...because home doesn't happen overnight.

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

30 Comments

Looking better already! That owl switchplate could be kind of cute if painted white.

15.May.2011

I think you’ll have to rename your blog to “House*Overhaul” … your tweaking days are long gone :)

15.May.2011

We are so excited watching to see your progress!! Can’t wait to see the wall gone!!! Funny you mentioned the OWL light cover…Kev noticed it in the first blog about the Underdog!!

15.May.2011

I think my grandmother had an switch plate but it was in the 70’s when taste went out the window for the decade.

I’d like to see stained concrete floors. My house is on a slab and I want to live through you :)

15.May.2011

Can i call dibs on the owl if you sell it–my tween is all about owls these days! Check out her cool owl pillow near the bottom of this post

http://buckcanuck.blogspot.com/2010/11/why-arent-there-more-kids-room-posts.html

15.May.2011

That’s awesome progress! I love the new “open” floorplan you have in mind. I seriously can’t wait to see the finished product. You are inspiring me to bust out some tools and paint and start my own project on my home.

15.May.2011

Wow, your hubby has truly been busy. You have such great space to work with…can’t wait to see that wall down. Good luck!

What a bummer that there isn’t hard wood under the carpet. Anyway I think it is looking better and you are getting to your blank slate. You will have so much fun getting this house ready for you and your family!!! Can’t wait to follow the progress.

16.May.2011

Tricia – Good eye, Kevin!

16.May.2011

Amanda – Oh, I know…”House*Tweaking” sounds a little mild at this point!

16.May.2011

YAY! Once the old floors are up, it’s game on! I remember when we tore up the old carpet when we 1st purchased our house, yuck!

16.May.2011

Have you looked into the new vinyl floors that look like hardwood? They might be a good choice price wise and can easily go over a concrete slab b/c they’re vinyl.

16.May.2011

Can’t wait to follow along. I know the B&A is going to be breath taking. As I saw the pics of the litchen/DR/LR I was hoping you were going to blow out some walls. It needs to be opened up for sure.

16.May.2011

Wow – the underdog is going to look like a totally different house!

16.May.2011

Reading this I am remembering the combination of excitement and dread that I had starting work on my fixer. Your new place is going to be awesome. Hooray for tiny helpers!

16.May.2011

Best prices I could find on flooring after all my searching. They had EXCELLENT customer service and I was able to install hand scraped hardwood through-out my house for under $4,000 (including shipping)! I can’t wait to see what you do with the place. It reminds me so much of our house when we first purchased it.

Looking good already!!! Oh gosh, I completely remember that it gets worse before it gets better. But you are on your way. Can’t wait to see what you guys do next. :)

I was on my phone when I commented above. This is what I was referencing when I said to paint the owl white.

16.May.2011

Pretty pictures are overrated; I love to see the dirty gritty “during” photos more than anything else. Looks like a lot of work — but a TON of fun! You are in my favorite part of renovation: the blank slate! I just envy that you are able to do all that work without living in it at the same time.

is it totally weird that I get excited to see barren rooms?!?!? LOVE what you’re doing. Stripping it down to the bare-bones give such a great opportunity to start anew!

16.May.2011

I did acid stained concrete in all my bedrooms and hope to one day have it everywhere. I ADORE it. It’s significantly warmer than you would think (more so than hardwood, not cold like tile). It actually distributes the temperature evenly because it is one smooth surface. We used the color “Cola.” There is also a line of organic/green stain kits if safety is an issue. We had a contractor apply the stain and a thin overlay (this takes care of the cracks that you are talking about, although we had him purposely leave some just lightly filled in to give the floors some pizazz). I highly recommend them. There are no seams and cleaning is as simple as sweeping and swiffering!

17.May.2011

Cait – Painting the owl is an adorable idea! Maybe for one of my boys’ rooms???

17.May.2011

Ginger – A link to the company you mentioned didn’t come through. Would you be so kind to provide a link for myself and all the other readers? I’m very interested!

17.May.2011

We have raidiant floor heating and LOVE our acid stained concrete floors!!! My MIL was horrified when we told her we were keeping just te concrete -she was thinking the house was going to look like the floors in Lowe’s. Yes, we DIYed them – be sure to wear a ventilator type mask if you DIY. I did not and had respitory issues for about a month and a half. Oh,but how I love them. We did test patches in the laundry, under the washer and dryer. BTW – sometimes the brown stain can look like an old rusty radiator expolded on the floor – mixing and testing will be your friend if you DIY!! Our first floor is an open floor plan and we were able to designate different area w/ different patterns. We simply marked off our patterns w/ a pencil and used paint brushes around the lines – -we ended up keeping the pencil marks because it looked like the metal strip used with travertine floors. The company we got our materials from is in TX or NM…don’t recall..but they were wonderful to work w/ and when our son’s room looked like the exploded radiator…they comped us another colour to remix and try again.

17.May.2011

Jessica – Would you please, pretty, pretty please, send me some pics of your lovely concrete floors?

17.May.2011

Tile (which I have throughout my house) and concrete are SO HARD on your feet! Our last house had hardwoods and they were great. I have two little boys (5 & 3) like you and with all the falling, running and playing you want the most forgiving surace you can get. Also, concrete is trendy, if you are aiming for resale, stick with hardwoods, they are a classic.

17.May.2011

^^I disagree, I can’t wait to see the stained concrete! You can always put hardwoods over it later, but since resale isn’t a concern, (not for a long while, anyway) do what you love! PS- before you let the boys go to town with that hammer, test the paint for lead. If lead paint dust gets into the air during demo it’s no bueno! Safety first- test a few areas (pull back trim if you can to get to the original layers of paint) and take all the proper precautions before demo if there’s lead. It’s not a problem to live with lead, it’s when you ingest or inhale it that it can get you sick. /PSA ;o)

17.May.2011

Candice – We already had a professional come in and test the house from roof to slab for lead…fortunately, it’s totally lead-free!!!! We were super excited to discover this as we would have bet money that it contained lead somewhere due to the age of the home. Since we had a professional come in and test, we get a certified disclosure document stating that the house is lead-free which we can show to any future homeowners…which will be great if we ever decide to sell waaaay in the future. Thanks for your concern!

18.May.2011

Sweet! Score one more for The Underdog!

23.January.2012

Comparing the photos here to the most recent ones makes it all exciting to see and expect how great this will look. Regarding the cabinets you were able to sell, well, someone’s trash is definitely treasure to others! Being in the closets Bergen industry, I can’t wait to see how your closets and cabinets will look like!