Chris’ House Fixup

When I built the stairway to the basement this took away the closet for my back upstairs bedroom. In order for it to be a functional bedroom it needs a closet. So I had carpenter Keith build one that sticks out from the wall; the previous closet was behind the wall. Then I painted it up.

Here is a picture before:

After closet built, before paint:

Complete with Paint:

Here are the latest house flower pictures:

I’m excited to have a privacy fence! Carpenter Keith built the 6′ fence while I was taking Brandy to DC. Total price $3350 ($1800 labor, $1550 materials).

Here are some pictures. Ignore the weeds — that’s for another year! 

Facing the back alley [before and after]

Pictures taken from back alley facing back yard [before and after]

Small portion on north side of house and short section to hide air conditioning [before and after]

Inside, in front of garage [before and after]

View of garage, from front of the house [before and after]

 This is one my less exciting posts! Keith the carpenter came by and trimmed out the outside of the new basement windows. Here are before and after pictures of the 3 windows.

I snapped some photos of the old rose bushes, which are in full bloom. There annuals in the front and doing fine. The perrenials are popping up behind the annuals.

Brandy and I went flower shopping on Saturday. On Sunday Brandy and her mother planted them all. There are 2 new pots for the columns; we got some high quality pots because they are so prominently located. Anuals are planted in the front and bulbs are planted in the back row. In a few months there should be some good layering. There are 2 rose bushes for the left side that will be planted this week.

I bought the sink for the downstairs bathroom. Someday I’ll finish the bathroom and I’ll be able to remove it from my dining room.

A few months ago my carpenter finished the framing.

Here is the entertainment center. The TV will sit on the platform on the right. There will be built in cabinets under the platform. I tried to design this center to hide the soffit at the top, which hides the heating ductwork.

This is a small dry bar area. I have an old granite slab for the counter. Again, the shallow cabinets above hide a soffit. A minifridge will fit underneath.

Here is the entire media room. The picture was taken at the bottom of the stairs.

Here is a shot of the lighting. 3 dimmer switches control these lights.

Here’s a shot of the laundry room. There are cabinets above the W&D and there is a built-in sink on the left.

A few weeks ago I stepped on this wiring staple while I was doing some electrical. It was pointing upward at the time and both prongs went half inch into the ball of my foot. It is indeed evil.

I replaced the 5 basement windows recently. I ordered them from Home Depot. My carpenter framed the inside with particle board.

Old Windows from Outside:

Old Windows from Inside:

The old windows were an absolute bear to remove. They look harmless, but they are held into the brick wall by these “wings” that come out the sides and 4″ into the space between the bricks in the wall. And they were steel, not aluminium. This was an oportunity for me to buy a saws-all .. .and 10 blades.

New Windows: