DIY Woodworking, Home Improvement, and Art Projects

SO the shower is in place! It wasn’t looking good there for a while. The plumber had the bathroom filled with his tools, he didn’t show up one day, and when he left the day before that we weren’t sure it was going to get done this week. Well the guy finished up on Monday night and everything works. It is so nice to see some big progress in that room. It can be pretty crazy having your main bathroom be a construction zone, totally unusable, and not very kid-friendly. It’s been almost a month now since we started the demo and we are ready to finish off the drywall around the shower, tile the floor, move in the new vanity, install the new light fixture, install the new baseboard molding, install the new door, finish the decorative treatment on the walls, and re-install the toilet.

Hah! Small list right…well, when you tear things down to the frame you will find yourself with a huge list like that. It’s going to be great when it is complete though. What’s nice is knowing that we did most of it ourselves. If you’re a do it yourselfer you know that satisfaction and it definitely drives you and motivates you.

So you want to learn how to remove a toilet? Replace a shower? Demo an old vanity? Put slate tile on a bathroom floor? Stick around, because I plan to create individual sections with pictures, instructions, and my notes on all of these projects. Until then, take care!

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Well, although we’ve been working on projects that took a long time, and required a lot of hard work, this bathroom remodel takes the cake. So far we’ve completely removed the old shower, the two doors into the room, the vanity, the toilet, much of the drywall, and all of the terrible plastic molding around the doors and the floor. We framed out a small wall to close off one of the doors into the bathroom, and we are currently in the process of adding the new shower and tub, refinishing the walls, getting the floor prepped for the slate tile, and replacing the old vanity light fixture.

We bought a nice Moen shower fixture kit to replace the existing pieces. Over the past couple of months we had also been ordering a few pieces here and there like the new vanity, the new shower, the new granite countertop, etc. Basically we wanted to spread out the cost of the job and also have everything at the house when we were ready for it. There’s nothing worse than getting done with one part of the job, only to have to wait two weeks for the next piece to come in on order. It wouldn’t be that bad, really, but we just decided to get most of the new stuff before tearing everything else out.

We decided to hire a plumber to handle all of the major work in getting the new shower roughed in and the pipes altered. It’s not that I wasn’t interested in trying it myself, but when you look at all of the specialized tools necessary to do that type of work, even the best-stocked garage full of tools wouldn’t have half of a plumber’s essentials. We got a great deal because we know someone just a block away who gave us a good deal. After we spent five hours in that room on Saturday I am more than glad I didn’t even attempt to do any of the actual plumbing work besides removing the sink and toilet. Those two things weren’t that bad, and I will write more about the best way I found to move a toilet and take out a thirty year old sink and vanity.

I have so many pictures stored in my camera that I need to start downloading them and posting them along with the relevant blog entry. Since October I have been back in college finishing up my business management degree. All of that work keeps me so busy that although I have been doing some home improvement projects lately, I just can’t seem to find the time to write about them here. I eventually want to make a section of a static site for each of the major projects we did and then post pictures, relevant instructions, my personal experience with the products I used, the things to avoid doing, etc. I really want to make this a place where you can come to find information about many different topics related to home improvement in one site. So please bare with me while I finish my degree and complete all of these projects. I promise that I will develop a great resource with pictures, tutorials, the whole works. Thanks!

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Home décor trends for 2006 continue to favor simple, natural, durable and easy to care for styles of home furnishings. Enliven your décor in 2006 and redecorate from the floor up with Natural-Fiber Area Rugs.

Natural fiber rugs are hard wearing and offer an earthy, textured look that complements so many of today’s home décor styles. You’ll want top-grade features such as wider padded canvas bindings, mitered corners for a more finished look and heavy non-skid latex backing for added durability. High quality natural fiber rugs can be researched and purchased online from retailers like Home Decorators Collection.

There are several variations of natural fiber rugs to choose from each with its own benefits. Not sure about which type is right for your home décor? Discover the features of each in the list below.

Coir - the strongest of the natural fibers with a unique coarse texture.
Sisal – offers optimum durability with a smoother pile; takes dyes well and are anti-static.
Jute – soft underfoot; its flexible texture allows for interesting woven designs. Jute rugs are reversible for twice the life.
Seagrass - the most stain-resistant natural fiber with a smooth texture.
Bamboo – strength and stability with the look and texture of wood and a felt backing.
Cotton – affordable hand-woven cotton rugs are easy to care for and reversible for extended ware.

