Washer Hook-Ups: Check!

It’s the weekend, and weekends mean tackling bigger projects.  My husband’s dad came up on Saturday to see the new house, and we then recruited my best friend’s dad to make sure we didn’t flood the house supervise the washer/dryer project, since he’s done this several times already.  The current washer hookups are attached to a cement sink in the basement, and the idea of moving a washer and dryer down the narrow stairs, and then carrying laundry for 7 people up and down the stairs each day provided plenty of motivation for finishing this project as early as possible.

After removing the sink, cabinet, mirror, and top layer of drywall, we were left with a (nearly) blank canvas.

To work on the washer, they removed a large section of drywall for access to redo the water and drain lines.  Water was turned off both inside the house and at the street to make sure we didn’t spring a leak mid-project.  The water lines leading out of the wall were cut and new, taller copper lines were soldered in.  The drain line was turned and attached to a new PVC pipe.  All three lines were brought up to a new recessed box.

Scrap wood was placed in the former cabinet “hole.” From the looks of things, someone installed the cabinet, then poured cement over the entire floor.  Removing the cabinet left a 1 3/4″ deep space where the washer needs to sit level.  This is obviously not a permanent solution, but it’ll do until I’m ready to focus on the total overhaul of the laundry room.

When we turned on the water again, the guys got to celebrate because NO LEAKS!!

Just in case it sounds like we have this whole renovation thing under control, this part of the project took three trips to Lowe’s, the discovery of running water in every bathroom from children turning on faucets while the water was shut off (causing a separate leak downstairs), and the project that should’ve taken four hours is turning into two days.  Still, it’s rewarding to see the progress!

Up next, we’ll be running the new wiring and exhaust for the dryer.  Oh the joys!  And I can’t wait to show you the beauty I found this weekend!

Demo Time!

Honestly, demolition isn’t my thiiiing.  I like construction, making things pretty, and NOT feeling a coating of dust on my teeth.  (I can’t be the only one who feels like I’m eating demo dust, right?!)

However, this is just not pretty.  It isn’t original to the house doesn’t really have a great layout, and good gravy, could this house have any more mirrors?!  They. Are. Everywhere.

This room was originally the kitchen, before the addition was built in the 60’s.  And now it’s going to become my laundry/sewing room.  Behind Mirror #2, there’s a large closet with shelving for all of my sewing and craft supplies.

First things first, we just don’t want to move the washer and dryer down a narrow set of stairs to the basement to the current hookups.  Which means this needed to happen:

Hubby pulled out the cabinet and discovered exactly what he’d hoped for!  A perfectly placed hole under the cabinet for him to work with as he’s running new wiring up from the basement!  We taped and removed the gigantic mirror and decided to remove the drywall and replace it with new instead of trying to remove the glue.  Picking your battles is important, and I do not have any desire to fight with glue.

We also wanted to remove the now incomplete section of tile.  Hubby started unscrewing screws and removing nails, because who uses only one of those for hanging drywall when a nice mix of the two is so much fun?  What did we discover behind the drywall but…

More drywall!  The tile was mounted onto a piece of drywall and attached to a second sheet of drywall beneath, and the drywall covered in glue was also layered on top of another piece of drywall.

Not a bad accomplishment for a couple of hours at night!  I love when a project is easier -and cheaper- than anticipated!

We still need to bring the water and drain lines up a couple of feet, run new wiring from the breaker to the dryer hookup, and paint.  I have grand plans for this room in the near future, but I’ll be satisfied with having access to a laundry room on the main floor!