This Old House: Exterior Refresh

We had planned on doing this project a few years from now but it did not make any sense to do all the landscaping and cement work only to wreck it while updating the exterior surfaces so we flipped the two projects. Not exactly sure how this happened but we pulled this refresh project off in 3 months! Most of the time was actually used up in waiting on materials and lining up the slew of contractor schedules. We did a lot of the heavy lifting, read demolition, ourselves to cut down on expenses and the contractors mainly did the final installations, save the windows. Steph did an excellent job managing the contractors; she's pickier than I am! Big thanks to my brother Scott and Jack for their wisdom and hard work. :)

Our plan was just to get done before the snow fell, but Steph did such a great job lining up and pushing the subs we finished at the beginning of October.

07-05-2007 Removed Unneeded Chimney (first task of the project)
08-16-2007 Replaced Roofing, added 2 Sky Lights, Ridge Vent replaced box vents
09-01-2007 Replaced all Windows with Andersen Windows
09-04-2007 Framed and Installed one 8FT and one 6FT Andersen Patio Gliding Doors
09-19-2007 Installed James Hardie Board siding, Keystones, New Soffette and Facia
10-05-2007 Installed Leaf Guard Gutters (last task of the project)

Well that was plenty of an update this year so we will probably just spend the winter cleaning up the interior molding around the windows and new patio doors. Little by little...

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This Old House: Not So Extreme Makeover Update - Upper Hall

Movin' right along to the finished upper hallway... if the pace gets any quicker TLC may think we're trying to "Flip" this house and film our every move. Boy would that TV audience be outrageously bored. Flipping this place is very unlikely as the more we remodel the more we are really starting to enjoy our house.

The upper hallway was our first floor plan reconfiguration. We took out a small broom closet and a built-in linen closet. These two spaces will be given to the bathroom during that remodel. The goal will be to make the bathroom bigger and include the linen closet inside the bathroom so you do not have to go out into the hallway dripping wet to get a towel. Now most of you are thinking, "Why not just bring the towel into the bathroom before you get into the shower?" And to that I say, "You people must drink coffee in the morning cause I never can remember". Besides, I would much rather spend my time and energy reconfiguring my house to make up for a lethargic morning fogginess. Anywho, below are some Before, During and After pics.

Before












During












After

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This Old House: Not So Extreme Makeover Update - Guest Room

I totally forgot about posting the house updates. This fall was sooo busy that I rarely had time to pick up a hammer or paint brush since August. Finally we are back on track and the Guest Room is done. Here are the usual before and after pictures. The closet door is the last update needed for the room, and since a shiny object has taken my attention onto other remodeling projects I will just wait until the furniture is installed before mounting it. :)

Onto the next room...

Before










Another After

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This Old House: Not So Extreme Makeover Update - Living Room

The Living Room is done! Man is it nice to have a place to hang out and watch movies and TV again! The only problem is, I like to hang out and watch movies and TV again! We did the usual, new... everything. The floors turned out amazing thanks to JB's Flooring who happens to be our neighbor and friend John. We hope to come back and put a sliding door out to a patio but it will be at least next summer before that can happen. Steph and Mom (Foster) did the faux painting work.

Here is the before..










During...













And After...

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This Old House: Not So Extreme Home Makeover Update - Dining Room

The dining room is done. Not much to say about it, other than that during the planning for the remodel we decided that we should change up the locations of the dining room and living room. Sounds odd, but the house layout gave us two rooms close in size that where both next two the kitchen. After living in the house, we decided that we got it wrong and the dining room would be better in the larger of the two rooms. Since this room is so large, half will be a formal dining room and the other half will be for Mason's play area and Stephanie's piano. As always, click on the pictures for the full size view.

So here is the before... (not the greatest picture, don't I look thrilled?)









here is the during...









...And here is the other half of the room for the after.

