The Best Laid Plans... (Backyard Plans)

Here are our two sketched backyard plans. They aren't completely to scale... we realized that the backyard is considerably shorter in the second plan. The width is right, as is the garage, and general size and location of the patio. The trees are marked with "A" (Ash), "S" (Spruce), "A" (Apple), "E" (Elm), "T" (Tree). North is at the top of the page, as standard, the house is at the bottom of the page. Right now, all of the stone has moved to the area inside the curved line along the fence on the west. Constants between the two plans are likely permanent, or already constructed features.

Here is the FIRST plan:


Here is our SECOND plan:


Plan Two didn't have as much care put into drawing or labeling. Pity the second child.

We are leaning towards plan TWO, as in retrospect I feel the veggie gardens (VG) will do better on the eastern side of the yard. Any thoughts?

House Refinancing

One of our New Year's Resolutions is to refinance our house. We have an ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage), which will adjust in August AND an interest only HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) which will come due in August and will need to be paid off in full, or refinanced.

Here's the run down:
The HELOC comes from our house purchase. We did not have the full 20% downpayment, and so financed 10% of the downpayment with the HELOC instead of paying mortgage insurance. The payments on the HELOC were cheaper than insurance, and we've had the opportunity to make them even cheaper by paying it down bit by bit. We are almost halfway paid off by now.

The ARM comes from our thoughts that we wouldn't be in the house long. Without getting into details about jobs and education choices and such, it's funny how life throws you curves! We are happily staying now... but have run out on our ARM.

IF (BIG if) our house appraises for what we bought it for, we will own about 20% of our house. BIG if. Of course, we have massively improved the property since then... new kitchen with maple and granite, new siding (well, siding removed... but brick is SO much nicer), fenced yard and stone patio, front yard landscaping, etc. We are hoping that those might offset to some extent the probable drop in housing prices.

Here Was Our Plan:
Our plan was to refinance into a 15 year mortgage. I found this excellent calculator for figuring out the cost and benefits of switching an ARM into a fixed rate mortgage. It helped me sort out the options. I also used the loan quoting service on Zillow.com... I was pleased with the quality of the quotes I received from several of the respondants. The plus is that no one has YOUR info until you choose to give it to them, unlike other loan quote sites.

After reviewing the information, we realized that it may not be the best time for us to refinance. The odds that we can pass the 20% barrier are not spectacular, and coming up with $3000 for closing costs after we've been working so hard to pay off the HELOC this year will be tough. If we finance the closing costs, we'll definitely have to pay the insurance... which we don't want to do.

The Current Plan:
We're going to wait, and pay down more principle on the HELOC. Maybe even pay it totally off before it's due. We can weather adjustment on the ARM, as it has pretty strict limits. Even though the rates are at historic lows, it just doesn't make sense for us to do it right now.

Edit:
Additional info... we will likely move in 2 or 3 years when we have children, as there isn't much room for children in our house with the two music studios! That complicates the money issue even more!

New Year's Resolutions 2009- Waste Not Edition

Here's our resolutions for lessening our environmental impact, saving money, and wasting less. We made many big improvements on this last year, including building our compost pile, getting glass "tupperware", trading our huge water sucking washer for a used energy efficient front loader, using a push reel mower, etc. Here's a few more goals for this year!

1) Grow a Garden
Not just a flower garden... a VEGETABLE garden. One that we can eat from! I'm envisioning squash and peppers foremost. I'd LOVE tomatoes, but haven't ever had luck with them. We'll go from there!

2) Continue to Use USED Materials Whenever Possible
Pretty self explanatory! We've had good luck so far.

3) Make Insulating Curtains
I'd like to further insulate our windows by adding quilted window shades to keep heat in.

4) Reuse and Repair Everything Possible
From darning socks to re-glazing our windows!

5) Make Homemade...
...hair gel, bread, household cleaners, snacks and cookies, etc

6) Compost EVERYTHING Possible!
Well, except dog poo. We're not going to try that yet. I want to compost most of our waste paper instead of sending it to the recycling and make sure that we don't throw out any food matter this year!

