Upstairs Bathroom Renovation

About a year ago I upgraded the upstairs bathroom in our home.  Unfortunately I do not have any before pictures.  The picture below is an after picture.  I will just briefly describe what I did to this room.  I took this picture using my new HD video camera which has 170 degree fisheye lens.  I think camera does a great job for taking pictures in small rooms.  

1. Installed an exhaust fan in the ceiling.  The fan is powered off the same switch which controls the light.  The fan vent runs through the attic to the side of the home.  The trickiest part about this installation was very small section of flat ceiling in this bathroom which made it difficult to fit the fan.  
2. The old toilet and vanity were removed.  
3. The tub originally had a hand held shower on a flexible hose.  I fabricated a rigid copper pipe assembly which runs up the wall to a shower head.  I used chrome spray paint to paint the copper pipe assembly.
4. The tub wall is tiled only hallway up.  So I fabricated a stainless steel shower curtain rod which completely surrounds the tub.  The curtain rod is stepped to match the slanted roof line of the bathroom.  It takes three shower curtains which are custom cut to length to completely surround the tub.  
5. The biggest mistake I made was trying to reglaze the yellow tub to white color using a home depot kit.  Although the tub looked great at first, the glaze quick started chipping and now it looks worse then plain yellow tub did.  I am not sure how I will fix this issue.  I did not want to remove the tub because it is cast iron and quite large and in good shape other then the ugly color.
6. I tiled the floor and it came out pretty good for my first attempt at tiling.
7. My Dad and I designed and built the green vanity.  The vanity has 2 outlets, 2 sconce lights, a shaving mirror, a towel rack, a cereal bowl sink, and a tall tap style faucet.  We built the vanity from poplar and pine.  
8. I also installed a new toilet with a larger oval shaped bowl and a narrow tank.  The original toilet was yellow and the tank was too wide so the toilet had to be installed at a slight angle.
   
   

Demolition of Fake Fireplace

This afternoon Jay and I demolished the fake masonry fireplace in my house to make room for a built-in entertainment center.  The fireplace is non functional and does not have a flu and is definitely not in style.  The first step was to remove the wooden mantle and the trim, using a hammer, crowbar, and sledge hammer.  Then the brick was carefully broken up using a sledge hammer.  The side bricks were removed first and then the center bricks were removed.  We were surprised to find an outlet hidden in the side bricks.  I used an outlet tester to verify the outlet was worked and then turned off the outlet at the breaker while we removed the bricks around it.  This existing wiring for this outlet will prove to be very useful for supplying power to the outlets I plan to add to the built-in entertainment center. Shown below are some pictures of this demolition.  Sorry about the picture quality, my camera was not working well and the pictures came out blurry.

Picture of fireplace before it was removed.

Picture of fireplace after mantle and some of the bricks were removed.

Picture of  working outlet which was found in the side of the fireplace.

Picture of hole in the wall after the fireplace and mantle were removed.

Hallway Painting and New Fixtures

Last weekend we decided to repaint the upstairs hallway and install new fixtures.  The hallway looks so much better!  I want to start by thanking everyone who helped including Kristen, Jay, and Cory.  The new wall color is lilac bisque and the trim color is a bright white.  The pictures below show step by step how we changed the hallway.  As you can see from the pictures below the hallway looks amazingly better and all it took was 3 gallons of paint, some new fixtures, and some time.  Total cost for this project was about $120 and it took us 3 days to complete.  

The basic steps we followed to complete this hallway were as follows:

1. Removed all outlet covers, switch covers, light fixtures, and stair hand rail.
2. Prepped wall, ceilings, and trim for paint by filling holes, cracks, and gaps. 
3. Painted ceiling (2 coats).
4. Taped off ceiling in prep for wall paint.
5. Painted walls (2 Coats).
6. Removed ceiling tape.
7. Taped off floors and walls in prep for wall paint.
8. Painted trim and radiator (2 Coats)
9. Removed floor and wall tape.
10. Installed new switches, outlets, and light fixtures with new covers.
11. Installed stair hand rail.

Large hallway window before painting.

Small hallway small window before painting.

Stairway before painting.

Stairway before painting.

Window frame with nail holes and gaps filled in prep for painting.

Large window prepped for painting.

Stairway with hand rail removed.

Switch and outlet covers removed.

Outlet cover removed

Tape prep for wall painting.

Light fixture removed.

Tape prep for wall painting.

Walls painted.

