Mr and Mrs Seater's Renovation PET

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:01 pm

So back in April we bought a house in Alamo Heights, a city completely surrounded by San Antonio. We wanted a place near the airport that also was easy for the Mrs to get to work. We didn't have $.75 million to spend on a house so we had to go the renovation route. We purchased a house that was built in 1941 and was on the tax rolls at 1571 square feet. After the renovation the house currently sits at 2051 square feet after taking in the garage and a "sleeping porch." The house as originally built had 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. An addition in the early 60s added a master bath and the sleeping porch. No further renovations were done since. We completely replaced all the electrical and plumbing. When we pulled up all the old carpets the original oak wood floors were still in place.

Street view in April of 2012 after closing.

Weird old room that was accessed thru the second bedroom.

View from original guest room into weird old room.

Closing off that doorway.

Old Master Bath.

Gutting old master bath and weird old room off of guest room.

Framing out new closet and new master bath.

Tile going in to the new master bath and closet in the background.

Lefty installing the new closet system himself to save $2500.

New master shower tile work.

Original Master Bedroom with closet in background. Mrs Lefty and Lefty with a broken foot.

Master bedroom drywall work.

Original guest bedroom.

Relocating entrance to Master Bedroom. Door to right is original bathroom.

Original kitchen.

Original kitchen. The faux wood floor is not original, it was put down over the pine floor.

From kitchen looking to dinning room. The wall is in the process of coming down.

Kitchen gutted. Found an old door frame to the outside that was closed off at some point. Also notice the opening on the far right which went to the hall.

Mrs Seater inspecting the old sink area.

New door in place to back yard and plumbing wall up in kitchen.

New cabinets and appliances going in.

Cabinet about to go in and microwave went inside that cabinet. Note door on left. That was old garage, now laundry, and 3rd bed and bath.

Loading stuff into cabinets before doors and granite go in.

Looking at old garage, old kitchen is in the background.

New laundry room floor joists going in.

New laundry door to outside and view of gutted kitchen.

Living room after new paint and wiring upgrades.

Original shelves and fireplace after repair and paint.

Moving day in living room.

Guest bedroom completely full on moving day.

Smackaholic this is for you. The general contractor made the guys spend Friday afternoon cleaning.

Unpacking the living room.

Mrs Lefty unpacking the guest room.

Master Bedroom today. Mrs Lefty's road bike in the background. She rides it inside on weekdays.

Master bathroom today. The TV is so Mrs Lefty can watch the Today show in the am while getting ready.

Master closet today. Still way to much clothes and that is only about a third of it.

Master bath.

Crapper.

Lefty's home office and the dogs. This office will not last as the Mrs has ordered new furniture for this room.

View from Guest room/office toward kitchen.

Kitchen today.

Kitchen looking into dining room.

Laundry room from kitchen with beer fridge.

Laundry sink and storage. Still need a little paint touch up. Door on the left hides water heater and water softener.

Living room.

New bedroom.

New third bathroom.

New third bathroom from inside the shower.

New landscaping. Mr and Mrs Seater doing this ourselves.

New landscaping.

Van · Post by **Van** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:43 pm

It's gotten to where I now just scroll through all the rest and only look for the pics of Mrs. Seater.

I mean, c'mon.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:48 pm

Nice work, lefty. I am in the process of making a walk in shower upstairs. What did you do for a floor pan? I am using the kerdi shluter system. Put down a poly something or other pan and cover with the kerdi membrane which continues up the walls. Tile directly over. Still playing with the plumbing. Damn mixing valve which i roughed in about 40 years ago is being stupid. This bob vila stuff is a PITA when things don't go right.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:50 pm

Oh, and rack mrs lefty's arse. bike riding helps sculpt a nice back porch. you should try it sometime, ya fat fukk.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:55 pm

Nice job on the renovation. Great kitchen and bathroom work. Looks like the house was pretty well maintained before you got it, which always helps.

Wolfman · Post by **Wolfman** » Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:23 pm

Rack that. I can empathize. MrsO and I did the This Olde House bit with our 2 story wood frame house back in CNY. When I sold it, the real estate agent had ads in the paper calling it a dream house. Difference is that we did it bit by bit. Nothing beats living in a construction project.
We ripped up crappy carpet too and revealed gorgeous hard maple floors. Well they were that after sanding and coating. Couldn't believe people covered that great wood. Kitchen was pine that had linoleum over it. We put in ceramic tile there. Lots of sweat equity and money but well worth the finished product.
Here we just did landscaping and new lighting over our bath sinks. I like your shower. Could be my next job here.

Derron · Post by **Derron** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:02 am

Nice job on the renovation and the PET. What do you Texans have with those trees right next to your houses anyway ?

