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Category Archives: home improvements

playing catch up

After a long and strenuous trip to Florida and back, I find myself happy to be back in the studio just as busy as I was before I left. A couple of hours on Caladesi Island soothed my rough edges and I am back to feeling I can balance work, renovations, play, and rest. I [...]

the sunroom is nice

It is fantastic to have this room completed! It has turned into the music room and the dining room and lots of fun has been happening in there. The colors are super bright and this yellow is terrific to watch change throughout the day. The vinyl floor turned out pretty good, if I do say [...]

the body in the wall

Shortly after buying and moving into this house which has had many tenants over the years, we heard that the big block of concrete hidden in the midst of a row of built in cabinets was the place where the original owner had buried his wife. Seemed as good an explanation as any, and for [...]

ceiling falls down

The ceiling fell down! Martin and I were prying a very small piece of wood when all of a sudden a giant chunk of drywall came crashing down and I was covered in a shower of pink fluff. Unfortunately, it was fiberglass insulation and I’m still a bit prickly. Fortunately, the hole provided great access [...]

walls coming down

Things are changing rapidly around the house. After I moved all the stuff around again and got things organized and Robin took a bunch of stuff to the Dogie Shop thrift store, it just seemed right to tear off all the drywall and make a big mess. So now the future hall has been opened [...]

new door to sunroom

This photo shows the new opening between the living room and the sunroom where the pair of windows were removed. The smaller, former doorway seen here will be closed off as will the large opening to the third bedroom/office.  The next photo shows the white paint on the ceiling and a test of the yellow [...]

the french drains are done

Two tons of gravel, 270 feet of landscape fabric, 40 feet of plastic, countless hours of labor, and one less glove later, the drainage system for the front of the house is complete. This picture was taken after shoveling in the first ton of gravel into the trenches which are nearly two feet deep at [...]

progress on sunroom

Here is the most wonderful subfloor in the world, completed last night.  I am so grateful that noone called the police to shut us down last night! Soon to come…the transformation of this wall:

After some work on the drainage is completed, the small doorway on this wall will be closed and the windows removed for [...]

rotten wood all gone

This photo shows the new treated wood in the sunroom, the plastic on the ground which Martin, thankfully, suggested, and Martin himself. Okay, not all of Martin, but I was trying to show the room and avoid the glare of the windows. The terrible smell that used to assault you as you entered this room [...]

new supply line runs under sunroom

Yesterday a pipe came apart and required some hasty action. This picture shows the trench being dug outside and the demo of the sunroom floor on day one of the sudden onset remodeling. The floor was rotted out at the front from years of leaking and a poorly planned raised flower bed that sloped to [...]