Windsor Terrace Reno

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December 28, 2007

Moving right along...

As I have mentioned, its been an exciting few days.

Nearly all the plaster is complete and in the process of final sanding sessions. Not all of the transformations were quite this dramatic but there were enough that all these smooth walls really make me smile. Here is the before and after of vestibule ceiling:

The few areas that needed new floors are now done. The photo is of the bedroom on the garden floor.

Very happy with how it looks. Have to give the credit to my contractor for this one. I only expected standard planks in here but instead he did a beautiful job of using planks for a border and parquet set on an angle for the interior field. He originally tried to use some parquet he had salvaged from an earlier job but he ended up using new after the salvage planks weren't cooperating.

All the tile in the bathrooms has been completely installed.

I wish I could say I was 100% happy with how the tiling has gone but I can't. There have been quite a few issues - some that got resolved and some Ive resolved to live with. I think we've arrived at a happy medium where Im mostly happy with the results and the contractor doesn't want to murder me for making him rip out the work he has put in.

And finally, all colors have now been selected. Im still not feeling the love for all of the shades I picked but I had to decide at some point.

And the "winners" are: Silver Fox, Abalone, Stardust, Woodland Snow, Bone White, Beach Glass, Quiet Moments, Waterfall, Silver Marlin, Saybrook Sage, Latte, Victorian Mauve, Metallic Silver, Gray Owl, China White (all Benjamin Moore)

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Comments

Looks fantastic! Congrats on floors and bano. I should say, having just installed a Toto last week, that I think this toilet is taking over the world. Damn thing flushes anything you (er) dish out, instantly, with no swirling or screwing around. Very pleased. Guess I'm an old man. Mrs. Limestone, you will be singing yer terlet's praises very soon.

Posted by: Rehab at December 28, 2007 11:36 PM

If I may ask, where did you get your recessed lighting, and what kind of lighting outfit are they? Also are u using halogen bulbs? Lighting looks great, so do the floors!

Posted by: guest at December 29, 2007 10:44 AM

Thanks rehab. We originally wanted Kohler toilets but because Kohler has discontinued their standard height option in the Memoirs line, I "settled" for the Toto Promenade. Now that we've had a flush off test, I think I like the toto better.

Guest@10:44 - We originally planned to provide the recessed lights to our contractor but after a few confusing visits to lighting stores, I gave up the fight and asked my contractor to provide them for us. Im sure they are not the highest quality but they do the job. I don't know the name but Ill see if I can find a box and let you know. Yes, they are halogen.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at December 29, 2007 11:44 AM

Such amazing progress! And it all looks great. Would you mind my asking (if it isn't too sore a subject) for details on the tiling problems? I'm doing tiling work at the moment and would love some guidance on what to ask my contractor to focus on/get right.

Posted by: guest at December 30, 2007 10:51 PM

Are you using Benjamin Moore paint? I ask because, if you are, it's really worth discussing with your contractor an up-charge for their applying extra coats. We repainted our house this year and I've been really bummed about the poor coverage we got using BM paint. As I looked more closely at our walls in different light conditions, the inadequacies became more and more apparent. Then an artist friend of mine who moonlights as a painter told me the quality keeps getting worse. In one room, the coverage looks fine but -- within 9 months -- the wall discolored behind a couple of pictures we hung. In a few instances we caught the problem before the room/space was finished and did an extra coat (so 2 in all cases and 3 in some). Incidentally, I've heard that Sherwin Williams is muvh better quality (and you can always match the colors) but I have no first hand experience with it. Caveat emptor and good luck. It's a real morale boost in any renovation when you get fresh paint on the walls.

Posted by: guest at December 31, 2007 3:02 PM

Guest@10:51 - Its not too sore a subject. We had a few issues. First issue was around some uneveness where the tiles were put on the party walls. Those walls are a little more uneven than the new sheetrock ones so the tiles came out a little bit crooked. Its one of those things that you would only notice when looking quite carefully at it but its still annoying. Not annoying enough to require a redo though. I don't think its anything you can watch out for beforehand though since you only see these problems once the tiles are on the wall and grouted. Second, we had some issues of the slate tiles we used in the basement being installed backwards. The result is actually not that bad looking b/c it looks intentional but I will forever know it was done improperly. Unless you are using slate tiles, not something you will have to worry about. And our third issue was something I wasn't willing to live with and required redoing was not measuring properly before installing the fixtures on the tile. So we had a few instances were tile had to be ripped out and redone to get things to line up. There really is no excuse for these issues and I dont have any suggestions on how to avoid it.

Guest at 3:02: Thanks for the comments. I haven't heard that before about BM paints. The coverage looks good to us with the two coats but if it fades in 9 months time, that is terrible.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 2, 2008 9:04 AM

A quick question -- when you restored the ceilings did your contractor use lathe and plaster or sheetrock?

Posted by: guest at January 2, 2008 1:45 PM

Where it could be saved (parlor and garden floor), plaster was used. But the top floor's ceiling was completely unsalvageable due to all the water damage from the leaking roof - so that was all replaced with sheetrock.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 2, 2008 1:54 PM

Beautiful job(s)! Can you tell me the dimensions of the top two bathrooms? They look similar to the bath we are working on on our garden level.

Posted by: guest at January 2, 2008 8:15 PM

First bathroom shown our second floor hall bathroom. Its about 6 1/2 feet wide by 5 feet deep. Its really small and its exactly the same size as it was when we found it. Thats a big reason why we opted to use the original sink b/c anything much wider would not have fit in there. (Plus we really liked it)

Our "master bathroom" is also 5 feet deep but 10 1/2 feet wide. Hardly spacious by new house standards its positively huge compared to any bathroom Ive ever had. Quite a difference in what we could cram in there. We could have had a much larger master bathroom complete with soaking tub if we had given up our closets but that was not happening.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at January 3, 2008 9:17 AM

Please tell us what color you are painting each room! Very exciting!

Posted by: guest at January 9, 2008 10:47 PM