Basement Bathroom, Take #2

When I last left you, we had discovered that we couldn't put a bathroom in the basement in our chosen location. The plumbers had suggested putting it "here" (oh, you can't see where I'm pointing? At the base of our stairs, against an existing wall separating the laundry area from the more public-ish area.).

This is the view down the stairs. The wall is in the middle. Bathroom would go on the right hand side:


That plan got drawn up. It looked... clunky. Like there was a bathroom in the middle of the room (which there basically was). There's a telepost in the way and I didn't feel that the space flowed very well, and the bathroom ate up a lot of living area real estate.

Another view:


I realized that the wall was the problem. If we got rid of that wall, the bathroom could be moved over, making it less in the middle of things. Here's the thing: it doesn't make sense to put the bathroom (a fairly permanent feature!) in a stupid location against a wall just because that's where the existing wall is. Does this make sense to anyone else? The wall is not important and is easy enough to move. I'd rather spend a bit more money to get rid of the wall and put the bathroom in a more sensible spot.

At the same time, I had to keep in mind that we want to keep space for a bedroom in the basement. This was looking tricky to achieve, what with the existing closet in the corner and some very expensive to move basement features. It was looking like the closet would have to go if we wanted to finagle a bedroom in the space.

Conversation with my wonderful interior designer ensued. She did her designer magic and came up with a new plan, with the warning, "I know this looks almost the same as it did before, but if we want a bedroom, this is where the bathroom needs to go." But to me, getting rid of that wall and moving the bathroom over 3 feet makes a HUGE difference. (Note: The Husband did not care one iota where the bathroom went, only that one was built.) To me, now, though, there is more openness into the main area and the path between the bathroom and telepost is more, um... friendly? More open? Anyway, I like it better and that's what counts.

EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, the plumbers gave this location their blessing. I think we checked this three times (we're like Good Housekeeping recipe testers over here). We were good to go!

The wall came down (see the red paint on the floor? That's where the wall used to be):


My kids LOVED this stage. They could scoot practically the entire width of the house. The basement looked soooooo different without that wall. I told the contractor he'd better get bathroom walls up fast or I'd nix the bathroom idea and just go with an open basement.

Look! (like my scooting fairy?)


Then the framing went up. View from the stairs:


View from the corner:


Doesn't it look great? Almost done ! (hahahahahahahaha)

Renovation Surprise #1

We had our first renovation hiccup today.

I got called to the basement for a meeting this morning. I walked down the stairs wondering if the conversation was going to cost me $10k. Or worse. Gulp. I could almost hear the doom and gloom music. Had a little conversation about plumbing. You know you're in trouble when your plumber says, "I've never seen anything like it." Yeah, that's not good news. Not good to be unique in the plumbing department.

Bottom line, we have to put the bathroom on the other side of the house. (Which is funny, because that was the initial drawing waaaaaaayyyyy back at the beginning of this process.) We held an emergency designer/contractor/client meeting this afternoon to figure out what to do (they called it, not me!). Our first instinct was to tear out the existing storage closet in one corner and plunk in a bathroom there. The issue with this idea is that there is a beam running across, reducing the ceiling height to about 6' in the area. Not a huge deal, since we're all short, but not ideal. We'd need to work around the water meter and sump pump as well, and we'd lose a really nice closet.

Alternatively, we could put the bathroom against the laundry room wall. The plumbers have checked everything out and say there is enough room there to work their plumbing magic. The bathroom will jut into the play zone of the basement, but not by a lot, and it's actually in a great location for a quick basement bathroom trip. Instead of traipsing through an entire house on either level, it'll be a simple dash down the stairs. Much more convenient for when we're outside, for example. So, it looks like that's where the bathroom is going to go. The new plans will be drawn up and we'll go from there.

What surprised me most today? Well, it's weird, when I got the news it was kind of like, sigh, yup, this house loves to surprise us, let's put the bathroom somewhere else then. (To be honest, my biggest concern was that if we put the bathroom where the storage closet is, I'd have to move all the junk in the closet - and there is lots! I've counted on storing a LOT of our belongings in there during this reno. I really don't want to move it all and figure out where else to store it.) Anyway, apparently this reaction is called "taking the news well." The contractor thanked me several times and said I was being very gracious about the whole thing.

