The original plan was to remodel the kitchen first, then the master bath, and finally the hallway bathroom. But one issue after another kept pushing the plans back and we were getting a little frustrated with the delays.

On the spur of the moment we decided to start with the hallway bathroom. So on Sunday, before we could change our minds, I removed the medicine cabinet, the drawers and doors from the sink unit, and the tile trim from the bottom of the walls. No turning back now.

The bathroom has most of the original fixtures from 1940 and although I think it adds character to the house everything is so old and dingy that we just wanted to update it all. Note the interesting color scheme - gold/yellow walls, bright green ceiling and cabinet doors/drawers. The yellow/burgundy tiles are original as is the bathtub and sink/sink unit. We're going to keep the bathtub but get rid of everything else down to the studs. Alex will rewire the whole bathroom and then we will start putting together an inviting guest bathroom.





Then there is the big crack in the floor and flaking wall.



Day 1 of our latest project got off to a good start. We removed the sink cabinet and the adjoining wall. Alex did most of the wall removal (although I did swing the hammer a few times) and I filled the buckets with the trash and lugged them out to the back driveway. I wish I had been wearing my pedometer - I'm sure I racked up over 1 million steps.

At the end of the day this is the status of our bathroom remodel. I was hoping to get a bit more done but it was harder going than we thought it would be.

The unsightly 40-gallon water heater was removed today and a tankless water heater installed. Many thanks to Bill Howe Plumbing who sent over Brandon to do the job. It took him 2 days to finish but the end result is incredible. We went from this



to this.





It's so compact and produces unlimited hot water to the whole house. It does take a couple of extra seconds for the hot water to reach the guest bathroom but in the end this works out best for us.

The empty spot left by the removal of the old water heater will have to stay like this for a while. When we start working on the kitchen later this year we plan on installing a pocket door through to the bedroom.

We recently had a new front door and storm door installed and I just finished painting the door to match the trim around the house. The storm door creates a great sound barrier to the main road. We've also planted horsetails along the front planter area creating a very clean, minimalist look that I love.

I knew the title of this post would make you look and yes, Alex vacuums our new pathway. We have a large tree that constantly drops leaves so Alex thought we should buy a leaf blower/vacuum to keep it leaf free. Alex cut quite a comical figure as he vacuumed away so I couldn't help but post a few photos









The path always looks great when he's done. Now, if only he would do inside the house as well.

So, after the installation of the whole house fan it was time to actually get it working. For this a new circuit had to be installed. A couple of weeks ago we had our circuit box upgraded by Mike Kennedy of M.J. Kennedy Electric who we found on Craigslist. He did a fabulous job and really stayed on top of SDG&E and the inspector for us. So if you need some electrical work done give him a call at 619-666-4167 or email him at mjkennedyelectric@hotmail.com.

After reading a book from Home Depot and spending some time researching the web Alex decided he could install the new circuit himself. What a man I married! Not only a great blogger but a handyman as well. Who knew?

Here he is looking looking at the new circuit box as if he knows what he's doing


And look at that super cool tool belt that he just received as a birthday present



Through trial and error and a few bleep-bleep words the new circuit was installed. Alex had to crawl in the attic and in the crawl space under the house and thread wire through the walls to get it all working.

While Alex was doing all the dirty work I set up a cool spot in the back yard. While we love to sit on the patio it can get incredibly hot especially during a heat wave. Up in the back of the yard, under the trees, it is much cooler. I set up a table and 2 chairs with the sun umbrella.



Relaxing with his gin and tonic and some bread with olive oil.



What a guy. And here he is with the final word

It was very gratifying when I flipped the switch and the fan worked perfectly! If it hadn't worked, I would have cried.

Alex

We had tried to do the path down the side of our house ourselves but there are some things we just don't like doing - digging trenches for instance. You can see what a mess it was before anything was done


The path was first turned over and smoothed out with it falling away slightly towards the front of the house for drainage


A couple of steps being set up to lead into the front yard


And this is the finished path.


So much neater than what we started with. Eventually I would like to see a few large pots of plants or herbs with more paving stones to make for easier walking

Finally, after living here for 6 years we have the whole house fan that I've wanted since we moved in. Living in La Mesa the temperatures can get up into the 90s during a heat wave and a few times have been well over 100 deg. F. We both decided that it wasn't worth the cost to install and run an air conditioner and have learnt how to get by on a hot day. However, the nights were a completely different matter. Who can sleep when the house is steaming? Now that the whole house fan has been installed we can turn it on in the late evening to cool down the house making for a comfortable night of sleep.

