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Demo, Week 3 = Drywall!

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What a difference a week makes! I feel like we’ve been saying that a lot – at the very least, we’ve been throwing those words around this house like crazy – but man, do we mean it. The biggest difference in where we left off? Drywall! We have honest to goodness walls back in our life!

When we first started talking about this three room renovation, I really don’t think Scott and I imagined that it would turn into a full blown, down to the studs makeover. But our drywall was in pretty rough shape, and if you’re going to take down half a wall, you might as well take down the whole thing, right? Less patching, less mudding. (Not that we’re patching, thank goodness. I’d put mudding and sanding drywall right up there with my love of installing baseboards; no love, none.)

THE BATHROOM. We were sort of bummed when we found out we couldn’t recess the entire plumbing wall completely, due to a stack that couldn’t be pushed back. Seeing it drywalled though? That changed everything. It really feels like that small bump out – second photo, below – was made for our vanity! And it turns out we got a teeny bit more than 11″ of width to the right of the tub for extra storage. We had been crossing our fingers for 9″, so we’ll take it!

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THE BEDROOM. The closet makes so much more sense now! The drywall frames out a 25″ depth, and we’ll be squeezing an IKEA PAX inside that cubby. The pile of flat packed boxes are waiting to be ripped open, but where do we start? The closet? The bathroom tiles? A warm, cozy bed? We want to do it all, and we want to do it all at once. So. Excited. (And if I’m being honest, completely overwhelmed, too.)

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THE LAUNDRY ROOM. Maybe it’s because this room is the smallest, or maybe it’s because we actually have a pretty clear vision (and ostriches!), but we can’t talk about the laundry room without getting those overly excited head rushes. Woosh! Such a cute little space.

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Everything still needs to be sanded and primed, which will be promptly followed by pulling out paint swatches. In other news, the furnace venting and water heater issue has been resolved, and we want to thank you all for your input! It was such an unexpected curve ball, and we put a lot of trust in our HVAC contractor who has done all heating and plumbing work in our home since the day we moved in. After receiving your feedback, we delved into deeper discussion with him and opted out of tankless. On the furnace side of things, they re-routed everything properly, corrected existing issues along the way, and this week, the chimney can finally come out!

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  • Angela12.21.15 - 7:21 AM

    Ohhhh can you explain more why you opted out of tankless?ReplyCancel

    • Kim12.21.15 - 8:16 AM

      Hi Angela! Initially, we were wooed by the MASSIVE space savings and idea of “instant” hot water – but the more digging we did, we realized that ‘tankless’ doesn’t automatically mean ‘instant.’ (To be honest, we were blindsided by this whole thing, so our research didn’t go too deep!) Going from 3 huge space hogs to 2 small tankless models (with one of the tankless being larger for our 2 floors) seemed like the obvious choice. But after discussing some concerns with our guy, he said that for hot water to make it from the basement to our second floor could take a while, which in the end, is a big waste of water. No good!

      We went with the more traditional tanks, a 40 gal for the garden apartment and a 50 gal for us. They’re smaller than the old beasts, much more energy efficient than what we had, and we did eliminate at least one water heater! We’re pretty happy – and it was a cost savings, too.

      This AT article (and as you can imagine, the comments!) is some food for thought: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/pros-and-cons-of-a-tankless-water-heater-176538ReplyCancel

      • Ashley12.24.15 - 8:27 AM

        Thanks for bringing up the tankless information. I had no idea that it could take so long for the water to heat up. Our water heater is on it’s last leg (we were recommended to replace it years ago, but haven’t made it a priority since it works good enough). My husband and I were planning on replacing it this year with a tankless. Thanks for the info- we will definitely do some more research to make sure it is a good fit for our home :)ReplyCancel

  • Sheila12.21.15 - 10:52 AM

    Thanks for that AT link, some of those comments are very informative! And I think you’re ready to take “Demo” out of the header for this series of posts – looks like you are moving right along on this project!ReplyCancel

    • Kim12.21.15 - 11:10 AM

      Thanks, Sheila! We’ve stayed (mostly) on schedule, but once our guys are done, it’s ALL US. We are equal parts terrified and excited!ReplyCancel

  • Sam12.21.15 - 1:28 PM

    Loving following along with your Reno!!! Thank you for all the gratuitous photos and descriptions, don’t stop!!!ReplyCancel

  • Katie @ Red House west12.21.15 - 5:11 PM

    It’s looking amazing! Have you decided whether you’ll texture the drywall? If so, what are you going to use? (sorry if I missed this info. in a previous post)ReplyCancel

    • Kim12.21.15 - 5:18 PM

      Thanks! And nope, no texture. That’s not super common in our area. :)ReplyCancel

  • Dakwerken12.23.15 - 1:01 AM

    Amazing! renovation on full swing, will surely come out to be a very good project for your contractor and a new look for your home, Kim :)ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

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