I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Off-Topic => Off-Topic: Talk about anything you want. => Topic started by: jbeany on April 24, 2012, 11:01:47 PM
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Okay, here's some pics, some mine, some from the real estate listings. It's work in progress, and will be for a while, but it's solid under the ugly parts and quite a bit of it is fabulous already. Just ignore the time warp that sucks you back to 1979 when you look at the kitchen.
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It's got lovely bones, and a kitchen is just a box with cabinets and counters, easy to remedy a little at a time.
I love the yard, looks like a sweet place - so happy for you!
I can't recall, are you on Pinterest? I have been collecting painted floors samples and stencil ideas. Would be a perfect project on old floors. Another thing I love are photo or picture walls. Here are my boards if you're interested: http://pinterest.com/okarol/
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Now following you!
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I think it is just darling jbeany. And I admire you for tackling a project this size by yourself. You are living in it in the meantime???
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No, I'm going to stay in my apartment, at least until the only bathroom is finished. I'm not officially in possession yet, so all I'm doing at this stage is planning. I got to spend a couple of hours there yesterday after I signed papers, taking pics and measurements so I could start figuring out what must be done before I can move in. The sooner I move in, the better for my budget, since I can quit paying rent!
I've got some technical assistance from my sister and her husband, thankfully. They both have remodeled a number of houses, so they know the quickest, best, and cheapest ways to do things - or at least the best people in town to hire. I've been picking their brains a lot. I've always been pretty handy, though, so I'll be doing a lot myself. Painting and refinishing projects are well within my skill set, and I'm willing to learn new ones as I go.
My budget will be screamingly tight for a while, so the time warp kitchen will only be getting paint and appliances for the moment. I'll be saving every spare penny for the next year so I can make it go away as soon as possible!
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What a gem! :thumbup;
Yep....I would lose the kitchen floor ASAP! :rofl;
Aleta
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Love it! So charming. And the Craft Room? Oh my goodness! I would be in there and lose all sense of time. There is so much room to spread things out!! People dream of a craft room this size.
The kitchen is well layed out and little steps will freshen it up. Quick fix is to paint the cabinets (pinterest has great DIY) and put down peel and stick tile (some look amazing and wear well. I am a great believer in Kilz and paint! Sometimes tearing everything our just isn't a financial possibility. Sounds like you, your sister and her husband know what you are doing. Plus, you are crafty!
Who would have thought 3 years ago that this would be happening. My blessing for a house "Peace to all who enter, God's Grace to those who depart". May you have a lifetime of happiness and rooms filled with laughter and love. :cuddle;
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"Time warp kitchen" ....LOL!
I love this house. It's perfect for you! Thanks for starting this thread so that we can all share your new domestic adventures. Can't wait for the action to begin!
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Congrats again JB. Having reno'ed a couple of house's, it look like you have a house with real goods, solid bones, and some character to boot...one room at a time, work on one prioritiy at a time and next thing you know...poof "house of dreams".
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So,what do you think will be your very first project? Have you decided on any color schemes? Any particular style you are going for? What ideas have you had so far?
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The bathroom is first. The previous owners started to tile the room and quit partway through, with only the shower grouted and the rest just roughed in. I think I can pop off the last row where they started to spread into the room, add a decorative border at the edge of the tub, match it with a back splash over the sink to make it look intentional, paint the rest of the room and call it good. The sink is awful and needs to be replaced. There was a drop ceiling at some point, but it's gone now, and there are two awful naked florescent bulbs tacked on the ceiling that they were using as work lights and no vanity light. Happily, the tub, toilet, and floor are in fine shape. There's even a new window in the room already.
While the bathroom is being redone, I'm peeling the nasty 70's green shag carpet off the stairs. If they aren't a nice wood under there, I'll paint them.
The master needs a bit of sage green under the chair rail to match all my bedroom linens and it's good to go. The second bedroom/office needs a coat of white paint to cover all the dings and smudges on the white that is in there. The living room just needs some touch up spots, as it's already a warm beige color that I like well enough to leave for now, as well as some white trim redone. Upstairs, the craft room just needs some white touch ups as well.
