Category: Remodel

The “last” project for our condo remodel was to have been the bathroom. We purchased a deep soaking tub, a nice vanity, and were just waiting to have the extra funds available to be able to hire somebody both good and fast. Well, life caught up with us. So, in order to rent out our condo, we felt that we needed to do a few things to make the bathroom livable. Those few things involved tearing out the bathtub surround, to see if there was mold. Surprise!

We didn’t find anything going into the walls, so much as just upon the surface of the drywall. But, in order to discover this … the drywall needed to come all the way out. So, we went ahead and showered at a friend’s house for a few days, and demolished the wall around the tub. After we were done, we had a “professional” install a new bathtub surround. Well, it’s done, and done fairly well, and that’s what matters, right? Yeah. Sure. The little things like caulking? Oh, those can be done by the homeowner.

No matter – it’s just another one of those things which we’re dealing with along the way. Kind of like the multiple layers of paint on the ceiling … which were infested with mildew … and which needed to be dissolved prior to painting with a mildew-resistant primer. We’ll have more pictures soon (the camera is well – Yay!), to show the finished paint job, but suffice it to say that the painting? Oh, that was the easy part, compared to the stripping of old paint. Three applications of stripper! Two days! Showering? Oh, yeah. That. Hah!

The shower is now done, except for a bit of tidying around the edges where paint or caulk have been errant. So, everything is moving apace, even if it doesn’t feel that way. The remodel is as done as it’s going to get, for at least the next, oh, four years. So – when I take pictures of the finished product I’ll post them on Flickr, and we’ll call this “the end” of the Remodel.

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At the end of all this remodeling, and because summer is fast approaching, I’d thought to see what it would take to get our heater replaced, and to add an air conditioner. I know, it’s not all that environmentally friendly to use air conditioning. We both work in an office upstairs in our small condo, though, so it’s a necessity for a couple of weeks every summer, if not for a full month. We’d been getting by with a portable unit, but it wouldn’t even touch the heat of last summer. So, I figured I’d have somebody tell me what it’d take to get an a/c put in, and to replace this behemoth of a 1960’s heater while they were at it.

Just one problem. See the shiny pipe? See the shiny coating on the shiny pipe? See the tape, which was holding the shiny coating in place? Well, here’s the scoop: the shiny coating inside is just plain steel ducting. The shiny coating on the outside, and the tape? Oh, those are just asbestos. Yup. Each and every duct is wrapped in asbestos, which, in turn, has been wrapped in shiny paper. And, to seal each section of asbestos “cardboard” together, they used asbestos tape, of course!

So, the heater project is going to run us $3,200 more than it would have, if we’d not had to replace the bright ideas of 1950’s man. And who was this man? You know: the man who said, “let’s see if this rock burns,” and then, when it wouldn’t, decided it was a good thing to make into insulation?

I don’t know who he was, but he owes me an air conditioner.

On the flip side of this whole thing, and just as a matter of passing interest and “isn’t that creepy”-ness … if we’d lived in the county next door, we wouldn’t have to replace any of the asbestos at all. You see, the county next door falls under a different set of regulations regarding asbestos. We’ll tell ourselves that it isn’t because they’re darker-skinned over there. Yes. We’ll tell ourselves that.

Truthfully, we’re not legally obligated to replace all of it, just the bits which are exposed to the heater area. However, if you’ve ever blown across the mouth of a straw which was immersed in liquid, you’ve noticed that air moving past a small opening creates a vacuum, sucking your soda up the straw. It’s the same effect as opening two windows on the same side of your car – the window in front exhausts air from the vehicle, sucking air in the rear window. Because of this wonder of physics, any crack in the asbestos tape will let air beneath the asbestos, provided that there are small gaps in the ducting. Thus, any gap in the ducting will be sucking air in past the oh-so-dry-and-dusty asbestos fibers, and will end up depositing those fibers into our living space.

So, we’re replacing all of the ducting we can get to. This will leave about 15 feet of ducting which is enclosed in the floor / ceiling between the first and second floors. There’s not much we can do about that, unless we want to tear out the ceiling. So, we’re going to live with that risk for a while, if not indefinitely.

Our only recompense is that we’ll end up with a decent heater for next Winter.

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Thus continues the saga of the remodel. Shown here is what we found when we peeled the carpet back in the office. Note the years of water damage? Note the fresh puddle? It hasn’t rained in about a week, but this puddle was still wet to the touch. We figure that it’s some small leak, running down the wall from the attic, and is going to be a joy to track down. ‘Cause really, how do you find the source for such things unless it’s raining? We contacted our condo association, so we’ll see what happens.