New Year's Resolutions 2009- Home Edition

It's time for the Home Improvement Edition of New Year's Resolutions. Lots to do this year, and only one year to do it in! I'm sure you will notice a few repeats from last year... thus is life!

1) Refinance the House
Our ARM resets in August. Not much else to say! Look for some refinancing posts to help clear the murk around mortgages and similar.

2) Paint!
The exterior wood on our house needs new paint. Preferably in a color besides white!

3) Repair/Replace Porch
In addition to painting, our front porch needs some attention. We want to replace the rotting square columns with original style turned columns, replace a few rotten boards, and finish the porch ceiling.

4) Finish Bathroom
I mean it this year. I really mean it!

5) Flooring?
Perhaps I will see what is under the carpet and plywood...

6) Finish that Master Suite
The imaginary one that we've been dreaming about for YEARS. The one where we take the back room, and split it into a bedroom and bathroom/walk in closet/laundry. Oh, and where we get to sleep in a bedroom with walls and have a closet that isn't a cheap particle board stand-alone!

7) Tackle the Windows
The original wood windows are in serious need of repair. I'd like to reglaze at least a couple before next winter. Wish me luck!

Just like last year, I am sure that life will intervene and give us more important things to do... but we will start here!

A Look Back at Old Resolutions 2008

Last January, I posted my goals for the year. How have I done this year? There have been some sidetracks, some delayed projects, and some re-prioritizing. Discovering the brick under the siding was unexpected, and sucked up much of our remodeling money this year, putting other projects on the back burner. We've still accomplished quite a bit on our list, though!

1) Finish Bathroom- Not Yet!
Well... we've installed a light, hung the door, and scraped part of the wall (leading visitors to query us over our "interesting" wall covering). I'm not sure I like the light... but it's there for now!

2) Replace Front and Back Door- 1/2 Done
We've replaced the back door, and have stripped the new front door and bought a new storm. I really wanted to get it in before this winter, but it's too cold to paint outside now.


3) Finish Landscaping Backyard (and Plant) NO!
All we did in the back yard this summer was finish the firepit and build a hammock stand.


4) Finish Master Bedroom- Um... NO!
Didn't do a single thing except create a myriad of plans and dream of including a bathroom!

5) Finish Laundry Room- No
We did hang the kitchen cabinets... but that is all!

6) Wood Flooring No
We didn't lay the flooring we have... but I did discover tongue and groove flooring under our carpet.

7) Replace Trim No
We've looked at trim styles and talked about what we want... is that close?

8) Research and Plan Exterior Paint/Stucco/Re-Siding DONE!
We sure "resided" the house! No more asbestos siding for us... and it's DONE!

9) Dog Door No
Somehow this just didn't seem that important... and without a deck in the back yard, it didn't seem that possible yet.

10) Compost Piles Done!
Here's our compost piles!


As we face the next year, we will make a new list... some things left unaccomplished will remain, but new priorities have been made. And, of course, we will expect the unexpected!

More Backroom Plans... I think I have something now!

Thanks for all of your wonderful suggestions! It really helps me hack through this process.

A few of you asked what program I'm using to create my 3D layouts. I'm using SketchUp, a free program from Google. I must say it is quite easy to use; I figured it out through trial and error. I just have the basics down; I have seen some FABULOUS models elsewhere.

We thought through our priorities, and decided that the dogs could sleep in a bathroom/laundry room, that we didn't REALLY need a side back door AND a back back door, and that a bathroom really would be nice. We already traded for a stackable washer and dryer to help with our plans.

A snag came up when we realized the trap door for the crawl space is right where we wanted to place a wall; we compromised by shrinking the bedroom by a foot. It's now a 10' x 13' bedroom; the largest in the house by FAR, and with no closet eating up space inside it. I am also concerned about placing a sink over this trap door... is this a good idea, or a disaster waiting to happen?

Here are two ideas; look at how far they came from my last attempt! The trap door is the square on the floor of the laundry/bathroom area.






