landscaping, it’s really going to happen!
It’s been over a month since we last wrote about our landscaping plans, but that ball has not stopped rolling.
After carefully reviewing the design, talking with neighbors and reading your awesome comments, we decided to make a few tweaks. Some plant choices and locations were changed but the biggest decision was to nix the patio area on the south side of the front yard. We realized that the entry stoop is large enough for 2-6 people to gather on and that we didn’t really need a second space. Plus, as soon-to-be parents we were nervous about having a hang-out space so close to the 36″ (+/-) drop from the top of the retaining wall down to the sidewalk. Finally, eliminating the patio (and associated grading and stonework) would save us a worthwhile chunk of change.
So our landscape architect Mark came up with the revised plan below [click to enlarge]. In lieu of a patio, we now have a simple path that connects the stoop to the existing sidewalk on the south side of the house. For the pavers, we’ll be using some of the smaller concrete pieces that we reclaimed from last year’s demo project.
With a finalized design in hand, we had two choices for moving forward: 1. buy the material and do the install ourselves or 2. hire it out. Since it never hurts to get bids, we contacted three different landscaping companies (that came recommended from Mark or other friends). To reduce costs, we limited our scope to the colored area you see below [click to enlarge]:
The side yard gates made a good demarkation line between Phase 1 and Phase 2. We still have some construction projects slated for the backyard so it will be a little while before we tackle that area. (Although I’m guessing a mobile toddler might dictate that schedule.)
Two of the three bids were similar in price (the third was just crazy), but all were more than we had optimistically hoped for. We thought about scaling back the scope or delaying the project yet again, but I think deep down we really just want it to be done. Done by someone else. So that’s what we’re going to do!
As fervent DIYers it makes us a little uneasy to hire someone to do the work (since labor is usually 50% of the overall costs), but we’re also really, really excited to hand this off to the pros. What would undoubtedly take us a couple of months of nights and weekends will take a professional crew 5-6 days(!) to complete. (Ok, sometimes I fantasize about sitting in a lounge chair with an umbrella drink while the work is being done, but the reality is that we’ll probably be plenty busy in the nursery or basement.)
Even though we won’t be getting our own hands dirty, we’ll be sure to document the whole process to share with you as it happens. This is a big milestone in our nearly 6 years of remodeling chezerbey and we can’t wait!
basement progress: concrete pour
I really hope this is our last post about concrete.
Yeah, I suppose there’s the initial thrill of the pour (or “placement” if you want to be all technically correct) – working against the clock, crossing your fingers that everything goes according to your carefully laid plan. But really, it’s just a lot of work and it’s messy.
So let’s begin.
We stayed up late on Friday night doing final preparations for our Saturday morning pour. Because we couldn’t waterproof under our existing slab, we opted to put down a plastic vapor barrier between the old and new concrete. Kyle also ran a string line around the perimeter to use as a guide for how far we should pour.
Next, Kyle installed the rebar and welded wire mesh for the bathroom slab, with a series of 2×6 planks to walk across during the pour. (The new concrete in the bedroom was just to level things out and didn’t require reinforcement.) He also made a frame out of pressure-treated lumber to box out around the future bathtub so we’d have some wiggle room with the actual drain installation.
Our friends Chris and Julie offered to help out on Saturday and were at our house at 8:30 a.m. to make the trip to the rental place where we’d be procuring our “mud”. About 30 minutes later, Kyle called to tell me that the rental place had lost power temporarily and thus there was no concrete. So he came home and we waited…for about five hours.
Fortunately for us, Chris was also working on his house that day and was able to shuffle his schedule and come back to help in the afternoon. By 2:00 or so, all systems were a-go.
We rented a metal concrete chute that went from the concrete mixer in the driveway, through the window and down into the basement. We hung the low end with a loop of plumber’s strapping fastened to the joists.
The initial idea was to fill 5-gallon buckets and then transfer them to the two slabs…
In the end though, we reconfigured the chute so it dumped straight into the bedroom slab area and then later repositioned it for the bathroom pour.
We started out with a 3/4 yard of concrete that came pre-mixed in this cute little trailer. There’s a small door at the back that opens up and allows concrete to pass through with a little human guidance from our friend. Once the wet concrete arrived there was no time (or clean enough hands) for photographing, so you’ll just have to pretend. The mix didn’t flow quite how we hoped, so we came up with a method where Chris would push it down about 1/3 of the way with a trenching shovel and then Kyle and I would pull the remainder down the chute before spreading it across the space.