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This Old House: Not So Extreme Make Over

A few blog posts back I believe I said something to the effect of NOT doing another remodeling project until we are in a routine with the baby. Well, like many Bush Administration members, I did exactly the opposite of what I said I was going to do. In this case, not only did we do some remodeling, we pretty much went to war with Home Depot using a Menards credit card. I have no idea what that means, nor should you sit there and try to figure that reference out. Don't bother... we'll just move on shall we...

Instead of just warring in one room at a time like we have grown accustomed to in the Hughes household, we took it upon ourselves to remodel several rooms at once, the "Axis of Evil" if you will, and decided to support many theaters of operations all at the same time. The theory was simple, our house is old and dingy, lets do a quick surface refresh fast. That way we can hang out with our son the rest of the summer instead of going to HomeDepot to pick out tile. So I engaged the enemy with my wife's support. We have a medium sized infantry unit in the guest room; a small SEAL team in the upper hallway; we air-lifted several MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) into the kitchen before a major invasion with vast amounts of heavy duty resources that pretty much flattened the landscape; we launched a joint air-sea-ground assault against the dining room, and finally we re-invaded the lower family room and entrance hallway where we had fought so hard just a few years ago but where ordered to bail out before the trim molding was mounted.

As you might have guessed my approval ratings are now at an all time low. We are still in engaged in every room and this is displeasing to my constituents. However there has been some progress that I am happy to report. All ceilings are now painted, All walls are painted, All new interior doors installed, all new interior trim installed, all new electric outlets, switches, doo-dads and most importantly all hardwood floors have been sanded and refinished. No luck yet with the tyrant in the kitchen though. Better yet, Mom and baby are back home after a few nights exiled to La Chateau Foster. The house is now dust and fume free and starting to feel if not look newer. I have much left to do as the kitchen work is slow going. Before and After pictures will come sooner or later, probably once I actually have an "after" shot to take. The ones of me flipping off the camera while muttering obscenities will be censored by the US media.

One last note: Thank goodness for the many now battle-hardened family members that have given their Saturdays to support this effort. The lesson here is to fight only one battle at a time but if you must fight on all fronts, bring your family.

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This Old House: The Cribs Episode Not Seen on MTV

The producers of the MTV show CRIBS would be proud, but since our baby does not yet have a double platinum album their camera crews have not come knockin' to document this Crib. (We did put some "Chriss-taall" in the fridge though, just in case.) As for the remodel, the nursery is pretty much done. As usual we did the fresh paint, outlets, switches, carpet, pad, moldings, lights and doors. Check out the pictures by clicking on them to enlarge.

We are going to take a remodeling break until the baby comes next month, and then it will be onto the guest room after we get into our new routine.

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South Wall, Before and After... No furniture.

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South-West Wall Before, During, and After... with furniture.

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This Old House: Our Bedroom is Done!

What's this? A room in our house that does not look like it came out of a Brady Bunch episode? tis true, new paint, base and crown molding, doors, outlets, switches, knobies and doo-dads. We no longer have the ugly long radiators or giant plumbing access panel. The final addition was soft carpet to warm the floors. (Don't worry, the hardwoods are safely tucked away under the carpet, we did not rip them out.) Below is a before and after set that you can click on to enlarge it.

...On to the Baby's room!

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This Old House: Monster Garage Complete, more projects to come...

Some of you know that Steph and I's home is a bit of a fixer-upper. Besides the recovery of the lawn, a bit of clean up inside, building a storage shed and some painting here and there, we really have not remodeled any rooms yet. That is about to change and you will see it here on the Hughes family blog. A few months ago we finished the first big inside remodeling project, the garage! Now that we have a clean, bright, insulated and heated garage, the house projects should start falling into line as we have a great place to complete them. Currently in progress are a new central heat and air system and our bedroom. More pics will becoming soon on those projects so keep checking the site.

Click on the picture to enlarge the before and after picture. Garage before and after notes: The only items from the before picture that survived the remodel of the entire garage are the Craftsmen door opener, my hand-built workbench, and the vintage Snap-On tool box. Everything else has been completely reworked; new doors, windows, walls, electric, sound system, cable TV, ceiling fan, heater, fridge and tool cabinets. I plan on moving in shortly... :)

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