Closet Baseboard

We had a little difficulty settling on the design for the baseboards in the closets. After looking at a number of different profiles, we chose to go with a standard 1x4 (.75x3.5). We liked the height the best. We also chose to put a 1/4" radius on the top corner. We like this look, but we will likely do something different in the main rooms. These are the closets after all. Simple is okay.

The baseboards were installed using panel adhesive and a few nails.

Since nothing is ever straight and perfect, there was a little gapiosis between the boards and the walls. The whole family got in on the gap filling project.

The end results looked great. A couple coats of paint went on next.

And now for the big move!

The Lowdown on the Floor, Click!

As was mentioned before, we chose to use Forbo Marmoleum Click for our closet floors. The tiles are 36"x12" and fit the closets perfectly (the closets being 36" deep).

The install was super simple. I used the table saw to cut off the tab on one end and then just laid the pieces in the closet. Each tile snaps tight to its neighbor. Forbo makes sheet linoleum as well, but the tiles were just so easy!

The finished floors! Next... the baseboards.

Painting the Closets

Before I get into the meat of this post, let me begin by telling the readers that...

WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY MOVED THE WATER HEATER!

This momentous event was achieved this last weekend and took 2 days. Whew!

Before moving the water heater, I had to mud and paint the walls. I also wanted to install the floor and baseboard as well.

We chose not to install crown molding in the closets (it seemed fussy and a waste of time). We used a Zero-VOC semi-gloss white (Mythic brand). The painting went very quickly. We only applied one layer of primer and one layer of paint.

Floors and Walls

I installed some plywood on the floor of the closets last weekend. We've bought some Marmoleum for the finished floors in the closets so the overall thickness stack is a little different than what is going in the living room and eventually the hallway.

This is the color of the Marmoleum Click we bought.

I also got the first layer of mud on the seams and corners.

My father-in-law and brother-in-law are coming to visit in a week. They may want to do other things besides play with the baby (not likely). If so, the closet walls should be ready to paint. *fingers crossed*

Slow Going

So we haven't forgotten about this blog, or the house, but we're still adjusting to life with baby. We're exhausted, but we're loving every minute of it (although some minutes are far more coherent than others).

We fully intend to start hanging the rest of the drywall for the utility closets and getting those buttoned up in the next few weeks. We'd love for the washer/dryer to be closer to the bedroom, especially now that we find ourselves doing a lot more laundry with the baby around.

Stay tuned, and we'll hopefully get back into a regular cadence of updates soon!

Changing Table

This is kind of a crossover blog post. It's baby-related but really probably belongs with other posts of its kind (i.e. construction-related).

We'd set up a changing station for our new baby Arlo in the second bedroom before he was born. But once we had the baby, changing diapers at 3AM seemed easier to do closer to our room. Plus, a couple of friends of ours who have a child always changed their kid in the bathroom so that the child started to associate the bathroom with potty-related activities. In short, we needed to come up with a new solution.

First we tried changing the baby on the floor. This worked fine, but bending over was tough for me in the small bathroom and it was impossible for my spouse and her healing C-section incision.

I had a thought to make a fold-down changing table. After taking some measurements, I found that the space between the sink and the wall was was adequate and so was the height of the sink. Finding the time to go to Home Depot was a little challenging, but I finally did yesterday. The table is 36" wide and 18" deep and 32" high. It went together pretty quickly. The only thing I have to do is put a finish on it to protect it from torrents of pee. I'm going to use the linseed oil and beeswax finish that we got for the built-in bookshelf (that is as of yet unfinished).

Closet Plumbing and Drywall

The work on the closet continues...and now that the electrical is done, I get to focus on the plumbing. That means cold water, hot water, and a drain for the washer. I have to put in an emergency drain for the water heater too, but I haven't figured that one out yet. Here are some photos of the plumbing.

I used Sharkbite brand fittings this time. I've never used them before. They're more expensive, but they are really easy to put together. If I had used the Rehau fittings, I'd have to rent the installation tools for $25 a day. In the end, the Sharkbite fittings were cheaper.

After I got all the plumbing in the wall, I put in insulation (to minimize noise and to insulate the water heater room).

Here are photos of the washer/dryer closet.

And here is a photo of the water heater closet.

You may have noticed that I left some holes in the drywall where the plumbing connections are. I want to verify that there are no leaks before I seal up the wall. I'll patch the holes later after I've hooked up the plumbing.

And here is a photo of the other side of the closet wall (the den wall) before it was filled with insulation and closed up.

Wired and Waiting

I finished wiring the closet this weekend. All that's left is to connect to the service panel to make everything live. All the wire is run, all the outlets are installed, and all the lights are in and functional. I won't wire up the dryer, washer or water heater until I move the appliances. And that won't happen until the plumbing is run and connected.

I did install one piece of the plumbing puzzle. I found a valve and drain combo box at the hardware store that I liked and decided to put it in right away. The photo below is of the dryer outlet (top), the washer outlet (below the dryer outlet), and the plumbing box.

This next photo shows the water heater j-box in the water heater closet, the light in the water heater closet (it has a pull cord), and the light switch for the lights in the washer/dryer closet.

This last photo shows the lights in the washer-dryer closet. It's so nice to have light.

The circuit that the washer is on is 20 amp and has a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) on it. It's always good to be safe. The outlets were easy to wire because I could just insert the wires in holes on the back of the outlet and then tighten the screw. None of this bending wires into little loops hassle. The brother-in-law would have loved it.

The Rest of the Hall

We accomplished two things this weekend. The first thing we did was assemble the crib. The second was to finish the demo and framing in the hallway. The demo wasn't particularly hard, but the framing was a little tricky.

We ran out of 2x4's and to save on time, money and materials, we reused some of the old cedar 2x4's that we've saved from previous demo. The old 2x4's have slightly different dimensions than new 2x4's and some are slightly warped.

Here's a panoramic stitched photo of the water heater closet.

Bamboo Floor Preview

There was a sale on the flooring we're going to use in the living room area so we bought it. Here's a little preview of what the board look like.

We dropped off my spouse's family rocking chair this morning at an upholstery shop. It needs new fabric, but it also needs a new runner (the old one broke off and is now missing). The upholsterer is going to take the fabric off of it and then the rocking chair will go to a furniture restoration specialist where it will get a new runner and get refinished. Then the chair will come back to the upholsterer. We picked out a nice medium blue fabric with embroidered dots of brown/yellow. The whole process will likely take 3 to 5 weeks. We'll post pictures when it's done!

Demo(n) in the Hall

Before I started working on the hall closet, I finished cutting the drywall in the doorway between the den and the utility/entry room.

The next work to do was to demo the hall wall to make room for the doorways that will give access to the washer, dryer, and water heater.

This is what the area looked like before I took a sawzall to it.

And this is what it looked like after the saw had its fill (more next weekend).

Big difference! There are two things that my spouse and I have noticed about this new void. First it seems to have made our bedroom door not so tight in its frame, and secondly it creates a sense of doom when we walk down the hall at night without the lights on. We like the non-sticking door. We do not like the dark forbidding feeling. We're pretty sure drywall and doors will take care of the dread.