I'm pretty sure that's the first time in my life I've ever been called gracious. Sarcastic? Yes. Funny? That's happened a couple times. Totallyandcompletelyanaltype1wouldyoujustrelaxalittletakeadeepbreathandchillout? More than once. Gracious is a new one.

I guess some people would yell? Blame the plumbers or the contractor? Because seriously, how could I possibly get mad over this? It's not any fault of theirs. Am I supposed to cry? I'm not crying over moving a bathroom at the rough-in stage! It's a renovation, shit will happen, we will soldier on. I am much more annoyed at how difficult it's been to get a front door (and, again, not annoyed at any person in particular, just at the general door manufacturing process and their standard sizes that don't match my door).

Not like I didn't cry today, I cried hard, but it was because I watched this video on Facebook about refugees landing in Greece and oh my goodness I can't believe people pile into those little floaty boats and show up cold and hungry and wet, with only the clothes on their back. All in the hopes of a better life. Holy crap, we are so fucking lucky and we don't even appreciate it most of the time.

Anyway, I digress. Back to my stupid little inconsequential plumbing issues in my house with running water and food in the fridge, located in a non-war-torn area of the world. The trench the guys dug out yesterday? It's filled in now. De-trenched, as it were. We had some family fun putting our initials in the fresh concrete. I will spend some time this weekend moving stuff out of the way of our new bathroom location.

All for now! Stay tuned, I do have some "during" pictures to share. Our addition is looking very torn apart right now, the difference is amazing already!

Shut the front door: I found one!

Let's talk about my front door. It's 60 years old, original to the house. Part of our renovation plans include replacing this door. Sounds simple enough, right?

HAHAHAHA. Clearly you have never met my house. It's always got a surprise up its sleeve. Our current front door is 6'10" tall and 2'10" wide. They don't make doors this size anymore, at least not on the assembly line. Standard doors now are either 6'8 or 8' tall, and 2'8 or 3' wide. You want a different size? Then you must pay!

OK, fine. The contractor said we can put in a smaller standard size door, 6'8 by 2'8, and do some brick mould magic (read: make the edges of the frame wider).

Sounds good I say. As long as you can do that without having it look stupid, I'm fine with that. I am assured it will look great, this plan will work well.

Alright, let's go ahead. I will choose a standard size door. I like this one (a random Craftsman style door).

Sorry, they don't make these in 2'8. Only 3'.

Is there any way you can custom make one for me in 2'8?

No can do.

Sigh. Fuck. Sigh.

The contractor gave me a few leads on other door companies. I dug and I dug and oh my, they sure like making 3-foot-wide Craftsman style doors! Still couldn't find a 2'8 one.

OK fine. I know when I'm beat. I gave up. Accepted the door that I have now. Took a break from this door business.

Our contractor toiled on, hunting far and wide for a door that would make me happy. He tracked down a company that he's used in the past, they assured him they could cut down a bigger door to fit my weird door size.

I admit, I didn't quite believe it. But we met on Wednesday and this company carries a Craftsman style 2'10" wide door that's 7' tall, and they can cut it down to fit.

Well hallelujah! And Craftsman style. Double hallelujah!!

Sure, there will be some trickery with the frame, because their standard door frame mouldings would extend into the brick area of our house, but they can work around that.

So yay! I will have a new front door! I almost can't believe it! (OK, granted, pessimistic me knows that it hasn't actually happened yet so who knows what else can go wrong, but let me float on my little cloud of happiness for a while, ok?)

Smashed my decluttering goal for 2015

After a very successful 2014, where I got rid of more than 2028 things, I set out to do the same thing this year. The goal was 4030 things out of the house.

So far I've gotten rid of 5897 things! And there's still two months to go. Yowza!