Downstairs I'm ignoring for now. It's usable as is, and I'll deal with it later.
The kitchen....ummmm......
yeah, I've seen the DIY instructions for painting laminate cupboards and counter tops. I've pinned them so I can find them again. The cupboards need it most. I'm debating if I want to paint them a nice bright white for now. I want to tear the entire kitchen out and remodel it in a year or two, so I don't want to sink a lot of money in it now. I've got to wait until I can save the money to do it all at once. But the paint on the cupboards might be worth it, just so it isn't quite so ugly in the meantime.
The ugly floor, unfortunately, is in fine shape, which makes me hesitant to sink the money into stick-downs when I plan to pull it all up and redo it in something really nice next year. I bet with bright cupboards and a big rug though, it wouldn't be so obvious.
Landscaping will be an ongoing project, depending on the weather and what I can plant by the time I can get in there. There's not so much as a bulb now, but the beds are all there and already have a good covering of gravel. There are a lot of perennials spreading freely at the back of the lot, so I can transplant some easily, as well as get bits from my sister and her gardening-mad mother-in-law. I'll wait until the fall clearance sales to get some shrubs for the front of the house.
The house was at the top end of my budget, but an incredible deal, so well worth having to scrimp on remodeling for now. I got it for $90,000 LESS than the last owners paid for it during the boom. It was a HUD foreclosure that I put a crazy-low, under-listing-price bid on, just because it was everything I wanted. HUD houses around here tend to sell for anywhere from $5K to $10K over the listing price, if not more. Never thought I'd get it. I didn't at first. I got outbid, of course. But the first bidder couldn't get financing in time. HUD has very strict deadlines. It dropped back to my measly little offer only because HUD looks at them in chronological order. It might have only been luck, but I'll take it!
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Well, there's no rush! You'll have many wonderful months to work on your house, and it will be such fun. I agree that it is worth scrimping on remodeling now so that you had the money up front to buy the house in the first place. How wonderful that you don't have to waste your precious time sitting in a dialysis chair! These are the kinds of prayers that can come true if you're fortunate enough to have a transplant, and goodness knows that you of all people deserve to finally be able to take advantage of a dialysis-free life!
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Great house and I really look forward to seeing how you fix it up and make it yours...like all your projects I know it'll look amazing. :flower;
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I think you are right on target with the immediate fixes. I love paint. It does wonderws! I painted our cabinets -- I am more a redoer than tear out. The cabinets were formica, but with the right steps and products, the paint will look great. Our has lasted for years. And a pretty rug works miracles!
We are like a bunch of mother hens looking out for our chick as she builds her new home!
Thanks for sharing the pictures and letting us be excited along with you. So happy for you.
BTW, my best friend in life grew up in the same style home; BUT there were 7 kids and 2 parents living there! Can you imagine?????
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That dishwasher brings back memories of my childhood, we had one just like it (albiet an ugly yellow goldish color.
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Yep....I would lose the kitchen floor ASAP! :rofl;
Oh gosh, no! That is a kitchen floor to die for! It's so old fashioned it's now fashionably retro. (Honestly, I like it!)
Loving your new little home, jb. I particularly love those built in drawers. So cute!
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Too retro for me! I think it's an awful pattern, and it's worse in person. But I'm going to live with it for a while, so I'm going to paint the walls a yellow that tones in with it.
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You mentioned rugs in a previous post. Go with that...a BIG one!
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The prototype picture of the kitchen looks wonderful. Of course, I have a vintage yellow kitchen with white cabinets! I accent with lime and 50's vintage blue. This is as much fun as pinterest!
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Friday! The closing is scheduled for next Friday! I'm in shock, I thought it would take HUD the full month to get the paperwork organized.
Someone remind me to pack a paper sack to hyperventilate into after I've handed over the cashier's check. :P
Right, going to pack another box of knickknacks and artwork now.