Unless otherwise directed most natural fiber rugs can be cleaned with mild detergent and your water hose in the backyard. Once clean hang the rug to dry in the sun. Don’t forget the all important rug pad between your rug and the floor. A rug pad will extend the life of your rug while protecting your floor and your family from damage and accidents.

To learn more about the many natural fiber rugs available visit HomeDecorators.com. You’ll see full-sized images with coordinating style options.

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Howdy everybody. Just dang, I can’t believe that it’s been over a month since I’ve posted. I think I just got a bit burnt out there once I was done with the major part of the kitchen renovation. After over four months of hard work that part of the house is done well enough that it’s fine if we never returned to work on it again. I do still have designs on doing the faux-stucco plaster work over the brick on the main wall of the kitchen.

Now the master bathroom and master bedroom renovations are on the docket. I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of planning, shopping, demolishing, and rebuilding. We’ve already been planning for the bedroom and bathroom work for awhile. The ideas were there, but the kitchen really was the priority. Actually, the kids rooms were the first things on the list; the murals and lighting we did for them was to make their transition to the new house easier. Once their little fun, private spaces were complete, we moved on to the kitchen. Now that the list is clear again, we move on to the master bed and bath.

For the bedroom we’re going to keep it fairly simple to start with. We bought some Benjamin Moore paint, a nice mirrored, wrought iron wall piece to use as a head board, a new folding closet panel door, and we’ve priced out new poplar molding for the door casements and the baseboard molding. The current crop of molding in this place is like sawdust, water, and spit pressed into a mold roughly shaped like a strip of wood. It’s falling apart, it looks like crap, and it just doesn’t belong anywhere, let alone inside a house where actual people live! Eventually I’m going to attempt to make a solid wood bed platform, but that’s at the bottom of the bedroom list right now.

In the master bathroom we’re going to be plastering over a smaller, second door that goes directly into the bedroom.  It’s not very useful since the main door is right beside it and is just off of the hallway is much more convenient.  There is also some moldy, water-damaged drywall beside the shower that needs repaired.  We already purchased some awesome 6×6 natural slate tile, a custom-made maple wood 42″ vanity in nutmeg finish, and we’ve got a cool sand-texture paint that we used in the sea-themed kids room.  We’re going to get the poplar molding for the bathroom too, and the lights, mirror, and vanity top will be updated as well.  We’ll be doing the tile, drywall, installation of the vanity and top, and refinishing the walls ourselves.

So the list is full once again and I’m pretty excited about it.  I’ll make more of an effort to  post our progress on these two big projects.  Until then, take care!

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I wanted to post a quick update on things.  I know it’s been a while since the last post and it’s a bummer…but I just have so little time to do all the things I’d like to be doing.  Anyway, we’ve finished the texturing of the main walls in the kitchen, added the decorative iron piece above the sink, and finished the last set of cabinets.  Whew!

Basically the only thing left that is a major project in the kitchen is the texture and painting of the faux brick wall.  It doesn’t look bad the way it is now, so I am not in a major hurry to get it done.  I can live with it for a while as we focus on the master bedroom next.  The brick project will involve filling in the mortar joints with joint compound, doing some faux weathering and aging on the bricks, and adding a little bit of the same plaster texture over top of some of the bricks to make it look as if there was an old stucco coating at one time.

In the meantime it’s just nice to have such a major section of work complete.  As promised I will put together a tutorial with all the pictures that would be useful if you want to do a kitchen remodel like this.  Until then…take ‘er easy.

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I’m always on the lookout for good deals and smart things to do to save money, time, and effort. At this point I’m not in the market for a refinance or a home equity loan, but I know many people are. I found this company called Getsmart.com. They are a service of Lending Tree, a trusted brand that everyone knows about. The nice thing about this company is that they will give you free quotes for lending services from over 250 companies nationwide.

With free quotes available for new home mortgages, refinancing, and home equity loans, you can check out your options risk free. I like Getsmart.com because they are a part of a reputable organization, Lending Tree, and they have a pretty easy, quick form to fill out to get your personalized quote. You can call them at an 800-number, so they’re not hiding behind some fancy, complicated web site. Basically if you want a fast, competitive, and free quote for any type of loan service, then check them out. Just click on any of the Getsmart.com links to go directly to their quick form.

