"Finishing" the Basement

Our basement was one of the things that really sealed the deal for us when looking to buy our house. Our town is full of old houses with very small basements with very low ceilings. Now the basement is by no means large, but it provided sufficient space with a decent ceiling height and came fully finished. We were sold! Here are some shots from the week we moved in:





The first area we worked on was the laundry room, for obvious reasons. We bought an awesome washer and dryer, some shelves for storage, and a few cute things to hang up and make it seem less stark.











The next sections of this post were supposed to read "Before some TLC" and then "After some TLC." Last fall we spruced up the basement with some paint, some wall hangings, and a more sensible layout of furniture and gym equipment. But then a nor'easter hit New Jersey in March, and our entire finished basement was flooded and ruined.

So the pictures will now be titled "During the Flood:"







"After the Flood:"











And "During Renovations:"









We are now the proud owners of a new hot water heater, a new washing machine, and a new sump pump (which Andrew installed himself). We decided to use ceramic tile on the floor so as to avoid ever having to pull out and replace flooring down there again. Although all the extra work (cleaning, replacing drywall, taping and mudding, priming, painting, laying over 250 tiles, and hanging all new doors) wasn't any fun, I have to admit that the basement is beginning to not only look great, but actually look even more spectacular than before.

But, although I will post the "After Renovations" pictures with great pride, I think I'd prefer working on projects that we actually planned on!

Upstairs Bath Renovation - Complete!

After 6 weeks of hard work, a complete mess, and 3 calls for bulk trash pickup, the bathroom is complete! We absolutely love it and are really proud of what we accomplished.

We decided to accent the light colored walls and white fixtures with a custom vanity with 2 doors and ball toekick(the floor model we had originally picked out didn't work with the way the pipes came out of the wall), large mirror, and medicine cabinet in java maple wood. The accessories are neutral stripes, with a stripe that matches the wall color and another stripe that matches the dark brown wood.

We installed a new light above the vanity, new towel and toilet paper holders, a new curtain, and new handles on the medicine cabinet to match the chrome faucets.

Not much else to say besides WE'RE DONE! So without further ado, here it is in all its glory:

Upstairs Bath Renovation - Part 3

After the primer had a day to dry, I took on painting the bathroom a soothing shade of yellowy-cream (the exact name is Homestead Resort Tea Room Cream by Valspar - who makes up these names?). I chose it because it matched one of the stripes in the shower curtain/accessories I had chosen for the room and because it's the only color we hadn't used yet in the house.

Now that the trim was dry, I reinstalled the blinds and window treatment. I also hung a toilet paper holder and the lone piece of artwork (in order to convince myself it was near completion for sure).





After Andrew scored a great deal on a really nice tile saw, he spent the next weekend tiling the shower walls. The spaces are a bit larger for these tiles at 1/4". We decided to "spice it up" with a row of darker tile by the same brand up near the top and two white corner shelves on each side.

The tiling took two days, then another 24 hours to set. Andrew then grouted with the same color we used on the floor (linen), allowed that to set, then undertook the tedious job of cleaning it. Then, a spray sealer for the grout and another 24 hours to dry. Finally, tons and tons of caulk (which is oh so fun to scrape off the bottom of a tub).

Despite any of the (usual) mess, Andrew did an absolutely amazing job. The tile is perfectly set and simply gorgeous. Pretty awesome for a first-timer, eh?











Next weekend - all the finishing touches! Hooray!

Upstairs Bath Renovation - Part 2

Ok, on to the demo of the shower... and another huge mess. Bags and bags of pink tile and crushed up grout and plaster. Down to the studs! I actually thought it was kind of neat to see the original plaster and lath from when the house was built - this section is actually a view of the backside of the hallway going up the stairs.



Next step: vapor barrier. It's simply sheets of polyethylene plastic stapled to the studs in a way that allows any vapor buildup to flow down away from the walls. Some people consider it an extra step, but when it's YOUR house, it's a step worth taking.



That following weekend, tile installation. Mixing the thinset was like wrangling a bucket of mud with an electric beater... and messy (see a recurring theme here?). Andrew laid all of the tile using 1/4" spacers, then placed weights on any of the areas that didn't want to stay level on their own.









After the thinset had 24 hours to set and dry, I began taping and mudding all the seams. Three coats of that and another 24 hours of drying time, and I sanded everything down to a smooth finish. Andrew spent a night grouting the tile, I added a coat of primer and hey... it was starting to look like a room again!







Now, back to the shower. Andrew installed the necessary cement backerboard to adhere the tile to and more greenboard around the top, above where the tile would end.





Next stop... tiling the shower walls!

Upstairs Bath Renovation - Part 1

I loved my house from the day we moved in. Really. But I HATED the upstairs bathroom. It was pink tile. Everywhere. Every surface. And was stuck somewhere around 1989. I did the best I could with it for a year and a half, but always felt it wasn't even close to the level of awesomeness as the rest of our house.

Although we have a full bath on the first floor (with a stall shower), the upstairs bathroom is the only other full bathroom (and only tub) and is shared among all the bedrooms, including the master on the third floor. So basically - it gets a ton of use. I was literally counting the days until we could dig in and make it a place I want to retreat to with some bubbles and a glass of wine.

Here are some before shots of the pink atrocity:







We waited until May to start. The downstairs bathroom just isn't that warm in the cooler weather, plus we're out of a tub so I figured I could just bathe the kid in the yard once in a while if it was really hot :)

First step - remove all the fixtures! We are keeping the toilet and tub, as they are in good condition and a totally non-offensive white. Everything else is going to be sold/given away depending on its condition.



Now for the messy part - demo. It was done in two parts - the main part of the room first, then the tub area. So Andrew first took care of the demolition of the non-tub walls and the floor, and I cleaned up every couple hours to keep him from drowning in broken tile and dust. We had to wear masks and gloves and still ended up coughing, sneezing, and a little cut up. By the end of Memorial Day weekend, however, the bathroom was down to the studs and subflooring.

Andrew immediately started putting the greenboard up (drywall with a water-resistant paper covering) on the non-tub/shower walls. Our son had decided to become potty trained that week and I desperately wanted the upstairs toilet to be back in commission.







It certainly seems like a mess at this point (and oh boy, it is), but I also think it looks better already. My two men are working nonstop to make "spa" bathroom a reality!