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:thumbup; :bandance;
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The Showcase House i am involved has has some great ideas to do at home. A couple of floors were painted using Dunn Edwards Floor and Porch paint, and they look great. I don't mind the kitchen floor pattern, its the color that is wonky.
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Oh gosh, no! That is a kitchen floor to die for! It's so old fashioned it's now fashionably retro. (Honestly, I like it!)
I was going to speak in favour of the kitchen floor, I like it too.
This is great, I love real estate! And omigod omigod omigod look at that craft room!!!!
:beer1; :thumbup; :thumbup;
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From that built-in desk in the craft room to the wall behind where the pic was taken is 20 feet long. The room is 11 ft'6" wide. Out of view are two long, single shelf built-in bookcases with plugs in them in the side walls, meant to go next to twin beds on either side of the room when it is used as a bedroom. They will be a wonderful display area for all kinds of projects. There are also two 4 foot wide closets on either side of the window behind where I was standing as well. My large, expandable, pub height dining room table won't fit into the tiny kitchen eating area, so it's going upstairs to be my standing work area.
It is craft heaven! Who wants to come craft at my house? ;D
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A craft room... I want a craft room... I'm seriously jealous! It's a lovely house. I love the yard.
MJ
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Emptied my bank account into a certified check for the house closing on Monday. Went to the home store for 3 lock sets to install after the closing. Found the locks, and a vanity/sink/mirror set that I love that will be perfect. Okay, what the heck, might as well buy it now.
Only one left, and the clerk pointed out that it was damaged.
Ah, phooey.
Wait, what part?
There is the smallest scrape down the back left corner of the cabinet. That part will be in the corner in my bathroom, where no one will ever see it. Wheee...scratch and dent discount for me!
Started getting just the smallest amount of things on my list. Between the locks, the vanity, and the random bits of things like TSP cleaner to scrub the laminate cupboards before painting them and paint rollers - $400 went *poof*.
Auugh! I don't even own it yet and it's already a money pit. ;D
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OIY! ::) Buying a house does not sound fun! :rofl;
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It is craft heaven! Who wants to come craft at my house? ;D
Pick me!
I still owe you for those lovely fabric baskets. So sorry, but I haven't forgotten!
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Ya know, JBeany, once you get the kitchen painted an appropriate color, it may throw a whole new light on the kitchen floor. I would love to tell you what color, but, I am shade blind and besides that you are already good at it.
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I'm going with white cupboards and some shade of yellow that tones in with the floor. I still won't like it, but at least it won't stick out much!
Tomorrow - it's mine tomorrow!
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Yeah for tomorrow!! May 8, 2012 jbeany becomes owner of her home! This is so exciting. Of course, I had a migrane after we signed our papers and thought I would throw up on everyone. I'm so happy for you. :2thumbsup;
Now, if I start packing my crafts and sewing machines, I could be ready to live in your craft room in two days time ----- :rofl; In a room like that, I could set up all my machines at the same time, pressing board, dress form, and all the fabrics and trips would have their own assigned space! And a bar table height would be perfect for cutting fabrics, laying out patterns. A craft lovers dream space!!
Good luck tomorrow!! :yahoo; :2thumbsup; :clap; :grouphug;
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After we finished signing our names 1,000 times the real estate guy said "You can keep the pen." I thought "Great, you get all our money for the rest of our lives, and we get a 99 cent pen! Thank you oh so much!" :sarcasm;
:clap;Congrats, jbeany!
MJ
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It's all mine - and all my money is all theirs!
And it only took me the first eight hours I owned it to start half a dozen projects already. I'm done with one - the ugliest green shag carpet ever is no more!
I've still got to paint the stairs, but it's a fabulous first step. I've a Before, and a Halfway picture. I'll get an After shot to post when it's daylight again. For now, I'm dragging my sore bones to bed. I've packed and hauled boxes the last three days straight, and then yanked up carpet for several hours today. Hopefully, I'll still be able to move tomorrow!
