There’s The Great Wall of China, and The Wall in Manhattan…. the Lennon Wall in Prague and Pink Floyd’s THE WALL…. but our wall is not the kind to be celebrated, and I’m pretty sure it won’t attract tourists. One thing I am sure of is that it’s been nothing but trouble. After three years of waiting we finally conquered this hideous beast. Lets look back and see what all the fuss was about.
I’m still in my workout room but we are making progress each week. Richie and I have about a day and a half each week to work on the house so it’s slow but steady. When we bought the house my now workout room was the lounge area of the architect’s office. It looked something like this:
You may remember my last sheetrock post about this room and I showed the area where the old built-in couch use to be. You can see it here on the left. The picture on the right shows the wall of horror and the fence that was built to shut off this area from his private residence. Looks are deceiving…. this whole area was in horrible shape. (just trust me on that).
We knew we would be taking down the paneling in the house and this wall was no exception. The wood siding had to go. For the life of me I cannot understand why an architect would build an addition to his house and leave the siding on the house and just go from there. Seriously? Maybe he was just tired that day and said “screw it… lets not take it down”. (I can relate!) So yes, that wall is the actual outside siding from the original house. AWFUL!
As Richie begin pulling each board off the wall it became apparent that we were about to get into a hell of a mess. It seems that the fence (seen above) that was built to separate the public/private spaces was actually built into the wall of the addition. YES, you heard that right. BUILT INTO THE WALL!
We had no interest in leaving this fence and wanted to open up the space. Richie went to work.
Both fences that closed in that office area had to go. It was a pretty big mess and there was electricity in the one fence. You can see the light in the picture above. Richie had to move all the electrical to another fence. At this point we haven’t even gotten to the damn wall. One step forward, two steps back.
Once the fences were down and pulled away from the house. We were left with this.
Sorry for the dirty window. Everything gets so dirty when you pull out and destroy stuff.
Richie is here examining the lovely 2 inch gap that was left between the widows and the workout room wall after the fence came down. We just stood there and looked at each other like… WTF NOW!
Luckily I have a partner who is handy and quick. The first day we had the house we tore down an old structure that was built on the back of the house. It was basically some sort of plan for a covered or screened in patio that either never happened or ceased to exist after years. All that was left was the structure. You can see some of it below coming off the house in this VERY OLD picture when the previous owners had the house. This “roof” grid structure came down and we saved it all!
All the wood we tore out of this house was stacked and saved then reused where we could. It saved lots of money and resources. These beams are huge and you can’t just go out and buy these suckers. You’d have to special order them. They were the exact size that we needed. Richie pulled one, sanded it, did a few repairs on the piece, cut it and slid it right into the gap and attached it to the beam right next to it. Okay, that sounded so easy didn’t it. HA HA HA! Well, trust me this damn wall was anything but that. Once we started trying to put this monster beam into the gap it was obvious we might break the glass in the process. Each pane of plate glass was then pulled out and gently set aside.
Here’s a close up of the new beam all in place. NO MORE GAP!
Picture this: It’s 10:30 at night, Richie’s on a ladder with a huge piece of glass in his hand trying to put everything back together so raccoons don’t invade the house and I’m standing there in tears telling him to come down and stop before he hurts himself. I had this image of the ladder slipping, the huge pane of glass cutting Richie and then breaking into chunks of deadly shards, him lying there with a broken back in a pool of blood… (you can see how dramatic I can be!) He finally realized it was too late and he was too tired and for once in my life “I was right”. (I marked the occasion. I’m usually not right.) We tacked up a couple pieces of plywood and called it a night.
After the fix the wall just sort of sat there with it’s black insulating board and tar paper covering. It sat there while we worked on other things. It made me ban visitors from the house and it yelled at me every day for three years…. “I’m so ugly and you hate me”. It wasn’t a very nice wall to me. It should appreciate me more for pulling all that heavy siding off of it! WE HATED EACH OTHER!
But now, I am finally here…..
I pulled off the tar paper
But decided to avoid the mess of the insulating board and left it hanging. Seemed okay to me… more insulation.
We began hanging the sheetrock and I felt the excitement that only someone who lives in a mess day to day can feel. It was amazing!
After taping, floating, and texturing I am finally finished with my great wall of trouble.
