Exterior Prime, Paint and Cabinets

With the completion of the Interior Priming, we decided to go ahead and move forward with the Exterior Prime and Paint phase. Part of the decision was to ensure we get the house painted before the rainy season to seal all the new stucco we had done from the windows. Yes, priming would be fine - but with my Uncle Ed looking for some side work, we reached out and had hired him to complete not only the primer, but the painting of the exterior.

For primer on the exterior, we went with Zinsser 1-2-3 Plus. Seemed like an affordable recommended primer and it looked like it covered well. For our paint, we chose Benjamin Moore Regal Flat Exterior (Top Tier Paint from BM) for the body of the house and with Benjamin Moore Select Low Luster (Premium Tier from BM) for the trim. The choice in a grade lower on the trim was because it seemed to have better coverage when painting with a brush. This was also mentioned by some painters in the process of selecting the type of paint as well.

Paint colors is always a challenge - 1. It doesnt always look like the swatch/sample you have, 2. There are a ton of tones in one color, 3. After it dries, it looks different, 4. It changes colors depending on the light during the day as well as what colors the houses next to you are - sort of can play mind tricks throughout the day. Nevertheless, we settled on some colors and off we went.

My Uncle Ed set a plan to prime and paint and that he did...we are still in the process, but he has made a ton of progress in just 1 week. Nearly solo for 3 days and some help on the others. Not bad...not bad at all. Along with the painting came some light fixing work...sealing cracks from stucco, sealing nail hols from window trims, etc...stuff you take care of before painting.

Following the paint, I received a call from the brother in-law to set aside time to help his guys get our cabinets installed. This was a big deal, so I agreed without hesitation and we set a day to install the cabinets. No, Im not skilled at this, so by help what he meant was to unbox and remove drawers and doors. Fine with me, I put in enough work...oh, and yes by doing that, it saved our installers some time. Definitely something I would rather do than pay them to do. RonDZ and I were the helpers for the day...but seriously after unboxing, we just hung out until it was time to assemble the cabinets again.

Overall on this update - probably looks like one of the biggest changes. Inside takes some shape in the kitchen and the exterior actually looks like we did something. I was standing outside today and saw some usually neighbors walking up the hill....heard a quick "...that house is cute. they've been working on it and it looks great". Though it wasnt said directly to me, it was a compliment that Ill be glad to hear and take in any shape or form. Its been a looooong time and yes, by having something done to the exterior, it actually does look like we did something!

Last but not least, we test fit some exterior lights. We have quite a few we are putting up, but needed to wait for paint. Since the front face of the house had its second coat of paint, we decided to mount the two lights by the garage to see how they look....perfect fit and matches the home great. Cant wait to put the rest. Classic look - modern internals...LED fixtures, so sticking with the energy efficiency. You would not be able to tell....if we accidentally leave them on, oh well...it will be cheap(er).

Here are the updates over the last week...enjoy.

Rear primed first - tested primer here.

Uncle Ed moving forward with primer. We chose to roll the house to get maximum penetration for the stucco. Really it was for the new stucco areas, but decided to roll the entire house. No tricky lines, so it was fairly straight forward. 

Still climbing those ladders like a champ.

Our medallion got painted - still unsure what color to make it.

Front primed.

Entire front primed.

Paint started.

After first coat of paint - looking new!

Rear painted

Trim paint test. Matching the window color (Sierra White from Marvin)

Installed Garage Lights for Exterior

2 Coats of Paint on the front - lights ok'd for installation. 

Corner shot.

JB Turner boys getting to work - Kitchen Cabinet Install (Dura Supreme Cabinets)

RonDZ Unboxing

Yep, Stabila and Master Levels. Cabinets need to be PERFECT. 

Add caption

"Tada"

...now me..."TADA!!!"

Thank goodness for these integrated bins.

Slide Out Drawers on a few of these cabinets.

Shot from the rear door.

Interior Priming Completed...next.

We finally completed the priming of the interior...yes! We chose not to hire anyone for this because its simple work, slightly time consuming, but was a way to save some cash rather than paying someone. 

A tad bit slower, but whatever, I enjoyed it and primed a little heavy compared to what normal folks would do, but thats ok.

So some simultaneous work has been scheduled and has happened. Again, we've reached a point to where we are unable to do anything other than sit and wait for contractors to complete their work. Nothing from this point on I am able to do unless its side projects that I want done.

So, with that said...here are some other items that are in the pipeline:

- Ordering all finish work stuff (Window Trims, Baseboards, Crown Moldings, etc)

- Cabinets for Bathroom and Kitchen have been delivered. Pending installation.

- Tiler has approved the work we have done (Straightening the walls - he was surprised at how perfect it was). The work will move forward in the bathroom. Thank you very much...we are awesome.

- Decided to move forward with Exterior Priming and Painting, so Ive once again hired my Uncle Ed to complete that work. Jack of all Trades - welcome back.

- Decide on final house colors.