Home Ownership is not for sissies!
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It is not a sprint (:
Congrats.
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Thanks Bill!
Well, not a sprint, but my lease ends at the end of the month - so I don't get to coast along either!
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:clap; Love seeing photos as you go!
Best wishes in your new abode! :bandance;
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Wowsers, that green shag carpet is quite something if you enlarge the photo, and then scroll up and down the stairs... 8-)
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Personally, I would have kept that carpeting! :sarcasm; :rofl; :rofl;
Stay hydrated jbeany
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Yay, Jbeany, congratulations and good luck settling into your own home.
Just noticed you're pulling up the carpet....I did that, it was dusty, gross work. Do you have a good, filtered mask and goggles? I am worried aborigines for you. A side note-- friend helped me pull up carpet, and we were using those blades that are perforated so when they're dull, you can snap off the dull blade and have a fresh one. My ex-marine, large, male friend broke his accidentally and said "Whoa, I broke this blade, I'm like Superman man or something!" LOL, I almost didn't have the heart to tell him...almost.
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Take good care of yourself during this moving time. Pulling out carpet is hard! But, it is also very rewarding! How are you feeling today? Sore and tired?
Chris is right --- keep drinking! Wish I was there to help paint. I love painting-----I especially love edging! Looking forward to more pictures.
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I love your new home. It reminds me a bit of my first house. I still miss that place. I only sold it because I was leaving the state. I check for it once in a while on Zillow to see if it's for sale. Not that I'd be able to buy it. It's in Minnesota. I'm in Oregon.
Is the kitchen floor in good shape? If so, I think I'd try to remodel around it. It could be very cool. That green carpet though - ug! I hope you keep posting pictures as you progress.
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Ah, today the fun really started. ::)
My brother in law hooked up the water this morning. It's all original 1949 galvanized plumbing. I also found out from one of my neighbors that the house has been empty for at least 3 years. These two facts do not lead to good things! All the crud in the pipes flaked off and clogged everything as soon as the water started to flow. This is not unexpected, but it's likely a large portion of the plumbing will need to be replaced.
On the bright side - the toilet is working now that BIL and I replaced the seal today. This is an important priority when I'm spending 12 hours a day there working! The gas station around the corner is soon going to tire of seeing my dusty self arrive to use the facilities and buy yet another tiny purchase so I don't get in trouble. Honest, I'm not homeless! Sort of.
Thankfully, I bought a home warranty insurance policy, so a large portion of the costs are covered. The plumber is coming tomorrow morning to see what he can fix and begin the repairs.
The furnace repair arrives tomorrow at noon. Everyone cross your fingers for me that my vintage "octopus" style furnace is still chugging along. It's also covered under my policy, but I'd prefer that it runs with a simple service and cleaning. I wasn't brave enough to have my brother-in-law even light it. I just bought the place - I'm not ready to build a new one from scratch!
I spent a tedious couple of hours on the phone today, getting the appointments set up with companies that work with my insurance company, and getting the insurance company to enter my brand new policy in the computer system so I could do that. Then I spent another tedious couple of hours doing the most boring cleaning job ever - scrubbing the slats on the closet doors. They were nasty after all that time the house was empty. Each and every slat had to be scrubbed with a rag wedged over a screwdriver, to get the dust and grime out from between the slats.
My sister arrived at 6 pm, and she helped me make some decisions about interior design things, like paint, and what color appliances, and whether or not to remove the ancient, freestanding dishwasher immediately. (The final decision was yes. I'm going to put the fridge in the spot the dishwasher is when I remodel the whole kitchen. Might as well do it now so I don't have to mess with reversing doors on the fridge, and the odds that the dishwasher actually works well is pretty slim anyhow.) Then we headed to Lowes to spend my money.
