My Big Fat Renovation

[67ChevyRedneck]

Then finally some color. Again, we're going for the neutral look downstairs, so we stuck with the same tan color as everything else downstairs.

1-3. Just pics of new color.

4. New Cabinet. We lucked out. It somewhat matches the other cabinets in the house. I matched the knobs to the ones on the bathroom base cabinets.

5. Cool new light fixture.

[67ChevyRedneck]

We had an issue with the pooper. When we bought the house we thought there was no way that the septic tank had never been pumped. Don't ever think that! The stuff backed up into the lower toiled and lifted it off the seal a little bit. It was OK until was flushed, then it was leaking a tiny bit, so basically, we didn't use it for many months.

1. The toilet bolts were shot and the floor screws were totally rotten. The plastic flange was in excellent shape so I just replaced the floor screws and bolts. I also crawled under the house to double check that there was no water damage around the flange, it was dry and rot free. Sweet.

I also used this opportunity to paint all of the trim and the wainscoting.

2. So, I completely rebuilt the toilet. All new guts in the tank, a new tank to bowl seal, new seat, new wax seal, and I re caulked around the bottom. No wobbles and no leaks, it's been over a week since I finished it.

3. A shot of the painted crown molding and new exhaust fan. It replaced the "exhausted" old fan This one also has a light. The ceiling got repainted as well. This "corner" was a little dark, but with the light I can read my Classic Trucks magazines a little easier now

[67ChevyRedneck]

1. Another shot of new cabinet.

2. New light again and painted crown.

3. New mirror (I think this is MUCH cooler than just the old mirror glued to the wall.)

4. My wife picked out the neat butterfly thingy. Kinda cool.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Circling around the bathroom.

1. Across from the pooper. You can see the new door stopper and hardware. So much cleaner than painted over hinges

2. The sink got a brand new faucet, drain, and hoses. The cabinet was repainted inside and out, and I even added knobs to the fake top drawer. I think it looks cooler now.

3-4. Area around the toilet.

I absolutely love the new bathroom. It came out even better than I had expected. Pictures just don't do it justice!

[gcburdic]

All this nice work and you have that ugly soap dispenser on the counter.....ugh!!!

Good job Jesse.....so I'm guessing the job search still continues?!?!?....Hope all is well....

[67ChevyRedneck]

Ummmm, funny story. There used to be a matching pump. On the very last trip from the old apartment to the house I hit a speed bump, my tailgate dropped on my truck (latches stuck, they needed some WD40) and the box that had the pump in it fell out and it shattered all over the road. The new
"set" she wants is like $50, so that stuff will work for now

Jobs?

[ERASER5]

Wow! That is a super pooper! But where is the magazine rack?

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

Wow! That is a super pooper! But where is the magazine rack?

We finally had our house party. I put it up in my bathroom upstairs... it may make it's way back down though... I tend to use this bathroom more.

[red69ss]

looks great jesse I really like the waynescoating (if thats how its spelled) in the bathroom ,we did that in my stepson's bath last year it really adds class to it. like the new door too, what you going to do with that piece of treated wood showing under the door if anything? I know what you mean about the paint on hinges I hate it too ,and brushed nickel is the way to go been replacing everything in my house with it. I just finished a major overhaul of my master bedroom and bath so I know your pain .

[67ChevyRedneck]

I'm just going to leave it for now. I only put 5 screws in it. I *hope* to be building a new deck in the next year or two and will replace and stain it to whatever I chose to paint the deck. For now, it's just to cover the flashing. I absolutely despise my red deck. It's not sturdy at all. It's built on top of the ground on wood blocks and the railings are notched 4x4's nailed to the side of the deck and after 10 years everything is so warped and loose... It's time for a new one

[red69ss]

figured you had plans for it ,by the way I like the mantle white I prefer white trim it just looks cleaner and brighter than stain imho. on the other hand I do not like your grill cover you need to get you a gamecocks one.

[ERASER5]

Ooooo. I'm getting the popcorn for this one! Tigers vs Gamecocks! Game ON!

[67ChevyRedneck]

Nah, you can put the popcorn away

Clemson is my alma mater. I received my BS in Civil Engineering from there, I met my wife there, and I have a great group of friends I still see frequently that I met there. I have more pride in the actual school than their sports teams. I don't give to IPTAY and I've only been to about 3 games since I graduated in 2004. I do try to watch as many of the football games as I can on TV, but that's about it. The last time we won anything significant was in 1981. I was barely a month old.

Congrats to South Carolina for winning the CWS!

[ERASER5]

Awwww. I already ate the popcorn.

I was living in Greenville when the Refrigerator was playing. Back in the day, that man was a tough act to follow.

[red69ss]

deffinently no popcorn needed just ribbing you a little bit, deff happy about the cws win!

[67ChevyRedneck]

I took a break from inside of the house for a while. We did a "super good" clean on everything at the end of June for our house party, then it was the 4th, then her parents came down... I just haven't wanted to "dirty it up."

So I moved outside. I think I counted somewhere around 35 tree stumps in the back yard. Yes, 35. I'd say about 20 of them were 6" and smaller, another 10 were 6-12", and the last 4 or 5 were in that 12-24" area. Now, OF THOSE, MOST of them were either fairly rotten, or came out of the ground fairly easy. I can think of about 8 that took me 2-3 hours of screwing around to get them at least cut down a few inches below ground level.

So you may be thinking, why not hire someone or rent a stump cutter? Simple, I already had the tools and I have more time than money.

