Renovations In The Sunroom

Dan and Mimmo spent the first part of yesterday morning finishing the removal of the wall-paper in the kitchen and prepping the walls (to be painted) in both the kitchen and the bathroom. 

Trying to contain the dust generated by the drywall work in the bathroom. An eerie sight but every little bit helps!

All of the plumbing has been completed in the bathroom and the entry & bathroom floors and the stairs are ready for the hardwoods to be installed. 

The work on the renovations in the sun-room then began. Our plan here is to install ceramic tile on the floor, replace the windows & door and paint. The sun-room, like the bathroom in the entry, was an addition to the house and was constructed rather poorly. Our main concern was to find and fix a leak that has appeared a few times over the years around some of the windows. The framing around three of the windows has been so badly damaged by the water and warped that the windows could not close. 

The carpet came up easily and, other than some more ugly linoleum, there weren't any major surprises underneath it. 

 

This door will be removed and replaced with a sliding glass door. 

Mimmo and Dan began to remove the rest of the trim around the windows and that is when the fun began. While there was some water damage to the drywall from the leak, the real mess was what we found behind the drywall. 

Damage from a long ago termite infestation. 

In April of 2005, we had a termite swarm in the sun-room and immediately began (and continued) annual treatments and monitoring. Each year as I write the fairly large check to Terminex, I wonder if it is really worth continuing with the service as we have been termite free for over 8 years. Well, it is definitely worth it because I don't want a termite to ever again even think about nibbling on our home! 

Eight years ago (and probably for some time before that), those termites had quite a feast on the wood in this corner of the sun-room.They ate the entire length of the window and right through the floor. The wall and the wood just crumbled. 

Dan found this inside the wall as well. Nice.

 

Everything was ripped out and taken to the dump. I bet there is no one more than Kevin who wants the Government to start back up! 

Dan and Mimmo re-built the entire corner wall and floor and it is as good as new now.

 

Since the replacement windows are custom made and won't be delivered for another couple of weeks, Mimmo and Dan carefully sealed the opening.

So, now we look just a little bit red-neck. 

Later today, I am going to bring a nice bottle of wine over to my neighbors along with my most sincere apologies. 

This tarp was hung over the entrance to the dining room. 

Although I know its primary purpose is to keep the dust contained to the sun-room  I also like that the tarp keeps this mess "out of sight, out of mind" while I am going about my daily routines. 

I am up early this morning to get out for a 5 mile run. My plan was to run 10 miles today but, for no particular reason, I decided to hold off on that distance until tomorrow morning. I have a nice dinner planned for this evening - barbecued chicken, creamed spinach (at the request of Christopher - again!), challah bread and a fresh tomato, mozzarella and pesto pasta salad. With fuel like that, I am guaranteed to have a great run tomorrow morning. It is still very warm here but a cool-down is predicted for next week so so this might be the last time we are able to eat on the patio.

Have a great Saturday!