- Think about interior wall colors.

- Complete basement rock and mud. Still need that work to get completed.

A lot of work going on in the coming weeks. Here are some pics of progress throughout the past few days.

Some of our tools for this portion of the project.

More tools and prep stuff.

Priming started...

Primer of choice. 

Prep for Dining Room Priming. 

Dining room done. 

My sidekick.

Living Room done.

Hallway done.

Bathroom and Kitchen Cabinets...some. More out of view.

Pan for shower - pending inspection for this part.

They started putting this stuff up in the shower. No cluse what it is. HAHA.

One of the bedrooms done.

We learned our lessons painting the ceiling. Now we go for the Ninja look to keep it off the head, hair, etc.

Tested Primer in the rear of the house. Uncle Ed started his prep work already. 

Laundry Room freshly primed.

Thats all folks...more to come in the coming days/weeks.

Sheetrock is done - Main Floor

No pictures for once!

UPDATE:

So here is the latest. Sheetrock on the main floor is done. ALL walls are smooth and ready for primer and that just what Im going to do next...primer.

The next few days will be long tiring days doing this, but what follows it is the fun stuff. From what I can make of it since this is not my expertise...here is what we are going to see in the coming days/weeks:

- Prime all walls (Main Floor first, then Garage and Basement will follow)
- Waiting for tile to arrive (ordered and awaiting shipment from overseas)
- Order Trims for Doors, Windows, Baseboards
- The Tilers will come in and do their work in the bathroom
- Think about floors for the kitchen (probably going with wood to match the rest of the house for now)
- Plan for wood stain color
- Hang the cabinets in the kitchen (oh so exciting)
- Probably remove all the doors and rework them (this will be a lot of work - they are nice, but need some attention and some patching. They use old style knobs and locks. We'll probably seal them up and redo all the holes to use more standard knobs sold today).

Thats about as far out as I can think. Now if this was at all a technology project, then maybe Id know whats next...but Im learning as we go. Definitely not my field...this house stuff.

If youre wondering about pictures...because the walls are smooth with no texture, they look pretty darn close to what I already posted with the progress update, only even and smooth. Maybe when its primed, it will look different. Who knows?!!?!??!?

One thing I can say is that this renovation stuff takes a lot of patience and is definitely not something that one can have much control over unless you have absolute discipline when it comes to design, budget and time. Its said time and time that its a money pit and going this far into it and we arent even done yet...I will say all the horror stories you hear are true. Yes, everything can be done on time, on budget and cheap...BUT, will you really be happy with the end result...maybe...

The truth is, as things get worked on you discover things new things, new problems, new changes, new everything...and its really up to you and whoever is making decisions to go for it or not. Its not as simple as it seems on the face of it. It takes time, patience, coordination, planning, money and a ton of other things you just dont normally come across on smaller projects. In the end, Im sure the result will be nice...but if we were to do it again, Id have to think long and hard about it.

Dont let me scare you...its just the truth. Be ready for the unexpected and be ready to blow through your set budget. Think of a magic number for the budget and set aside double what you think you'll spend...that would be safe. HA.

Anyhow, looking forward to more progress. We are moving along and months away from completion I hope. Stay tuned.

Mud, Floating Walls...keep'en it moving

Howdie.

So the Sheetrock and Mud started and we are moving along. This seems to be some very dirty work and I probably have ruined two pairs of shoes walking in here to check progress.

One way or another, everything is moving forward. Walls are getting covered with mud and 100% of the walls are getting smoothed out (aka floating the walls). As mentioned in previous posts, we had textured walls and ceilings and that is not acceptable according to the wife. I didnt mind it at first, but after seeing how it looks now...it was the right decision.

When the work started, it looked straight forward. Upon inspection, sheetrock folks decided we needed more attention on the walls and some mesh looking material was placed down before the mud. I know a lot of walls we didnt demo were starting to crack and to top it off, its plaster. Not good...so it added some time to the duration of this portion of the project, however it will be worth it. No cracks, less cracking in the future, and our walls will be even (it was a bit wavy).

I skipped adding pictures of the first layer of mud, but will be posting up where we are today with the walls. This is the second coat - clearly no more texture on the walls or ceiling, but still not fully completed. Looks like most of the concentration has been on the main area of our house as this is the area that we need to start moving forward quicker on. Next will be the basement and garage, however they have been making some progress in those rooms as well - that will follow as soon as they complete the main floor. Part of the timing of this is because my dogs need a place to stay. Little did I know how messy this type of work is. Once they complete the main floor, Ill move my dogs to the upper level and they can begin working downstairs. Poor guys...

Here are some pics -

*You will see some of the walls are not done. This is because it will require less work as it is sheetrock and not plaster. Everywhere that has been completed to date has been 80% plastered areas and they had to smooth it out - so more layers, more work and more time. All the sheetrocked areas will go very quickly as it is not textured and is ready to finish.

Thats it for now folks....