Remodeling: chaos and construction

We began our remodeling process on February 24, 2010 when Laura Paprocki of Trinity Environmental (above) arrived at 8:30 a.m. to do an energy audit of our house. Among other things, it necessitated her going into the attic — which is reached through the ceiling of my clothes closet. So all my hanging clothes and two shelves of items had to be removed. Most went onto the guest bed in that same room and lived under huge plastic sheets. The same process was repeated a couple more times that spring as various workmen had to get into the attic to give us bids for electrical work and insulation. While the work was actually being done, my clothes lived under plastic for the summer!

The next big project — after interviewing and choosing a contractor — was a two-day garage sale in mid-May. We used that occasion to rid ourselves of everything from paintings to lamps and dishes. We needed to make as much space as possible in the basement to store furniture from the room ("the library") we planned to remodel. The biggest pieces — including a seven-foot-long couch and massive Chinese armoire — were moved into other rooms on the main floor, along with 35 cartons of books. We were also adding insulation to garage walls that abut the front hall and to the garage ceiling which is the floor of the remodeled room. That meant the garage had to be cleaned out as well, and many of its items had to be stored in the basement, too.

We actually spent quite a lot of time making room for all this re-arranging before any work began. At the same time (first week of July) Mark was pulling out the old bookshelves as well as ripping up the wall-to-wall shag carpet when he wasn't working. Tearing out seems to make almost as much mess as the actual construction — until the workmen arrive and you see how much dust and debris result from cutting holes in walls and ceilings. And filling them up and cutting and filling and... 

The last time we did a remodeling project was the winter of 2007/08 when we had record snowfall. Doing the job in the summer seemed like a good idea until hot weather arrived. Mark had to totally cover up as he was tearing out the garage walls and ceiling and the old insulation making for some hot work. He also installed the ceiling speakers (for surround sound in the library) in the stifling hot attic before the insulation was put in. 

But nothing could have been a hotter job than putting foam insulation around the ceiling can lights inside the attic and then blowing in the rest of the insulation. These guys were so pleasant even though they must have been dying in all that protective gear. You can see my clothes piled under plastic in the picture with the insulation hose snaking through the guest room (below).

When these two workmen came down from the attic, they told us they did not think we had the right ceiling lights for the kind of insulation that was ordered. That was code-speak for "fire hazard."  Turns out they were right and the lights started heating up and automatically shutting off. The electrician had not checked closely enough and had put in the wrong lights. Since the insulation was in, he had to cut the lights out of the ceiling from below and install the new lights. Then the drywall guys had to come back and redo their work again as well. Luckily it all worked out and it did not cost us anything, but the mistake and delay was frustrating. 

We had already spent tons of time picking and re-picking paint colors over the years. Once the tear-down started we had to get serious and come to some decisions. We used the old bookshelf boards as testers and painted these samples on July 11. Once all the electrical work and drywall were done, we could start the first fun project: PAINTING! We washed and (mostly Mark!) primed the walls and ceiling of the library and stairwell on Saturday, Aug. 7. 

We were happy with the two main colors we had chosen: Benjamin Moore's "Millington Gold" for three library walls and "Coastal Fog" for the fourth wall going down the stairwell. But we realized we didn't quite like our third color which was going to be an accent on the wall you face as you go down the stairs. We opted to use a warm gray that we had used elsewhere in the house. Mark frantically painted before work — and even after he came home at midnight — on Aug. 9, 10, and 11 before we left for the Brazill family reunion. When we came back from our trip, he started painting the garage ceiling and newly insulated walls on Aug. 22. Every time the workmen cleaned up and left, we cleaned up some more and worked on whatever projects we needed to do to keep ahead of them. 

Mark designed the bookcases and did the rough drawings for the Amish workmen who would actually craft them. We changed the placement of them from the way they were laid out when we bought the house. Figuring out how many feet of shelf space we would need was one of the things Mark did as part of his design. We wanted room to hang art above them and to display objects on top of the cases without giving up shelf space!

Mark went with our wonderful contractor — Brad Squire of Madison Design and Construction — out to the carpentry shop in Reedsburg to talk to the workmen and to pick the stain for the bookcases. We already had some cherry trim elsewhere in the house and therefore decided to go with cherry bookcases. But we wanted to be sure the cherry tones would be the same, and Mark wanted to be there when the decisions were made. 

We also decided that we should leave some messages for the future, so we each wrote a quote about books on the walls where a bookcase would be installed. We only painted the walls down to the height of the bookcases to conserve on the paint. We used a lot of paint and most surfaces took two coats so conserving paint when we could made economical sense.

You can see what an immediate difference it made to the room to change the wall color from white to gold. Then add that gorgeous bookcase with its 16 foot long top board and we were in heaven — even with all the dust on the bookcases.

The only problem was that when they were delivered on Aug. 31, the new bannister bookcase we designed to go at the top of the stairs, replacing a low hollow wall, did not fit and had to be returned to the shop. This is its replacement. It has narrower height shelves to hold compact discs.

The remaining pictures show the bookcases, the new window (same size but with a larger uninterrupted center span), the cherry baseboard and a custom cherry and maple display cabinet (through the doorway on the right) for Mark's wood-fired ceramic teabowls.

  

Comments

[Barbara H.]

Oh my, what a busy year you had. But what joy to come as you enjoy the fruits of your, and others, labors!

[Altoon]

Wow, this is going to be so beautiful, but such an enormous amount of work! Looking back on the pictures of disarray once it's all done will probably be fun. And I so agree that making the walls gold has made them much richer and warmer looking. Why did we rely on white all those years?

[S. Adler Sobol]

How wonderful that you both left the quotes hidden for a future owner to discover should they remodel. I have gotten such pleasure out of finding remnants of previous occupant's lives hidden in the walls during renovation of homes we have lived in. I am so envious of all your bookshelves! I remember some earlier posts about this room. It is certainly a room that gives you both great enjoyment.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Altoon — This whole house was white except for one wall in the living room. We kept that wall color for a few years and then eventually changed it as we added color to all the other rooms.

We took pictures during the working stages and as we reassembled the room. So we will do a couple more posts of before and after shots later this week.

[Erin]

Wow ... I've been waiting for more details on your big project. I just have to say that I love your library. The bookcases are wonderful. Also love the the little messages you left.

Looking forward to more photos and posts on the renovation!

[Lisa at Greenbow]

I bet you and Mark are thrilled that it is all finished now. You can curl up there in the comfort of your library and enjoy this cold winter.

[Bathroom Remodeling Seattle]

I am glad what you have accomplish with this project. Good Job guys.

[bathroom vanities]

Thank you for sharing your remodeling experience. It can be a very daunting yet rewarding task. My wife and I are in the process of remodeling our bathroom's. I hope to get them complete in less than 3 months. It will take a lot of hard work but it is well worth it.