Our beautiful original floors!
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- Stain is a messy business and I’ve always felt that if your totally covered in it then you’re not doing it right! Eight hours, my two hands, on my knees and one brush and all 1300 square feet of flooring is done!
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- Stain is a messy business and I’ve always felt that if your totally covered in it then you’re not doing it right! Eight hours, my two hands, on my knees and one brush and all 1300 square feet of flooring is done!
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- Here is the new pine added to the front of the house in the entry/dining room. Dark walnut stain by minwax on pine floors.
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- Here is the original floors in the kitchen joining the new pine floors in the entry/ding room. Together with dark walnut stain the different kinds of wood meld beautifully.
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- Here are the original 100 year old cedar floors in our kitchen covered with dark walnut minwax stain and poly.
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- Here are the original 100 year old oak floors in our living room covered with dark walnut minwax stain and poly.
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- Here are the original 100 year old oak floors in our living room covered with dark walnut minwax stain and poly.
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- Here are the original 100 year old oak floors in our living room covered with dark walnut minwax stain and poly.
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- Here is our extra bedroom with its new pine floor stained with dark walnut pinwax and finished with poly. We wanted them to look like they had been here for 100 years too.
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- Here’s our new pine stair case stained with dark walnut by minwax and finished with poly.
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- Here’s our new pine stair case stained with dark walnut by minwax and finished with poly.
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- Here’s our new pine stair case stained with dark walnut by minwax and finished with poly.
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- Here are the original cedar floors in our master suite stained with dark walnut by minwax and covered with poly.
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- Here are the original cedar floors in our master suite stained with dark walnut by minwax and covered with poly.
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- Here are the original cedar floors in our master suite stained with dark walnut by minwax and covered with poly.
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- Here are the original cedar floors in our master suite stained with dark walnut by minwax and covered with poly.
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- Here are the original cedar floors in our master suite stained with dark walnut by minwax and covered with poly.
A new deck in an old house!
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- In one week we (mostly Joe) completed the deck with only the railing to go!
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- In one week we (mostly Joe) completed the deck with only the railing to go!
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- In one week we (mostly Joe) completed the deck with only the railing to go!
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- In one week we (mostly Joe) completed the deck with only the railing to go!
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- Joe and I tackled our 800 square foot deck this weekend, two days and we’re almost done!
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- Joe and I tackled our 800 square foot deck this weekend, two days and we’re almost done!
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- Joe and I tackled our 800 square foot deck this weekend, two days and we’re almost done!
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- Joe and I tackled our 800 square foot deck this weekend, two days and we’re almost done!
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- Joe and I tackled our 800 square foot deck this weekend, two days and we’re almost done!
Dream in color! All of the painting is done and Grandma’s flowers are blooming!
Painting the ceilings and trim flat white!
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- I have dreamed in color ever since we started down this long adventure in April 2014, now I am painting in color!
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- The bead board in the entryway soars in white now. Our 100 year old farm house has never been so bright!
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- The bead board in the living room soars in white now. Our 100 year old farm house has never been so bright!
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- The beadboard in Dakota’s bedroom in white now looks like its been there forever!
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- We chose to cover the slanted walls/ceilings in the master bedroom and keep it all flat white.
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- The bead board in our living room turned out so spectacular I just love it!
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- Painting the siding white in the office looks better then I had ever hoped for in our 100 year old farm house!
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- All of the old siding out in the hall looks even more spectacular now that its in white!
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- With everything painted white it looks like heaven in our 100 year old kitchen!
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- Keeping the old siding in Dakota’s bedroom was a no brainer, painting it white turned out to be the right choice!
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- We chose to cover the slanted walls/ceilings in the master bedroom and keep it all flat white.
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- With half of the walls in the master covered in white painted bead board we knew that we could paint the sheetrock something bold, the one on the left is the one we chose! It is called Sooty Lashes and web bought it at Ace Hardware!
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- We chose to take the bead board down the slanted walls and all the way to the floor in the master bedroom, closet and bathroom!
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- My bathtub still all wrapped up, looking spectacular against a wall of white bead board!
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- Choosing between grays was much harder then I had thought it would be. We ended picking the one on the left for all of the first floor minus my office.
Priming a whole house!
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- Covering everything with plastic before starting on spraying primer in the whole house!
