That Was a Good Idea

Everybody likes to tell you how rewarding DIY projects are, but let's face it, there are plenty of screw ups. Screw ups, mistakes, projects not turning out quite how you imagined are a-plenty in the reno world. So it's nice when, occasionally, trying something new turns out better than you expected. 

Despite the Terrazzo Restoration, the floor was left with hundreds of tiny divots from the previous carpet tacks. The contractors filled the holes with unmatched concrete and epoxy, which didn't look terrible, just unfinished. Gus suggested I paint a strip of white around the entire floor just beyond the quarter-round. I thought he was crazy.

Terrazzo Divots (brown and white patches)

Eventually the idea started to grow on me. After the 420 crew finished the trim (in only a day ---it would have taken me a week), I decided to give it a try. Mostly I am just tired of moving furniture and want nothing more than to simply unroll the rugs and CLEAN THIS HOUSE.

A can of concrete floor paint and a little blue tape and it doesn't look half bad. Yes, I will tell my father he was right. Here's how it went: 

Tape the Edges

All the way around the room

Keep going...

Apply 2 coats of white floor paint

And you're done!

Pretty cool, huh?

 

 Some shots of other miscellaneous projects that finally got checked off the list this week:

Dingy Dining

  

Followed by Cluttered Dingy Dining

Beautiful :)

These are the cheapest ceramic tiles I've ever loved!

Scary Front Door

Less Scary Front Door

It is time to get this house painted!

Oh yes, I almost forgot, mama dove is still hanging out in the carport. The "squabs" hatched about 2 hours before the Boston bombings. They double in size everyday--mama can barely sit on them anymore!

Trading Up's First Squatters

Silence

It's just after noon on Tuesday and the floor crew is gone for the day. They won't be back tomorrow either. While there's nothing I like less than an unproductive day, there's much to be said for sound of silence (thank you Paul and Artie ;-).

Dining Room Floor - Before

 

Dining Room Floor - New Tile

Terrazzo Restoration

It has been a long week. The floor restoration guys were here so long they started to feel like unemployed, couch-surfing cousins. When the rain started on Wednesday, the concrete dust covering everything turned to a white paste. Between the noise of the grinders, my neighbor's 4-day leaf blowing extravaganza, and the power company running an industrial generator at the marina, my sanity was waning. Nonetheless, they finished late Thursday and Friday was a gift of 8-hours of near silence. 

The long-awaited 420 crew returns on Monday!!! Stay tuned ;-)

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After - Sort of. Still waiting baseboards.

In my spare time I finished the guest bath...

Executive Decision

I've written before about the difference between restoration and renovation. Trading Up is intended to be vacation rental property so there is supposed to be less question about the type of work this go-round. I want a coastal house; clean white walls, natural fiber rugs, decorative seashells.

Something like this...

Source: abeachcottage.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Budget and intent has been set to tile the entire space with something like these...

Source: shop.tileandstoneexpress.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Then, while the cheap laminate was coming up, I discovered this...

Source: products.daltile.com via Carol on Pinterest

In the past 2 weeks I have learned this is called terrazzo, which is I-ta-lian for 'town'. Terrazzo consists of marble, quartz, or glass chips embedded in cement, then ground and polished to a bright shine. Terrazzo was originally invented by Venetian construction workers as a low cost flooring material using marble chips from upscale jobs (thank you Wikipedia). When I learned goat's milk was originally used as the sealant, I was committed to restoring this floor...all 563 square feet of it.

Then came the great flood of 2013 and 563 square feet became 763 square feet, but by the time the waters rose for the SECOND time, I was committed.

Everything happens for a reason. Not bad shit, but all bad shit that turns out to be good definitely happens for a reason. The floods, and subsequent home owner's insurance claims, are making the restoration possible, because what I have also learned in the past 2 weeks is that restoring terrazzo is quite expensive. Apparently, either all the Venetian terrazzo layers are now working in IT or it is terribly out of style. I'm leaning toward the former because I LOVE THIS SHIT!

This Monday, the modern-day Venetians begin their "resurrection" of the floor. Coincidence that this Monday is the day after Easter? I think not.

Oh yeah---because I don't want to forget what a great idea living and working in the reno was, for the next week this is my office...

Great Plan

Demo Daze

It has been said things must get worse before they can get better. That expression had to have been started by someone doing demolition. 

There has been a lot of demo around here over the past two weeks. Not so much reconstruction, but a lot of demo. Since I am living in this house, I planned on leaving at least one room demo-free, a kind of sanctuary where I could retreat for temporary sanity. Yeah, that's all gone now. Leave no room unscathed!

These are not Before and After shots, let's just call them Before and During:

Roof Awning and Iron Scrollwork BEFORE and DURING (and some hedge trim)

Guest Bath BEFORE and DURING

The Hallway Hole that Refuses to Repair Itself!

Today was the first day I felt like crying over this project. A month in and the washer is still not hooked up, the toilet in the master is still "mysteriously" overflowing, the floors are a wreck, and the big giant hole in the hall wall is still a big giant hole in the hall wall.

Thanks to Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Madel for the infamous line to compliment this moment...and make me smile:

"Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!"

-Form the 1992 film 'A League of Their Own' 

 

What Had Happened Was...

It was a typical Tuesday living and working in the reno. Coffee was brewing, I was up and dressed for a 0930 yoga, and the HVAC subcontractors had arrived and were starting to knock holes in the walls. Grey skies with a light rain, cool air and noisy seabirds, I had just begun to think what a perfect Florida morning.

Heading back into the master suite to grab a jacket I could see the bedroom floor was wet. I heard the toilet running and instantly knew it had flooded the bathroom. As I lunged toward the bath my flip-flop sank into the carpet that was now sponge.

Little Moist

There was 3-inches of standing water in the bathroom and the carpet was soaked 12-feet in every direction, including the closet. Everything on the floor was quickly becoming saturated.

I screamed for the subcontractors, already blaring rock music and power saws, to provide back up. They helped move all the furniture into the living room and phoned a friend for water remediation.

ChemDry to the Rescue

It's a safe assumption that something is going to be really expensive when people work all day and no one charges you.

Nothing was salvageable. All the carpet, padding, baseboards and doors were removed and trashed. On the bright side, I discovered the terrazzo extends into the bedroom and is in great shape! Another silver lining, the HVAC guys rock. Here's a few more shots of the Great Flood of 2013...and it's only March people!

Amateur Clean Up Duty

Uncovering the Terrazzo

Pile #1

Professional Clean Up

My Living Room and Office