Alex installed the fan himself taking a few days to do it. It can be done in a day but because the attic was so hot he worked for a couple of hours early each morning. Here are a few photos to show the installation.



He first had to cut into the ceiling beams and create a box big enough for the vent hole. As you can see we have the old style insulation which sticks to everything as you move around.



Next he had to install the ducts and attach to the vent hole. I helped lift the ducts into the attic - wish I had photos of that to show you all. They are really long and flexible and I had to push them up into the attic while standing on the bottom rung of the ladder and Alex pulling from the top.



The end of each duct had to be securely attached to the roof beams.



And there you have the finished product.

And now, here's a word from my personal handyman to give you some more information on the fan:

My memory of installing the fan: squatting in the attic, sweat pouring down my face as the temperature climbed over 100 degrees, choking on the dust of insulation. The phrase "Hell on Earth" kept going through my head.

So I wouldn't say it was easy to install, but in the end it was worth it since the fan is powerful and quiet -- our two main priorities.

The hardest part of the installation was cutting the rafters to make a space for the vent hole. The vent would have fit between rafters, without the need for any cutting, but not in a position where we wanted it to be. So I had to cut rafters.

-Alex

Alex has been bugged by a patch of bare soil

in our back yard. So he planned a carpet of green grass. He tilled, weeded, and sowed his seeds. He watered on a regular basis to germinate the seeds and they sprouted just as they were supposed to do



And after all his hard work he finished up with this luscious patch of greenery



It all died during a heat wave a few days after this last photo.

Better luck next time Alex.

We finally finished enclosing the patio with the bamboo fence. It took a while to come up with our procrastination excuses but here's the final look

Since we had the outside of the house refinished we haven't had much privacy on the patio. We want to put back the bamboo we had there before but had to prep the wall first. Luckily we had the new hammer drill - making drilling holes in the concrete wall very easy. Next we super-glued metal rods into the holes so we can attach the bamboo to them.



At this point we've almost finished inserting the metal rods but will have to finish the project another day

I received a phone call at work today around 10am. Alex called in a bit of a panic because the color they were putting on the house was orange. He didn't think I would go for it and wanted me to come home to take a look.



I must admit I took one look at the photo above and my mouth dropped to the floor. I asked Alex to stop the painting until I got home but the workers continued on saying not to worry, it would appear darker after the 2nd coat and when it had dried properly.

I came home and drove up the drive-way to find this.


I was in utter shock. I was sure this wasn't the color I had chosen. The workers continued working while Alex and I paced the patio. We couldn't do much - it would be too expensive to change our minds (we had already changed our minds once going from a wishy-washy grey to terra cotta because I wanted to be bold and different from all the neighbors). After a deep breath and another cup of coffee (too early in the day to have a shot of whiskey which is what I really wanted) we decided to go with it.

These are taken from the street




We are thrilled with the finished look. The house really stands out on the street and it has a nice warm look to it. We could design the front yard to give it a Mediterranean or Southwest look. Can't wait to get started on that.

The house was started on today and they began by power-washing the walls and blasting off all the loose bits of old stucco. Beneath the stucco the walls were in terrible condition but all the cracks and holes were fixed in preparation for the new finish. After taping off the wall around the trim, doors, and windows, it was time to paint them. Yesterday we changed our minds about the color we wanted. Everyone in our neighborhood has the same color house - gray, beige, off-white. We have decided to go with Sienna while keeping the navy blue trim.





After finishing all the trim they applied the new texture so the new color on the walls would have an even finish



Tomorrow they will start putting the color on the walls.

What a day! Alex and I are both hurting in places we didn't know existed. We have decided to have the exteria of the house refinished using tex-cote and we had to do some prep work ahead of time. Out front we had some overgrown plants with roots going well below the foundation line which all had to be cut down. It took all day and we're pretty exhuasted. We resorted to Panda Express for dinner because I just didn't want to face standing on my feet a moment longer. Anyway, we are going to have a light gray house with dark blue trim. To give you an idea of what we did today here are some before and after photos.

Alex starting the job


View from the street - you can see how much work is needed in the front yard


Alex wondering why I'm the one with the camera while he's doing all the work


Not even close to being done


Now we (Alex) just have to pull the roots - easier said than done


More photos in a week or two when the house has been resurfaced.