Clean and Ready

Nothing makes me as happy--well, almost nothing--as a really clean, organized contractor. Honestly, this shows a huge amount of respect for the homeowner, and pride in the job that the contractor does. I think it's an overall good indicator of the type of work that they do!

Here's what we started with.

Here is post-demolition.

And here are the resurfaced areas, ready for tile.

One more angle.



Hard to find fault here! The tile is being installed as I write this...can't wait to get a look at that!

My Own Country Bumpkin

For years, my favorite vacation spot has been Ogunquit, Maine. It's a tiny village
(1500 year round residents) without a single stoplight, but some of the best restaurants and the most beautiful settings in the country, including a mile-long cliff walk along the Atlantic Ocean called the Marginal Way.

My hobby (obsession?) became real-estate-watching in Ogunquit proper. As you can imagine, not a lot hits the market, and it's usually pricey. Well, when Ogunquit experienced a downturn in their market, similar to the rest of the country, I took the plunge. Call me crazy, but the timing seemed right!

I was able to find a cottage packed with true New England charm, wrapped around the predictable Early-American-Shabby-Chic-Country-Charm furnishings. But I could tell that with a good cleaning, a fresh paint job and some up-to-date furnishings, it could be a comfortable and cozy setting, both for us and the seasonal renters we hope to attract. Here are some "before" pictures.

I know what you're thinking...."Who in their right mind?!"....right? Well, since these photos were taken, the ugly duckling has transformed. Do I have your attention now?

After pictures to follow!

And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

Well, not exactly. But, here you can see what a cleaned out, blank slate bathroom space looks like. Again, in this renovation we're not really moving anything major, but basically just updating all surfaces and fixtures...and maybe moving a couple of things, just a hair!

This next photo shows something that can be pretty typical of a major renovation, and luckily in this case was not really a surprise. When the existing garden tub was removed, we found that there was no "wall" behind it, much less any insulation! The homeowner has had a long-standing battle with moisture and mildew that would collect behind the vanity to the right of this open space. We're hoping that by adding insulation behind the entire wall area, and putting up proper wall surfacing, this problem will be eliminated.

We are very lucky to have an extremely careful and tidy carpenter on this job. By carefully removing and bagging most of the debris, he was able to keep dust to a minimum, which makes these homeowners very happy! The very last piece to be removed was the old tub, which our carpenter did need a hand with.

From this point on, we're past the "tear-it-up" stage, and full steam ahead on the "make-pretty" stage!