The boys were way too dirty to take photos, but I did manage to snap this one with my iPhone during a quick break (31 weeks!). There was no way I was fitting into my normal paint-splattered work jeans, so out came the ol’ track pants tucked into black rubber boots. Stylish!
After the trailer was empty, Chris and Kyle got to work spreading and leveling out the wet mix and I was able to peel off my gloves and take some action shots.
Wet concrete has to be worked into place and we found that metal rakes were the most effective.
When the concrete was fairly level and even, the boys troweled the mud for a smooth surface. To better distribute their weight and keep from sinking in, they knelt on pieces of leftover rigid foam as they worked their way across the space.
We picked up another 3/8 yard for the bathroom slab and repeated the same process, only this time we relied more on filling and dumping buckets since the chute wasn’t long enough to reach across the basement (no heavy lifting for me, I filled the buckets and Kyle dumped them).
We had a little bit of concrete leftover, so we filled in the area around the sewage ejector pump (the cardboard tube you see below acts as a form that is later removed after the concrete cures).
Done! (This photo was taken Saturday afternoon and by that evening it was cured enough to walk on.)
As Kyle and Chris finished up and returned the equipment, I rinsed all of the tools, buckets, boots and gloves before the concrete had a chance to harden.
So what started out as a morning project turned into an all-day affair but we’re just relieved to be done (and incredibly grateful to have had some help!). Kyle did some framing and picked up more supplies yesterday, but today has been largely unproductive. And we’re ok with that. Next weekend.
basement progress: prepping for the slab pour
Sure enough, after the last marathon weekend of working in the basement Kyle caught some type of flu-like funk and was out of commission for a week. But by last Monday he rallied enough to pour the concrete footings and finish prepping for our plumbing inspection.
On Friday, the inspector came out to sign off on our rough-in. Despite Bailey’s skeptical expression, we PASSED! (Phew.) Afterwards, Kyle got to work covering up all his hard work in preparation for the slab pour.
Earlier in the week, Felix performed his own preliminary inspection.
Anyone who has done their own plumbing knows how complex it can be. We’re visual people, so Kyle created this color-coordinated plumbing diagram to help figure it all out (and serve as a shopping list of sorts). All this for one modest-sized bathroom. Crazy town.
By Saturday morning, the basement was a hot mess of tools, empty boxes and misc. items that needed to be moved to the crawl space. So we took an hour or two to organize and reassess. Bailey and Felix supervised.
Laundry center turned work station…
…and stair wall turned temporary tool storage. It felt good to get organized and did wonders for our motivation.
Ahh, much better. Along with the new concrete slab for the bathroom, we’ll also be pouring a thin slab over the future media/guest room floor to create a level surface. (Nothing says “basement” like a sloped floor right?)
After cleaning the space out, the next step was to install sill plates and rigid insulation to the concrete walls.
But first, a Saturday evening trip to Home Depot to pick up supplies.
1 cart, 2 carts, 3 carts, 4! I hereby give Kyle the award for home improvement store endurance (he single-handedly loaded everything onto the carts and then into Orange Crush, our old work truck). For large trips like this, we typically order supplies from our favorite local lumber store, but Kyle was motivated enough to start framing on Sunday so our options were limited.
Our poor truck…oh hey, our new Japanese Maple!
In addition to the wall insulation and framing lumber, Kyle also picked up the DRIcore, an interlocking subfloor with a dimpled plastic on the underside to protect against any moisture that might come up through the slab. (We are definitely taking a “belts and suspenders” approach to the basement because the last thing we want are any moisture-related issues that can be so common to these types of spaces.)
Before we add 2x furring over the concrete foundation walls, Kyle installed 1 1/2″ rigid insulation. This serves as a thermal break between the concrete wall and wood wall and has a higher r-value per inch than batt insulation. (In the end, we’ll have a combination of R-7.5 from the rigid plus R-13 from the batts, equaling a code-compliant R-21 for basement walls.) The insulation (which was installed with a special adhesive) is going in now so Kyle can pour the new slab up against it.
