Ahh .. painting, priming, sanding .. DUST DUST DUST .. it seems like it will never end. Just a quick update before I post the pictures and more details .. BUT the good news is the dining room is DONE! YAY! Yes, it is official, pretty much all major work is DONE downstairs. A little tweaking in the kitchen and some baseboard work in the living room and dining room, but everything else is done. All cracks fixed, final coat of paint, clean floors, and maybe NO MORE DUST! Stay tuned for the larger update .. and did someone mention work on the staircase started?

Here is a list of projects we are going to complete in February:

1. Finish stripping door leading to basement
2. Work on stripping the rest of the stain from the doorframe leading to dining room
3. Strip door leading outside from kitchen
4. Work on stripping window sills in kitchen
5. Finish molding above sink
6. Install toe kicks on cabinets
7. Touch up paint in kitchen (ceiling, walls)
8. Finish working in dining room (another coat of primer, sanding, final paint)
9. Paint steam pipe
10. Remove storage closet at top of steps

Just when the paint is finally off my hands and I can show up to meetings without looking like I paint on the side for extra income, the dining room project starts. This weekend we cleared everything out and I sealed the room off from the rest of the house (however dust still gets out!). I started by working on the 1 inch gap near the steam pipe going upstairs. I had to stabilize the ceiling to the lath board and work on filling the cracks. Next, the same process in the living room had to happen in the dining room. Round 1 is now complete, with additional sanding/painting needing to take place to finish it off. My goal is to have it complete no later than February 20. Repairing these ceilings get them looking much better, however, they still have imperfections that one can expect from plaster that is 80 years old. I'm finally over trying to make them look PERFECT (since that cannot happen when you repair plaster, unless you are very very skilled or have lots of money) but happy that they look 100 times better then they used to look. I'm tempted to hang a sign in the house that warns people not to blurt out, "hey, your ceiling has some imperfections" because come on, I know they do! But take a peek at them before we started and you could see lath board and giant cracks! I'll deal with some imperfections! Stay tuned for updates.

We ended 2009 on a very productive stride. The sun-room and living room are complete. The kitchen had a complete reno that is nearly complete. Lots of other miscellaneous things were done and it's hard to believe we didn't start until the first of September! With a full year ahead, we are putting all our attention on finishing the kitchen in Q1 of 2010. We had high hopes of completing it in 2009, however, we had to be mindful of our budget and pushed some of the work (trim work and counter tops) into 2010. Also, we needed some additional filler pieces for the cabinets to finish the molding over the sink and in Kraftmaids typical manner, it takes a month to get them! January is going to be a slow month, no real work taking place. Things should start again in February and really pickup speed going into Spring and Summer. Keep an eye on the site for updates and reviews and as always, thanks for your support.

When we drilled the new well a new submerged pump was installed along with a new compression tank. As a result, we have this fairly new (less than 2 years old with little operation) goulds pump and pressure tank for sale. This unit was remove from operation in August 2009 and it was 100% operational.

If you were to buy these items new it would be at least $698. We are willing to take $300 for the setup.

Call 703-468-1823 or e-mail jason@jamz.net to purchase.

Hydro Pro Water System Tank
Model No. V60PST
19.9 gallons
System connection 1" NPTF
Diameter 15 3/8
Height 32 3/8

Retails for $390
http://www.watertanks.com/products/0490-090.asp

Pump
Goulds Pumps
Model C48C04A06

1/2 Hp Goulds Water Well Deep Jet Pump Jrd 5
Pump Motor Model #: C48C04A06. 3450 RPMs. AMPS 9.8/4.9.MAX LOAD 12.6/6.3. HZs 60. SF 1.5. PH 1. Cont. duty. This pump can be wired 110 or 220. Has 1 1/4" 1" suction. 1" discharge. Has own pressure switch.

Retails for $308

Will deliver for a charge between: Northern New Jersey to North Eastern PA, or anywhere along I81 south from NEPA to the I66West exit in Front Royal VA (Jan. 7, 2009)

Our cabinets are installed and really pulled the kitchen together. The molding was a very difficult task but looks remarkable. Things are about 85% complete with the molding above the sink left to complete, the hardware on the cabinets, floor transitions, and molding around the windows and doors. See the rest of the pics, click here.

A new year is upon us .. this project started August 27, 2009 and we've made a tremendous amount of progress. The living room is complete and we enjoy sitting and watching TV or entertaining guests, the sun-room is complete including our wonderful treasure we found: a Victorian couch, the kitchen was COMPLETELY gutted and put back together, with only a few items left to make it 100% complete, the pipes downstairs were replaced including the last remaining 12 foot section of cast iron sewage pipe, the landscaping in the front was started so we have a good base when the spring starts, a new roof was put over the porch, the garage and porch were painted, a 125' well was dug with a new compression tank and submerged pump, the entire electrical panel was replaced including the line coming from the outside pole, the satellite installation was complete, our webcam/security cam is installed and on-line, and all the outlets in the house were upgraded! WHEW! What a productive 4 months! Of course with all that work came a huge price to our budget, with a lot spent in the kitchen. So going into 2010 we will probably have a slow January, finishing up the molding in the kitchen, thresholds, and installing the countertops. February and March will probably focus on the upstairs guest room, all sweat equity. By spring, our budget should be back in line, ready to tackle more large projects such as the bathroom. Stay tuned, sit back and relax, great things will continue to come. Thanks to all the support, comments, and suggestions. Happy New Year!

From Project Hillside ...

Just like in wedding and event planning, home renovations are full of little details. When you think about a kitchen remodel, even if it's from scratch, you think, flooring, walls, appliances, cabinets, countertops.

But those decisions almost seem easy, when you start to think about the details. And when you wonder why it takes what feels like forever to complete a small kitchen, it's the details again that are the culprit.

Have you thought about the floor transitions from the kitchen to the dining room and outside? What about where you would like some more outlets?

Guess what, you have to buy outlet covers, too. Just like wedding linens, you can settle for plain white but will guests remember that? No, so you look for the perfect colors and textures.

What about the moldings? The stain has to match and you want it to match the rest of the house... but the house was built 80 years ago so those style are now rare if they even exist at all without custom woodworking (read budget increase).

We chose cabinet molding, which looks awesome but was full of another set of decisions.

We haven't even started to try out hardware for the cabinets.

So while I am cooking and baking like a pro in my 75% finished kitchen, the last hurdle may end up being the most difficult to finish. The devil... is in the details.