my "other" project

[Gunnibronco]

I just put all these pics into photobucket. Its hard to tell what I've done from the photos, but it might give you all motivation to not try this at home. I'm 5 years into my 6 month project.
http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg78/c-w-a/remodel/

My home was originally built in 1882, from brick. They only made brick in the Gunnison Valley for a few years while they built Taylor Hall at the college. So my home is unique, and was one of the premium homes in Gunnison in 1882.The brick was poor quality & deteriorated. Almost all the exterior brick has been sided over, but I've gone to extraordinary measures to expose as much inside as possible. The back of the home (my bedroom, kitchen & bath) were added later. It is stick frame construction w/roughsawn lumber & square nails. There are no records of the addition, but I'm guessing it was between 1900 & the 20's. I found a Denver Post in the floor from November 1944, but I think it was part of a later remodel. This addition protected the back wall of the home & the old exterior brick was still in wonderful shape when we exposed it, you can still see an outline of the old shed roof over the back door.


I started the addition in the back of the home, and now have moved to Phase II, the front. In the back, I've moved my bedroom wall & added a closet. I've also added new, custom doors & new windows, not to mention adding insulation to the walls, which had none before. In the front, I've recently ripped out a bedroom wall & made a large living room. It will be home of the 1903 Bruswick pooltable my Grandfather bought in Youngstown, OH in 1954. I have some great friends who are carpenters & electricians who have helped me through this project. And yes, in the Gunnison spirit, many of the materials have been scavenged from other building projects and used in my home. My friend hates to see materials thrown in the trash and I'm the beneficiary. I have a garage full of barn wood planned for wainscot, and much of the blueboard & lumber that was installed in the new floating floor was saved from the landfill. Its a long way from done, and the pics don't really tell the whole story, but here you go (all new electric & new 200a service, moved boiler/water heater, all new baseboard, etc).

[Badlands]

Looks great gunni. Old cars and house have character the new just can't match. I would love to see some of the pics of the exterior.
My wife and I were married on a hill outside Crested Butte. I love that part of the state.

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks, I'm trying to bring back all that old character. People spend lots of money to fake "old" around here, so I thought it would be smart to bring out the real "old" in my house. Here is a pic of the outside. I wish there was snow like that, but hopefully it'll be here this afternoon.

[Badlands]

Gotta love the gable and facade of that front porch. Very cool.

[Gunnibronco]

Yep, its a very cool home. I'm lucky to own it, I bought it in 96 before the market went real crazy, so I got a pretty sweet deal. The condition/age of the wiring/insulation/etc required a complete gut & remodel. There was really no way of taking on small projects and achieving what I wanted. For example, I found sections of live knob & tube wiring in the attic, floors needed beefed up, walls needed insulated, windows & doors needed replaced. But it is a good, sound building. I'll look for pictures of my garage, it was built from discarded railroad ties when the mine & railroad pulled out of the valley in the 1950's. The walls are solid stacked railroad ties & the attic/roof is rough sawn 2x6 cedar trusses. It could hold 3 cars, and has a full walk up attic. The big garage & small house was just what I wanted.

[Entourage]

Great transformation. The wood doors and moldings are incredible. Very nice work. I would love a tour when you get it done. A remodel like that is more work than building new, but with results like that, it is so worth it.

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks, the alder doors & trim were custom built by Josh Hawk in Penrose, CO (Ponderosa Door, I think). His prices and quality are awesome, if anyone wants his info, let me know. I did all the sanding & staining and my friend did a beautiful job of installing the trim. I would have destroyed more trim than I actually got hung. I had all the doors built 4" taller than normal doors, to accentuate the 10' ceilings.

Oh yeah, the 2 old window openings in the large living room will get opened up and dressed up as display cases. One of those windows was my only closet for my bedroom for 10+ years.

[sbolt19]

Gunni, I would love to get some really good pictures of those doors and the info for them. I work in high end remodeling and some of my customers just don't like the "off the shelf" doors that a lot of suppliers have gone with. It would just be nice to have an alternative product out there to suggest.

[70AMXBBO]

Beautiful! I admire your perseverance. I wouldn't have the staying power for a project of this magnitude and It would never be completed in my lifetime. THUMBS UP!!!

[Gunnibronco]

Beautiful! I admire your perseverance. I wouldn't have the staying power for a project of this magnitude and It would never be completed in my lifetime. THUMBS UP!!!

Thanks for the kind words, I started the project while I was fairly young (in my 30's), so there is chance I'll finish this myself. Not sure if its perseverance, or stupidity sometimes. I've messed the house up too bad to back out now, the only option is to keep marching forward! Plus, land & homes are so expensive around here, its my only real chance to upgrade. I am in the "never gonna do this again" boat, now.

