Housing Renovation @ Bloomfield

Basement Remodel Continues

2008-07-22T21:53:00.008-04:00

Yay it's July and I am still working on the basement... well floor is starting to go down and below is Travertine going down at the entrance area of the basement from garage.

Ditra down at the Laundry area...

Garage Sale Steal

2008-06-23T21:00:00.006-04:00

Look what I got for $10!!!! Three (3) 9 inch base cabinet with pull out drawers... and these are made by 1/2 solid plywood... nice...

I was able to put the slide kit into my existing cabinet... yay!!!! it works great

basement remodel continues

2008-05-23T08:13:00.021-04:00

Yes... work has been incredibly slow... But with work and work after work it has been painful... But here are some photos...

Below is the laundry room side.. air ducts to upstairs are now hidden behind the dry walls.... This side will have tiles on the floor... I haven't bought them yet... I am looking for big tiles at dirt cheap price to stay within my budget.

I love these subway tiles from HD... they are cheap and they look so much better than the square tiles... IMO. I know I will eventually use them again somewhere...

Most walls have been spray painted. Thank god for the paint sprayer, painting on the beaded board would've been too time consuming. I still need to paint one wall and some doors painted... If time allows I will work on that this weekend....

Eventually this small room below will have some engineered hardwood. They've been sitting in my garage for about 3 months.

Newly completed basement stair case... woman in NYC was giving round penny tiles away for free... about 19 sq ft and it was perfect amount to go over my hideous stairs.... one advice to anybody that's looking to use round tiles... you will need more than typical amount of GROUT.

Basement Remodel...

2008-02-07T13:13:00.000-05:00

Well Basement remodel started back in December and it's on slow pace... Unlike Pre Quentin era... I litterally can not do any work during week nights... so if anything it's usally only 3 to 4 hrs on Sat or Sun... It ususally takes pretty about 30 mins to get yourself going so you can imagine how slow it's going....
But anyway... I wanted to put some Pre Remodel photos ... so here they are....

All Constructions were on halt...

2007-11-06T14:05:00.000-05:00

This happened and guess what? all constructions were on halt cuz this happened....

well most of the kitchen stuff is all complete... however my office is kinda getting little small.. so I need to start working on the basement and take my office stuff to downstairs...

Well my current budget for the basement is about $2,000 to finish... I do have some stuff that I can re use.. such as black and white grout... I will be creative and mix the two to get grey grouts.. =) ... and I have some coupons and gift card that add up to $35 I think...

No matter what my budget for the basement is $2,000 out of my pocket... so let's see how much I can get out of what I have... I plan to re use dining table that I no longer use and etc... Oh yeah $2,000 does not include new TV and etc... I will need to post some basement photos....

More Photos...

2007-07-24T08:26:00.000-04:00

Kitchen with Shelving installed

Newly installed Shelving..

Left most door to Right door.... Bathroom, 2nd Small Bedroom, Hall Way Closet (Door Removed) and Master Bedroom Door

More space in the kitchen = More junk in the kitchen

2007-07-19T09:26:00.000-04:00

It felt like a move in day... after having stuff boxed from the day we moved in and the day we shut the kitchen down.. We had enough stuff out to get us by, but now all the kitchen stuff is converging from basement and attic .. at the same time.. more countertop space means more surface area to place junks.. which necessary is not a good thing...

Kitchen is 95% complete...

2007-07-09T00:04:00.001-04:00

Yes... Kitchen is 95% complete...

tasks left...

1. Lighting for Island Area.... (need to purchase and hardwire into a switch)
2. Buy shelving and install.... I haven't seen a shelving that we wanted... we can wait...
3. Wax and oil the countertop....
4. Trim and trim and trim...

After kitchen... I would need to start making dining room bench... oh joy....

One thing I've realized as this kitchen renovation 'almost' comes to an end... I've been noticing changes every weekend as things get accomplished... where earlier in the process... you don't see any improvement, because only thing that was done was adding support for the floor or running wires for the lights...

That ugly window treatment gotta go.... thank god for the decoration budget...

Speaking of budget... It came out pretty much on the money... Money was saved by shopping at HOME DEPOT in passaic for 3% or 3.5% sales Tax and 10% off for opening a HD credit card and getting gift cards for using HD card... and etc... with ZERO balance... no gift card is worth paying interest ...

I've been working.... I swear

2007-07-05T21:46:00.000-04:00

I know it's been about three months since the last blog... but I swear I've been working...

So far... I've shot my self with a nail gun twice on my finger and various cuts all over the place....

