October 2014

And finally....Reveal Time...

Bathroom Remodel from Lisa Balsamo on Vimeo.
This is the second and final remodel for the bathroom. We had previously removed the tub and with this one have put it back in. It is a classic black and white motif with a very pale lavender on the walls. We hope to add some more interest with wall hangings in the future.

Bead board installation is complete...primer and first coat of paint in place. The walls still need their paint - will choose final color soon. All is coming together nicely.

Ignore the pink tint...not sure why it is there...the bead board will be white.

Water fixtures are due to be installed in two days. Can't wait.

Ciao.

Tiling Complete!

Tiling has been completed! Bead board is going up...painting is next...fixtures...almost done!

Bathtub Tile Getting There...

Was hoping to have more to report for this past week. Our tiler got a bit distracted this week...didn't accomplish what we'd hope...but there's always another day...

Need to add soap dishes and accent...then the grout...

I know, it never goes as fast as you want it to. We were hoping that the floor would be started on Tuesday coming up...might be Thursday instead.

Patience grasshopper...that's what I keep telling myself.

Ciao.

Tiling Preparation Commences

Our tiler, Adam, has arrived on the scene. He will be tiling the entire bathroom. He is a stickler for detail and we are fortunate to have him on the job!

Wall preparation - smoothing all...

The overhead light gave these a yellow tint, but the subway tile is white and the decorative accent is white marble...

The floor is going to be a basket weave design like the accent above. We would have taken a picture of the floor tile except two 50 lb bags were on top and we value our backs.

Adam indicated once the wall prep is complete the tiling is going to go fast. We can't wait!

Ciao!

Bathroom Progress

Old galvanized pipe...

No wonder we had had slow drains occasionally in the guest bathroom! Thank you Mr. Plumber for taking care of this! The "Bad News Plumbers" should have taken care of this years ago...

We found our tub installed!

Plumbing is installed.

Backer board is going up!

Mr. Contractor filled the tub with water and let it sit for a few days...he told me why...but I forgot. Apparently the bathroom floor was way out of level. Mr. Contractor told us that if he hadn't liked us he wouldn't have done this remodel because of the floor. We thank you, Mr. Contractor, from the bottom of our hearts!

Collateral damage

The plasterers came the end of last week and applied the product. We would post a pic but you really can't see the texture.

Next up...tiling...we'll be in touch.

Ciao.

Find My Tub!

Tub is out of garage! This can only mean that it's in the bathroom! Plumber is in there now with door closed. Must wait until after work to see it!

Ciao!

Tub Has Arrived

The tub was delivered here on Monday. That's probably going to be all the action this week. Next week should see things picking up again. 

Ciao!

We're At It Again

We just finished a visit with Laura at 8 LP Design. She assisted us in finding and ordering a pendant light to go over the kitchen sink, under cabinet lighting, and a hallway ceiling light. Can't wait until Mr. Contractor gets all this installed, but that means the bathroom has to be finished first.

The bathroom has been almost completely gutted. As you can see in the image above, we're going to reuse the sink and toilet - they're in great shape - no reason to replace.

It's amazing how bleak it looks when torn down to the studs. We found some old pics of the bathroom as it was when we bought the house and will post some of those as time permits. So, the next step is for the plumber to rough-in the plumbing apparatus.

That's all we've got for now.

Ciao!

 

They're Back......Mr. Contractor and Doug, that is....

The trailer is back!

For the second time in 14 years, the bathroom is down to its studs!

Yep, that's right...another remodel is underway. Will it ever end, you ask? We'd like to think so. Time will tell.

More coming soon!

Ciao!

Does It Ever End?

The front yard is finished. Finally.

Matt, the landscape guru, widened our walkway at the driveway.

We chose peanut grass instead of the other stuff - the yellow flowers will look fantastic.

Nice entry from the street.

Nice view.

Lovely.

Here is a more recent photo taken a couple of months later...the rain has been wonderful and everything has grown.

A nice layer of blossoms everywhere!

We love the change - and up keep is so much simpler! We had toyed with the idea of pulling out the hedges across the front and putting in a nice fence...but our tastes were too expensive. Maybe in a few years. Ciao.

Old versus New

Found an old picture of the house circa 1948:

Now, here is the same view from today:

Changed a little bit, hasn't it?

Dirt...Day7

The question this morning was, "Would they be back today to work on the yard?" The answer this evening is, "Yessir, they done come back!"

When I came home at lunch I found bales of straw in the drive.

More of our old plants had been removed and/or trimmed away.

New plantings had taken place.

Our Mexican heather was planted in the driveway.

Sod was being laid in the backyard and other plantings in progress. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to get home from work! Let's check it out!

Here is our new "river bed" in the back. This is where 3 sides of our roof join to create a waterfall when it rains. Now we have our own creek bed.

Our butterfly garden is planted.

What lovely views from the back of the yard!

Tomorrow we will try to get some pictures of the front. It's not quite as dramatic as we did minimal plantings to tide us over until we can afford to finish it. No more rolling in the dirt for the dogs! Praise Jesus!

Dirt...Day 4

Dear Readers,

There was very little progress on the yard today. Our grass (what little there is going to be) is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday and more work will not begin until Thursday.

Please check back then for more updates.

Sincerely,
Miriam and Lisa

Dirt...Day 3

All pavers have been set in place - front and back! Just the finishing touches need to be done and the walkways are good to go.

We really like the running pattern of the brick. The yard now looks a little bare. Can't wait for a few plantings and sprucing up!

Above is a close up of the stone like paver in the back. We think it looks really good. Glad we chose this particular style.

Another view.

Sydney is checking out the driveway. We chose to use rock here to save a few dollars. 

All in all, the job is going well. Looking forward to the plantings next week! Stay tuned for more pics.

We thought we'd plug the landscaping company that's doing the work for us. We're very happy so far!

Dirt...Day 2

Lots more work was completed today. Take a gander at the progress.

The back patio is coming along nicely! We're really going to enjoy this!

More of the patio/walkway.

This is a neat little machine that has been all over our yard. Here it is being used to dig out part of our driveway in preparation for a facelift.

Boxer is tired and taking a break. Will be nice when the dirt is covered - tired of cleaning up tracked in dirt.

We're loving the look of this new front yard pathway.

It takes a lot of bricks to make this happen!

So, this is two days of work. We can't wait to see what is accomplished tomorrow! See you then!