Home Improvement

Tuff Shed Preps & Installation

June 13 – 20, 2024

We had a ‘Tuff Shed’ installed alongside the house for garden equipment, etc.

Kevin had 8 tons of creek rock delivered beforehand to spread over the area, and other areas around the house.

Shed construction was performed by the contractor. Kevin hung shelves and equipment hooks.

Photo album is HERE.

Basement Stairs Sconce

October 19 – December 25, 2021

Kevin added a light at the top of the stairs leading into the basement since it was so dark on the way down. This required a very long drill bit through the stud header to reach the inner wall for wire routing, along with some fancy wiring since it’s a 3-way switch with two lights.

Not an exciting album for others, but it documents the journey.

See the details on my blog post HERE.

Photo album is HERE.

Basement Stairway

I added a full wall and door on the far side, and cut down the wall on the near side. Along with basement baseboards, casements, electrical, etc. etc. See the blog posts at:

Walls Surrounding Basement Stairs

June 13 – 20, 2024

September 18 – December 1, 2021

Framed and hung drywall to separate the workshop from the finished area.

Hung a new door between the finished area and the workshop.

Knocked down the half-wall on the finished side of the stairs to open the area.

Identified & installed new full-length bannister.

Contractors mudded, textured, and painted the drywall.

Photo album is HERE.

Basement Refresh

September 30, 2021 – January 27, 2022

Includes photos of the area before work began. How gloomy!

The walls on either side of the stairs are in the album below.

A fairly large project, and Kevin did most of the work:

Pulled up the carpet and padding, Installed new painted baseboard and door molding (and removed old), Built & installed wire shelves in the storage room, Installed ‘Elfa’ wire shelving in the guest bedroom.

Photo album is HERE.

Kitchen Mood Lighting

Replaced fluorescent tubes meant to provide kitchen mood lighting with multi-color LED strips.

I also replaced the cans / bulbs with all-in-one dimmable LEDs.

Photo album is HERE.

Master Bath Wall & Electrical

Removed a cracked tile countertop that spanned the vanities, along with old ugly powerstrips that supplied power to the vanity.

Removed drywall, added electrical outlets, and added new siding to cabinets to cover the damage.

Photo album is HERE.

Powder Room Floor & Baseboard

Replaced the cracked slate tile with something more fun! Includes new baseboard.

I had to go down to the subfloor and do some repair there as well. A lot of work, but I wanted to do it the right way!

Photo album is HERE.

Landing Floor & Baseboard

Removed the carpet, padding, and sub-floor on the landing to the basement and replaced the original baseboards with PVC baseboards. Yep, I still have to replace the carpet on that lower stair. The goal: Pet friendly (nothing organic) in case the cat is having a grumpy day.

Photo album is HERE.

Basement Bathroom

A complete overhaul of the basement bathroom. I removed the carpet (yes!), vanity, baseboard, and medicine cabinet (the space above the towel rack that I drywalled).

I built / installed the vanity, installed the utility sink (next to my workshop), tiled, put in new baseboard, replaced the toilet, light, fan, and added missing hardware to the shower doors.

Photos are HERE.

Kitchen Hood & Upper Backsplash

Replaced the original kitchen hood and the backsplash just below it.

Photo album is HERE.

Guest Bathroom Floor & Vanity

I replaced the horrible cracked tile and installed a new vanity (and replaced the baseboards, thresholds, etc.).

Photo album is HERE.