Those same wheels have been turning at this house for the last 10 years! I just want all this stuff done, so we can have a free weekend every once in a while!

Biggest problem is DH will not hear of hiring stuff done. He is a Master Craftsman, can do anything, and does it better than anybody we have ever hired, Time is not my friend however. There is not enough time to do it all.

Best of luck on your projects, and I want to see pictures!

Janie

LOL Annette! Best of luck with your project momentum!
It all sounds great.

Patti

Oh Annette. How exciting. Hopefully everthing will go smoothly.

Libby..........eyeing her stove.

Annette - if it is at all possible, I mean - push, baby push - get floor radiant heat. I cannot stress this enough - it will save you a bundle in heating - plus $$$'s. Push this on DH!!! Find an accomplice - HD, Centura- locally...

Nancy.

Wow! Sounds like a great project, and even tho I'm in the South and on a cement slab no less, I totally second the motion for floor radiant heat - that's a real winner! Even here, it would be really nice in the cold months.

Maybe a little late, but I've found when being confronted with the 'your choice has been discontinued' blather, it's time to really push. Sure, they no longer make that style/color/whatever, but they didn't incinerate all of the pre-made stock - it is out there, somewhere, and you have to push to make them find it for you. I learned this when building my store years ago - in but a couple of months time, my carpet choice had been d/c ..... a second choice was not on the table and once the company realized I was serious, they found the yardage I needed. Polite pushiness works! :o)

Zigzag, the place we're dealing with does go the extra mile for us, I had my heart set on a certain linoleum for our tiny bathroom, yep discontinued, it took them 3 weeks but they found a small piece. The tile we were looking at comes from Germany it's no longer made.
My daughter and one of my sons have tile without heat so I know it can be cold on the feet, there will be an area rug which should help. When we're gone the house will probably be bulldozed, it's the property that's worth the bucks not the house.
The fireplace with new insert heated the whole house comfortably last winter the worst we've ever had, our oil bill for the whole year was under $400 whereas most years we put out over $1000. We get wood free of charge :o)

I've got X number of dollars to work with and a short window to get this done, it's now or never, time marches on. If I wait until I have enough to put in heated floors something else will have come up, this project would be kaput! I grew up in a house with no central heating, this will be a piece of cake in comparison :o).

We made a pact when DH retired, everything we buy we pay for or we don't get it, we make a point to live within our means, pay interest to no-one. We've ended up debt free and the funny thing is we've got more disposable income then we ever had when DH was working. It's the interest that kills you.

Annette

Great news, Annette. It takes a spark to get things rolling *lol*.

I had said in my other thread my oven was a Decor - I was wrong, it's a Frigidaire.

Edna

Annette, I'm happy you've been successful getting what you want and by your description, I think you've got the heat tiger by the tail! Also, I do appreciate your mention that you know in the future, your house might/would be more of a tear-down - mine maybe not, but maybe yes - and that's a toughie for us labeled 'boomers' to swallow. I have a childhood friend back in the Northeast who is back living in the home she grew up in - such a life turn. She has it on the market now and is hoping it won't sell to be a tear-down, but is ready to look the other way if it is to be so.

I have a small (by current standards) custom built home on a small (by any standards) lot of land. Besides pouring megabucks (and lots of sweat) into the landscape, I've also 'tricked out' the interior, but only with things I wanted, not with an eye to any resale value. Hopefully, I'll leave this home for the last time flat out and feet first - the thought of having to put it up for sale while I'm still kicking is just chilling.

Like yourselves, I'm retired (but it's just me) and live frugally and debt free. I may dress like a bag-lady, but my gardens are gorgeous and I'm a happy, little camper! :o)

We've lived in this funny little house for over 40 years, I guess you can say I've "tricked out" the interior too. The only straight lines in this house are in the addition we built on after we moved in. It's not fancy in the least but I love it here, the only way I'm leaving if I have my way is feet first.
I don't even think twice before ripping things apart when things need doing, ask DH, he came home one night to find the bathroom walls ripped out and stacked in the dining room, a project that had been on hold for some time.
Our house is eclectic in decor, I follow no rules, I don't care what's in or out, my plastered walls have come into and gone out of vogue several times. I decorate if you can call it that to suit myself. When we added a new kitchen I had DH put in a big window 6'x4' over the sink looking out onto the garden, lost a lot of cupboard space but who cares. To each his own.

Annette

Way to go Annette! You and I sound so much alike, with our quirky homes and our gardens. I'm glad you are getting new flooring and you will love that smooth top stove.

Keep us posted.

Hugs ~ FlowerLady

In a previous incarnation (before I learned to be careful of my back) I did tile work for a living. Still do some detailed back-splashy stuff.

You've got a contractor who says dining room is a no-go? I'm betting that's because the underlying floor flexes too much. There are fixes, pricey & not perfect. In general, any contractor who tells you "you don't want my work here" is a keeper!

Personally, I spend a lot of time on my feet in the kitchen; tile's kinda hard on them (not to mention dropping dishes). I like floating wood floor as an alternative. Radiant's great in a bathroom! There are electric mesh mats which work on a timed thermostat.

Tip to anyone doing their own tile floors: turn off that bottom heat until after the thinset/grout has cured, ~ 2 days.

Anna, the fellow who is doing our floors has been in the business for a long time and he calls a spade a spade. As he says when he does a job he doesn't want any call backs. The floor in the dining room could be fixed but too expensive for this old house.
The living room floor is pretty solid, has a bit of a high spot he says can be sanded out before the cement board goes down.
A floating floor would be nice in the kitchen but too much sand and bits of gravel get tracked in the kitchen door, this is not the type of house one takes their shoes off every time you come in. By a lot of standards my kitchen is quite small not quite a galley but not much bigger. I think the ease of keeping a tile floor clean will be easier and sigh... I have a stool which the older I get the more use it sees :o(.

Bye the Bye... just waiting for the raspberry crop to make some more of your raspberry vinegar, you have no idea what a huge hit that has been around here. I'll be finding my kids lined up at the door begging for more. DH has his own stash LOL.

Annette

Your contractor using cement board? He's definitely a keeper! I only insisted on that for wet areas like shower walls, 5/4" fir plywood was fine for floors. Who knows, maybe cement is less expensive than wood these days.

I'm waiting on the raspberries, too. As I wrote in the original post, all bottles get gifted with a "return for refill" tag and all except those sent to the left coast come back every year. Kinda like your favorite perennials.

Some folks reading this are new? Annette is my biggest fan for this recipe which Cameron archived in our Cottage Recipes. Thanks C!

Here is a link that might be useful: Raspberry Vinegar

I'm thinking that cement board is never cheaper!!! I used this in both bathrooms in the old house, and would never hesitate to do that again!!!! And I'll never renovate a bathroom again without putting the heated flooring - yes, Solana - the orange mesh thingy. Very wonderful!!! Mine was on a thermostat. Loved it.

Nancy.