2009 Highlights

It has been a busy year at our house; here is a brief summary of the work we completed:

January
We spent most of this month working on the kitchen; this included tiling the floor, painting, installing the cabinets, and getting the appliances.

February
The winner for February's most exhausting project was the refinishing of the hardwood floors upstairs. A close second was priming and painting the bedrooms and the upstairs hallway. We also installed the bathroom fixtures, including a toilet!

March
This was a busy month. We had our initial energy audit conducted before the new furnace was installed. We roughed in the kitchen plumbing, ran plumbing lines in the basement, and installed the washer and dryer. Our electrician completed the electrical finish work. The kitchen countertops were installed, as well as the microwave and dishwasher.

April
A little too much time was spent refinishing the doors in April, including stripping the door hardware, sanding/priming/painting the doors, and hanging the doors. We also sanded/primed/painted the upstairs trim, and painted the new baseboards.

May
We finally finished the work on the second floor by installing, caulking, and painting the trim. We finished installing the kitchen appliances, including the replacement microwave, stove, and faucet. We also had the back of the house waterproofed, and we finally moved in our furniture!

June
We were blessed with the arrival of our little girl Mackenzie in June. No work was completed on the house that month. Slackers!

July-August
We got to work on Mackenzie's bedroom, installing wainscotting, wardrobes, and a bench seat, and painting the room a pink colour called "Baby Girl". We were in no rush to finish the room, so we furnished it bit by bit.

September-October
Our big project for the fall was to renovate the sunroom, add a first floor washroom, and improve the appearance of the back of the house. We also installed blinds on the upstairs windows.

November-December
We put the finishing touches on the nursery in November. We also did some work in the crawlspace underneath the sunroom and washroom, including insulation and ductwork. We then started our last project for the year by tearing out the old hardwood floors, and installing the new floors (we are about 95% complete, but took a break for the holidays).

We are happy with our progress, but have a lot left to do in 2010. Our big to-do list includes several projects on the first floor (e.g. new stairs, doors, trim, new washroom, backsplash), finishing the basement, and installing a fence and deck in the backyard. Happy new year!

Easy Birdfeeder Project

I found some great plans online and decided this would be a fun project to tackle for a Christmas present for my Mom. The materials required for this project are as follows:

• 1"x6"x6' cedar
• 36" piece of 3/8" dowel
• Finish nails
• 2 screw eyes
• 2 hinges (smaller than the width of the cedar ... I used 1")
• Sheet of plexi-glass (this plan requires two pieces that are about 5"x10" each, but with a minor adjustment to the pitch of the roof, you could get by with one 8"x10" piece cut in half)

The plans have a good cut list, which made this a quick project to complete. The most difficult task was cutting the plexiglass to fit, as I did not have the correct saw blades, so I had to do this by hand.

I pretty much followed the plans, but made a few adjustments.

• Rather than drilling completely through the side pieces to insert the dowel perches, I drilled about 2/3 of the way through. This way the end of the dowel does not show through the side.
• Instead of cutting 1/2" openings in the bottom of the plexi-glass to allow bird seed to flow out onto the floor, I installed 1/2" pieces of wood on each side to support the plexi-glass; this cut down on the amount of glass cutting I needed to do.
• I added the cute little bird onto the roof on the front of the feeder. This was created by ripping a spare piece of cedar in half, and then cutting out the bird with a jigsaw.

Merry Christmas!

Taking some time out to enjoy Christmas with our girl!

Basement Floor Follow-up

We got multiple comments regarding our last basement post, so I thought I would provide an update on where we stand with that project. We got another quote for just removing the existing floor and replacing it with new concrete (i.e. no underpinning or drain work), which was around $6K. Our goal with this quote was to get an idea of what we could get if we decide to go as low as we can with the existing foundation; it appears we can get another 4-5", which would take our basement height to about 83".

Here is our plan for the basement. We are going to break up and remove the existing floor ourselves (this won't start for a couple of months). Once the floor is removed, we will then get a few quotes for the required drain and concrete work. I expect we will not underpin the existing foundation, so hopefully we can get at least 4" lower with the existing foundation. That is the plan for now. Thanks for the feedback!

Plan for Stairs Revisited

A couple of months ago, we talked about the plan for the stairs in our front hall. After some deliberation, we decided on the plan below, which involves adding a railing onto the landing and curving the two bottom steps around the posts.

I really like this plan, but after tearing out the old steps, I started to reconsider the plan. With the stairs turning towards the living room like this, it might prove to be a pain sometimes when we are going in and out through the front door (and when moving furniture). Accordingly, I came up with a new option (see below). This option wraps the stairs around the landing, providing access from the front hall and the living room. By cutting off the corner of the stairs/landing, the stairs do not take up as much space as if they were square. I am considering making the stairs/landing fully rounded (i.e. quarter-circle), but that might prove difficult with the bullnose on the landing, so this is the plan for now.

Any thoughts or preferences? We are truly 50/50 on this decision. The first option looks a little better in my opinion, but the second option is simpler and more functional.