She’s now pretty, bright, clean, and ready for her debut (tourists welcome). All she needs now is a fresh coat of paint which will happen this week.
You can see how nicely the sheetrock meets the new beam Richie installed and how it all seems like it has been there forever. Also how open the courtyard is now that all that extra fencing is gone. I still need to paint the beam and the window next to it. After that comes the floor,the storage cabinet, window tinting, and trim work. But there’s more good news to report. I’ve lost 4 pounds! That pretty new wall is already working. A lovely space is so motivating. In so many ways!
Sorry for the LONG drawn out explanation but sometimes you have to remember where you’ve been to appreciate where you are. I’m one happy girl!
Yay! Good for you. The wall looks great.
Thanks Jessica! Every teeny tiny thing seems so major to me. I’m feeling fine, girl! Thanks for the cheers… I’ll take them. :-)
I read that horror story and realized how easy my project has been. Congrats on making it through that ordeal. The workout room is looking amazing!
Dana, I honestly don’t think any of it is easy… whether it’s unexpected holes in the wall or the wrong door being delivered to the site… ughh! It’s something you get through and I’m so happy we got through it without a trip to the hospital. (lol) Although there was plenty of advil the next day.
I think you’re right. At some point, even the minor things start to grate on you. The wiring for the thermostat has to be moved, because right now it’s behind where my TV is going to be mounted on the wall. I remembered to tell the electrician to put an outlet high on the wall for the TV, but I forgot to tell him to put one low for the cable box and Blu-Ray player. Aaargh! You just get to the point where you want it all over!
HA HA! Oh Dana, I feel that pain. You and me both! I told the cable guy to put the cable outlet up high (so I could hang the tV in the bedroom) but then forgot to tell the electricians to put the outlet right next to it so none of the wires would show. At this point I’ve blocked out the ugly wire dangling to the plug. I just pretend I “meant” to do that. It’s so impossible to remember everything when you’re in the middle of it all. I’m so looking forward to your next update on the reno. I have a feeling you’ve made great progress.
This morning I dropped a gallon of white paint in the driveway…and the whole thing spilled, so I spent the next hour and a half hosing and sweeping. For the first day in weeks, no workers were here yet to help. I can’t even blame this one on anyone. It was my fault entirely, so it’s off to Home Depot to buy more paint.
the Goodes would definitely approve, don’t you think? I sometimes wonder if y’all have conversations with them – your house is so like a puzzle through time. Very very nice job. No resemblance whatsoever to its former self!
Hey Diane! How nice… I hope they would approve. I often think of those two when we’re tearing the place apart. Always wondering if they would just gasp in horror.
I’m just happy I’m no longer gasping in horror when I walk into that room. HA HA! It was such an eye sore and every time I complete something I get so PUMPEP UP to keep going.
Thanks for keeping me motivated with your visit and sweet comment. Are trees blooming in Houston? My oak and pear trees are. CRAZY! ( lots of sneezing going on around here )
To: Stacey and Richie
From: Texas Raccoon Assocation (TRA)
Be aware that it takes a lot more than plywood, glass, and fancy carpentry/construction to hold us back from enjoying this kind of luxury. Thank you for making this such an inviting workout space: We need to burn off our cupcakes too, you know. Please just let us know where the complimentary towels/water bottles/freshly squeezed juices are.
Blahhhahhahhhh HA HA HAH! I burst out laughing so loud when I got this that the cat leaped out of the bed and out of the room! The TRA seems to support and seek out such amenities. I know they enjoy it when we fry bacon and they love to drink water from my roof… so they might as well jump on a spinner and gulp down some vitamin water. There’s lots of fattening stuff in peoples trash cans… (especially mine!)
You kill me woman! I needed a good laugh… THANK YOU!! Maybe my anatomy chart will scare them off and they’ll let me have a turn. Last night it was a plate of brownies. I have no self control!
I had to comment on this and say that I laughed so hard reading this! Brilliant!
oh man. this is awesome. jordan just said, “shit. these guys are doing *real* projects. i want to do *real* projects”. so you’ve been complimented twice. plus i love how richie looks bent over in sheer boot strap determination looking at that gap.
the room is looking great, guys. it always gets worse before it gets better and you got it to “better” level. plus, J. and i keep staring at your view from the terrace. that is one awesome view, lady!! you were made for your house (or i was, i’m not quite sure ;) )
well done, guys!!!!
