Base + Case

So I've become THAT guy. You know, the one who still has a Christmas post up in early-March. Not much going on around here redux-wise, hence the lack of posts. IKEA kitchen planning is underway, but no where near the time to begin sharing that. I do have some older redux highlights(?) that have yet to be posted, so journey back in time with us.

All of the baseboard and door casement in the house was the standard that was available in 1958. Surprisingly, its still the same design that you see in many houses built today. I'm not sure if that's a testament to its staying power, or pure apathy on the part of home builders and consumers. You can debate that in the comments!

As you can see, it was all pretty beat-up (from when the carpet was laid) and had multiple layers of paint. So when we ripped out the carpet, the base and case went with it -- those were the first two projects we actually completed in the house. We lived for quite some time with no trim in the majority of the house, even after the floors had been refinished and the walls painted.

It wasn't until Spring of 2010 when I finally got around to the task. My dad, who knows his way around a miter cut, came up for a few days and we were able to knock out many, many linear feet of base and door case. I went with a squared-off poplar 1"x4" base and 1"x3" case. These particular dimensions don't come pre-primed, so I spent the week before install priming and double-coating every single piece of trim. It was a lot easier prepping these pieces on sawhorses in the garage than on my hands-and-knees after installation, so I would highly recommend this approach. There's no doubt you have to go back and touch up a few areas, but you do this when you go back and fill the nail holes anyway, so it worked out. I borrowed a nail gun from a friend, which proved invaluable. In fact, I would suggest either purchasing your own, or renting one to complete a job like this, especially for a DIY'er. Trust me, you'll be running in and out of the house measuring and cutting multiple times for each piece of trim and the time the nail gun saves is just phenomonal. Not to mention the lack of any hammer mis-hits, either on your finger or the piece of trim itself.

And here's a shot that gives a good sense of the depth of the trim.

I used the same base trim for the stairs. The "go to" piece of trim here would be a piece of quarter round, but I wanted a more modern, chunky look. I should also note that I used a 1"x1" square piece of poplar for the transistion from the floor to the step riser.

 The final piece of the puzzle was the trim for the three-steps that lead from the ground floor to the middle floor of our split level. Again, the typical "go to" is a piece of quarter round, which I was looking to avoid. But the base I used for the other steps wasn't going to work here, as it was too deep. So I ended up going with a 1/2"x4" piece of poplar.

It was a big job, but well worth it in the end.

[i'm in your] crawl space

In the greater scheme of architectural vocabulary, I don't think there is a feature(?) more aptly named than a crawl space.  If you look up the term online or in a dictionary (ah! the horror!), you'll find a fancy-schmancy grouping of terms for what is essentially "a place in your house where you don't wanna go, but when you get there, all you can do is crawl around." Usually just a dirt floor (ours was upgraded to rough concrete), there is very little down there except plumbing/electric, spider webs, dust/dirt and the "residue" your friendly neighborhood critters may have left behind from their winter sleepover.

I can still remember our home inspector going into the crawl space during our inspection to look at the structure of the house and to conduct a termite test. I thought to myself, "Man...I'm glad I'm not a home inspector."  And I will certainly never forget him coming out covered in dust and telling me the good and the bad -- no termites, but you need to go under there and clean up the wood scraps so as not to attract such.  Based on the picture above, and the good word from our home inspector, it was necessary to take the plunge.  So what is a guy to do but ask his future brother-in-law to join him in the fun?  I mean, a friend could say "no," but a future brother-in-law is pretty much obligated to say "yes."

And in we went, but not before dawning the proper protective gear...

This may seem like overkill, but really, when you're talking about the health of your own lungs, there is little to think about.   Plus, these respirators are way more comfortable and effective than those white paper dust masks. As you can see, there was a lot of insulation we had to clean up and replace, so the dust was just nasty. 

The pile of junk our efforts produced. Excluded from the junk category is this military foot locker circa 1949.
 

Its in great shape and will serve as a perfect tool box for the garage.  The locker belonged to an "Andrew N. Gerhart," which is painted on the locker along with some random numbers (serial number?).  I did a quick Google search on the name, but it didn't turn up anything. I'll have to ask the neighbors if he was the original owner of the house, or whether it was merely something left behind by a former owner.

Oh yeah...and the crawl space is now much cleaner and the insulation in tact and hopefully doing its silent (but important) job. Still not a place you wanna hang out or anything, but no longer a lure for termites and pests.  HUGE shout-out to Josh for all of his help -- you definitely earned my respect, bro!