Fridge, range, 4 gallons of paint just to start on various projects like trim and ceilings and kitchen, spray paint for outside plastic shutters and rusting iron railings on the porch, new mailbox, mop (since I don't own one. I didn't need one in the apartment - I just scrubbed on my hands and knees.), assorted spackling, painting tools and cleaning products...$1400 bucks later (ouch, but it's not like I can skip the appliances)....I got to go back to the house and unload more stuff.
Then I loaded trash and the milk crates that I had brought full of books this morning into the car, and headed back to the apartment. I emptied the car, reloaded the car with more boxes of stuff to move, and it's now time to get organized for tomorrow....
I'm still upright and mobile, so apparently, my sore muscles have decided it's not worth the effort to protest!
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:beer1; You're a busy bee!
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The furnace works! :bandance; A $68 service call, and the repairman started it, cleaned it, and explained all the dampers and various quirks with the pilot light. Hurray! It works, it works!
So does the set of sprinklers on the front lawn, and my automatic garage door. :yahoo;
The plumber was a no-show. :P Tomorrow, 9 am, here we go again.
But, I got the antique dishwasher removed, as well as all the wallpaper off the walls in the kitchen today. It was like opening a time capsule. There was the original white laminate, covered in 40's mint green paint, topped with some amazing 50's gingerbread cookie patterned wallpaper, covered with 60's flower power, toned down with the 70's dusty beige roses that were on the top of the stack.
I also found out that the creamy wallpaper on top was actually white when it was put up. For that matter, so is the paint on the ceiling - under the grease. Ewwww. Going through lots of heavy duty cleaner for the kitchen.
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The adventure continues. I am following this eagerly.
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Maybe the picture does not show the full detail, but the wood on the stairs looks good. Clean and stain/clear coat? Forgot what you said you were going to do with the stairs, just remember the shagadelic carpet.
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The last owners didn't tape them off when they painted the stairwell pre-carpet, so the tops and edges are a paint splattered mess. I'm going to primer and use some white porch paint on them. I might wait and do it after the furniture is moved upstairs, though!
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You're making fast progress! It looks like you might want to check in with an electrician, judging from that outlet (not grounded).
I used white porch paint on the stairs in my old house, too. They came out very nicely and held up well. If you decide you like the wood, except for the sloppy paint on it, it isn't as bad as you'd think to have someone come in and sand them down.
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I love the wallpaper photos!
It's great to hear about the furnace!! What a relief!
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Total shock #2 for my vintage house - the plumbing is now functional! I was certain it would have to be replaced. Even the plumber thought he was going to have to tear out my shower wall to make it run. But he managed to clear the lines with an air compressor and there's a good chance they will be fine. :bandance; :bandance; :bandance; :bandance; I just need to keep running the shower for a bit every time I'm there for the next week or so.
$130 dollars total got both major systems I thought might need replacing up and running. I was so happy, I went downstairs to the basement after the plumber left to jump up and down in excitement. (No blinds on any of the upstairs windows yet. Didn't want to scare the new neighbors!) :laugh:
The plumber thinks the reason I have no hot water in the bathroom sink is because of a problem with the faucet, not the lines. Since I'm replacing that anyhow, we're just waiting for the rest of the remodeling to find out if he has to come back and fix anything else.
I didn't do any projects today - except shop 'til I dropped. I found the mystery tile from the last owner's half-finished bathroom project at Home Depot, so at least I can finish it with identical tile. (Also found out it's floor tile, not wall tile, but it's too far gone to start over now. Hopefully, with only me using it, it will hold up for a long time.) My hatchback is full with what I purchased - all the little things you don't need in an apartment that are necessities in a house. Rakes, hoses, window cleaner that runs off the hose for second story windows, weed eater, ladder, etc... I just walked up and down every aisle in Home Depot. Tomorrow I'll hit Lowes and do the same to see what I missed. I need to get a lawn mower, too, but there wasn't room today.
Deanne, I bought all new outlets and switches, too. That's a good day's project right there. Thankfully, those are easy to replace.