I suppose in the dry climate it is ok, but here in the U & L, those trees next to the house mean nothing but roof damage and premature wear.

Nice job on the colors, and overall product.

Derron · Post by **Derron** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:03 am

I only counted 3 TV's. What is your basic malfunction anyway?

Sin,

Indy

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:10 am

Derron wrote:Nice job on the renovation and the PET. What do you Texans have with those trees right next to your houses anyway ?

I suppose in the dry climate it is ok, but here in the U & L, those trees next to the house mean nothing but roof damage and premature wear.

Nice job on the colors, and overall product.

I was sort of wondering the same thing.

To me those are some nice looking trees and probably provide welcome shade. We have a scrub oak in front of our living room that started out maybe six or eight years ago as a volunteer and is now maybe 25 feet tall. I really like it but it hangs over the roof and my wife keeps bugging me to cut it down. According to somebody on HGTV any trees overhanging the house are nothing but a route for vermin to get under the roof. Pretty sure it won't damage the concrete tiles, though.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:37 am

Smackaholic, we hired out all plumbing and electric work.

Trees around the house cut the summer cooling bills by a ton. Yes, they are a danger in strong winds due to hurricanes or tropical storms or the few strong thunderstorms a year. But that's why we have them trimmed of dead wood each year. Fire danger is not much of a worry.

Derron · Post by **Derron** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:45 am

Yeah..they are completely different trees and climate up here. Different trees and climate you can get away with that. Pretty healthy looking trees, so probably no problems there.

My son just put an offer in on a house today, we will be applying the chain saw to the trees on site real soon if the deal goes through.

Nice tile work on that shower..that looks great.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 2:01 am

Derron,

Are you taking all the trees down? Is fire a real threat?

I can't imagine not having trees around my house.

Dr_Phibes · Post by **Dr_Phibes** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 5:45 am

He's got tins of food stored underground for the coming 'episode'. Why are you asking him anything? And I recall Mikey taliking about putting concrete floors inside his house.

Nice job Lefty. Not very imaginative, but well executed.

Van · Post by **Van** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 5:51 am

He should have gone with round doors, hobbit-style. Solid gold ones, natch, but round nonetheless.

Dr_Phibes · Post by **Dr_Phibes** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 5:53 am

Library Red in the study would have been nice. Bland nuetrality in every room says Mrs. Lefty calls the shots.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 2:22 pm

Damn right she called the shots on color and tiles and the like. I honestly don't really care but in the end it looks great.

ChargerMike · Post by **ChargerMike** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 3:39 pm

just guessing, but the broken foot...doing construction work in the house wearing FLIP-FLOPS?

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Sat Feb 23, 2013 3:44 pm

smackaholic wrote:I am in the process of making a walk in shower upstairs.

Before:

After:

Derron · Post by **Derron** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:24 pm

Left Seater wrote:Derron,

Are you taking all the trees down? Is fire a real threat?

I can't imagine not having trees around my house.

We are not taking them all down. Here in the U & L, we don't like trees that can shed leaves or needles directly on the roof. Or at least the people who want to get maximum life out of our roofs don't. There is one huge ponderosa pine that is about 80 feet tall within 15 feet of the house. Drops truckloads of long needles on the roof, gutters and lawn and beds. Fire hazard and creates way more landscape maintenance than should be required. Roots moving towards the foundation. Another douglas fir up against the roof in the back. Same mess, same roots heading to the foundation. There are plenty of other trees on the property away from the house that are suitable and will be left.

Leaves combined with heavy rain equals gutters full of wet shit you have to clean out a couple times per year. Leaves coming down on roofs equals water retention on the roof, along with the leaves creating a great environment for organic matter growth, (moss). All that cuts the roof life drastically. Plus if you have to clean it off some way, that too damages the roof and shortens the life. Our wet environment adds to all this.

Proper plant selection helps, but over time, landscapes mature and have to be adjusted back to a more suitable plant/ tree selection. In the drier areas of the state, where you have lots of natural dry fuel material, you want that shit away from your house and at least 100 feet of defensible space around the whole house. Even in one of the ritzy resort areas of the state, Sunriver, they just love that shit piling up everywhere, and trees hanging over the house are quite common. Why they have never had a major conflagration there is beyond me.

Some people have these huge big leaf maples all around their houses, and have to deal with about 50 cubic yards / 10 tons or more of leaves each fall. No thanks.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:36 pm

That would be a good guess but no the broken foot came from taking a puck off the top of the foot in a three on three game with some of our reserves. I lost an edge, and was down on the ice when a shot came. Better my foot than my head though as the staff just wears shin guards, track suits and baseball caps. I did walk around at times in flip flops to check progress which isn't smart.