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- Covering everything with plastic before starting on spraying primer in the whole house!
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- Joe started spraying primer in Dakota’s bedroom
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- Spraying primer in a 100 year old farm house
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- Finally moving on to spraying primer in a 100 year old farm house!
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- Finally moving on to spraying primer in a 100 year old farm house!
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- Finally moving on to spraying primer in a 100 year old farm house!
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- Joe looking like he works in a powdered doughnut factory!
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- Finally moving on to spraying primer in a 100 year old farm house!
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- The entry all primed and ready for paint!
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- The kitchen all primed and ready for paint!
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- The main bath looking so grand with its new coat of primer!
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- A shot of those awesome vaulted bead board ceilings primed in Dakota’s room!
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- The hallway and all that awesome old siding primed and ready for paint!
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- The master closet all primed and ready for paint!
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- My tub all wrapped up and waiting for paint after Joe primed it!
Sheetrock finished now on to trim!
Us and the house so far!
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- Joe prepping the north side of the house for siding.
Spring is here and we finished the horse fence!
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- Crab apple blossoms blooming at our 100 year old farm house in northern minnesota.
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- Crab apple blossoms blooming at our 100 year old farm house in northern minnesota.
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- Crab apple blossoms blooming at our 100 year old farm house in northern minnesota.
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- Peonies growing in northern Minnesota at our 100 year old farm hosue
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- Rhubarb growing in northern Minnesota at our 100 year old farm hosue
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- 100 year old barn with a snazy new horse fence in northern minnesota
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- 100 year old barn with a snazy new horse fence in northern minnesota
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- Thorn apples blooming on our farm in northern Minnesota spring
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- Thorn apples blooming on our farm in northern Minnesota spring
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- Thorn apples blooming on our farm in northern Minnesota spring
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- Thorn apples blooming on our farm in northern Minnesota spring
We have running water and all of our ceilings almost done!
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- Putting up bead board ceilings in a 100 year old farm house DIY.
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- Putting up bead board ceilings in a 100 year old farm house DIY.
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- Putting up bead board ceilings in a 100 year old farm house DIY.
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- Putting up bead board ceilings in a 100 year old farm house DIY.
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- Putting up bead board ceilings in a 100 year old farm house DIY.
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- Covering a block chimney in new rock in a 100 year old farm house
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- Getting the water running through new plumbing in a 100 year old farm house diy
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- Getting the water running through new plumbing in a 100 year old farm house diy
The finished rock on the front of the house and Joe starting on the chimney inside!
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- Adding rock to the chimney on the inside of our 100 year old farmhouse, here Joe is grouting.
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- Adding rock to cover old stucco on the front of our 100 year old farm house. Here it is compeltely finished.
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- Adding rock to cover old stucco on the front of our 100 year old farm house. Here it is compeltely finished.
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- Adding rock to cover old stucco on the front of our 100 year old farm house. Here it is compeltely finished.
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- Adding rock to the chimney on the inside of our 100 year old farmhouse.
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- Adding rock to the chimney on the inside of our 100 year old farmhouse.
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- Adding rock to the chimney on the inside of our 100 year old farmhouse.
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- Adding rock to the chimney on the inside of our 100 year old farmhouse, here Joe is grouting.
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- Adding rock to the chimney on the inside of our 100 year old farmhouse.
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- Adding rock to the chimney on the inside of our 100 year old farmhouse.
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- Adding rock to cover old stucco on the front of our 100 year old farm house. Here it is with Joe grouting.
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- Adding rock to cover old stucco on the front of our 100 year old farm house. Here it is with Joe grouting.
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- Adding rock to cover old stucco on the front of our 100 year old farm house. Here it is with Joe grouting.
More taping and mudding and also some new rock!!
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- The newly created hall in the old screened in porch with the living room in the room on the left and my office is the room at the end with the ladder.
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- The second story sheet rock is just about ready for paint!
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- We both hated the old white stucco so Joe (being a stone mason by trade) naturaly wanted to cover it with rock.
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- I love his choice of the dark grout and I love how much the gray in the rock is really contrasted by our siding.
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- We had to put shop lights on the grout because the day cooled off so fast the grout wasn’t drying.
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- Joe running a bob cat cleaning up after our big fire so we have more parking for the wedding.
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- A pile of debris we pulled out what will become my horse’s shed/shelter when I move them over here.