The other nice thing about this service is that the quotes are no obligation, so you don’t have any commitment when you request a quote. Also, you don’t even have to use your social security number when you fill out the quick form. It’s about as easy as it gets to see what your financial options are with them. A home equity loan can be a great way to finance your ambitious home renovation project. The nice thing is that you can also roll in your existing credit card debt to make one easy payment each month.

Let me know if Getsmart.com works for you. I’d love to hear what you’ve done with the extra cash from a refinance or home equity loan. I’m tempted to check it out and make our renovations deluxe…but I’ll probably live vicariously through others who take the plunge and get a loan for their projects.

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Sometimes it takes a little shake up in your routine to get back to the do it yourself projects that have slid into obscurity. My special lady has gone south for the week, and I have plenty of time to take care of the dog, write some fiction that I’ve been meaning to give more attention to, and last but not least, work on the kitchen renovation.

The renewed focus is due in part to the fact that we’re hosting a gathering of friends this weekend for food, drinks, and a look at all of our progress. So, not wanting to let them down, I’m going to give them so progress to look at. The main projects to complete in the kitchen are the cabinet refinishing, reworking the faux brick wall, and priming, texturing, and glazing the other walls.

I’ll post some pictures of the projects a little later as I’ve yet to transfer them from my camera and edit them. I have another site that I’m developing concurrently to host all the tutorials, big projects, etc., all in one place, that will be easier to navigate and display more pictures. For now I’ll just give a quick run down of what I did over the weekend.

The Brick Wall - Not much done on these so far. I went to the dollar store and bought two large, thin plastic table cloths that I’m going to use as catch-all drop cloths. For two bucks total I got enough square footage to adequately protect most of the kitchen now. We’ve already got the joint compound that I’ll be using for the mortar joints and the stucco effect; though, I’m sure I’ll need to buy more later this week.

The Kitchen Walls - Here I’ve taped everything off, prepped the walls by giving them a quick wash with Murphy’s oil soap and water, and cut in all the corners and edges with Kilz Primer. I’ve set myself up for a quick coat of primer using a roller to complete the priming and sealing of the walls before I add the joint compound venetian plaster texture. I wanted to complete the priming and sealing last night but it was getting late and I was beat.

The Kitchen Cabinets - We only had one small section left to complete for this project. There are three doors, and two drawers, plus the faces of the actual cabinet unit itself. I managed to double coat the fronts with that same Kilz primer/sealer, and put one coat on the backs of the doors. This was after sanding, washing, filling, then sanding and washing again. I’m almost ready to put the first coat of color on them; hopefully this evening will see that get done.

As I continue with each project I’ll post updates. These are pretty big projects to try and finish in one weekend and three weeknights (she’ll be back Thursday evening.) I guess I can rest a little over the upcoming four-day weekend. Take care!

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Here is a step by step guide to help you hire a quality home improvement contractor. I think it’s important to be able to locate local reliable, efficient, and experienced contractors. This is the DIY blog, but there are many projects that would be better accomplished with the services of an expert.
Before talking to any contractors the first thing to do is create a budget for the project. Without a budget you will be flying blind and may end up over spending. Having a tight budget will also help you make decisions about what kind of fixtures, and materials to purchase. Most products have a wide price range and having a budget will help keep you in line when making buying decisions.

After you have your budget dialed in get three written estimates from three different contractors. Be sure the estimate is complete; getting a “written” estimate on the back of a business card is not a sign of a good contractor. Getting three estimates will enable you to compare prices from different contractors. Reliableremodeler.com is a great service that will help you get free estimates from quality contractors for free.

Take the time to talk with each contractor and get a feel for which one you will be most comfortable working with and having in your home. Be sure and pay attention to things like who shows up on time and who is prepared to talk about your project. If a contractor shows up late to your appointment chances are they will show up late when working on your project.

While you are in the process of selecting a contractor it is a good idea to make sure they have the proper license, insurance, and bonding. All three of these items are in place to protect homeowners. Working with a contractor who isn’t licensed or doesn’t have the proper insurance might come back to haunt you. A good contractor will show you copies of these documents when they present your written estimate.

The next step is to check the references of the contractor you are leaning towards selecting. Be sure to ask specific questions about their experience with the contractor. “Did the contractor show up on time?” “Did the contractor clean up after themselves?” If you want to be more aggressive you can ask the contractor for the names and numbers of their last three jobs and call those instead of their handpicked references. This will provide a more realistic overview of the contractors daily work habits and skills.