At the juncture between the media/guest room and the “hallway” at the bottom of the stairs, Kyle installed a couple of stacked pressure-treated 2×6’s as a curb for the concrete and sill plate for the new wall. Even though our existing slab slopes about 6″ from one end to the other, creating one level slab throughout would have significantly reduced our ceiling height. So we decided a better strategy would be to create different floor levels for each zone – the three zones being the guest room, hallway and bathroom. (For the rest of the basement we’ll keep the floors as they are.) There will be a slight step between zones, but nothing that will be annoying or a potential tripping hazard.
Kyle knocked out most of this work on Sunday, while I was upstairs hosting a bridal shower brunch that had been planned for a few months. The muffled sounds of drilling or the compressor firing was somewhat comical, but no one seemed to mind. Bonus – there’s nothing like leftover croissants and mini cupcakes for a little construction break snack.
So, next step – concrete pour! For this one we pre-ordered a fresh batch of concrete for Saturday morning….because what other way would we start a 3-day holiday weekend?
zerbebe nursery: odds and ends
We’ve been in a bit of a lull with the nursery progress. With the main pieces complete (or yet to be built), I’ve been focusing on textiles and other odds and ends instead. Lots of decisions to make, but no real progress yet. So, a status update of sorts:
1. Curtains – I still like the idea of doing a modern yellow fabric for the wardrobe curtains but finding the right pattern has been more challenging than I expected. Frustrated by the selection at the handful of local fabric shops I’ve been to, I’ve started looking around online for options. My mom has used Fat Quarter Shop for quilting projects and I found a few contenders there during a recent search. (I also still like this white and yellow chevron pattern too.)
Or what about these curtains from Land of Nod? (They’re actually reasonably priced!) I’m not sure how well the lighter gray would go with wall color though.
For the two windows in the room, we plan on keeping the roller shades but need some type of blackout option for napping. Our windows just have a fir jamb casing so I’ve been thinking about something like a simple roman shade. But we have non-standard window sizes, so…fabric hunting again.
My mom actually had the idea to choose a color that more closely matched the walls so that the shades wouldn’t become a focal point in the room. I found this charcoal-colored felt (above)…
…and this grayish flannel. Could one of these work? Has anyone made their own roman shades?
I’d also need to figure how to mount them. Right now, the roller shade hardware sits just inside the window jamb. Even though the shades were an investment, we’ve always been a little disappointed in the quality of the chrome-painted plastic hardware. Maybe there’s a way to create a minimal valence for the roman shades while also hiding the cheapy looking hardware? Two birds with one stone, yes?
Despite my textile indecision, there is one thing we recently decided on.
2. Glider – We went for it – the Monte Luca glider in charcoal. (My siblings are actually getting it for us as a baby gift…yay for big families!) I ordered it from Land of Nod on Friday during a local 20% off sale and we pick it up next weekend!
3. Dresser – We still like it, but we don’t love it. It’s not quite long enough for the space and we’re not sure about the color (but can’t justify painting it either). I’ve been keeping an eye on Craigslist but no luck. I’ve also been trying to think outside the box – we don’t necessarily need a dresser, just something that can work as a changing table and provide additional storage. One option is to eventually install drawers in the adjacent wardrobe and use whatever goes here for toys, books, etc. So maybe a credenza or sideboard instead? Is there something we could make or hack?
MORE INDECISION.
4. Art – I love the modern fairy tale posters by artist Christian Jackson and was reminded of them a few months ago when Mariane left a comment about The Princess and The Pea print and how the colors resembled our palette. I confess, I remember being slightly confused by this story as a kid and after a conversation with a coworker last week neither of us could remember exactly what the moral of the story was supposed to be (apparently it’s about not judging people). Anyway. I ordered a 10×16 print and I think it’s going to look really sweet in our little girl’s room.
We have a few other ideas for art, but all will be revealed in due time.
5. Odds and Ends – I saw this the other day while at Land of Nod. Kyle and I have a thing for squirrels and I like the color. When I showed it to him he asked if the squirrel was standing on the Arc de Triomphe. Clearly. =)
I know felt garland is everywhere these days, but I like this version of it. Yes, another thing I could feasibly make myself. My sewing machine continues to taunt me.
Then there’s storage baskets for the bench cubby that Kyle is going to build. I love the plastic lace baskets that Nicole used at her house but sadly they don’t seem to be available anymore. Maybe something like these fabric baskets instead?
