Post your home improvment projects

[sdilley14]

I think it would be cool to see some home improvement projects. "Before and after" pictures would be ideal. It's always interesting and sometimes inspiring to see what others have done to their home. I'm in the process of having my floors re-done. I'm also having some landscaping work done in my back yard. Once those projects are complete I will post some pictures.

 

[sdilley14]

I shared this in a different thread in the Misc. section. But I'm so happy with it I think I'll post it twice. Top is the "before" and bottom is the "after". My QA specialist in the photo seems to approve.

Now I'm thinking about painting the walls. I think a navy blue would match well?

 

[fhall1]

I don't think navy blue walls match anything - but that's just me.

 

[silvetti]

I shared this in a different thread in the Misc. section. But I'm so happy with it I think I'll post it twice. Top is the "before" and bottom is the "after". My QA specialist in the photo seems to approve.

Now I'm thinking about painting the walls. I think a navy blue would match well?

View attachment 631968

My floor is a bit different... But check:

 

[sdilley14]

I replaced my tile counter tops with granite and had them install an under-mount sink and new faucet. I'm really liking how it turned out!

 

[the batman]

I shared this in a different thread in the Misc. section. But I'm so happy with it I think I'll post it twice. Top is the "before" and bottom is the "after". My QA specialist in the photo seems to approve.

Now I'm thinking about painting the walls. I think a navy blue would match well?

View attachment 631968

for some reason, i saw the photos without reading the post and immediately assumed the dog was what you made ha

 

[sdilley14]

Most recent and probably last project for a while. Removed some of the pavers, added more rock, and replaced the grass with turf in the back yard. Very happy with how it turned out!

 

[willmtaylor]

Almost have the kids’ new playset done in the backyard. Just have to wait for treated wood to dry out before staining/sealing. Then we’ll put some sand in the box below. Really pleased with the results of our spring break project.

Not a kit, by the way. Found some basic plans online and then adapted them to our needs. Bought most hardware and all lumber locally. Took about 3 days total.

Final Product:

 

[uller6]

I cedar paneled my closet with T&G paneling. A huge improvement over the old unfinished 2X4 look we've had since we purchased the house. Now to add a closet door...

 

[soulreaver99]

Cleaned up this fire hazard under my TV. It’s all tidy now

 

[ducknalddon]

New mixer taps for the shower/bath. My family used to treat the old ones like an on/off switch, hopefully the new ones should save energy and water.

 

[Matz]

A leaking toilet wax ring in one of our bathrooms caused this. Could have been worse.

Fixing it required tearing up the floor, adding floor framing, replacing a section of subfloor, and the entire finish floor.

And a new, more water efficient toilet.

We'd been wanting to repaint, which required removing the wallpaper from the 70s. The paper is almost entirely removed, but it turns out we have to sand the wallpaper paste off the walls before priming and painting. Who knew?

While we're at it, we're going to replace the pink-ish double sink vanity top with a quartz top with a single rectangular sink, and paint the wooden vanity with a grey enamel. After sanding and priming the vanity, of course. We decided to keep the vanity base because it's there and is made almost entirely of solid wood.

And since I've long wanted a backlit mirror, we found a suitable mirror and sourced the led strip lights and so forth to mount on the back. That's turning out to be a project in itself.

So the fabricator is coming on Tuesday to measure for the vanity top. While they're at it, we're having him measure for a vanity top for a ½ bath. They're having a decent sale on granite and quartz, so it makes sense to go for both, as the ½ bath is next on the list to remodel.

No more pictures to post at this point, as it's pretty much an ugly mess. I intend to post progress pictures as it moves toward completion.

All that from a leaking wax ring.

 

[willmtaylor]

A leaking toilet wax ring in one of our bathrooms caused this. Could have been worse. View attachment 882745
Fixing it required tearing up the floor, adding floor framing, replacing a section of subfloor, and the entire finish floor.
View attachment 882739

And a new, more water efficient toilet.

View attachment 882741
We'd been wanting to repaint, which required removing the wallpaper from the 70s. The paper is almost entirely removed, but it turns out we have to sand the wallpaper paste off the walls before priming and painting. Who knew?

While we're at it, we're going to replace the pink-ish double sink vanity top with a quartz top with a single rectangular sink, and paint the wooden vanity with a grey enamel. After sanding and priming the vanity, of course. We decided to keep the vanity base because it's there and is made almost entirely of solid wood.

And since I've long wanted a backlit mirror, we found a suitable mirror and sourced the led strip lights and so forth to mount on the back. That's turning out to be a project in itself.

So the fabricator is coming on Tuesday to measure for the vanity top. While they're at it, we're having him measure for a vanity top for a ½ bath. They're having a decent sale on granite and quartz, so it makes sense to go for both, as the ½ bath is next on the list to remodel.

No more pictures to post at this point, as it's pretty much an ugly mess. I intend to post progress pictures as it moves toward completion.

All that from a leaking wax ring.

Sucks, but nice job of making lemons from lemonade.

 

[Matz]

New vanity top is scheduled for install the day after Christmas.
Here’s the old one:

Also bought a PEX crimping tool and some fittings to reroute the sink supply lines. New vanity top will have a single sink, in the middle.

 

[willmtaylor]

I recently renovated a half bath that we had never bothered with in the 24 months we have lived here.

We removed linoleum floors and replaced with hex tiles previously.

We removed wallpaper, lighting, vanity top, and toilet.

I installed new light, sink, faucet, and toilet. I also repainted vanity cabinet and hardware.

Finally, we painted the top half of the walls and I installed wainscoting.

 

[1042686]

Haven’t had much time this year to upgrade anything

but I was able to get this play center built for my kiddos.

 

[Matz]

Time flies.
Many things have conspired to move this remodel to near the bottom of the priority list over the winter, especially since replacing the toilet made it mostly functional. Now it has moved to near the top of the list.

The new quartz vanity top with single sink, prior to faucet install.

And the backlit mirror, after attaching and soldering the led strip lights to the wooden frame I added to the back of the mirror, so that it would stand off of the wall about 1”. I temporarily wired it to see if the light strips would provide sufficient light to eliminate the need for an over the mirror light. By itself, the mirror backlighting is almost enough. So the next step is to install a different ceiling fixture to see if that will do the trick. If that works, I’ll then move the transformer and wiring under the mirror, patch the hole above the mirror, and paint the walls. If not, I’ll still move the transformer and wiring under the mirror, but add a light over the mirror. Which of course will require pulling another run of wire and adding a switch.
Hoping I won’t have to go that route.

Not shown here, but we’re going to replace the single bulb ceiling fixture with a 1930s era slip shade three bulb ceiling light, and replace the 40 year old ceiling fan with a new Panasonic unit, and put them on separate switches so the fan can be turned on independently.

The vintage fixture had one broken shade, which I repaired yesterday with glass glue. Didn’t even know there was such a thing, but it makes sense. The crack is still visible, but we’ll put that shade toward the back of the bathroom. I have to rewire the fixture, so when that’s done, I’ll post more pics.

All because of a leaking toilet...

 

[Matz]

Time continues to fly.
Bathroom is done, in spite of Covid, procrastination, avoidance, and life in general.

Really happy with the way it turned out, from the vanity top, a custom built-in wall cabinet from reclaimed wood, and even crown molding.

Not sure why all the pictures are rotated 90º.