Handy Hubby has been busy, busy, busy over at the Underdog the last two weeks. One of the first things he did was tear out all the original 50’s carpeting and kitchen cabinets. Here’s what the Underdog looks like inside sans carpet… {I finally remembered my house key!}
{living room}
{dining room}
{hallway to bedrooms/bathrooms}
{Everett’s future bedroom}
{Layne’s future bedroom}
{future master bedroom}
As you can see, there were no original hardwoods hiding under the carpet…just a concrete slab…which we knew from the get-go. The kitchen, bathrooms and den have tiled flooring. Word is still out on whether they’re asbestos or not. Either way, we’ll remove the badly cracked tile. We’re a ways out from installing new flooring, but we’ve been discussing our options. Handy Hubby and I both love hardwoods for their warmth, ease of cleaning and the bang you get for your buck. We’re considering stained/polished concrete flooring as well – seeing as how we’ve got a base for that already. Still the concrete slab would need a lot of work…there are cracks and uneven spots. Tile would be another viable choice. We haven’t had anything priced out specifically because we’re just not to that point yet but, in the end, it’s probably going to come down to money. One thing we know for sure is we don’t want any installed carpeting whatsoever. I’ve developed allergies over the last few years {after living nearly 30 years allergy-free} and I hate vacuuming. Give me a broom over a sweeper any day. I’m hoping that steering clear of carpet will help lessen my allergy symptoms. I’m pretty irritable when I have to resort to antihistamines. They make me a little crazy. And nobody enjoys that! Whether we go with hardwood, concrete or tile, I’ll still throw down some rugs for the kiddos to plop down on.
Now onto more tearing out business in the kitchen. The original cabinets were stained, warped and beyond just a good deep cleaning. Handy Hubby removed them last week. Here’s what the kitchen is lookin’ like now…
{Can you spot the owl light switch cover? Classy.}
It’s just plain nasty. You can see where 50+ years of grime and grease have settled behind the cabinets. It makes the not-so-clean white walls look spotless! And they aren’t, believe me. Not even close. Handy Hubby found empty peanut shells under the floor cabinets. They’re the likely remnants of a mouse’s snack! Gross. And he said the cabinet beneath the sink practically disintegrated into powder when he removed it. Obviously, the result of a leaky water pipe under the sink at some point. Handy Hubby was able to keep the cabinets out of the landfill and sell them on Craigslist for $100. I still can’t believe someone paid real money for them.
We have big plans for the kitchen. We’d like to remove the wall between the kitchen and living room {the wall that the trash can is against in the photo above} and also the wall between the kitchen and dining room {the wall with the owl light switch on it}. We’re envisioning a modest, multifunctional great room complete with an eat-in kitchen. We haven’t had a true ‘dining room’ for the last 3.5 years and we don’t miss it one bit. We’re all about open floor plans, so we think this layout will work well for our family. More on specific kitchen plans later…
Until then, we’ve put our boys to work. Don’t worry, there’s no risk of electrocution. The house has no power right now. Handy Hubby had the electric company cut power while he updates/relocates the 50 amp fuse box and buries the overhead service line.
Did I mention the wall is plaster? Yeah, that’s gonna be fun. Layne has decided he likes the new, old house. I think it’s because I haven’t once told him to take his shoes off or to put anything away. He’s in demolition heaven.
So, that’s where things are with the Underdog. I hope I-slash-you realize that it’s going to be a while before we see any pretty pictures of our mid-century ranch. Sometimes things must get worse before they get better, right?
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
DIY, kid-friendly