I posted some closer pics of my custom doors for sbolt, they are on page 5 of the photobucket album here:
http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg78/c-w-a/remodel/

I also added some pics of the Denver post pages I found folded up in the threshold between my kitchen & bathroom. I think it was a shim to level the flooring materials. It is in remarkable condition, all the small holes are from the flooring tacks, it was folded over in 1/3rd's between layers of the floor. There are more pics in the album linked above:


my favorite ad, somethings never change:




I also took some pics of my garage, its a mess, full of building supplies, video games, and even a very old stick welder (it was free, I don't expect it to ever work again, but its cool looking.) Hell, I even had to move my 83 911 to a friend's garage to store it till the garage is empty.

[Rox Crusher]

gotta love the Phillips 66 War Bonds ad

[sbolt19]

POLE POSITION!!! Man, I loved going to the pizza joint and playing that game.

[Gunnibronco]

POLE POSITION!!! Man, I loved going to the pizza joint and playing that game.

Yeah I grew up playing it too, I'm still an open wheel race fan (F1 & IRL - wish it was still CART though). Also have an original Galaga, just needs a monitor, and a POS WWF game that I'd give away if someone wanted it. I had a bunch of games in the CB movie theater for a while, these are the ones I have left.

[sbolt19]

I know someone who might have access to a monitor for you if you want to fix that Galaga game. He owns Arcade Amusements in Manitou and I grew up playing hockey with his kids. He lives about 4 blocks away from me right now.

The other driving game that I always loved was Ivan Stewart's Off Road. That one was a blast too.

[Justin]

For sure! Ivan Stewarts was a great game. I burned about a million quarters in that one.

[Gunnibronco]

I remember the Ivan Stewart game too. The Pole Position is a tough game to master, I played it a lot after I got it home, and only made it to the final stage once. I never successfully finished all the stages. With no resistance to the steering & gas, it is very hard to finesse it.

I'd be interested in a monitor, I've always planned on fixing the Galaga, but since there is nowhere to put it in the house right now, it is low priority. Let me know if one is available, I'll try to figure how to get it to Gunnison. I know where to find them, I ordered parts from a company called Happ Controls & there is a big store in Denver (I forget their name) I bought a new slate for a coin-op pooltable from them years ago.

Part of me thinks I should sell them all off. My home is so small, and I won't really play them much, its kinda silly keeping them around.

[landshark]

oh man i love Galaga.. that was my game.. still is.. i have flipped it a few times back in the day :)

[Gunnibronco]

Since I haven't done anything to my Bronco since last summer, except start and stalling out on a new dash, I thought I'd post up what I've been doing.

Here is a facebook gallery of my remodel project. I've taken some time to add older pics from the beginning of the project up to most recent pics.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 071f345d47

This winter I plumbed/rearranged the bathroom. All new Pex water lines, and new waste lines- its not that much just a kitchen and bath. But I got rid of that terrible claw foot bathtub, and sink with separate spigots for hot and cold. I really feel I moved into the 21st century, I can wash my hands with warm water! Not cold or scalding hot! Isn't technology great. The vanity/sink is one of my favorite things in the remodel. I bought it years ago while working at a high end kitchen/furniture store. It's been sitting in my garage for 5+ years, nice to get it in the bathroom where it belongs. We still need to frame & tile the bath, tile the floor, and get a new toilet to match the bath, but the major stuff is done.

P1010827.JPG

P1010825.JPG

I also finished rewiring the house. Its ready for a rough in inspection, as soon as the garage is done (hopefully this week), and a few loose ends are tied up.

P1010829.JPG

P1010828.JPG

Finally we floated & insulated the spare room floor, furred out the walls for drywall, and added some blue board insulation, and framed a new square ceiling.

P1010744.JPG

My "Decade of Progress" plan is moving along right on schedule. sigh.

[akaFrankCastle]

You've gotten further along than a lot of people would taking on this project. Great stuff. Too bad about that claw foot. Love those things. Shoulda thrown a plug in the bottom and turned it in to a parts washer.

[Gunnibronco]

Its in the front yard, I'm going to use it as a planter someday.

I've seriously considered repurposing my kitchen sink as a parts washer when I put in new cabinets & counters. Big, single basin stainless steel.

[landshark]

i live in an older house (1910) have this claw foot tub.. can't stand it.. we are going to replace it hopefully sooner or later with a shower.. its quaint and all and great for resell.. but functionality wise its horrible...