Derron,

leaves are an issue here, but the rain isn't much of an issue. I just climb up on the roof twice a year with the leaf blower and clean it off. A tarp in the right place on the ground catches 95% of them and away they go.

Python · Post by **Python** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 5:49 pm

You need more pillows. Definitely more pillows.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 6:38 pm

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:
smackaholic wrote:I am in the process of making a walk in shower upstairs.
Before:

After:

Close, but the after pic needs to be halfway tiled with a bucket of dried mortar with a trowel stuck in it, maybe an extension cord and a few hand tools.

And a few empty sam adams bottles.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 7:09 pm

Derron wrote: There is one huge ponderosa pine that is about 80 feet tall within 15 feet of the house. Drops truckloads of long needles on the roof, gutters and lawn and beds.

Just described the Homestead. A Pacific Ponderosa (the largest of the pines) ain't fucking around. We have not one but two yard debris cans picked up every week, and it still doesn't really keep up with the giant pondo. If we want the gutters to function, it's up to the roof at least once a month. Don't really give a shit in the Dry Season, since it doesn't rain, but pretty fucked the rest of the time.

Even in one of the ritzy resort areas of the state, Sunriver, they just love that shit piling up everywhere, and trees hanging over the house are quite common. Why they have never had a major conflagration there is beyond me.

My firefighter buddy does traige out ahead of wildfires when needed. They go to all the houses, and if they fail certain requirement - plants/trees within 60 feet of the house, driveway you can't get a fire truck into... they pull out a can of black spray paint, and put a big X on the front of the house, which means the firefighters won't expend any resources on that house.

And I think parts of Sunriver have gone up in the not-too distant past.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 8:54 pm

Wow, I guess those with a big black X don't have to pay shit for their services either. The next time the city or county came looking for money for the firefighters I would tell them where they could shove it.

On top of that the insurance companies are going to rape everyone in that area due to the fact you never know who the FD just might decide to skip.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 9:08 pm

I dunno -- they bought/built a house in an extreme wildfire zone. Why should others have to pay for their lack of personal responsibilty?

In a big fire, there's only so many resources (firefighters, aerial tankers, water, etc). Certain areas need to be passed over. Why should those who decided to hog the resources before-the-fact be able to do so? Plus, there's county regulations covering such things, and those people chose to ignore them.

You want a fire truck to come? Then have a driveway (many of them are very long from the road out there) that a truck can get down... pretty simple.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 9:38 pm

Wait are we discussing a home on acerage out in the woods, or are we talking about a neighborhood?

I thought we were discussing in a neighborhood like mine.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 10:12 pm

Fair enough.

Sunriver has neighborhoods (and plenty of fire resources). The surrounding areas aren't "in the woods," but out in the desert scrub (junipers, a few scrubby pondos, plenty of sagebrush). Pretty much a huge tinderbox.

Derron · Post by **Derron** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 10:27 pm

Left Seater wrote:Wait are we discussing a home on acerage out in the woods, or are we talking about a neighborhood?

I thought we were discussing in a neighborhood like mine.

Varies. There are a lot of hoods in the high desert and southern Oregon/ WA/CA that are in what we call the urban wildland interface. Example of what happens when a fire starts in those areas that are not properly prepared is this :

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-north ... ges_2.html

Any time a fire spreads unchecked with the wind in a neighborhood, something is not right.

This is what some of these homes are like. The floor fuels here are fairly well picked up, but I have seen needles stacked a foot deep around these places. The wind can get very high here, with relative humidity in the low teens. In these resort areas, they tend to do this, since most have full time paid fire departments, and can jump on fires fairly quick. Some people actually have cedar shake roofs in these areas, "for the look". :doh: :doh:

Out in the rural areas more, most people clear 100 feet at least from the house, put some grass in and keep it watered, and with non combustible roofing and siding, you can stand off about any fire. A buddy of mine here lives on 80 acres on a hill top. We have very few wild land fires in this area, due to the wet climate and green vegetation. He manages the 80 acres for timber harvest, and keeps floor fuels cleaned up and gone. He still has over 100 feet around his house cleared, and has a nice yard with sprinklers, and a 750 gallon water tank with gasoline pump and foam injection. He is good to go, only about 8 miles out of town, but still at some risk.

Your hood looks pretty cleaned up , and fire risk seems low. It is just when people fail to manage native vegetation, and let all the factors become present to have a loss of huge magnitude.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Sat Feb 23, 2013 10:33 pm

Derron wrote:put some grass in and keep it watered

The added benefit of this is not stepping on rattlesnakes when you walk out your door.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Sun Feb 24, 2013 1:53 am

Yeah St Augustine grass doesn't burn so well when you hit it with the sprinkler system twice a week.