Jordan is hilarious! “REAL” projects! If that means projects that make you bleed, leave bruises, require anxiety medicine, and several boxes of band-aids and bottles of hydrogen peroxide then YES, it’s definitely real. I don’t recommend it, though. HA HA!
I love that picture of Richie looking at it like “what the hell am I going to do this”? And at that point he definitely knows I’M not doing anything… (hey, dude.. you’re on your own). He’s a good problem solver and I love to catch him deep in thought.
You’re so right, Tamara. It does get so much worse before it gets better. I often pull out old pictures after we first got the house and it didn’t look half bad. Then we tore the place apart and it looked like hell. AHHHHHHH, WHAT HAVE WE DONE? My biggest complaint is how damn long it takes to do anything. I would love to be a “stay at home” wife who worked on the house every day. Oh the possibilities! But how would I pay for it all. DANG! Thanks for the nod, my friend. I appreciate your input… ALWAYS! Hello to Jordan, too.
wow, what an ordeal! We often stumble across many unbelievable construction method when we work on our house but our home wasn’t built by an architect (not even a qualified contractor)- so frustrating.
Glad to see where you’ve brought it to, though- looks great.
Gotta go grout some tile (ewwww!)- I am so envious of your concrete floors.
CINDY! Happy to hear from you.
You know I always expect crazy things in ANY house, but that seemed a little weird to me. There were probably 20 rolls of drawings of this house in his studio so he obviously agonized, drew, and re-drew the designs. Why in the world take a shortcut like that? I just couldn’t live with siding on the inside of my house. Call me a diva… but that was NEVER going to fly. Even Richie nixed leaving it and he usually doesn’t care about such “details”. (men!)
Grouting tile? Sounds like a messy, fun project is happening at your house too. What are you tiling and where? Now I have visions of you making something so pretty and I want to see it!
I hope I can get the concrete floors back to something acceptable… I love them too. These need some serious help. Have a great week… and happy grouting!
Yeah, that’s just crazy and no, you’re not a diva for objecting to exterior siding on an inside wall. But I couldn’t imagine finding you have an opening in your wall to deal with at 10:30 at night. But yay, Richie is a resourceful fella. And the wall now looks great.
Our messy, tile project won’t be as snazzy as I would have it if this house were a keeper. While porcelain tile is a serious upgrade in this modest house (that’s a polite way of saying small, pieced-together hobbit dwelling), this is a pretty basic tile for practicality and neutral esthetics. The room is what we call the dining room but almost a foyer- it’s off the kitchen (continuation of the same tile) and has entries for the living room, hall and bathroom (yes, it’s that classy! bathroom just off the end of the eating area.)
The location makes it tricky- we have to tile & grout in sections so that we can still move around the house. But almost done and will be a big improvement (ultimately for selling).
Excuse me a sec, there was electricity in the fence?? So they put the fence into the wall and then put electricity into it? This is the craziest thing ever. Why go through all that effort and then say hey I am going to built the fence into a wall instead m’ok? Sorry I got tired. OMG.
Racoons…man Id have found some plywood and a 2×4 and called it a night. Richie has the persistence of a saint. Seriously I am in awe. Right now we can’t even bring ourselves to attempt to do the frame work for the basement b/c we fear messing it up.
You seem puzzled by all this Alex? I can’t understand why? Doesn’t all of it make perfect sense? (take a nap) Of course you would build your fence into the side of the house. Doesn’t everyone? HA HA!
There’s nothing like “thinking ahead”. Ummmm excuse me but fences don’t last forever… someday it will have to be replaced. THEN WHAT? I guess that became our problem and not theirs. Boy did it.
So now were both PUZZLED! I need a nap now, too. Really, now you can see why I never started blogging until two years after all of this. It was one freakin’ thing after the next. Really bizarre stuff, too.
I would have almost preferred living with raccoons instead of dealing with some of this stupid crap… it was maddening. And then the hideous wall sat there for so long because so many other things came first.
We just shut the door and pretended it wasn’t there. Except it depressed me EVERY SINGLE DAY! So yes, I’m super happy right now.