Walls painted.

Walls painted.

Walls painted.

Tape prep for trim painting.

Trim and heater painted.

Trim painted

Trim Painted.

New light fixture installed.

New switch installed.

Automatic Dog Door Installation

One of the first projects we did to our home, was to install an automatic dog door.  We originally bought and used this door at our home in Massena NY.  When we sold our Massena NY house we took the door with us.  This is the coolest dog door I have ever seen.  The dogs wear a small magnet on their collars and the door opens up when they come near the door.  The door also has a lock which keeps animals and intruders from opening the door.  The door is closed by gravity only, so it can not force itself closed on a dog standing in it.

My dad helped me install this door in the exterior wall of our kitchen.  The door thickness and width is designed to fit perfectly between the 16" spaced 2"x4" studded wall.  My dad had the good idea of adding an outlet in the basement just below the dog door, so that we could route the power cord into the basement ceiling instead of into the kitchen.  On the outside of home we installed a couple of steps to allow the dogs to walk out the door and onto the driveway.

Dog door installed in kitchen wall.

Outlet for dog door installed in basement ceiling.  The door is plugged into a timer so it turns on late in the morning and off later in the evening.

Nittany fearlessly running through the dog door.

Misty using the dog door.

The dog door is now about 5 years old and a we had a couple of minor issues with it.  The first issue is that our beagle mix Misty has come upon 2 skunks in our backyard late at night and was sprayed both times.  Unfortunately with automatic dog door she was able to run into the house and spread the smell around.  About 2 years ago we rescued a white lab and named her Nittany after the fearless Penn State Nittany Lion.  Nittany was so fearless that she was impatient in waiting for the dog door to open fully and ended up breaking the original plexiglass door.  I easily fixed this problem by fabricating an aluminum door of same size and thickness.  Nittany has yet to do any damage to this door.

Overall Kristen and I love the door and we believe our dogs do too.  We both work full time jobs and this door allows our dogs to go outside as they wish throughout the day.  

Exterior Pictures and Rear Roof Replacement

Here are some exterior pictures of our house.  As you can see the home has all wood trim and cedar shake siding.  Most of the trim and siding will need to be repaired and repainted in the next year or two.  The roof covering is asphalt shingles which are about halfway through their life.  The chimney is masonry block and unlined, but it does have a rain cap.

I replaced the flat section of the rear roof  and gutters over the kitchen and the rear porch when we bought the home 3 years ago.  My dad and brother helped me replace the roof.  I used ice and snow guard on the entire flat portion of the roof because it has a low pitch.  I used regular 3 tab shingles on top of the ice and snow guard.  I also installed 3" diameter vents in the upper portion of the kitchen walls which vent into the lower roof attic space.  A roof vent with a temperature controlled fan was also installed at the high point in the lower roof.  It is important to make sure the attic space breathes well to prevent moisture buildup, and before I replaced the roof this attic space did not have any ventilation.

Large commercial grade gutters were installed on the kitchen roof and rear porch with proper downspout extensions to move water away from the foundation.  I wish I had taken some pictures of the roof replacement process to post in this blog.  Before I replaced the roof and gutters I had a little bit of water penetration in the spring.  Since I have replaced the gutters I have not had water in the basement.  I am keeping my fingers crossed for this spring because there will be significant snow melt.  This has convinced me that proper gutter extensions really do make a difference.

My plan is to summarize some of the home improvements I have done over the last 3 years first, and then I will chronicle future improvements as they happen.  Please let me know if you have any questions/comments.

Introduction

Hi my name is Eric and I started this blog to chronicle the home improvement projects that my wife Kristen and I are undertaking on our early 1900's Dutch Colonial.  Our goal is not restore this home to its original looks, but to update it into a more usable space by adding modern conveniences, while keeping much of its original charm.  I am currently working as a mechanical engineer and as a partner in 1st Call Home Inspections.  This home is located in the Hudson Valley area of NY.  The home improvement projects shown in the upcoming posts will be done in my little free time between between my 2 jobs and my hobbies of  downhill skiing and mountain biking.  Please stay tuned for updates, and let me know if you have any questions or want more information on my posts. I keep telling my wife to remember that a home renovation is a marathon and not a sprint!

Disclaimer: All of my home improvement posts will be intended to give a feel for how to do a project, they are not intended to be complete step by step procedures and I will not be responsible for any damages or injuries that result from attempting to perform any of these improvements.