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- Another full trailer… my back still hurts from that day.
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- Here’s the shed finally empty, there is still work to be done the rest of the debris on the floor was frozen so we couldn’t get it all.
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- This pile is actually still waiting for us to take over to our dumpster but we have another few days until it gets emptied and we’ve already filled it again…
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- There’s still work to be done to get this ready/safe for horses but we’re getting there!
Taping and mudding and drywalling all the live long day
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- Renovating a 100 year old farm house, sheetrocking, drywalling and taping all the live long day.
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- Renovating a 100 year old farm house, sheetrocking, drywalling and taping all the live long day.
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- Renovating a 100 year old farm house, sheetrocking, drywalling and taping all the live long day.
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- Renovating a 100 year old farm house, sheetrocking, drywalling and taping all the live long day.
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- Renovating a 100 year old farm house, sheetrocking, drywalling and taping all the live long day.
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- Renovating a 100 year old farm house, sheetrocking, drywalling and taping all the live long day.
A controlled burn, taping and mudding and a vanity created!
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- A heart shaped blister after five hours of taping and mudding, the pain feels good 🙂
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- Gotta love seeing sheet rock tape and mud!
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- It feels like we’re really getting somewhere now!
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- It finally warmed up enough that I could start taping and mudding!
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- Can’t wait for second coat!
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- Modifying the drawer so we can convert mom’s old dresser into our main bathroom vanity.
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- Modifying the drawer so we can convert mom’s old dresser into our main bathroom vanity.
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- It was a 40 foot pile of wood lath and studs pulled out of the house and the whole old garage!
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- It was a 40 foot pile of wood lath and studs pulled out of the house and the whole old garage!
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- The old bathroom vanity before we modified it
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- Modifying the drawer so we can convert mom’s old dresser into our main bathroom vanity.
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- Modifying the drawer so we can convert mom’s old dresser into our main bathroom vanity.
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- Marking it so we can cut the sink out.
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- Cutting the hole for the sink.
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- And, the finished vanity!
More siding and more spray foam insulation
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- Hard to believe this used to be a wood shed attached to the house with no floor! Love love the way it looks now with insulation, feels like we’re really getting close! (kudos to Mike Day of Day’s Foam It for doing such a nice job)
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- Front entryway/dining room now with insulation, the house is so much brighter now I can’t imagine just how much more so it will be when we sheet rock! (kudos to Mike Day of Day’s Foam It for doing such a nice job)
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- Looking into the kitchen from the entryway, the plaster and lath on the ceiling will be covered but I feel obligated to save some of that green color to put somewhere later. (kudos to Mike Day of Day’s Foam It for doing such a nice job)
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- Here’s the kitchen again, right in the middle is where our island will be… as soon as I make it… God I just can’t wait to be building and refinishing furniture again! I miss it SO much! (kudos to Mike Day of Day’s Foam It for doing such a nice job)
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- No I didn’t take a picture of that big pile of dirt I hauled out of the basement – actually I took this picture so you guys could see the new siding 🙂 Doesn’t it just make that stucco look awful? lol
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- Man that stucco really does look bad, Joe plans on covering it with rock so that will be really exciting! For now, I just can’t believe how nice the house is beginning to look. Pain and caulk on all of the trim and eves next year and we’ll be just about done with the exterior!
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- Kudos to Mike Day for getting our main and second floor all spray foamed! Yay!
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- There is no one on this planet that I would have wanted to do this with – except you.
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- A determined Joe braved an incredibly slick roof and sleet and rain and snow to get the south end siding on Sunday!
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- A determined Joe braved an incredibly slick roof and sleet and rain and snow to get the south end siding on Sunday!
Spray foam insulation and a wood stove!
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- A wood stove, right where my grandma’s kitchen stove used to be… brought tears to my eyes.
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- Yes, I am capable of great things when I am not trying, take this for an example, I actually managed to accidentally hang a ladder from the ceilling.
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- Fully embracing my carhardt coat and coveralls, so tired of being cold already and its only November!
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- Yes, I’m still running electrical and I’m tired… so tired.
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- Progress! Second floor getting spray foam insulation. Yay!
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- Second floor again, looks like our master suite will probably be the first floor that gets finished!
I’ve started on the electrical!
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- Joe cutting the hole after I framed in for my new french door! He requests new chain saw blades for christmas!