Basically, I divided the space up into a 10'x13' bedroom and two 7'x5' spaces, one a walk in closet and one a laundry or bathroom. I removed the side back door, and added our salvaged French doors to the bedroom.

I can't decide about doors... should the closet and laundry room have their own separate entrances from the bedroom (I'll likely do pocket doors for at least one of them), or should I have only ONE door that into the bathroom, and then a door from there into the closet? I drew the plans with a separate door for each.

Whether we do the bathroom will depend on the ease of plumbing. In the little bit of research I've done, it sounds alternately like the easiest thing in the whole world and like I've asked to move the Empire State Building. It doesn't help that I don't really know what needs to be done except we need the 4 inch drain and we already have plumbing in the wall...

What are your thoughts on these floorplans? Any ideas on how hard or easy it might be to install a new bathroom in a wood framed house over a crawl space, using an existing wet wall (kitchen)?

Some Back Room Ideas

As I said previously, we are attempting to remodel our back room. Here is the original room: (20'x10', with a sloping ceiling)

The door on the top leads into the main house. The door on the right side leads out to the driveway. We are removing both huge windows on the bottom as well as the window into the next room at the top.

Right now it functions as a bedroom, laundry room, and dog sleeping room (it's divided by a huge ugly armoire.) We need it to function as all or most of those things in the remodel. Sadly, the pups can not sleep WITH us, due to allergies... and they are too young to be trusted not to chew themselves to sleep.

The laundry area is currently storing our family filing cabinet, a cabinet of house tools/paint/etc, linens, and dog things.

The other bedrooms in the house are 8'x10 and 10'x12', each with a closet taken out of that floorspace... basically anything we do to this new space is bigger than either other bedroom.

Thanks to all of your suggestions on the previous post... here are three possibilities. I added French doors at the bottom of each, but didn't work on placement at all, so it's sort of awkward in all of them.

Here is the room in our first configuration, with completely separated areas:

Pros:
Doggy space
Separate Laundry Area with room for cabinets and LOTS of storage
Direct access from the house to the driveway/trash can
Would be easy to build built in storage on either side of the bed (floor to ceiling)

Cons:
SMALL closet space (though bigger than what we are using now)
Smaller bedroom
Weird walls/dimensions

Here is the room with a walk in closet:

Pros:
Walk in closet
Larger (10x15) Bedroom
Logical floorplan and layout

Cons:
No doggy space
No paint/tool space
No direct access to driveway/trashcans

And here is the room with a 1/2 bath and non-walk in closet:

After doing a little research, I though adding a half bath to the mix might not be a bad idea in our 1 bathroom house. Unfortunately, it would be a bit of work, as the wet wall is taken up by the laundry area right now. I don't think I have a good model for this, but I can't figure out how else to do it.

Pros:
Toilet in bedroom!
Larger (10x14) bedroom
Resale value from second bathroom

Cons:
No doggy space
No paint/tool storage
Small closet


Any ideas? Suggestions?

The Master Bed/Laundry Room Shell (AKA The Back Room)

I have been struggling with ideas for how to renovate our back room. It is a 10' by 20' room that was added on in the 1920's. It has a slanted roof, windows into the main house, and 2 HUGE windows. Oh, and peel and stick vinyl tiles.

When we moved in, we decided we would convert it into our master bedroom and laundry room. We moved the laundry out of the kitchen and into this room the first weekend. We moved a bed and a clothes rack in for the bedroom side.

And then we planned. And planned. And planned.

And three years later, we are still sleeping in the room. We added a freestanding closet to separate the laundry area and the sleeping area, but it is still open to the rest of the house.

I discovered Google SketchUp tonight, and drew a mock-up of our back room:

I added the washer and dryer (the two boxes), as they are likely NOT moving. The top of the picture is attached to the house, and the other walls are exterior.

We are definitely removing the two HUGE windows on the bottom of the pictures, along with the window into the guest room at the top left. We are putting in French doors on the bottom.

Nothing else is final.