How did this miracle of decluttering happen? Honestly, I'm not exactly sure. I can tell you that my office looks a LOT less full than it used to. There is floor space in there! Outgrown clothing is relatively easy to get rid of. I'm even getting better at letting go of the kids' art. Yay me.

One thing that has helped a lot is our impending renovation. Having to pack up most of the house has made me much more selective about what I want to keep. I fail to see the point of packing things that I don't need/want/use.

And that's the key. There are things in my house that have been here since we moved in. I'm figuring that if I haven't used these things in the 10 years I've owned this house, I don't need 'em. A good example of this is wine glasses. When we cleaned out my grandmother's house after she moved out, I kept her set of fancy glasses. So, um, confession time, there's something you need to know about me. I don't like wine. Like, at all. Those glasses have been in a box for over 10 years. If I haven't used them by now, I'm not going to. I don't even WANT to use them. It's time for them to go. Ba bye, glasses!

Clothes have become much easier to part with. I think I reduced my wardrobe by at least 20%. I got rid of anything I wore that I didn't like but wore anyway because it was there. Said bye to pants in sizes I will never be again - and even if I am that size, my body shape has changed with motherhood and I need a different fit now. Got rid of shoes I don't really like, that don't fit well, that I'm tired of.

I even convinced The Husband to get rid of some clothes. I told him it didn't matter how much the item cost (splurge or deal), he should get rid of anything he didn't like and just keep the good stuff.

Our local children's museum has benefitted from my decluttering. They take donations for their craft area. I've dropped off tissue paper, construction paper, crayons, CDs/DVDs, flashcards, puzzle pieces, fabric (man, a lot of fabric!), yarn, coffee stir sticks, plastic cutlery, pom poms... like I said, lots of stuff.

Just today I was clearing out our office closet. Came across manuals for cameras. I got rid of the French manual - I've got the English one and believe me, I understand that one better! Old software on DVD. Warranty and quick install instructions for various devices - ciao! And oh boy, a stack of file folders left over from my PhD literature review. I do NOT need that many folders. They will go to the children's museum.

So far I'm still keeping track even though I'm past my goal. I'm not sure how long I'll keep that up but it's still interesting to me from a data collection point of view so tally marks will keep piling up.

Home Renovations: The Budget

Our contractor came over this week with The Budget for our renovation wish list. We went over the three page spreadsheet and the sub trade quotes. Let's just rip off the bandaid:

$200 000.

Two hundred thousand dollars.

All I can say to that is HAHAHAHAHA. We cannot spend that much money on our house. Yes, everything we'd like to do makes it more livable, more functional, more of what we want. But we need to be able to afford to live here. And, you know, eat.

So we are going to have to trim/chop. The contractor's suggestions to save money are to skip:

• dri-core in basement,
• gas fireplace,
• tempered glass on stairs,
• pantry storage in wall backing the stairs, and
• granite countertops.

That will save us somewhere in the $25 000 range. A good start, but not enough. 

Not quite panicked, but feeling poor, I asked the interior designer for her input on how to prioritize what we want. We're going to have a designer-contractor-me meeting this week to figure out how to bash the budget into a more pleasing shape.

Here's where having our priorities clearly defined helps. A LOT. Gas fireplace - that's an easy cut. Ceramic tile at the entrance - that's not important. But those are relatively small drops in a pretty darn big bucket o' moola. What can we cut that's going to make a big difference? I'm perfectly happy to pay $22 000 for electrical work, because lighting will make a huge difference in these rooms. I'm also perfectly happy to pay the contractor to get the permits. For $2000, he can do it. The other option is me lugging my kids downtown, parking, filling out forms where I don't really know what I'm talking about... ugh, to me, that $2k is money well spent. 

Where else can we reduce scope? Another easy cut is custom cabinetry in the front room. That's $11 000 we don't have to spend.

A more difficult but perhaps necessary sacrifice may be the basement gut. Technically we don't need to gut it. It's already insulated and has panelling. It won't take much to make the basement livable, mostly carpet and lighting. The end result won't be as pretty as the initial plan, but heck, it's a play area and family hang-out zone, not luxury accommodations.