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- New french door in and looking just divine!
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- Here’s another shot of the kitchen, just showing off my other two glass doors 🙂 Yes, I am going to be very spoiled.
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- Here’s my new panel and sub panel and those are all of the wires I’ve already run…
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- More wire waiting for me, oh yeah, and some plumbing. Sighs… so sick of plumbing and electrical.
Joe’s getting the garage done and the plumbing continues…
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- Joe working on the garage – this new siding is a snap!
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- Be nice to Pex pipe… it bites
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- Cleaning up the house anymore seems just futile (because it is) I’m gonna lose my mind one of these days though and its gonna be spotless again
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- The learning curve of running pex pipe…
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- Wish I had had some experience with this stuff before I started!
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- Here is a lift basin for taking sewage out of the basement. I am freakishly proud of this accomplishment.
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- I can’t wait to see this new siding on the house! The garage is almsot done!
Welcome to my hell
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- Yeah well… its my creation…
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- Welcome to my hell.
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- I HATE hole saws and so does my drill.
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- Kitchen sink and vent for other stuff… yeah
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- My car is a clown car and she’s just fine with that.
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- Joe taking down dead trees for us and finishing up the garage.
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- Without a doubt, this is how you get your ass in trouble in home renovation… no broken bones yet so all is well.
More of the dead tree…
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- A friend of ours let us borrow her husband for a little while, took all of five minutes!
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- It was an impressive jackpine, relieved that its no longer leaning toward our new shingles…
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- What a mess!
Goodbye scary dead tree! TIMBEEEERRRR!!
Putting up a new garage and installing new doors and windows
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- All hands on deck. Planning and squaring out a new slab of concrete is complicated and time consuming.
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- My poor, tired, wet and aching footums… not to mention my poor boots, this was their third bath after spending hours covered in wet cement.
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- Even my brother’s back looks tired. This is him waiting for the slab to cure a bit more before polishing it for a fifth time…
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- That thing is a beast. My dad took over for awhile and my brother and I took bets on whether or not it would throw him into the lilac bush… Nah everybody kept it under control and the slab turned out beautiful.
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- My man cutting the hole for a new door and window.
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- I’ve never seen poor Joe so hot, tired and pissed off.
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- Having stepped on two separate nails on two different occasions with the same foot, as well as having took a dive off the ladder once that day probably contributed to it being such a hard day….
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- My little car sitting in front of her future garage. Three walls up!
The Yard and saying goodbye to an old garage…
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- Joe attempting to save the eagle hanging on the front of the garage before pulling it down.
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- I think, even now, that the place looks nice and old, I just can’t wait until I can spend some time in the yard.
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- Aaaanddd, the head popped off of the eagle we were trying to save…. sigh, well, we tried.
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- The barn how I will always remember it. From here you can’t see the extensive rot that has begun to erod the roof, the hay mow and finally, down into the main support raftors. If I had the money I would save it.
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- Our machine shed/future horse barn 🙂
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- From this angle the house seems to have a haunted look about it that I’ve never noticed before… I kinda like that.
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- Well one door down…
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- Aaaand, goodbye the front of the garage.
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- Starting to lean further and…
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- Finally starting to come down!
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- Finally! It is amazing how well these old buildings were made. After much deliberation and seeing the extensive amount of rot throughout this old thing we had made the decision to tear it down. Out with the old and in with the new I guess… but it made me sad.
The Dungeon
????? – June 3rd
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- Old staircase be gone!
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- It is amazing to stand on one side of the house now and see all the way through to the other 🙂
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- It feels and looks so big!
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- My new laundry closet in the dining room.
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- New staircase made almost entirely with blood sweat and tears… very proud 🙂
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- Future kitchen, can’t wait to put my island smack dab in the middle there!
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- Sure did feel good ripping that old, steep thing out. Thank God I never quite fell down it!
Days 21-3,000…. May 10th – May 19th 2014
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- The living room floor, we ripped out the carpet and this is what was under it 🙂 We think it’s fir, can’t wait to refinish it!
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- The living room floor, we ripped out the carpet and this is what was under it 🙂
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- There is nothing quite like a glorious saw mill for making one feel tiny… 12×12 beams anyone!? This photo is of my 6×6 beams that I got for my place 🙂
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- Cutting the hole for the first beam, chainsaw work… and I will be buying my brother new chains for many birthdays to come…
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- More chain saw work here is my Bro cutting out the opening for the first beam.