1. Kitchen cabinets are in

2. DW, sink disposer and Sink are all connected... so far connection leaked only once... =) PLUMBING is def harder than electrical work...
3. Good bye 60 AMPS... HELLO 150 AMPS

4. I've picked up some help to move the countertop stone... Thanks Tony and Allan ... they both work for food....

5. I've purchased a lawn mower for the first time... I've used it for the first time... I've mowed for the first time... It was actually somewhat relaxing... I think it's somewhat liberating... it felt like I was getting back even for all the allergy stuff I've been suffering... Take that bitches... I've actually left a mohawk to remind myself how bad it was...

The Fridge is in...!!

2007-03-21T23:42:00.000-04:00

yay the Fridge is finally in... and it fits perfectly with manuf recommended 1 inch along top, left and right...

however it took me 6 hrs to hook up copper water line to ice line... I am such a NOOB... It litterally took me 6 hrs, because I wasn't aware of the technique... what a noob... plumbing sucks...

Anyway the fridge is in and it's been on for the past 2 weeks. Our kitchen is going to be all LGed out.. support Korea!!! this is 1 of 3 LG appliances...

Marble tiles are going down....

2007-03-12T22:36:00.000-04:00

ahhhh the tiles are finally going down... this took about 3 weeks... mixing mud for the tile and cleaning is pain in the arse... it would've been so much easier to do this at once in one day if I've had the time...

Prep took a while, because I had to make sure the floor wasn't squeeking, support and etc.....

Heat Mats that I will never get to use this Winter

2007-03-12T00:24:00.000-04:00

It's March already and eventhough it's 15 degrees outside... I won't be able to use newly installed heating mat, because the direct electric line hasn't been hooked up and I have no kitchen right now so what's the pt......

Numbers of Times at HD....

2007-01-16T22:25:00.000-05:00

Looking at my HD credit card.... I've been at HD 13 times as of January 13th... 4 times on 1/6 and 3 times on 1/13... Not only 13 visits by January 13th means I've averaged one visit per day, it also means that I've been at HD more often then my full time work itself.

Insulate the KITCHEN!!!

2007-01-07T17:51:00.001-05:00

Well with help of Hyun, we were able to remove dry walls, existing old insulation and replace with new insulation fairly easy. Here are before and after photos. I need to have Hyun over once a month or something, not only he was very helpful, but his energy kept pushing me to do more.

Kitchen Demo Status

2006-12-12T12:51:00.000-05:00

It's been a while from the last update, but this is a photo of the wall that was demo-ed... I've incorporated some sketches to what it could look like when it's completed...

Main Bedroom Update...

2006-09-23T19:02:00.000-04:00

Well the main bedroom update was very important. I have a lot of crap and having one small closet in the room was not acceptable.

Yes. The window treatment is still disgusting, but I have other stuff to worry about first.

Bathroom Renovation 2

2006-09-12T22:30:00.000-04:00

Shower $250
Tub $250
Toilet $200
Pedestal Sink $225
Faucet $150
Wall Tiles $90
Floor Tiles $160
Bathroom Vanity Light $90
Medicine Cabinet $90
Leaning CD case $100
Misc Stuff $200

Bathroom Renovation 1

2006-09-11T23:48:00.000-04:00

I've decided to start a housing blog to keep track of the projects.

We had to complete few things before we could technically move into the house.

1. Renovate the bathroom (Budget $2000)
2. Build additional closet space into the current master bedroom. (Budget $500)
3. Refinish the floor (Budget $750)
4. Replace existing electric panel from Flinstone to Jetson's Era. (Budget $2000)

This is how the bathroom used to be and this is what it looked like after it was ripped apart.

Moon and I looked into leaving the tiles, replacing sink, vanity and reglazing the bath tub and tiles. We had an estimate done and they wanted somewhere around $800 for reglazing tiles, tub and grout. Our overall budget for the bathroom was at around $2000. New tub costs about $250 so with the help of Kenny (Moon's Brother), we've decided to rip it apart. Without Kenny's help on rough plumbing, this project would've been very difficult and costly. So shout out to Kenny!!! woooo hooooo.

So it starts... Tools

2006-09-11T23:33:00.000-04:00

Yes Man Tools!

Dewalt 10" Miter Saw $199
Hitachi 18 Volt Power Tools $280 - $25 Gift Card
Ridgid Shop Vac $70 - $35 Gift Card
Black and Decker Jig Saw + Orbital Sander $40
Porter Cable 6 Gallon Compressor with Nailers $300 - $30 Gift Card (Not Pictured)
Misc Hand Tools $200