Truck stuff, it begins.......

So when it comes to a few things I am a pretty typical guy. I love just about anything with 4 wheels. I love to modify them. Stereo, suspension, paint, interior, rims, you name it I love it. I have had my fair share of vehicle as well ranging from Show worthy Modded Acura Integra GSR to POS Cutlass Sierra to a fully loaded Ford Expedition to a lifted Jeep Cherokee. They have all been fun. None of them have been stock.
What I currently own is the expedition. I have a family now and needed something with room. Enter the expo. I have wanted one of these trucks since I can remember, I have old drawings of modified expos from the mid to late 90s that I did. So now I own one. Yay lol. Well it didn’t take long to start modifying it.
But here it is when I got it. Nice and stock.

Well I started with modifying the dash to accept a Double din Head unit.

Upgrading the speakers to some high end Clarion. AS well as adding nearly 90 square feet of sound deadening to the 4 doors and rear tail gate.
Next came the Head light/HID conversion, rims and a back up camera.

And then with a 3/3 Drop on it.

The plans to come, more sound deadening, 2-3 amps, center console enclosure, rear seat entertainment, exhaust, headers, painted front valance and last but not least AIR BAGS (Suspension)

Kitchen reno madness!

Its been a while since my last/first post but theres been alot happening.  Kitchen reno.  dum DUM DUMMMMMMM  Yes most people shutter at the thought of this seemingly daunting task. 
Most people also know that renoing a kitchen can be the biggest bang for your buck when going to resale.  That said our lovely little 50's era side split has/had its ORIGINAL kitchen and it was time to go!

All of the renos were done myself and with the help of a few friends and family.  Also, it is not yet fully complete so stay tuned.  Here goes. THIS WAS DONE IN A WEEK TOO BTW!!!!!!!!

This is what we began with: (the day we moved in)

Sweet right?! Um no.

Well here the kitchen from the day reno started.


Plan is to remove the wall that has the door and about 46" of the corner wall to about the light switch.
After that drop the ceiling in the eating are part, add pot lighting (10 in total) swap the stove and fridge location and rewire the whole thing. As well add a much needed dishwasher, that was never there.   Just so you know, the whole side of the house is on one circut eeeek!

So smashing begins


Smashing concluded (about 2 hours, we were excited




And now rebuilding and wiring.





Drywall up and more wiring






And now paint, very cool grey.


And building cabinets








AAAAAND complete.




So heres a before and after:




Pretty cool huh?

So things still to do. Replace window and door with a 5' sliding door and fill in the extra space, add in last 2 cabinets and counter top to the left of fridge when door goes in,  Crown moulding, Floor edging, air intake cutout, backsplash.
Yes I know your wondering about the fridge.....Its short.  Its the one we had and new ones are on the way so for now that big open space stays.

The crown moulding is done now, I just neet to take pics. Looks WAY better and totally finished off the top of the kitchen at least.

Oh and for the back splash I'll be using faux stainless ceiling tiles. These ones.



More to come!

Lets Jump right in........Our first house.

About 3 months before my wife and I got married in 2008 (man its been that long already), we happened to come across a house for sale thanks to it being the neighbour to a family friend.  It’s a side split that was built in the mid 50’s and the original owners had recently passed on.

Sad.  Buuuuuuut cool for us. 

The house was really neat at first glance big front window, 2 bedrooms, semi finished basement and all on a HUGE corner lot. Only catch, it was a 50+ year old house that only had one set of owners, it needed A LOT of work.  But being who I am was ready to jump in with both feet and start smashing walls and ripping up carpet.

Two months later it was ours and I set into starting the first bit or renos.  The house had OIL heat, with a VERY old furnace and no AC.  And because of the oil we could not get house insurance till it was replace with a natural gas version.  This took the better part of a week to rip out the existing disgusting furnace and tank (which was thankfully above ground) and install the new furnace and AC.  Thanks again to a family friend that hooked us up HUGE.

After that it was a whirlwind of work. The list shall grow but heres what was done in a month leading up to the weekend before our wedding that we moved in.

-         Remove old oil furnace, install new one

-         Install new furnace and get gas lines run

-         Remove old oil tank

-         Install new Central Air

-         Remove and replace bathroom vanity and toilet

-         Remove kitchen sink and cupboards and replace (More to come about this which involved replacing the floor in the kitchen as well

-         Remove all carpet from the house

-         Refinish the Hardwood that was beneath the carpet in the entire house

-         Remove and replace hot water heater

-         Paint every room

Again all of this craziness was done in a month so that we could move in the weekend before our wedding.

Most of these I have detailed pictures of and I will be posting them in upcoming posts so stay tuned.

Also theres been a lot of other work done to the house since then.

-         leaking foundation repair

-         backyard re-sodding

-         removal of ridiculous “porch” and replacement with retractable awning

-         All windows replaced

-         Front entry floor replacement

-         Screen door replacment

-         Basement remodel

-         Baby room remodel

And coming very soon:

-         Patio door replacing a window and closing in the back door

-         Kitchen remodel involving tearing down 2 walls for open concept

-         Front door replacement

-         Front walk way remodel

-         Driveway paving

-         Fence replacement

-         Laundry room remodel

-         Front Garden redo

Also none house related will be an update on my truck revamp of its stereo, style, stance and shoes……..just wait it’s a good thing.