Switching Gears Back to the Laundry Room Remodel

THE FARMHOUSE

With Fall weather approaching, we decided it was the time to install the new windows and door in the laundry room. So after our Labor Day guests departed, we switched gears from the unfinished kitchen remodel to the laundry room. And oh my this space has changed SO much!

As a reminder, here’s where we started from (this is the same view as the photo above):

Last we left off on the blog, we had cut an opening to the room (where the interior window was), plumbed for the washer, wired for the dryer, and put the machines in here. You can get caught up on all that in these posts:

Let’s talk about what we’ve done since then…

the batty scheduling

Back in June, once we had a functional washer and dryer in the laundry room, the kitchen became a higher priority so we shifted our attention there. At the time, we didn’t have a stove in the kitchen (the propane one was removed during demo) and we were REALLY eager to get the new gas service hooked up so we could start cooking in the house again. And we finally got gas right before Labor Day…phew! (Our last video update shared all the details on that if you’re interested.)

Then the priority shifted back to the laundry room and installing the new windows and door. The Fall weather can be pretty unpredictable in the Pacific Northwest and we wanted to tackle that project before it got cold. So that’s just what we did.

making room to work

To give ourselves room to work on the new windows and door, we removed the dryer from the space. This wasn’t a big deal at the time because we have a clothes line outside that we like to use…but then it started raining. Ugh. At this point we won’t have a dryer until the room is basically done, but I’m hoping that’s not too far off.

the bald-faced hornet nest

Another pressing matter was the bald faced hornet nest hanging outside the laundry room. We ignored the nest all summer because the hornets didn’t bother us (we rarely use this side of the house), but we knew they were too aggressive to leave alone once we started work on the exterior of the house.

Being the rational people we are, we decided to try and relocate the nest ourselves. Why? Because we had no beef against the hornets, plus they eat pests like earwigs. We (and by ‘we’ I mean Garrett) actually relocate yellow jacket nests all summer for the same reasons. Anyway, having never had dealt with hornets before, we watched this video on YouTube (a fun one to watch!) and Garrett felt ready to go!.

Garrett geared up with a tank of CO2 (from our kegerator), coveralls, a mask, and a bucket and climbed the ladder early one morning. The goal was to put the hornets to sleep with the CO2 and then cut down the nest into the bucket and throw the lid over it before they woke back up. Garrett actually succeeded with the ‘putting the hornets to sleep’ part but some hornets had already left the nest that day and as more and more came back, they buzzed around the entrance to the nest. After one sting, Garrett called it quits. Plan B was to spray the nest with insecticide and that’s what we did.

Garrett’s take on the relocating hornets: he should have tried at night when the hive is less active.

My take on the relocating hornets: it’s a job best left to the professionals.

Opening up the exterior wall

With the dryer out and the hornets dead, we opened up the exterior wall. Of course one hopes to begin a job like this at daybreak, giving yourself the entire daylight hours to get the new windows in. But that didn’t happen. We started demo mid-day on a Friday and removed all the glass (which was mostly just single pane glass held in place with molding).

We framed the new wall that evening and finished around nightfall. To temporarily close the house up for the night, we hung a tarp and tacked it into the framing. The next morning we had a 3-hour soccer jamboree so we didn’t get around to working on the wall again until the afternoon. Gibbs (the outside dog) didn’t mind the house being open for another day! He took every opportunity he could to sneak in 🙃

To prep the framing for the new windows we added a layer of plywood and paper to the exterior. Then we wrapped the window openings in adhesive flashing, shimmed, and finally installed the windows. I didn’t get many pics of the process - we were in a hurry to close the house up before nightfall - but check out this YouTube video if you’re looking for a tutorial: how to install a new window in new framing. We also stained the fir, but that’s an ongoing process.

That about gets us up to date on the laundry room! I’m going to leave this post right here for today, but I’ll share more about the windows and door soon. Here’s another peek of them:

By the way, it’s a good thing we tackled the windows and door when we did, because the temps have already dropped double-digits and our sunny days have morphed into rain. Gotta love the Pacific Northwest!