Demo Day 2

The tile, tub and walls are gone. We discovered plumbing exists for a washer/dryer, so we'll leave that for future possibilities.

Demo Day 1

The portable toilet and dumpster arrive

At the end of the day, the linen closet, sink and vanity, soffet, and mirror are gone. Removal of tile has begun.

Renovation Time!!

It is now January 27, 2015. We have gone through the typical steps all homeowners go through to explore the many options available for a home renovation. We have selected Signature Designs in Cottage Grove to be our design and contractor team: Ericka and Adam Arowcavage. There have been discussions, tours, plans, and more discussions. We are now ready to embark!!

Tomorrow a big dumpster and a port-a-potty will arrive, along with Adam and his crew. They will begin demolition. Before this stage begins, it's good to have a few "before" pictures.

Hall bathroom:

"Bedroom 1"

"Bedroom 2"

HVAC installation

Way back when we lived here in 1990, we heated mainly with a woodstove. There are electric wall heaters in every room as well. As part of our task of making our home more comfortable and efficient, we decided to have a ductless heat pump installed. The folks at Home Comfort did it right!

                On the first day, the cassette for the living room and headers for the bedrooms were put in.

Each unit needed pipes for drainage.    

That was the first day's work. 

On the second day, the drain lines were connected and completed, and the heat pump installed on its cement slab.

 Lots of tubing! 

  Let's see, the footbone's connected to the shinbone...

 After all the parts were in, we tested each room, learned how to use the remote controls, and job was done.

Now we use the HVAC system most of the time. We will use the woodstove when the power goes out (which it has already done once for 6 hours) and when it meets our needs for ambience. We'll also need it when the temps drop below freezing.

woodstove

We needed to get our Lopi Endeavor ready for the coming weather!

 In July it looked like this.

It took some cleaning, painting, and polishing. We are happy with the results and have lots of wood ready and waiting.

First time we burned a small fire - to make sure it worked.

All was good, and just in time for the cool weather.

Now we have tools, an ash can, and are keeping toasty warm.

That red basket to the left of the stove came from China. It was used in village life for all kinds of purposes. It is lined with tar and could have carried water at one time. Now it's our wood box.

July/August/September Outside

  

Just as we spent lots of time and energy working on the inside during the summer months, we also wanted to make the most of the incredible Oregon summer weather to improve the outside. It does, after all, rain a lot in Oregon!
The deck project has its own post. Here are images of other areas we worked on as well.

Okay, yes, that's my finger at the top. You still get an idea of what the front of the house looked like when we arrived! 

  

 The lawn had to wait a little bit till Bruce decided on a lawnmower. 

Gardens were overgrown

 

But it didn't take a whole lot to make it better. 

 

There was our redwood picnic table and 4 benches, custom made in 1988 and sitting on the deck ever since. Sanded, cleaned, and oiled, it's almost like new.

                                       One of our first dinners

 

Deck power washed but not stained yet.

 Ta Da!

The whole exterior had not been painted in about 20 years. We were just plain lucky that it wasn't in worse shape!

Katie Copeland helps out during a visit with Aaron

  

We went from old brown to NEW brown, better brown.

New outdoor light fixtures - keeping with a loosely Japanese style

July/August/September Inside

Various tasks were required to make the inside of the house as livable as possible until we can focus on the bigger remodeling projects.

First, we cleaned and painted.

Made some repairs

We also found we had a few unexpected things to clean up, like the nearly 500 empty bottles and cans in the attic!

Then we gradually brought in furniture - from our storage units, and then when our shipment arrived. We also shopped, filled in more gaps, and replaced a few appliances.

We are gradually finding places for many of our things. Some remain in boxes until the time when there is a place for them.