Tear out...Kitchen & Bathrooms

So, the tearout phase is my FAV-O-RITE part!  I've been so absorbed in in that I haven't posted anything.

I got started on a post, added too many photos & it blew up on me...took me week to try it agian!

We did tear out on the kitchen - everything went!
Then tear out on the upstairs & downstairs bathrooms.  Downstairs bathroom had a leak & needed several floor boards replace - got that done.  The challenge in that room was the tubes to the clawfoot tub were damaged...and weren't standard issue.  I finally went to enough plumbing supply houses in the last week to find one who could manufacture a custom plastic version of the tub connections for me...planning on installing those tonight.  Wish me luck.  Otherwise, that bathroom is making GREAT progress.
The Upstairs bathroom had this awful 1980's shower stall...that had to go.  . Then...it had a full-on-open-line leak.  Pulled up the floor boards to find the leak - Mr. Rooter helped us out there & we are leak free & functioning.  The challenge in that room was that the toilet is a 15 1/2" rough in...and the sink was in the closet!  Yes, the sink was in the closet.  We plumbed in a sink connection where the shower used to be - between the tub & the sink...much better.  I found a 14" rough in toilet yesterday that should work...just a little support for that 1 1/2" space - we're installing it tonight, too...wish us luck on that one as well.

So far, Mr. Rooter, Middleton Heat & Air and Jefferson Plumbing here in Little Rock have all been great.
Would recommend them for your projects!

Next project is to finish the bathrooms.  Our plan is go to '1920's' on them.
1st, patch up the trim in the downstairs bathroom.  Had lots of trouble finding trim to match...no one in town had it (tried all the lumber places).  big chunks taken out of the wainscot cap where the shower had been.  Finally found it...I think...on Vintage Woodworks.  It's shipping soon...I'll update if it matches or not.
http://www.vintagewoodworks.com/

We have samples of hexagon & pinwheel 1920's style tile coming from http://www.luxetile.com/
Appears to be the same tile but at an affordable price.  I REALLY hope this works.
Our backup plan for bathroom flooring is http://www.linoleumcity.com/  They have a vinyl sheet that looks like the hexagon tiles.  They are in LA & supposedly it's made custom for them - primary use is Holywood sets where the floors need to look period. 

Should have some progress & finish shots in the next week or so (I have trouble doing 10 projects at once instead of finishing one at a time.)

thanks for looking!
Christy

 

But an even rougher start outside...

So the outside is a litle rough, too.  The turret is the 1st thing on the plan to get fixed - it leaks now & has to be repaired before I can get the ceiling guys going.  We took down all the vines & 3 trees this weekend.  The soffit & fascia are mostly deteriorated, but by far the majority of the exterior walls are savable.  Now we are looking at house colors...we have a few weeks (or months) to decide.  What do ya'll think?  Our 1st choice was a blue/gray with white trim & red (to match the roof) accents; the 2nd was a creamy-beige with same trim.  The roof is the determining factor...it's not full on red...it's got quite a bit of teracotta in it.
Thanks for looking!
Christy

A rough starting point inside

I'm a week behind already on posting...but I'm not a week behind on the house!
I guess a good starting point would be to show everyone where it was that we started.

Here is a big batch of photos of the 'before'...
OK, so there's a little work to do on the inside, but the good news is that ALL the plaster walls are savable.  Several ceilings have to be drywalled, but several can be just textured.
Next post will be the cathartic tearing out phase!

24 Ring Closing Ceremony - key ring that is...

After the full 90 days of waiting on Chase Bank - the closing actually happened!
Promptly at 2pm, we signed the mountain of paperwork...and by 3pm we were in the house taking pictures & starting work.

24 Ring Closing, you say?  YES!  They handed us 24 keys on a ring.   

I believe we broke the record for most keys exchangd in a residential closing!

Why in the world did they give you so many keys?  What's the deal?

Well, in the 1890's AND in the 1990's it was a boarding house...complete with locks on all the bedroom doors. 

I have a big batch of photos to post of the interior 'before' coming soon.

It starts with the Closing...

The1st post on my1st Blog...so be patient with me.

This is our 1896 Queen Anne house that we are closing on Monday, July 16th.

She's in rough shape, but a really great girl!

My plan is to take all the 'before' photos & info to post next week. 

After that I'll do regular updates on progress and gather opinions from anyone who's interested.

Thanks for looking!  Christy