1. Like a mother f'in rock baby! I got out about 10 of the smaller ones this way

2. The fence was a few inches above the ground here and my stupid dog kept trying to dig out, so I put rocks around the border and the wife wanted a "full sun" planting area. Came up with this. I think it's pretty cool.

3. The dirt from the mulch beds (see following pics). I think this was load number 7 or 8? It worked out great because I used the dirt to fill in the stump holes!

4. The stump pile. It's actually bigger than it looks in the pic.

5. I had a bunch of small logs to cut up and some old rotten fencing. It was kinda fun

[67ChevyRedneck]

Ok, so my yard is kinda weedy and dead. I know. Not my fault. I'm going to try and fix that this fall.

Anyway:

1, 2, & 3: Where ever you see a significantly sized brown spot, there was a tree stump, or two, or sometimes 3 in that area.

4. This little area had about 8 small to medium stumps.

5. This was the sucky area. There used to be a tree house here and the stumps were only a year old, so more difficult to remove. There was mostly medium sized stumps. A new maple tree sprouted up! I hope the little guy lives!

[67ChevyRedneck]

I got tired of edging around the house and stupid vines still kept trying to creep up, so I got rid of it all. Digging it up, there was actually an old bed around the whole house about the same size I made mine.

1. New mulch bed, splash block, and stones. The stones keep the roof water from washing the mulch away.

2. Look down the house. It was also important to get this area done so I didn't have to keep trying to weed eat around the A/C unit. There's also satellite and cable wires in the area. I also removed rotten wood from behind the steps (it was absolutely unnecessary!), re leveled the steps, and the blocks with sand and old bricks. Also, the garage door was added after the house was built. It's still in primer and sticks out like a sore thumb. It will be white soon enough. I have to remove the old molding and install J channel, that's right, they just nailed the trim right over the siding.

3. I surprised my wife with this. We had a lot of rocks laying around and I thought it was be cool and score points... it did I'll be adding another one on the other side of the A/C unit between the unit and the garage door, just haven't done it yet.

4 & 5. The wife picked out the flowers and stuff. I just put the dirt in. I think she did a good job.

[67ChevyRedneck]

1. The other side of the house. Again, it's nice not weed eating around the A/C unit anymore, it keeps the grill from getting covered in grass clippings.

2. That's actually another flower bed. The plant thing growing from under the deck is a pain. It grows back fast when I cut it. I have to do some work under there this fall, I'll dig it out and lay some new plastic.

3. I moved the bushes around. The one by the stairs died before we bought the place, so I dug up the bushes and moved them and bought a new little guy to even things up. I know they look crispy, but they should be just fine...

4. Area next to the garage and my sexy bird!

5. This is how I know the other bushes will live. I moved the one on the right last year because it was overhanging into the driveway. It looked dead last year, but now that the roots have reestablished, it's all healthy now

[67ChevyRedneck]

1. Other side of the garage.

2. Overall shot. I'm trying to let the bushes grow and cut them so that over the next couple years I'll have "even" bushes. Basically I cut the healthy 2 big green ones heavily and let the smaller one grow. The ones on the left will probably not be trimmed for a year or two except for maybe the sides.

3 -5. I love this dog so much. She's trying to help me dig up the roots. I had to keep her in the house most of the time though. Every Time I pulled out a new root or stump she'd drag it off, then get in the way when I tried to swing the Maddox or axe.

[383Ram]

Man, everytime you do more work , i feel worse and worse i don't do as much on mine.

I haven't been able to fully keep up with the thread, but did you land any work yet?

Oh, and this right here.....



Yea, thats going to get me points too. I have a small bed that needs to be re boardered and thats a great idea. The wife loves heart shaped things. Thank you.


.

[low'n slow]

Looking great. You're right, I won't show this to the wife or I'll be in trouble.

Umm, your wheelbarrow needs a little help.

What are the plans for the bird?

[67ChevyRedneck]

Don't feel bad. I have a lot of unwanted free time and once this crap is done, I don't plan on doing anything else! I just hope I can get grass to grow this fall. My damn dogs are in heaven with all the dirt everywhere. The mulch beds have greatly reduced my weed eater time. I can just run over the edge a bit with the mower and all done!

As far as the other thing... I don't even like to talk about it anymore. I have something very important coming up on Tuesday. Fingers, toes, and everything else crossed!

The heart thing was totally my idea I put it in and surprised her with it when she came home. She loved it. She got all excited picking out the perennials to put in it.

The wheelbarrow actually came with the house, along with a trailer full of trash and scrap. It just needs a new inner tube. I made $80 on the scrap No, it wasn't a foreclosure, they were just messy people.

The bird was my dad's car. He's owned it since the mid 80's but it sat since the early 90's.... outside

I'm cleaning out my garage so I can get the car in, hopefully this weekend. I spent a bunch of money on storage this week. Got some shelves and some sweet ass tool carts. Sears had a crazy "midnight" sale and I got the little one for 52% off and the big one for 35% off. Still expensive, but worth it! It's still a mess, I have a couple more days of cleaning and organizing, but the car will fit with a couple feet all the way around it. The lawnmower is just in there for service. The battery croaked and it needs a new belt. Just a week ago I had to hop over a huge pile of crap just to get to the truck and I could never find anything, not anymore! I had been putting it off because of the cost of the stuff I wanted, but I put it off long enough!!!

I hope to start cutting the bird apart soon. Super solid windshield, rear window, roof, and cowl... rusty piece of crap everything else... and some more info on the bird:

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...d.php?t=401184

[gcburdic]

Boy Jesse....that garage is so unlike you!!!

Good Luck tomorrow!

[nuke1]

Jesse, the house looks amazing, sure has come along ways, good luck tomorrow!