LTS TRN 2 · Post by **LTS TRN 2** » Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:46 pm

Good job on the fixer-upper, L-seat. Now just stay away from airplanes or someone could get hurt.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:18 am

Don't worry LTS, if I am ever flying out of Bethel in Dec I will make sure my plane overnights in a hanger so frost doesn't bring it down.

That was actually the second time that plane was involved in an incident. It won't be involved in any more though cause it was written off after that one.

Y2K · Post by **Y2K** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 7:28 am

The corner lots makes things a lot more workable after you and the wifey are flying into the driveway after a quickie to Whataburger.You REALLY have to piss the neighbors off now, Much better than that Cul de Smack any day.

Left Seater · Post by **Left Seater** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 2:07 pm

Very true.

Although the neighbors here don't act as if the street is their personal property either.

And on another note to the Cul de Sac war, the ring leader has had to move and rent out his house. Turns out multi-level marketing isn't all that great when two things happen. First the FDA pulls one of your products and second the people under you decide they are tired of making you money. Karma and whatnot.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 2:18 pm

Left Seater wrote:Very true.

Although the neighbors here don't act as if the street is their personal property either.

And on another note to the Cul de Sac war, the ring leader has had to move and rent out his house. Turns out multi-level marketing isn't all that great when two things happen. First the FDA pulls one of your products and second the people under you decide they are tired of making you money. Karma and whatnot.

Those fukkers piss me off. i have a FB friend, a kid i went to HS with that is in on one of those scams. It is called 5link something or other. Some of you may have heard of it. Anyway dude makes pertty much daily posts of high dollar toys, cars, cribs, etc. . The point behinds these not so subtle posts is, yes, you too can drive a maybach. All you gotta do is join my team. Prolly need to add him to the FB friend prune list.

Mace · Post by **Mace** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:58 pm

Very nice job, Lefty. You've got a nice place. We're preparing for more remodeling in our house too. Wife wants a new kitchen and wants to rip up all of the carpet in the house and install wood floors. She's got an Amish carpenter in Wisconsin building the kitchen cabinets at half the cost of anywhere else she looked. We've been doing a little in each of the past few years, putting a roof on the house and garage last fall, a new deck the year before, and installed a bathroom in the basement a few years ago. We're going to do a lot of landscaping as well. My only involvement in the project is making sure we get a patio and fire pit for entertaining after home football games and during the summer. The kitchen, paint colors, etc, is all hers. Life will be easier that way if she doesn't like the finished product.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 5:10 pm

Mace wrote: The kitchen, paint colors, etc, is all hers. Life will be easier that way if she doesn't like the finished product.

Don't count on it. If she doesn't like it it'll be your fault for not speaking up.

Mace · Post by **Mace** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 5:38 pm

Mikey wrote:Don't count on it. If she doesn't like it it'll be your fault for not speaking up.

You're probably right, Mikey. No, I'm sure you're right, but I'm still staying out of the decision making process. She's spent hours and hours designing the new kitchen, looking at cabinets and counter tops, appliances, etc, and my only input has been to tell her I'd like stainless steel appliances but will be okay with whatever she picks out. I don't really care what she does so long as the old fridge moves to the basement to become my new beer fridge. She also asked me if I thought it would be okay to put a 60" big screen on the wall in the remodeled living room and, without hesitation, I said...."if that's what you want, I think it would be okay".....biting my tongue to keep from yelling "HELL, YEAH!!!" She poo pooed that idea a few years ago, so I bought a 40" TV for my man cave in the basement. It's always better for it to be their idea....or so 35 years of marriage has taught me.

Derron · Post by **Derron** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 5:51 pm

Left Seater wrote:Don't worry LTS, if I am ever flying out of Bethel in Dec I will make sure my plane overnights in a hanger so frost doesn't bring it down.

That was actually the second time that plane was involved in an incident. It won't be involved in any more though cause it was written off after that one.

In the LTS Tard School of Aviation, how can this have possibly happened ? In your world, the rules of physics / aviation do not apply. The chances of you flying anything but a blind pig are slim to none, so the sky's of Alaska are safe. In fact, head on up there and give it a try, you will auger that bitch in before you make it out of Martyland.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The pilot's failure to adequately remove frost contamination from the airplane, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent collision with terrain during an emergency landing after takeoff."

This is how idiot pilots are removed from the system. Too bad it cannot work for shit troll internet posters. Also the frost / icing thing seems to be a common thread in the companies previous accidents, that and overloading aircraft. They must have attended flight school at LTSTards facility.

Derron · Post by **Derron** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 6:16 pm

Mace wrote:V She's got an Amish carpenter in Wisconsin building the kitchen cabinets at half the cost of anywhere else she looked.

Yeah...well when this crew of morons shows up to deliver and install them, be prepared to pay your protection money, or they will fuck shit up. See if it is such a good deal then.