Chimney repair

The brick around the chimney had deteriorated badly over the years:

The flues within the chimney were fine; it's just that the brick looked SO bad. Maybe a tree branch fell on it at one point -- who knows?


But, Eddie the Brick Mason went up on the roof and did a fine job replacing the old brick. I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of him working up there. Here it is.

There are still some finishing touches to be done up there, but doesn't that look better?

A lot more work is underway for the inside.  I chose the "ingredients" for the kitchen and master bath yesterday -- granite, backsplash, mirror design.

More later! Love, Carolyn

Update!

Yes, it's been a few days since my last post, but progress has been made. It's just been hard to photograph. But I think I can give you some details now.


Lots of trucks and trailers mean lots of stuff going on!

Here's the fellow from Carolina Custom Services working on the shower in the master bathroom:

 

Here it is again, a bit more finished with seat and niche in place:

 

 

And, speaking of bathrooms -- here is the powder room bath. Check the progress in the next two photos.

Close-up of the sink in the vanity.

And here it is with the wooden accent pieces painted.

This pretty glass tile will be placed all around. (Jerry Snow is holding it in place here.) Isn't it terrific? (Yes, you must agree with me.)

And, here is the guest bathroom. The configuration is called "Jack and Jill" -- both guest rooms will have access to the full bath without having to walk out into the hall.

 

 

 

So, then it's time to think about staining the floors!  Here's where we looked at some samples:

To backtrack a bit, here is where the Dave the Flooring Guy patched in new strips into the floor:

 

Another view of the process. This is the den.

 

 

And, here's a sample of what the floor looked like when all the old finish had been stripped off.

 

Here is the floor with the first coat of the new finish!  What do you think? (Sorry about the glare.) This is a view of the living room with the dining room beyond.

And here is a view of the master bedroom. I used the same stain color all throughout the house.

Out in the yard, planning is underway with Beth Flokstra of Garden Genesis. We discovered a nice Lenten Rose right in the middle of where the parking pad will be. Here are Beth and Jerry rescuing it so it can be moved to another site.

Right now the yard (both front and back) are a mess of Guilford County red clay. But I have high hopes!

 

 

 

That's it for now, friends!  Thanks for following along with me on this. Love, Carolyn

Happy New Year!

Hello, everyone!

I am happy to report good progress on the house renovation, even though we were hampered by the wacky holiday schedule. But, here are some photos:

 Big sheets of drywall were delivered, and installation began!

Voila!  Walls! The new back entrance door is on the left, and the end of the drywall sheet is stuck inside the door to the utility room.

 

This is the new guest bathroom, showing the new tub. 



 

 This is in the new master bedroom.

 

And here is the den -- look at the nice smooth ceiling! The furring strips are all covered now and it looks fantastic.

This is a bit hard to see, but this is my new sliding glass door -- the mini-blinds are between the two panes of glass. They never get dusty!

 The fireplace in the den.

And, one more shot of the kitchen area. Soon there will be a nice island right in front, so you won't be able to see the dishwasher, sink, and stove. What? You can't see them now? Oh, well. You will have to trust me.

 New gutters!

 

 More new gutters!

 

Are you bored with the gutters yet?

 

Okay. Last shot of the new gutters.

 

The chimney brick (called veneer) will have to be replaced. The flues are fine but the brick is all deteriorated. And I will get copper flashing instead of this aluminum stuff.

 

 

 

I have to show you my rock pile. As you know I am quite the princess so I am quite proud of myself that I personally pried these rocks out of the back yard! And then hauled them across the yard and put them under the acuba for possible future use. At one point the rocks made a border (sort of) around a rather free-form periwinkle bed. But the periwinkle was either dead or overgrown so the rocks were just sort of sitting there. There are a few more I need to dislodge but those may require a shovel.

 

 Work continues on the new steps to the new back entrance.

 

And, Eddie (the brick mason) repaired some cracks in the mortar (a zig-zag crack due to the house settling over the years) and replaced some of the bricks. After it dried I could hardly see it, and after it weathers for a couple of years it will be invisible.

 

 Now that we are past the holidays things will move along steadily again. The drywall fellows have been putting "mud" on the seams, and today they were sanding -- sorry! No photos of dust clouds.

 

That's it for now! Thanks for playing along with me on this.