The room is 20' by 10' and we need:
A bedroom
A closet
A laundry room

I'm trying some ideas out in SketchUp right now! Any ideas?

New Years Resolutions 2008, Part 2- Lessening Our Consumption and Enriching our Lives

A few days ago I posted a list of New Year's Resolutions pertaining to our house and its remodeling. Though long and exhaustive, it is not a complete list of goals for the year.

My husband and I have become increasingly concerned with environmental concerns. Over the last year or two we have obtained reusable grocery bags, searched Habitat ReStores, Craigslist, and Freecycle for needed building supplies instead of buying new, made a concerted effort to buy from the farmer's market first, and more.

Here is what we want to do this year to lessen our impact and improve our life:

Build Efficient Compost Piles
We already compost by dumping organic matter into the space between the fence and the garage. It doesn't compost very fast, however. I want to build a series of two or three compost bins to rotate the material between in this space. I even have the material: pallets that I salvaged from the scrap wood pile at the city recycling center. Some decking screws and time, and I can have a great set of bins with lots of airflow.

Plant Buffalo Grass (or other native grass)
When we finish the backyard we hope to seed with drought tolerant grasses. Why grass at all? We have dogs. A pretty lame excuse. For the past 2 years I have watered our front lawn (which is fine fescue) about 3 or 4 times a year... hopefully after establishment a native backyard will need that or less.

Use My Human Powered Lawnmower
I received a great present this year: a Brill Luxus 38 Lawnmower. My goal is to NEVER use the old gas powered one in the garage.

Replace the Front and Back Doors
We lose a substantial amount of heat out of our backdoor. I recently discovered that it is actually a hollow core INTERIOR door. No wonder the laundry room (and our bedroom) is 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house! The front door is in better shape, but rotting and cracked.

Seal ALL Windows and Doors/Apply Weatherstripping
Much heat is lost through cracks around doors and windows. Adding weatherstripping will make a big difference.

Bed Warmers
We drop the heat by quite a bit at night. We use two fluffy down comforters to keep warm. While at my parent's house this Christmas, however, we were introduced to the delights of a bedwarmer, which might allow us to drop the heat even further. We are looking to either find an old metal one to fill with heated water (reused, of course) or make one out of cherry pits. Of course, I may keep an eye out for one of these...

Shop at the Farmer's Market FIRST
We made a valiant effort this past summer to make it to the farmer's market every week before grocery shopping. We forgot a few times. This summer, I want to make it EVERY week.

Join a CSA
In addition to the Farmer's Market, I want to investigate (and hopefully join) a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). I know there will be foods that we have no idea what to do with (thinking beets and squashes off the top of my head), so an additional goal is to learn to cook those foods.

Plant a Vegetable Garden
Our backyard is nearing completion. I want to finish the vegetable garden beds by April in the hopes of planting tomatoes and cucumbers and all sorts of yummy foods. I also want to more fully intersperse herbs into my flower beds.

Replace Old Plastic Tupperwares
We have a large drawer of plastic. Most of it is old yogurt and cheese containers that we repurposed for use as tupperware. We have become increasingly concerned with plastic leaching into our foods during storage and reheat, and so are looking to buy some glass containers. No worries... the old plastic will NOT be trashed. I have so many home improvement things such as nails, screws, tape, etc that would LOVE a home in a nice small container!

Find or Make Reusable Produce Bags
I found some great bags here, but the shipping from Canada is outrageous. I am hoping to make or find something similar to carry produce home in.

Buy Only Used (as much as possible)
Somewhat self explanatory. My resolution is to look at thrift stores, reuse stores, and the internet to find what I need used BEFORE I look for new. Especially clothes. Except underwear and socks.

New Year's Resolutions 2008

It is that time of year again... a new year. A good time to set goals and benchmarks for upcoming projects and to plan for the future. My plans for the year include:

1) Finish Bathroom
Paint, trim, new doors and framing, new vanity extensions.

2) Replace Front and Back Door
Find and refinish doors, new framing

3) Finish Landscaping Backyard (and Plant)
Build deck, build small patio, finish fire pit, build raised vegetable gardens, finish doggy sandbox, PLANT!

