Laundry room is back in business

I finally gave Tresa the laundry room back. I've worked almost every day and weekend since I started, but a little more than 2 months later I'm pretty much done. Well by definition of done. I'm not 'Done'. I still have to install the sink, laundry basin, toilet and wall cabinets. But the major construction is complete. It's all finishing work now. No more soldering, mudding, taping, sanding, priming or painting. I just have to install what Tresa chooses to bring home from some designer place.

I did the last bit of plumbing this morning. I installed all the shutoffs for the fixtures that need to be installed. I hadn't done any plumbing since November. And I set off the smoke alarm again. But it's done. No leaks. I was thinking about doing it late last night. But I didn't want to wake up to a flooded basement. It's always good to see if your solders are nice and secure for a day before going to sleep. This gives you some daylight to fix any problems. But all was good.

It was a clean up day today. I dirtied up the laundry. I cleaned it up. Cleaned everything. Even behind the furnace and hot water tank. Wiped down all the pipes of dust. Scraped the floor of small drops of paint. I even spilled a quart of primer on the floor. I accidentally knocked over the can when I was looking up and checking my painting job. I didn't scrape it up and throw it out. I used my roller to sop up the primer and apply it to the walls. Then it was pretty much like a coat of paint on the floor. I got an old rag and wiped it up, it was like Sham-WOW. Only with a dirty rag.

It's done. I even get to be the first to clean up in the shower of our spruced up laundry. It was so clean. I was so tired of dust. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I started this project on Oct 21st. That's when I got my supplies. Construction is done. Sort of like a move in state. I cut all the jams for the windows. Tresa has to see what trim she wants. I haven't nailed it in. I was going to wait until she selected all the baseboard and window trim and do it all at once. This gives me a break for a while. I'm ready to call the eco-audit guys back to do our follow up and apply for the eco-grants/rebates.

It feels pretty good. You definitely save money doing this yourself. But that's not the only reason we do them. Anyone can pay someone else to do the work. I'm sure they'll do the work just as good if not better and, for sure, faster. But this is our house. I know the blood and sweat that went into doing this reno. I have a new found respect for those that do this stuff professionally. I have before. But it gets reinforced every time I take on a project.

It's not like we knew how to do this work when we started. I learned as I went along. I learned before I started. I asked questions in order to plan. I asked experts - contractors and friends who did similar work. Ultimately, I want to set a good example for Kieran that you can do anything if you set your mind to it. Even when you run into roadblocks. Ask someone for advice and/or help. I didn't do everything by myself, but 95% was done with my two hands (and head when I held up the drywall on the ceiling), I've got the cuts on my hands to prove it. My bro helped me with a lot. Billy was my plumbing consultant and Mike got me on the road to selecting the pot lights). Ask a whole bunch of people, check online, see how others did it (search YouTube and Google for how-to's). And see if it'll work for you. Then try it, make a mistake - figure out what went wrong and try again. It's learning, it's what life is about. I could watch reno shows on HGTV all day long. But if I don't pick up the hammer and make that first hole in the wall to start the work. I'll never really learn. You have to do it yourself to experience it. If you are afraid. Ask yourself why. If you're afraid of making mistakes. Read this paragraph again.

It's not rocket science. It just takes some gumption and believing in yourself. Letting yourself make mistakes. Asking lots of questions prior to reduce mistakes. Checking your work before you move to the next thing. Seeing it through to completion, is the best reward.

I was hoping to get this work done before Christmas but I needed another week. This was my gift to her. It's always nice to see her expression when things turn out well. I can tell that Tresa believes in my ability. And it feels good. It's better than any gift she could ever buy for me.

Every project I take on gets bigger and bigger. You can't just go from never picking up a hammer to redoing the kitchen. Little by little I'm learning skills to help us redo other parts of the house. What better way to learn to insulate and drywall than say ripping out the closet? That's what I did. It's a closet. Any mistakes, no one will ever see. That closet helped me to do the back bedroom. And that experience helped me for this laundry room, which will help me for the next project.

Tresa's got a good eye for style, I don't think we need a designer, we just need to have a vision and agree on how it's going to be executed. There's compromise sometimes in the design, but it always ends up looking sharp. I like bringing her vision to life, because it's her choosing the colours, tiles, pieces, lights. Her decision makes it all her design. She's the one who makes the decisions that turn out looking really good in the end. I just do the grunt work. Any one can hire anyone to do the work for them.

But no one can buy accomplishments.




The reveal. sort of, cuz it's not 100% done. But close!
Now I can have my life back.

Laundry room photos.