It's coming to a close. I know, so fast, you're saying, but that's how it happens in these stages. One day you get sheetrock, the next you're moving in your furniture. That's a little exaggerated, of course, seeing as we got sheetrock in June and just moved in two weeks ago, but that's certainly how it feels.
September was a mad dash of crossing lines out on our own personal punch lists and packing the rental house - me into boxes, Todd into piles - choosing what we would bring upstairs and what we could live the next two months without.
The plan went like this. Sometime in late August, after a long day of work, the four of us were lounging around the patio table out back, likely eating some kind of sausage in a tortilla cooked on our snazzy new charcoal number, when Mom mentioned moving. Up until this point, moving was still an abstraction, some incalculable endpoint of the unknown future, a point that seemed not only far off but dare I say, still impossible. You see, our plan all along had been to move into the house when, and only when, we were entirely finished. It's not like Todd and I hadn't brought it up before. We talked about it often during those long and late night drives home, heading from one messy house to another, but we figured the answer from my parents would always be the same: only when we're finished.
So I would be lying if I said I wasn't shocked. Or that I didn't jump on the idea right away (my mind: $$$$$$ - hello rent savings). Mom figured that if we could completely finish the upstairs of the house, we could easily move in without a useable downstairs. What do you really need everyday besides a bed and a bathroom, really? Wo needs a kitchen? I like takeout.
It didn't take long before our punch lists were drafted and we were off to the races, or Home Depot as it were, tackling the to-do's big (finally replacing the hardwoods on the stairs) and small (light fixtures, light fixtures, light fixtures) and preparing for our big move. Mom continued with the neverending task of caulking and painting, following closely behind the finishing trimwork and door frames. Dad and Todd set shower glass for the three bathrooms, installed the master sinks, and had the marble installed for the master vanity (woooohooooo!). We finished door frames, completed trimwork, refinished the original doors, and so, so, much more.
And we made it! With days to spare. September 26 we loaded up the remaining items into our cars and invited our landlord for a walk-through. That night we climbed into our freshly made bed and relaxed - but just for a moment because the work is never finished - because we were finally in!
And now, of course, the photo evidence...
After much debate over keeping and finishing the original stairs, we decided it would be easier and nearly as cheap to replace them. It's funny, we you start a project you have all the grand dreams about preserving every last piece (ie the floors, the stairs), but somewhere around 10 months in, when you all but given up, the easier route becomes decidedly more desirable. So that was that. I fought for the original stairs for about a week and when the time came down to, I opted for new treads. The old floor was covered in paint, cracked, and missing pieces - not to mention it wouldn't match the new floors. We found unfinished hickory treads for a great price and Dad finished them before he and Todd installed them one day.
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| The unfinished treads |
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| Old stairs |
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| Ripping out the old stairs |
We may have replaced the stairs, but the original things we didn't give up on: doors, door frames, and transoms. Last year, Todd met a hygienist at the dental office down the street who renovates old homes in East Nashville with her daughter. Having done a number of old houses in the area, she had collected a wealth of information which so fortunately included the number of a man who dips old doors to remove the finish. He charges a flat $100 a door and the doors come home still needing some sanding and TLC, but we were sold. We saved all the doors we could that would fit existing and new frames and ordered new five panel doors for the others.
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| Five panel doors during refinishing. |
Some stain and polyurethane turned the old doors into new, preserving the history minus the layers of paint.
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| Here, a refinished transom above the bathroom door looks into the master bedroom. You can see the finished five panel door on barn door hardware leading to Todd's closet. |
In the past month and a half, I've learned that when big things delivered, they don't get delivered inside. Instead, they get dropped off at the curb of our street where we have to wait....
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| Shower glass delivery. |
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| The crazy heavy crate of shower glass. Wait...we're having Todd handle glass...? |
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| Glass installation in the downstairs bathroom. |
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| Glass install in the master |
For the tubs, we scoured the salvage yard a few times, but decided on new acrylic tubs since we were worried about the weight of two giant cast iron tubs upstairs. Thankfully, this also made them easier to carry up our narrow stairwell.
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| New clawfoot tubs! |
Until next time...