Richie is definitely persistent but to a fault. If I hadn’t screamed at him to STOP he would have been there until midnight and I can’t stand to see him so tired and stressed. He’s learned to let things go since then. The constant work has taught us both so much. We definitely think beyond what we like now… but more “will this make sense when we have to sell it someday”.
I think I’ll plant a tree on the roof this weekend. (lol)
What a pain in the ba-hooty. I like this horrible detailed story because it was SUCH a project and something that seemed relatively simple. Who builds a fence into a house? WHO? None of that was “up to code” clearly. What is the point of the silly code? Or the inspectors when you get home loans. SHEESH. I admire your do-it-yourself-ness. I really do. Nothing is ever easy.
HA HA! Yes, Rebecca… I find myself saying that a lot. “This should be a simple project”, and then all hell breaks loose. None of it make any sense to me so I’m glad I’m not the only one.
Up to code? Are you kidding…. there was so much stuff not up to code in this house it was scary. I’m sure it’s that way in a lot of old houses but some of it, to me, is just common sense.
Trust me, there are days I wish I’d win the lottery and happily throw away that “Do It Yourself-er” title. It’s overrated! HA HA! Thanks for your sympathy, sweet lady. Some day SOMETHING will be easy
… I’M WAITING! :-)
It always amazes me the techniques people will use and the corners they will cut when fixing up houses! We have experienced quite a bit of that as our house has had 5 owners before us. Good thinking on salvaging all of that wood. It’s moments like these that make you glad you did!
The room looks fantastic, and congrats on your progress!
Hey Jennifer! Oh my goodness I can’t imagine what it would have been like if we’d had more than one owner. Worse or better? I don’t even want to imagine. Seriously though you do start to wonder why people do the things they do… it’s your HOME for crying out loud… don’t you want it the BEST you can make it. I know I do. I know you do, too. Strange and it’s making us work way harder than we want to! (laughing)
I’m super happy we saved the wood. There’s still a huge pile in the backyard covered with a tarp. We continue to use it to this day. Smart husband insisted on that. He takes all the nails out, cuts any rotten parts off and neatly stacks it. I’m happy he’s neurotic! Thanks for the visit.
Goodness! I would have never guessed you would have ran into that kind of trouble. A fence built in to the house?!?! Crazy town. It is looking really good! You have dry wall skills I am jealous of :)
Thanks Brittney! Crazy town is right. I think we’re both VERY familiar with that term. HA HA! Oh how I hate doing dry wall. HATE IT! But after getting quotes to have someone else do it I just couldn’t bring myself to spend money on something I CAN do but HATE to do. As a do-it-yourselfer I know you understand that. I have to say that after doing the whole house I’ve got about 3 walls left and I’m finally getting good at it. (just about the time I’m almost finished!) Once a wall is done it motivates me to move on. Amazing how something like that excites the heck out of you. I can’t wait for you to get your pretty white walls up… talk about JOY! I look forward to it. Thanks for the visit!
Great post! Don’t you just love finding ‘reno secrets’ when you start to take things apart! It looks wonderful, what a difference taking down that fence made. That room is going to be an amazing space once all completed.
It looks awesome! The point where it actually begins to dawn on you that there might really be a room at the end of the tunnel… that’s when you delude yourself into thinking it was all worth it. Then, when it’s actually done, you get to say—yup… DEFINITELY worth it.
At first glance, I thought that was a helmet on your bike… I was like, wow. That girl takes safety seriously. :)
Thanks for catching up with me! Got your submission…you’re the best. My end of the tunnel is deceiving. Sometimes I can see the light and then it goes out completely. Of course some of that might be my own fault because I draw it out with my “it’s got to be perfect” crap. At this point its wishful thinking and a little bit of fun buying stuff that it totally NOT ready to go in. HA HA! Getting ahead of myself is so me.
I just burst out laughing when you thought I rode a stationery bike with a helmet. BLahhhhhh ha hah ah! Talk about a safety girl. You never know… I could get so worked up and hit my head on the wall. The picture of that in my head has had me rolling with laughter!
The new wall is AMAZING! It looks EXACTLY like it’s suppose to… flawless. I know that excitement of being in the home stretch of a dusty, hard project and you definitely deserve to celebrate. So glad you lost the weight of having this unfinished project; the 4 lbs. sound like a fun bonus.