Modern House Dallas

The Paint is almost done

We're using American Pride paint.  It is zero-VOC paint that contains no lead, mercury, formaldehyde, formaldehyde precursors, crystalline silica or other known toxic materials or suspected carcinogens.

We bought the paint here in Dallas at Green Living.  They are in the Lakewood shopping center, and they sell all kinds of  "green" products for your home and family.  From natural latex mattresses and Marmoleum floor tiles, to organic cotton bath robes and fair trade coffee, they have it all.  Much to our surprise, they were more knowledgeable about their paint products than the specialty paint stores like  Sherwin Williams that we visited, and much more so than the guys in the paint department at a Lowes or Home Depot.  A local shop full of nice, smart, well-informed people selling a good product?  This was a no-brainer!

Paint went on easily and evenly, with good coverage and virtually no odors.

Here are the colors we're using:

• Primer
• White (with a touch of neutral gray)
• Pink (#115-1,2,3,4)
• Light Green (#064-2)
• Bright Green (064-5)
• Gray (matched to Benjamin Moore Aura "Sweatshirt Gray" #2126-40)

Pink stripes for the princess...

With matching shelves on the opposite wall.  (We'll probably do closet interior pink too).

Here's the view from the kitchen into the dining/family room:

Another view of the dining/family room:

And the living room:

As you can see, the floors are covered with paper, and there is no trim yet.  Once our tile is done, Specialty Hardwood will be back in to sand and finish the floors.  After that, we'll bring in the trim, the electrician will install fixtures, outlets, switches and we'll be getting REALLY CLOSE to actually moving in and enjoying this place!

Walnut floors

The guys from Specialty Hardwoods hit the house today and started the floor installation.  The walnut strips are looking good, as is the prep that they have done (sanding, new subfloors in some areas, etc.)

Here are some cell phone pics (didn't have a real camera with me today)

master bedroom

hallway looking into master

detail at master threshold (new subfloor, vapor barrier, walnut)

living room, prepped

bedroom3/office getting prepped

bedroom 2 new subfloor

another view of the master

another view of the master

clos(er) up

Denim and Drywall

Jose, the main man on our drywall crew is cranking it out.  The insulation is up in most of the interior walls now as is most of the sheetrock.  Here is a shot of the UltraTouch in one of the bedrooms.

This stuff should be really health-friendly, with no VOCs or other nasties.  None of the interior walls were insulated before, so this should be a big improvement in terms of acoustics.  Even partially finished, it is much quieter, which makes it seems very peaceful and actually makes the house feel even more substantial and solid.   It is funny how you don't notice some noises, even subtle background noises,  until they are gone.   

I know you can't tell from the photo, but one of the things that we noticed when we opened up the walls was that the 1957 framing members were real 2x4's.  If you go to Home Depot or Lowes today and buy a 2"x4", you are going to get a piece of wood that is 1.5"x3.5" (the nominal dimensions are 2"x4", the actual dimensions are 1.5"x3.5").  Actual dimensions on these babys are 2"x4".   Not a big deal, really, but think about how much money the lumber industry made if they kept prices constant as they cut that much material out of the finished product!

Bedroom wall Sunday

Bedroom wall Monday (cotton insulation shot above is the opposite side of this wall)

Insulation has arrived

Insulation arrived today.  We ordered formaldehyde-free fiberglass for the exterior walls and BondedLogic's UltraTouch recycled cotton insulation for the interior walls.  It is R-13, no nasty chemicals, no VOCs, and good sound insulation properties too.  Pretty cool stuff.

The living room is packed with a few thousand feet of insulation , but that won't last long--the crew gets rolling tomorrow with the insulation and drywall...

Progress Report

Plumbing and electrical rough-ins are done and we are ready to start sealing walls. 

We had some structured wiring installed (Coax and Cat5e).  Not in every room, but three drops at potential flat-panel TV locations going back to a media box in the utility core.  Empty conduits waiting for HDMI or whatever comes next...

Sweet ACO MiniKlassic trench drain is installed in master shower, and waiting patiently for tile.  I can't wait to peel that protective plastic off and see that stainless steel sparkle.

Insulation and sheetrock starts tomorrow...

The Green Tag Update

Since our happy inspector gave us a green tag for Mechanical, we have had three additional inspections.  We now have nice green tags for plumbing, electrical, and framing.  : )

Backyard Swingers

First yard project completed today: dream swing.

The renovation is progressing nicely, but it doesn't feel like  we haven't actually finished anything yet.  At least not to the point where we can actually use it and enjoy it.  Roughed in plumbing and electrical may be important milestones, but they don't make a 2-year-old smile.  A giant swing does.

30+ feet of chain and a soft yellow seat make for a smooth ride.  The branch is high and the  swing is long, so the arc it describes is a long, gentle curve. 

FUN.

Green Tag

Well, we had our mechanical (HVAC) inspection today and passed with flying colors.  I wasn't there, but our GC (aka "my wife") said that the inspector was very nice and extremely complimentary about the quality of the work he saw--not just with the HVAC--but also with the plumbing and electrical.  Trust me -- that's exactly what you want to hear from your inspector!  Anyway, sounds like it was a love fest all around and everyone left smiling. 

We got a green tag with "Duct job well done" written on it.  No smiley faces or gold stars, but I figure this is as close as the city inspectors get to that.  :)

The whole green tag thing seems very old fashioned.  I wonder if they gave out green tags in 1957 when the house was built?! 

And Chaos Ensues...

...or at least that is what it looks like when you walk into the house these days.  We are actually making really good progress, but it looks like hell.

Here's a shot from yesterday looking through the kitchen into the dining/family room.  The sheet rock and old paneling is off the studs in many areas, and there are holes in the ceiling.  BUT, the plumbing and electrical are roughed in.  Electrical fixtures should be installed in the next couple days, and an inspection will follow shortly.  Likewise with plumbing.  Once we're past the inspections, we can get the walls sealed up and move on to things like floors, millwork, tile, trim, and paint.  Seems like a lot, but we're really getting close...

We've re-wired the whole house (thus all the holes and torn out sheet rock), and re-plumbed the wet areas.  We're ready to rock.  Aside from the peach of mind that comes from knowing that we will have a safe and solid electrical system, one advantage of tearing things up is that it is giving us the opportunity to re-insulate!  Looks like we will be using Bonded Logic's UltraTouch which is a green product made from recycled cotton denim (as in blue jeans).  We'll be doing the interior walls too, as it provides a reasonable level of acoustical insulation as well.

Now if I could just find the time to blog!

Master bath nip and tuck

   

The top photo shows the master bedroom as it appeared on our pre-purchase walk-through.  The bottom photo shows it as it appears today. 

The stubby wall has been removed as have the closets on the far wall.  The new walls and openings are framed out.  To the right of the door opening will be walk-in closet, to the left will be master bath. 

Here are some more images of the slightly funky and very dated original bath/dressing/closet arrangement:

On the back side of the short wall was a very dated grooming/make-up area.  (View from inside the master bath looking out).

The original master bath itself was TINY!!! 
Rather than replace the tile, someone painted it white...

The new layout should give us much more practical, usable space.  No granny vanities or painted tile either...