The last step is to select your contractor and have them provide you a timeline for the completion of the project. Having a timeline will help ensure your project is completed in a timely manner.

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So you’ve got to strip some paint or varnish off of a wood surface.  Right.  A fairly common task.  Well, if you live in an apartment, don’t have a lot of work space in your home, or you can’t tolerate the heavier, chemical smells of traditional mineral-spirit-based paint strippers, then Citristrip might be for you.  Even if you do have plenty of work space and the strong smells don’t bother you that much, then you’d still do well to try this product.  We tried it based on the recommendation of a friend and I’m passing that recommendation on to you.

This product does what it advertises to do…it’s a powerful all-purpose stripper that’s easy to use.  I will warn you now, it’s not like you’re just stripping paint with completely safe, gentle chemicals here.  This stuff will eat through standard vinyl gloves in no time.  It’s also a skin irritant and should be washed off immediately if it gets on exposed skin.  If you’re going to try this stuff out, make sure you have a sturdy plastic scraping tool, and several pairs of high-quality, chemical-resistant gloves.  Also, though the smell isn’t as bad as other strippers I’ve used, it still is pretty strong.  We applied the gel in the garage and could still smell it days later; inside the house we could hardly tell there was an odor.

We used the aerosol can applicator rather than get the larger size container.  In our case we had one cabinet door that I used to test different techniques and perfect my repainting system.  Unfortunately since I didn’t get it quite right, I had to strip it all down to the bare wood and start from scratch to get a consistent look to all the other doors.  So we set up two saw horses in the garage, placed the door on top, and sprayed a thick coating of the Citristrip gel evenly over the entire top and sides.  It says that within two hours you may be able to remove the unwanted paint or varnish.  I went out to the garage 2 1/2 hours later, put on my gloves again, got out the plastic scraper, and dove in.

I agree that within two hours it may work for you…but I had at least six or seven layers of primer, paint, glaze, and varnish on this cabinet: Two hours wasn’t going to be enough.  In my haste I kept scraping and scraping, trying to make it work.  The first time much of the paint did come off, but it was very messy, and the paint got very sticky and I was lucky I had thought ahead and brought out rags and a couple plastic bags to dispose of the paint remnants.  So I kept scraping, and spraying more gel, then scraping, then spraying.  I think I should have done one round of scraping, then sprayed another layer of gel and waited another two hours.

Because I was impatient it cost me the extra physical labor involved in all that extra scraping and washing.  I used an old toothbrush to help me get in the corners and then I used Murphy’s Oil Soap and water to clean off the excess Citristrip gel and paint bits.  So all-in-all it’s a great product as long as you plan ahead with your tools, can set aside an entire afternoon to apply it and then scrape it off, possibly more than once, and if you’ve got the proper gloves.  Give it a try, especially if harsh smells bother you, because this product has comparably low odor and was quite easy to clean up once I was finished.

Here are a couple product images with some bullet points from Citristrip’s website.

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I’d like to write a post that says I’ve made some unbelievable progress on the last section of kitchen cabinets that we’ve been working on.  We started this project early this year, in late January if I remember correctly.  It’s eventually going to be a full cabinet refinishing tutorial with pictures, products, etc.  At this point I’m gathering up and editing the pictures we’ve taken and I’m writing my notes for the tutorial.  There will be formulas for a great home made antique glaze, the products we used for preparing, cleaning, and finishing the cabinets, and even our fun experiment with stripping off six layers of paint on our test door (that was fun.)

Another thing that I thought would be helpful to share some of the sources for our new hardware, paint, and other supplies.  Then there will be more parts to the story when I add indirect lighting above the cabinets and finish off the decorative iron accent piece above the sink that spans two sections of upper cabinets.  We’re pretty much changing everything except the appliances and the countertops in this kitchen remodel.  We already swapped out the old, leaky faucet.  The new one is more stylish and has a nice sprayer attachment.  There was a little trouble installing it, but I’ll cover that in another post in more detail.

Well, if you’re doing a kitchen remodel, or cabinet refinishing project, good luck!  I know it’s a lot of hard work…but we’re about 75% done on the cabinets ourselves, and it makes such a huge difference that it’s definitely worth the effort.  Cheers!

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