Bucket Bathing Suits

The most popular Split Level house renovations are projects to finish unfinished or partly finished areas, opening up the main floor, updating the kitchen, adding bathrooms to the main (formal living area) floor and to the upper level (bedrooms area).

Many people want to create more openness in the main floor of a split level, which usually consists of living room, dining room, kitchen and possibly a bedroom. Openness can certainly be achieved by removing some of the walls between rooms. You will need to be sure you know which walls are load-bearing walls. For example, you might want more openness between the kitchen and the dining room. Either removing the wall or replacing the wall with a counter will open up the area and feel more spacious. Removing the wall between the living room and dining room can also open up the area and make it more conducive to entertaining.

It is not uncommon for split level homes with four levels to have an unfinished bottom level. Finishing this area is really no different from finishing any basement. It will be important, however, to check on ceiling height early in the planning stages of the project. A number of split level homes have lower ceilings on the bottom floor.

The desire to add a bathroom to any home is quite common. Split levels often offer two important opportunities for bathroom additions. First, most split level homes were not built with a bathroom on the main (formal living area) floor. Many homeowners would like to add at least a half-bath or powder room on the main floor for the comfort and convenience of guests or for elderly or disabled family members. Determining the location of the new bathroom is a challenge in most split levels. Logic and cost-consciousness would suggest locating the new bathroom near (next to, above or below) existing plumbing. This allows you to use existing supply and removal pipes. Depending on the floor plan, however, this might not be workable. Location of pipes to a new bathroom on the main floor will also require some attention to the ceiling height of the floor below (if there is one). If the lower level has typically lower ceilings, placement of plumbing might depend upon where you can run pipes without making the lower level unusable. You can get a quick estimate of the cost to finish a split-level homes basement at www.remodelestimates.com.

Adding a bathroom on the bedroom level is also a very popular renovation to a split level. Many split level homes have only a shared bathroom on this floor. Other designs include a very small master bathroom. Whether your remodeling plan involves adding a second bathroom or enlarging a master bathroom, it will be necessary to sacrifice space somewhere on that floor. Again, you will probably want to try to build the new bathroom close to existing plumbing, if possible to reduce the amount of work required and to control the cost of your renovation. Enlarging a master bathroom in a split level will almost certainly require taking space from the bedroom. One solution might be a bump out or add an addition that spans both the bathroom and the master bedroom. The key to success for remodeling projects is to be organized — try getting an organizer like the one at www.remodelingorganizer.com.

Although split level home designs present some unique challenges to remodelers, with a creative eye to design, careful planning, and attention to detail, most of the changes you might want to make are possible.

Copyright 2007 by ABCD Publishing

Turn off Water

If any pipes are leaking or broken, turn off the water immediately to prevent further leakage and damage. There should be a turn off handle behind the toilet, but if the leak is somewhere you may have to turn off the water for the whole house.

Remove Water

If there is any or a lot of water in the area, take the time to remove all of it before cleaning. Use towels, rags, a shop vac, or anything you can to make sure you get every bit.

Dry Items

Wipe down all walls, wood paneling, and any wood furniture in the room. Moist wood can mold and produce moisture quickly, causing a mold problem. It’s important to have every thing dried off in advance. After drying everything and removing all water, let everything dry off for a little while before beginning to clean.

Ventilate

Turn on the ceiling vent fan if you have one in the bathroom, and open any windows in or near the area as well. The more airflow, the better so also bring in any floor fans you have as well.

Launder Fabrics

Any towels, bath rugs, or any other launder-able item needs to dried and laundered immediately. Put on gloves and squeeze out any extra water.

Remove Debris

If there is any debris or dirt in the area, put on some gloves and boots and remove it as carefully and quickly as possible. Use industrial garbage bags and one-time use rags (You can get bags or boxes of industrial paper towels or rags at auto supplies stores for cheap) to clean and clear all the dirt away.

