Making Mistakes and Learning From Them

I was so excited to start demoing walls that I took this picture right after I started ..... and then shortly after I demoed this wall I realized I couldn't move that wall and we had to patch it all back up. Hahaha! It seems as though behind every wall there is a pipe or a vent or a structural beam. And under every tile there is another tile, another brick, or a pile of more cement that needs to be  jackhammered out. Renovating a 100 year old house means a lot of unknowns. I have made quite a bit of mistakes thus far, but that's life. It's OK to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. real life isn't perfect. Scroll down to see my mistakes .... and my repairs : )

This is the kitchen wall that is between the existing kitchen and the dining/family room. I originally thought I could open the wall and float out the island. However there is a major structural beam that runs through the top of this wall and it was a huge pain in the ass so I opted to close it back up and keep it as is!

Because I couldn't open the wall to the right, I thought OK I'll widen the door way to the left and make an arch so it's consistent with all the other arches and this way I create a bigger opening and it will flow better. Ha! See that giant rectangle going down the wall behind the wood slats ...... Ya that's the heating duct for the entire house and the cost to move all of that over was ridiculous so I closed that wall back up too. I'm really starting to come to terms with my walls and learning to love them all  

This is the kitchen step leading from the dining room into the kitchen. When we demoed the travertine we realized this was an existing patio and there was brick tile beneath it so one day of demo turned into 3 and now I have to reframe this step and level it with cement before I can put the new wood floor over the top. Live and learn.

And my probably my biggest issue yet is the floor in the dining room. This was a patio that was enclosed over time and when I removed the travertine I saw what I already knew to be the case, that the pad was extremely uneven and slanted to allow drainage when it was originally outside. Whoever enclosed it didn't take the time to level the cement before adding the walls and windows so it's just an uneven mess and in order to match the wood from the existing room I need to level the cement and bring it up 2.5" on the right which will then go up on to the baseboards, making those uneven. And to add the exact wood floors without cheating out and using engineered wood I have to add 1/2" plywood and then 1/2" wood on top, which will then make the doors unable to open. Bahhhhhh this room is a nightmare and it's costing a fortune to do it correctly!

In addition to the forgoing I learned my water heater doesn't work, cha-ching. My plumbing in the bathroom was leaking in the master bedroom walls cha-ching. Asbestos removal isn't cheap cha-ching. Tile installation labor is even worse, double cha-ching. And men pee all over the toilet when on a job-site so a twice daily pee drive to Gelson's down the street is an absolute must. 

Happy Monday Xx