As an aside, I never thought I'd write an entire post about our crawl space.  But the demands of my publisher (kidding, of course) have pushed me over the edge. 
Hopefully more kitchen and nursery-related posts in the future.

(plus) 2

the newest additon to the half bath

cut and sandblasted wine bottle

by plastolux [etsy]

It's been a long time...

It's been a long time

I shouldn't a left you

Without a dope beat to step to

I feel like I've been here before: Checking in after a long winter that was short on daylight and remodeling progress.  When we last left you, we had just completed the half bathroom and the kitchen was next on our list. Well...it still is, but our regularly scheduled remodeling plans have been pleasantly interrupted in order to convert the office into a nursery.  That's right -- exciting times ahead (on so many different levels).

Here's a look at the preliminary design board that I threw together about two months ago in order to surprise my parents with the news.  Quite a bit has changed since then, but this gives a peek into the general direction we are going:

We put the board together before we knew we were having a boy, but we were generally going for a fun, modern and gender-neutral nursery. 

As mentioned above, the kitchen is still technically the next project, its just been rough getting motivated to actually start it.  Most of the material selections have been made, its just making the calls to get some quotes on new cabinet doors that seem to be holding me up -- just don't want to deal with it. Its one of those things where once I make the first call, I suspect everything will fall into place.  With our first child on the way, at least we I have a (somewhat) solid deadline!

Stay tuned (and thanks for visiting)...

State of the Remodel

Alright...

So I'm dubbing this post as our State of the Remodel address. It's not gonna be as formal as a speech, but it will bring you up to date on what's going on around our place.

As you've probably already noticed, I added the ReduxList to the sidebar. That kinda gives you an idea of where we've been and where we're going. You should know up-front that the last three items on the list fall into the long-term catagory -- so don't be checking back here every week hoping to catch pics of me putting up Hardie panels or anything!

The winter (and its accompanying darkness) put a major hamper on the remodeling efforts and our motivation. That and the fact that we made the big push over the summer to get the major grunt work completed -- just kinda felt like we needed to take a break of sorts.

But as the Pennsylvania weather begins to accept the rites of Spring and the light of the day continues to push back the bully of Winter, our spirits are feeling refreshed, renewed and ready to (continue the) remodel.

We're in the middle of replacing the majority of the base and door trim in the house. The kitchen and half-bath await on the horizon. We've got tons of ideas for both and really just need to sit down, consider them all, make some initial decisions and start getting some quotes on various materials.

We did pull the trigger the other week at IKEA (we need less violence-related figures of speech, don't we?). As I've mentioned before, it's not exactly right down the street, so when we go, we go prepared. We picked up a small table and two chairs for the kitchen. I had combed the website and discovered the new LILLÅNGEN bathroom system (after getting the heads-up from Creede over at GrassrootsModern). Luckily I had written down the names and prices of everything we wanted, b/c they didn't even have it displayed in the store yet; but I was able to find a knowledgable associate at the self-order computer desk who located everything we needed (after another associate told us they didn't have the new stuff yet!!).

Here's kinda what we're thinking for the half-bath:

We really like the tile shown with the sink for the small wall that is directly behind the sink and toilet. The other walls will simply be painted, so we'd like to do something creative, material-wise, on that wall. I've considered a mid-gloss floor or floor tile from IKEA, a sheet of Formica, rubber tile, poly-coated OSB panels and corrugated sheet metal (maybe sprayed w/ a high-gloss automotive paint)...just to name a few.

Any thoughts? Ideas?

More on all of this as it happens...

For Starters...

Kingswood is the street where we live.

Redux (from the Latin, meaning brought back) is what we're doing to our 1958 split-level house. In a sense, it's our new interpretation of the design elements in both the interior and exterior of the house in a style that we call modest modern. Modern in the sense of strong, sophisticated, clean and simple lines that draw inspiration from mid-century modern design, but yet appreciating where we've come in the 50 years since. Modest in the sense that we both believe our money is not our own and thus, we consciously choose to make economically-sound and practical decisions concerning the use of those resources.

Kingswood Redux is the blog where we share that process with you. It is our intention to share pics (before and after), stories, links, resources, methods, what we learned, frustrations, etc., when we're not otherwise working on the house, at our jobs, serving others, or enjoying time with family and friends! And just for the record, this blog is not about keeping up with the Jones' or even other remodeling bloggers who we draw inspiration from. It's simply an expression of the creative passions that have been seeded deep within us by our Creator.

We are Troy & Angie. And we are blessed to have you along for the journey!