[Gunnibronco]

i live in an older house (1910) have this claw foot tub.. can't stand it.. we are going to replace it hopefully sooner or later with a shower.. its quaint and all and great for resell.. but functionality wise its horrible...

Worst bath tub ever. I've lived with it since 1996. I can't wait to frame & tile the bath tub. I have a steam unit ready to install. Something else that has been bought long ago but sitting in the garage.

[landshark]

i live in an older house (1910) have this claw foot tub.. can't stand it.. we are going to replace it hopefully sooner or later with a shower.. its quaint and all and great for resell.. but functionality wise its horrible...

Worst bath tub ever. I've lived with it since 1996. I can't wait to frame & tile the bath tub. I have a steam unit ready to install. Something else that has been bought long ago but sitting in the garage.

yup same here.. bought a mr steam unit about 4 years ago.. its been sitting in my basement waiting to go in with a tile and glass shower.. which i need to frame out and build ha.. hopefully this summer

[Dukietown]

i live in an older house (1910) have this claw foot tub.. can't stand it.. we are going to replace it hopefully sooner or later with a shower.. its quaint and all and great for resell.. but functionality wise its horrible...

+1 I loved the look of the clawfoot when I bought my house until I actually had to use it. If I were staying in the house I'd be replacing it but we're putting it on the market in the next few weeks. I'm sure someone will think it's awesome until they buy the house and use it themselves

[Gunnibronco]

Lots of progress since I updated last (aka: why I never get to work on my Bronco).

Last summer, I framed up my bath tub/shower & installed cement board & water proofing. In September, I hired a tile guy to put down my kitchen & bath floor & tile the bath tub. I installed my vanity, shower doors, and steam shower unit. Love my steamer. All the bath needs now is case & base, but it will wait till I get trim for the whole house.

After the bath was 'done' I could focus on getting my electric rough in ready. I passed my electric & framing inspection a few weeks ago. So I've put up some dry wall in my living room, and washed the brick wall once. It needs another washing to remove a white film left from the plaster/lath laid over it in 1882, but its looking good. I'm going to use a very dilute mix with muriacid next time, then seal it.

I have most the outlets & lights in my house wired & installed. I've been living on 1 set of 'temporary' outlets for each room since 2008, so I find myself not turning on lights, because I'm not used to having them.

More importantly, for the last couple days I've been installing outlets, lights & switches into my garage. I can say that my garage is wired & ready for my final inspection. I'll add more outlets & circuits after my inspections, but for now its done.

I wired the garage in all 20 amp outlet circuits, 6x 4' double fluorescent lights replace 6 incandescent bulbs, 30a/220v for the compressor, motion activated light outside, 2x 4' double fluorescent lamps in the attic. I'll probably add a switched fluorescent over the work bench, and another fluorescent lamp in the attic. I can see all my Bronco & Plymouth parts now!

I even added a temporary 50a/220v outlet so I can run my welder & plasma cutter. Its not to code & will have to be removed before my inspection, and reinstalled properly after. But I had a piece of scrap 6 gauge wire, so it seemed like I should install it. Its not where I want it, but it will allow me to take on some projects sooner than later.

For perspective, before this remodel, my whole house & garage was on a 100 amp service. I installed a new 200 amp meter & had new service wires brought to the house. So now I've got 100 amps to the garage (and another 50 amps at the garage, that were for a hot tub I had, but gave to a friend). Big circuit breakers make me more excited than they should.

I celebrated by setting up my welder & playing with some scrap metal last night. That thing is a monster, 230 amps 60% duty cycle. What a difference from a 135 amp model. It also has a Tweeko gun that is, by far, the nicest welding gun I've ever used. The trigger is so nice.

[Rox Crusher]

That exposed brick wall is gonna look great

[Kinder]

Looks great Chad, I liked your place when I saw it several months ago, like it even more now.

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks guys, appreciate the compliments.

Kirk, it was kind of embarrassing last summer. The place was a real disaster, starting to feel like a home again.

[landshark]

looks like progress! i will need to bend your ear on the steam shower as iam putting one in my upstairs bath late spring

[Gunnibronco]

i will need to bend your ear on the steam shower as iam putting one in my upstairs bath late spring

Cool, any time. I sold some back when I had my store. I bought this one before I sold it, its been sitting waiting for me to be ready.

Quite a change from a cold ass clawfoot to an enclosed steam shower. I did something "unconventional" by putting it in a bath tub. I've only got 1 bathroom and knew that my home wouldn't have the resale value with just a walk in shower, even though I'll never use the bath tub.