Renovations Aug 2020 – Jan 2021

We closed on the Franklin, NC home in early August, 2020.  Although it was generally in good shape, we had to renovate to fit our needs.  Urgent things were fixed before 2021.  Although the home has oak plank hardwood floors upstairs and laminate downstairs, all four bedrooms were carpeted.  Due to allergies, all carpet was removed and replaced with oak hardwood floors or laminate.  All locks were changed to deadbolts plus a swarm of smaller changes.

We had part of the backyard fenced so Panzer and Dash could get exercise and fun off a leash.  Through various snafus, the fence took quite a while to get installed. 

We had to move or purchase enough furniture to make it livable.  We acquired some furniture and a pool table with the house purchase.  Due to allergies (cats), we cannot buy used upholstered furniture.  We went consignment and new furniture shopping.  Excepting Lynn’s platform bed with underneath storage drawers, all of the hardwood furniture was purchased used.  We bought one sofa, two upholstered chairs and a leather chair with a footstool new in Hickory.  Almost all the new and used furniture was put in a U-Hall and moved by Avery & Lynn.  We then took two months off to enjoy life.

On January 5, 2021 renovations resumed.  The first crew came in between 7:30-8:00am and work all day.  They completed:

1] The office expanded by tearing out a wall and enclosing a useless hallway.

2] A storm door fixed.

3] A poorly mounted railing taken down and mounted properly.

4] Various rotten wood replaced from the deck and the windows.

5] Entire upstairs painted.

6] A door put on the master bath (really, it had no door).

The Toilet Crisis

I hope none of you suffer from a toilet crisis.  They are wretched things.  If one toilet gets “sick,” they will complain to the other toilets through the water pipes.  Then all of your toilets will go on the sick list.  All joking aside, all four bathrooms had aged toilets from the early years of federally mandated “low water use” johns. 

Like most regulation, the Fed’s imposed this mandate without working models to replace existing equipment.  Engineers struggled with the dictate from our all-knowing Federal Government Leaders!  The initial low water use toilets had very poor performance.  Our Franklin home suffered from multiple toilet issues.  The tile was uneven.  The toilets were not level.  Unlevel toilets have bad seals.  Unlevel toilets with bad seals flush poorly.  Add in low water use toilets from the early days of mandates from our Federal Overlords – and you have a toilet uprising!

We had planned to remodel the bathrooms.  Lynn was displeased with the décor and she needed a minimal lip master bath shower for her balance problem. Here is a “before” picture of the hall bathroom followed by an annotated picture.  Does not look too bad does it? 

Let me explain.  1 = A ceiling fan/heat system that is as loud as a turbo-prop engine on a World War 2 Fighter.  Turn one on (any one of four in the house) and the noise blasts you everywhere in the house.  Just ask Jessica Abernethy if you think I may be “stretching the truth for humor.”  2 = A bad toilet with a broken seal placed on an uneven surface.  3 = The lowest possible contractor grade sink cabinet.  4 = The ugliest tile ever to curse a bathroom floor.  Not only is it hideous, the level varies by almost a half an inch from tile to tile.  5 = A slab mirror bolted on the wall.

Just in case you don’t believe me about the tile, here is a picture of our most memorable tile.  It had the impression of a tennis shoe on it – a mark of quality!

Now here is a picture after the renovation with new tile, new toilet, new vanity/sink, new brighter light and a new quiet ceiling fan/heater unit.  It was also painted.

The Bathroom Remodel

The tile crew came in on a Tuesday Morning – all ten of them.  They destroyed everything while leaving us one sink and “semi-operable” toilet.  They finished the tile and plumbing stuff in FOUR DAYS.  This was followed by the painters who worked several days.  The electrician came the following Thursday and finished in twelve hours over two days.  So from start to finish, bathroom renovation took 11 days. 

The tile work and general contracting was done by Mark Lewis (Masonry by Mark Lewis (wordpress.com)  I’ve found that there are three things you want in workmen: quality, speed and a low cost.  I’ve also learned that at absolute best you can get two of these three things – if you are lucky and hire the right people.  Mark Lewis’ crew does very high quality work very fast.

Our master bathroom shower was removed and a tile shower built from the subflooring up.  Lynn’s balance is not great anymore, so we needed a close to zero-lip shower.  We had a shelf built in which makes keeping mold and mildew down. 

This is the renovated basement bathroom. The bathroom not shown is a half bath where Panzer is bathed – and Panzer asked that no pictures be put on the internet to retain his “dog street cred” as a smelly Schnauzer.

Those who know me well know that I have no color sense or “style.”  My life exists in primary colors.  Lynn stressed and fretted over her choices since some were purchased with only internet pictures to go by.  Lynn would sometimes give me “choices” to make.  Now, if you have been married for a while you know what this means.  Lynn already knows what she wants to do.  She gives “options” only to see if I choose “the right one.”  If Avery chooses the “wrong one,” then he is “corrected” in excruciating detail for why his color/style/fashion/morals are horribly, horribly wrong.

Avery is a slow learner.  But after decades of marriage he eventually learned to ask, “What do you think Dear?” before ever answering one of these inquiries unless he noted some important practical (not design) detail.  During this renovation Avery refused to answer the “style council” questions.  His response was always, “you are the one who has taken classes in color and spent scores of hours looking over your options.  Everything else you have picked in the preceding decades looked good.  I trust your judgement.”  Followed by, “Dash and Panzer desperately need their father” and a quick exit.

The tile guys and the electrician told us we were “excellent customers.”  We were complemented for knowing what we wanted to do, not changing our minds (unless minor technical changes were necessary), and not starting work until we had the materials.  They told us horror stories about (unnamed) customers who kept changing their minds or telling them how to do their jobs.  Our checks did not bounce which is always appreciated.

So if you like these changes, all of the credit goes to Lynn.  I just wrote the checks.