4) Finish Master Bedroom
Build wall to separate it from the laundry room, build closet, install french doors, remove window into next room, floor, remove paneling and finish drywall, paint, possibly some built-ins.

5) Finish Laundry Room
See above... plus, finish hanging old kitchen cabinets, build new shelves, finish drywall, paint cabinets and walls, lay slate.

6) Wood Flooring
The biggest project: Rip out old flooring. Replace with 100 year old heart pine that is sitting in the garage.

7) Replace Trim
Replace the nasty pressed wood 70's trim, that was badly painted and is broken and cracking with something more tasteful.

8) Research and Plan Exterior Paint/Stucco/Re-Siding
Research, research, research.

9) Dog Door
Buy dog door, cut hole in wall, frame out, and screw in.

10) Compost Piles
Nail hardwood pallets together to form two or three compost bins beside the garage for easy composting.

Ambitious? Yes. Let's see how much we can do this year!

Color Choices and Beadboard?

The very first home improvement project we undertook when we bought this house was to paint the bathroom. We attempted to paint the walls the same grey color we thought the tub tile was... except, when that color covers entire walls it's actually a lavender/blue shade.

My bathroom in it's current purply-blue and white glory:

We would love to paint a different color. We are thinking one of the shades below.. probably the second or third saturation level.

1)
2)
3)
4)

The great part about #1 is that it is from the same tint family as the living room and bedrooms. The living room is the lightest color on the swatch, and the bedrooms are one color lighter. It might make a nice visual connection between the bathroom and the rest of the house to stay in that family. Of course, the green in #3 is nice, too and the chocolate in #4 just makes me hungry!

Suggestions of different colors are more than welcome...

Also on a slightly different note, I've been toying with the idea of adding white beadboard around the bottom of the bathroom and just painting the upper portion the above color choice. It's a small space and wouldn't cost much. Would it be too much of a contrast/too white?

More Bathroom Plans...

Our bathroom is coming together. We are a backwards sort of people, so we did the floor first. Here are more plans:

First:
This window in the shower needs to go. It is rotting, and covered with a small piece of vinyl shower curtain. Definitely not attractive.

The plan?
To replace the window with glass blocks.

The problems?
The window is 24 inches wide. Glass blocks are 8 inches wide. If I put 3 blocks in the window, there is no room for mortar. Also, it is 35 inches tall. What should I use to fill the gap? Must research this further.

Second:
I HATE the tub surround tile. It is fake marble. FAKE, FAKE, FAKE. So fake that you can SEE the pixelation from the printer that created the pattern. Each tile is exactly the same, too.
Even WORSE than the fake marble tile is the accent tile. It is a baby blue/slate grey concoction that gives the appearance of being rope.
They do not match our bathroom at all.

The plan?
To carefully chip out the blue accent tile and replace it with slate tiles cut to fit. I'm trying to decide whether to do long pieces of slate or short (1 inch) pieces of slate.


Third:
Our bathroom needs more storage.

The plan?
I am going to build two extensions to the vanity that will fill in the area between the vanity and the wall. They sell cabinet doors for fairly cheap, so I will be able to match the existing doors.
I'm going to put marble countertops on top of the two units, to "match" the fake marble shower surround.
I want them to look different than the existing white counter, since they will never look like "part" of it.

Fourth through Seventh:
Replace the shower curtain and rod.
Finish the doors.
Finish the molding and trim.
Paint and texture.

What will we do?

Install new kitchen cabinets and counters.
Re-floor the entire house.
Raise the front porch and install new porch columns.
Convert the un-used back room into a master bedroom and laundry room.
Install built in bookshelves and cabinets throughout the house for greater storage.
Fence the backyard, possibly with privacy fencing.
Create a nice back yard for relaxing using xeriscaping techniques.
Increase the energy efficiency of the house.
Repair/Replace the old windows.
Install a new front door.
Replace all of the hollow core doors with solid wood doors.