At long last, though, the upstairs is done with the exception of the stairs and banister. There had been a storage cabinet, bolted to the floor, to which the banister was bolted (you can see the original paint color on the wall where it had been for the past 35 years). We tore it out, though, to give ourselves more space, and because the thing was truly ugly and tended to catch whatever was in our hands when we came upstairs. So, as soon as our builder can figure out how to make things match up, we’ll have a nice open landing. I’m helping by actually buying a real router, instead of the stupid RotoZip thing he uses, so that he can actually make edges which lock together, instead of relying on glue or something.

Out of this whole process, we’ve learned several things. First off, we’ve learned that time is a very very flexible thing: 10:00 to a builder may mean noon, or maybe tomorrow. We’ve also learned that any estimate as to when something will be done is just hot air – we’ve taken to packing everything away as if it’s going to have to sit there for several weeks, because it most likely will have to sit for several weeks. Lastly we’ve resolved to never live in a place while it’s being remodeled; it’s simply not worth the dusting, shifting, and misery of having to share space.

The end is in sight, but we’re trying not to get our hopes up, as we know they’ll just be dashed. After all, this is now month three of what was to have been a one month project.

Of course, this is just the flooring and the kitchen. To be done after all of the flooring downstairs is 1) the bathroom (and we know there’ve been leaks from the tub, so that’s a big job), 2) a new heater / air conditioner (the one we’ve got has been retro-fitted with a new burner, but is 35 years old, and just as efficient), 3) a ladder to the attic and rough flooring of the attic (there’s a full attic, but you can’t get in unless you get a ladder), 3) painting of various walls. So, I’d guess we’re more than halfway through, when it all comes down to it, but we’ve still got some more to go.

Then there’s the organizing of the Art Closet. That’s on the agenda for today, but … well, we’ll see.

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Isn’t it just lovely? That’s the carpet which is in one of the intermediate layers upon our floor. Beneath it, throughout the kitchen area at least, is a layer of black foam rubber, and then a layer of linoleum. We haven’t breached the linoleum yet. Atop this lovely carpet is another layer of carpet.

We figure that this carpet was put down in, oh, about 1977. So, for the past 30 years this carpet’s been hiding out, and keeping its dark layer of foam hidden from the light of day, allowing it to thoroughly bond to its linoleum friend. It’s particularly disgusting, because after 30 years, foam rubber? Oh, no. It’s just spongy muck at that point. Bleh.

What’s particularly terrifying to me is the coloring of this carpet. T says she’d like to frame this piece, as it’s in such good shape. I’m just afraid of the radioactive isotopes involved in manufacturing the dyes. I mean, just how can it have stayed so brightly colored? I’m certain that there had to have been now-extinct species hunted down for their exotic parts, just so this carpet could retain its hideousness for all time.

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This afternoon begins the actual, real-life, this-isn’t-going-to-go-away portion of our program. Yes, now that the taxes have been done (and paid – ouch), we’re finally going to begin tearing apart our little home. This afternoon we’re off with the builders to buy cabinets, so that sometime next week our kitchen can be demolished.

On the plus side, this means that we’re finally getting rid of the 1970’s era microwave. On the negative side … this means that we have to buy a new one. Also on the plus side, we’ll end up with some way better storage down in the garage, because we’re having the builder install the old cabinets down there. That way we can store canned goods downstairs instead of taking up precious space in the pantry; hey – try storing 100 quarts of anything & you’ll see what I mean.

So. First comes the kitchen demolition, then installation of the new cabinetry, then removal of a wall & part of a coat closet so that we can add kitchen cabinets on one side and simply have less storage for coats (who, in California, needs that much storage for coats?). After that’s all done comes removal of a strange little pantry (so that we can have more light and more dining room space), after which comes carpet removal and wood floor installation (bamboo, thank you). After all that comes the upstairs bathroom.

So, the schedule looks like this:

1. Kitchen Cabinet Removal
2. Kitchen Cabinet Installation
3. Coat Closet split into more Kitchen Storage & a smaller Closet
4. Pantry removal
5. First-floor bathroom renovation
6. Carpet Removal
7. Bamboo Floor Installation
8. Upstairs bathroom renovation
9. New hvac installation

And somewhere in there we’ll be painting things as well. It looks like this project’s going to involve our house being torn up for at least a month, and probably more like two. The builders seem to think that it’ll only take them one. I laugh. Truly.

I’ll be taking pictures of it all, I’m sure. After checking out TeaAndCakes’ photostream on Flickr, I’m thinking that I need to get a decent digital camera. Perhaps after all the building would be best … but I’d like to have pictures of it all, too. Film may just have to suffice. And, besides, I really do like my camera.

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