However, the contractor says that to put in the lighting, as per the plans, we'll have to take down walls anyway. So then we're still gutting the basement, insulating, but perhaps saving on finishing. I dunno, if that's the case then maybe we have to pull back on the lighting, because it's feeling like a cascade of work, and if we simply don't start, we don't have to put it back together. Just slap down some carpet, maybe put in new windows, and call it a day.

Another big expense is re-stucco-ing the exterior. I really don't want to redo the whole house (it's $9000). Other options are to re-stucco the really destroyed zone, stick to patching only, or perhaps even reduce the changes we are making inside to minimize the damage (read: don't move any windows!). The interior designer suggested a trellis in front of the big patch area - that's talking my language! The thing is, the major stucco blemishes will be on the side of the house. I do not spend a lot of time looking there. I don't think it needs to be super pretty. I suppose if patching turns out to be super ugly, I will save up my dimes and fix it when I can. Or if $10k somehow falls in my lap.

OK, so, this part isn't exactly fun, but it's our dime. I do have to remember not to get pushed into things. We're the ones who have to live here and with the consequences of our decisions. The last thing I want is to be stuck with a half-finished house because I said to go ahead with something without being able to pay for the finished job. Gotta keep an eye on that bottom line.

Home renovations: making progress

Last time I posted about renovations, I had only a vague idea of what was going to happen. I'm happy to report that some progress has been made.

I met with the interior designer a few times, got initial design plans, found a contractor I like, and have a set of construction plans. Oh, and in the meantime had new shingles put on the roof (it's gorgeous now) and ordered new windows for our front room, bathroom, and the three bedrooms.

Yesterday, we had some trades come through to get an idea of the scope of their work. We want ballpark numbers for a quote. Because now we know what we want to do, but we don't know how much of that we can afford. Once quotes come in, we'll be able to prioritize much better.

But let me tell you, things sure add up quickly. Talking with the painter, I'm like no, don't paint the bathroom. I have a "don't poke the bear" attitude about the bathroom. Meaning - if we leave it alone, it is much less likely that we will find something wrong with it that we'll need to fix. Because I don't want to focus my energy there. It's a perfectly functional bathroom. Don't poke the damn bear!

But oh, if you want a quiet fan in there, then the ceiling will need to be patched. So then it'll need to be painted. And well, if you're painting the ceiling, might as well do the walls. Ah, but before we can do the walls, these blemishes in the wall will need to be fixed. I point out that there is pink tile behind the toilet. Well, then we'll just remove the toilet and fix the wall behind it and...

Um, dudes - THIS IS THE ONLY TOILET IN THE HOUSE!!! You can't take away my one functioning toilet for 3 days!!!

The same thing with painting the exterior. Sure, the siding looks ok, but oh, those cracks in the paint will come back. You sure you don't want to replace the siding?

YES! I am sure! There are so many items higher on the priority list!!! Kitchen island, people!!! Focus on the prize!

So yeah, you can see how this renovation thing can turn into a whole cascade of "one more thing"s.

In the meantime, I'm sort of dreading the beginning of next week, when the big-ass tally is going to come in. Take a deep breath. A really big one.

How to buy a car without having a panic attack (ok, maybe just one) Part 1

Our 1999 Chevy Cavalier kicked the bucket. Again. For the third time this year. Enough already! It was time to buy a replacement. We discussed buying another putt-putt car for The Husband, we discussed buying used, but ultimately decided that we should get a van and make it a new one since we keep cars forever (or at least until it breaks 3 times in 4 months after 16 years of faithful service and oh by the way doesn't fit your whole family anymore).

So... buying a new car. Filled me with dread. Negotiating. Sitting across a desk from a salesperson, knowing you are probably getting hosed but not being able to do anything about it. Ugh. Makes my IBS act up just thinking about it.

How the hell was I going to buy a car if I'd be in the dealership bathroom during the entire negotiation process?

Now, I suppose I could simply pay full price for a car. Then there wouldn't be any negotiations. Simple. I'd gladly pay full sticker price if I knew everyone else did. But they don't, so I didn't want to either. I had to find a way to buy a car without having to actually step into a dealership.