Ok, that’s what I got.
file cabinet
With about two months left to bake, I really wasn’t expecting any celebration or big to-do for Mother’s Day this year. I mean, I’m all for thoughtful actions and nice gestures, but I hate the idea of forced consumerism, especially when you’re sorta pushing the bounds of eligibility as it is. So I didn’t bring it up with Kyle but his co-workers and friends certainly did, reminding him that he absolutely had to get something for his baby-mama-to-be.
So, he got me a file cabinet.
Just kidding. He actually got me a gorgeous new orchid for the Boskke planter in the living room (the first one is still alive but just dormant) and a super cute card from Bailey and Felix.
Ok, I was actually only half kidding about the file cabinet. Moping about a dismal experience with Craigslist, I scored this $10 file cabinet a while back after receiving a tip from a reader (thank you!) about the University of Washington’s surplus store. Since then, it’s been hanging out in the carport in various levels of completion, until yesterday when Kyle finished her up and let me loose into organization bliss.
[Apologies for the crappy before photos, apparently I don’t know how to deal with the sun when it makes a surprise visit.] A giant warehouse with all sorts of office supplies, furniture and other random stuff, the surplus store is open every Tuesday afternoon to the public. It’s also not far from my office so for a few weeks in a row I went during lunch to scope things out, crossing my fingers for a sweet deal. While they consistently had 30-40 four-drawer cabinets, the two-drawers were virtually nonexistent. On my third or fourth attempt I finally saw this guy. It was dirty and ugly, but I could tell it was well-made and just needed a little TLC. And for $10 I figured I could always resale it if things didn’t work out between us.
The first thing we did was haul it onto the back deck where we pulled out the drawers and hangers and hosed everything down and removed any stickers or grubby remains.
Next, Kyle transferred it to the carport where he gave it several coats of our favorite automotive primer (the same thing we used for the sliding door track, loft ladder, side table and loft desk brackets). I really did consider doing some type of bright color instead, but we couldn’t agree on anything so safe-gray it was. Whatever, gray is the new black.
The primer (in “hot rod gray”) has a matte surface that is easily scratchable so he used several coats of a clear finish as a final step.
My original intention was for the file cabinet to fit underneath the desktop, but turns out most standard file cabinets are too tall for a 30″ desk height. Doh.
So for now she sits in the corner, all by her lonesome. She looks sexy though, huh?
At first I wanted to paint all the hardware the same gray color, but I now think the original silver color is a nice touch. [The locking mechanism at the top was all mangled so Kyle just took it out.]
I started organizing files back in January when we first had the idea to turn the loft into an office/studio space, so everything was more or less ready for its new home. We’re using the top drawer for personal files and the bottom drawer for house-related paperwork. This is the result of some serious purging and it feels good to finally have everything in one place. [We sold our old (and much larger) IKEA file cabinet on Craigslist in under 30 minutes.] As you can see, the cabinet is incredibly sturdy and doesn’t topple over when the top drawer is fully extended. Always a good thing.
I couldn’t justify buying pretty new files, so I reused ones that we’ve had for years. But don’t kid yourself, I totally made new file tabs. And I didn’t just hand write them. No, no, no – I made a template in InDesign, filled in all the text, printed them on a sheet of 8.5×11 paper and then carefully cut each one using a straight edge and an Exacto knife. Ack! I am such an architect and such a NERD!
The bottom drawer is not as pretty, but holds all of our remodel-related files. [I organized everything into categories like “electrical”, “furnishings”, “plumbing”, “sketches”, etc.] I originally considered putting together a giant homeowner’s manual of sorts, but soon realized that even after purging we had way too much to fit into a 3-ring binder.
So if you’re taking on a full-fledged remodel, I highly recommend some kind of system for organizing all the pamphlets, manuals and info sheets that you’ll inevitably collect along the way. After all, the key to a successful DIY is often directly linked to maintaining sanity (which is directly linked to being able to find stuff when you need it). Words to live by folks, trust me.
And that’s the story of our new file cabinet. The studio loft is now fully functional but will continue to evolve over time and maybe someday it will be accessorized enough for a proper reveal. In fact, as I sit here and type I’m staring at a rectangle on the wall made from blue painter’s tape. Several weeks ago Kyle had the notion to add a window out the gable end (if we did, we’d likely have a peek-a-boo view of the Olympics). It’s low on the priority list, but you know he’s not going to just let the idea go. =)