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- When in doubt get out the chainsaw. My Bro cutting the hole for the second beam after we supported the house…
Days 11-20 pictures – Taken April 21st-May 4th 2014
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- Here the wall is almost halfway, you can see the light of the wood shed windows shining across the mega nightmare that we have of clean up. The wood shed is, of course, also filled with wood that we’re gonna have to take out.
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- The wood shed on the other side of the wall Joe is taking down here has no floor and is over a two foot drop down to dirt, but it has a poured foundation that was clearly put it at the same time as the entry and ditto with the roof – they just decided to keep it a shed and not add a floor. I need storage so we’re gonna be adding a floor.
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- Two feet of insulation, plaster and lath fell from the walls and ceiling of the second floor.
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- You can see my shovel leaning. I took this picture before I started shoveling all of the debris down the stairwell – it turned out to be the most efficient way of getting it out of the house. I shoveled down – mom shoveled into bins and hauled/emptied to the dumpster outside. Repeat.
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- It was without a doubt the nastiest, hardest, worst work I have ever done in a two hour period. But we got it done and now the upstairs is 99% gutted and ready to be put back together!
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- We did a little bagging and then finally gave up. Plaster is heavy (it is basically concrete after all..) and just doesn’t bag well.
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- I called my bro to double check with him that the wall was, in fact, not load bearing. He was surprised when I told him that I didn’t think that it was a wanted to take it out.
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- I called my bro to double check with him that the wall was, in fact, not load bearing. He was surprised when I told him that I didn’t think that it was a wanted to take it out.
Days 6-10 pictures – Taken April 16th-20th 2014
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- During the week mom and I ran over to the house and did some major clean up.
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- After a lot of shoveling she got to sweeping and I started in on ripping the last of the lath out of the kitchen.
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- I also started work on my grandparents’ old bedroom.
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- Then Joe and I headed over to the house last weekend.
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- The wall between the bedroom and the screened in porch started coming down.
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- The closets went away too.
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- And now our dumpster is full 🙁
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- And then Joe brought the ceiling down…
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- We’re gonna fill another dumpster apparantly lol
Days 4-5 pictures – Taken April 9th-10th 2014
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- Finally broke through!
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- What insulation that there is in the walls is a bizarre mix of highly toxic shit.
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- Starting to see the light all the way through the house!
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- Seeing the kitchen now from the living room.
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- The living room, gutting all outside walls to make room for new insulation.
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- With the entryway losing that wall I’m beginning to believe that it will be a nice dining room.
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- Joe working on the last of the back wall that needs to come down.
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- Joe working on the last of the back wall that needs to come down.
Days 1-3 pictures – Taken April 4th-6th 2014
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- Good bye bathroom – hello bigger and brighter kitchen!
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- Goodbye kitchen!
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- With the cabinets gone we hacked through the wall into the bathroom on the other side.
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- The entryway without the cabinets in it – now I’m starting to believe that it’s big enough to be a dining room!
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- Joe and I burning what was safe to burn of the house debris – taking a break.
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- Day one and we pulled all of the cabinets out of the house – dissapointed many of the lower cabinets in the kitchen could not be saved 🙁
Before pictures – Taken April 3rd 2014
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- The kitchen nook under the staircase where the refrigerater used to live.
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- The kitchen now – there is a bathroom on the other side of the wall that will be going away.
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- The entry now.
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- The entry again – looking into the kitchen – this wall is going away.
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- The front entry again.
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- A shot of the wall between the entry (my future dining room) and the kitchen that is going byre byre.
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- A shot of the wall between the kitchen and the living room that will be going bye bye.
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- That’s my mom (“wave for the camera, Mom!”) in the living room now.
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- My grandma and grandpa’s old bedroom.
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- The screened in porch and an ancient matress.
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- Hard to believe that this is going to be my office one day…
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- Another shot of the screened in porch.
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- Living room, picture window will be getting replaced with slicing glass doors.
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- Main bathroom that is now behind the kitchen.
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- 2nd floor bedroom – to be the master bedroom.
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- 2nd floor bedroom – to be the master bathroom.
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- 2nd floor bedroom – to be the master bathroom.