I wondered if I could buy a car by email. It's my favourite method of communication, after all. I figured if I could deal with a bank by phone and email, I might be able to buy a car that way, too.

I did a bit of googling and found out that using email to get price quotes is actually a thing now. And it's a thing that can save you a pile of dough. I was inspired by this link and this one and a little bit of this one. I was willing to give it a shot, because what did I have to lose? If it didn't work, then I could switch to more difficult approaches. You know, like those ones involving actually leaving your house (drastic, I know!).

We test drove vans, researched online, and narrowed our choices to a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey. I stopped in at dealerships to play in vans with the kids, to better understand the logistics of three kids in a van. My kids loved this part. They climbed in and out of the seats, pressed buttons, opened the sliding doors, closed the sliding doors, put up the window shades, put down the window shades, pretended to drive the van.

Meanwhile I was concerned with details like access to the third row for kid 1. Where were the buttons for things? How did the middle seat in the middle row work? Did we really need that seat? How easy was it to fold down the back row? How did the middle seats move forward?

For me it was more about features than the driving experience. Online reviews complained that the Sienna was a boring drive. Honestly, my definition of a boring drive is one where no one is screaming, no one is kicking someone else in the face, and no one throws up. Boring drives are what I live for!

This is getting long, so stay tuned for part 2, coming soon!

Home Renos: The First Step

We have wanted to renovate/repair our house for several years but until now I've either been working on my PhD or had a baby. Or both. Now it is time to take on this new project.

Except I don't really know what to do.

It's really hard to start doing something when you don't know where to start. That's, like, procrastination city for me right there.

I knew I needed help, and lo and behold, someone who I sort of know, who is friends with a neighbour, is an interior designer! If I would have known that, I would have kidnapped her years ago!

Anyway, she is coming over on Wednesday to take a look at the house (ack!) and talk and I am ridiculously excited. Hopefully I won't have an IBS attack and miss the meeting (anxiety, you are a cruel friend). I am hoping that since I know her but not too well I will be able to talk/breathe my way off of any ledges I want to climb on.

We know our roof needs some work. And we need new windows. And a second bathroom. After that it's up in the air. I HATE our front room - it is dark even though it's west facing and the view out the front window is ugly 8 months of the year. One option is to open it up to the kitchen. That would add some light and make the front room more accessible. Speaking of the kitchen, it could use an update. Our cabinets from 1976 are wearing out/falling off. The drawers suck. Sensible storage is severely lacking. The layout is annoying for cooking and I really hate how the stove is right by the traffic path - it makes me nervous opening the oven.

Then there is our back door - the entrance we use most as a family. When we all come home at once, it's a shit show. 5 people in 9 square feet of space. And all the shoes! I'd like to make the area bigger (how? dunno!) and add a bunch of storage so we can keep our coats by the door we use the most to go outside.

No one ever phones me

Do you get a lot of phone calls?

Most days, I get one. From The Husband, telling me he's coming home.

The only other people who phone me are my Mom and my Dad. I get very sporadic calls from a couple of friends. And that's about it.

Of course then I have days like today, my Dad called me, I dunno, 5 times in one hour. He was calling me with an idea, then calling his car guy, then calling me back.

In other news, I think we're buying a van.

In other other news, I desperately need a laundry fairy, mostly to put away all the clothes in this house.

Rustling up the courage to sell stuff on Kijiji

I am a huge procrastinator. I will let the smallest obstacle stand in the way of doing something I'm not all that interested in doing.

Like selling stuff on Kijiji.

Well, it's more like I'm scared. It's new to me. So much could go wrong! I could price things like an idiot. Spell every word wrong in the add. Post pictures upside down. And how will people get in touch with me? You're not supposed to use your main email address. So then I need a new one. But what will it be? I haven't signed up for Twitter because I can't think of a good handle.

Yes. Seriously.

I have, like a good dozen email addressed floating out there, most of which I can't remember. And now I need a new email address.

Today I finally sucked it up and created yet another email address. Kijiji, here I come!