Sanitize

Make a basic mixture of bleach and water and go over all the walls, floors, and even ceiling with it. You can do this in parts (with all windows open!) because the smell will be strong, and the fumes aren’t really good for you.

Clean Normally

Once you’ve removed the debris and de-sanitized, you’ll have to wait awhile for the fumes to clear. Once this is done, get your regular bathroom cleaners and gloves and go through and clean like you would normally. Pay special attention to any wood paneling at the bottom of the sink and around anything touching the floor.

Check for Mold

With any water damage, there’s always a risk of mold. Once clean, go around the bathroom and check for signs of mold or structure damage. Feel the walls to make sure they aren’t soft, and look for any sort of discoloration. If you’re unsure, call in a water damage expert to take a look.

If you paint with oils you will need a solvent to clean your brushes and thin your paints. Of course, if you paint with water soluble oils then your solvent will be water.

Turpentine is a standard solvent used to thin ordinary oil paints. You can purchase turpentine in any art supply store or hardware store. In some cases, the kind of turpentine you buy in a hardware store may be fresher because of the shorter turnaround time.

Some artists work with mineral spirits. These are also available in hardware stores. To save money, buy the largest available quantity and use a smaller container when you do your actual painting.

Tube oil paint (i.e., oil paint directly from the tube) can be difficult to manipulate. Some colors are stiffer than others and may be hard to evenly distribute over your canvas. To solve this problem, artists often need to mix their tube paints with a so-called painting medium.

A painting medium is a liquid solution that makes the oil paint smoother and easier to manipulate. Adding any one of a number of different painting mediums changes the consistency of the paint. Some mediums are meant to make the paint thinner for glazing and others are meant to make the paint thicker for impasto painting. There are also mediums to shorten or lengthen the drying.

 

The most basic medium is regular turpentine. Adding a little turpentine thins oils paint. Another frequently used medium is linseed oil, which makes the paint more fluid but, over time, it also tends to yellow the paint. The most commonly used medium is a combination of turpentine and linseed oil, sometimes with the addition of a little damar varnish.

Begin by experimenting with a half-and-half mixture of turpentine and linseed oil. Because linseed oil slows down the drying process, you may want to increase the proportion of turpentine. A good mixture is three parts of turpentine to one part of linseed oil.

Once you find the medium you like, mix a batch and store it in a tightly sealed jar. As you paint, dip your brush into the medium, then add a little paint, then mix them together on your palette (mixing surface).

Preliminary compositions can be drawn on your canvas with a so-called thin turp wash, i.e., a little bit of paint with a lot of turpentine. A turp wash evaporates very quickly, so you can quickly paint over them.

In general, the more turpentine you use the matter the finish will be and the more linseed oil you use the glossier it will be. If you like robust, permanently visible brushstrokes, you may want to use less medium. Dry brush is one technique where you do not add any medium at all.

Special painting mediums are also available that change the oil paint in different ways. The most common are those that shorten or lengthen the drying time of the oil paint. Check your art supply store or the Internet to see the available types of mediums. All medium bottles will show instructions on how best to use the particular medium.

Oil paintings must be varnished to protect them from undesirable elements such as dirt and toxins. Varnish is a clear solution made from a resin and turpentine or some other solvent.

In art-supply stores you will see two major types, retouching varnish and picture varnish. Depending on the paint layer thickness, it can take six months or more for an oil painting to dry. In the meantime, the surface of the painting needs to be protected with a coat of retouching varnish. After the varnish is applied, the turpentine evaporates, and leaving a thin protective coat. You can apply retouching varnish as soon as the paint feels dry to the touch.

 

Picture varnish contains more resin than retouching varnish. It should be applied about six months after you complete a painting. If you paint with impasto-like brushstrokes, you may have to wait as long as a year before applying the final coat.

 

Both types of varnish are applied in the same manner. Using a broad, flat nylon brush, apply the varnish evenly using horizontal strokes. You can also use retouching varnish to brighten dry dull patches in your painting.