The wood on the steps is sturdy, but nothing fabulous like oak that would be worth refinishing. I think a large dose of wood putty and some fresh white paint will do wonders. I also want to be able to paint cute designs on them, like I keep seeing on pinterest. I like the one with "Come on up" printed on it, with each word on a different riser. I want to add "And get crafty" on the last step as the stairs turn to enter my craft heaven.
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Yes, plumbing. It's great when it works! Yay! And there's nothing like some retail therapy, even if it IS from Home Depot.
This is just sounding like so much fun. I'm having a great time reading each day how things are progressing. I can't wait for all of the "after" pics!
I love the idea of painting little sayings on each riser. "Get Crafty"...Hahahahaha! That's great!
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That retro wallpaper is amazing!
Loving the updates!
;D
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The last owners didn't tape them off when they painted the stairwell pre-carpet, so the tops and edges are a paint splattered mess. I'm going to primer and use some white porch paint on them. I might wait and do it after the furniture is moved upstairs, though!
That is going to look lovely, I love tromping up and down wood stairs! Good for you on the furnace, too! You are working so hard. It is so nice to do whatever you want to your own place. How exciting! How long til your lease is up?. We had three months to get our foreclosure in to tip top shape, and once we moved in I ran out of steam :-(. Of course, our place was a bit of a wreck...
So neat to take those layers off and see the vintage wallpaper or "real" paint color. Have you found anything interesting? We found crazy stuff hidden all over the place and the owners had carved their names into walls and such, too. A pretty crazy house.
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So far, the only truly quirky things I've noticed are the downstairs paint job, which is baby blue by the workbench, which changes to pastel pink halfway down the wall where the laundry area starts - very 50's cutesy with the gender line, and the black metal door knob on the closet behind the bar - which is shaped like a cocktail glass! It's like half a glass wedged into the door, and you put your fingers into the glass to tug it open. Well, that and the fact that the last owner left off grouting the shower tile as soon as there was enough grout to take a shower...
I'm home recharging my batteries today. My fingers and ankles were getting puffy. Too much exercise, not enough sleep! Gotta give my bean a chance to catch up - it's used to desk jobs, not construction work. No rest for the weary, though. I'm spending the day sending out resumes and cover letters. Tomorrow, I'll unload the car and shop some more. I'm looking for some cabinets and things I can use for my kitchen. My current sewing desk is going to get turned into a kitchen table, with a little glazing and possibly a white laminate top added eventually. (My first Ikea hack!) I'm hoping for a storage bench to put behind it and some cute kitchen chairs for the front. I also need some type of counter top space for next to the stove, so looking for rolling carts or other cabinets I can hack for that space as well. I saved the hunk of butcher block that was on top of the dishwasher, so I'm looking for one I can put under that. Habitat for Humanity Restore, here I come!
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I love your house and enjoy following your adventures . I am pea green with envy . Good luck .
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Ah, the weekend - NOT time to relax. I shopped until I dropped again, but my list is getting shorter and shorter. I found bullnose (edge) tile that matches the half-finished shower project. I still need to chip out a piece of grout and attempt to match that as well. After a lot of samples purchased, brought home, and rejected, I've found a border that will fill in with exactly the right amount of width between the bullnose and the 12x12 tiles. Decision made, I'm going to return all the stray samples and get the border and call it good.
I still need to find some flooring I like for the bathroom. I didn't mind the vinyl that was in it, but it was installed around the ancient sink, so I need new to put my new sink in. Debating on how ambitious I am. I like the new "luxury" peel and stick tiles. They are much thicker, and they are meant to be grouted, just like ceramic tiles. I love the look, but another hunk of lino will be much, much faster!
The kitchen walls and ceilings are pretty well scrubbed today, and I got a start on the cabinets. The last owner was a smoker, so it's very, very easy to tell where I missed a spot - it's the part that is still cream colored instead of white. I spackled holes until I lost the light tonight. I have to go back and finish that tomorrow.
Other projects for the day - tested out my new cordless weed eater. Works fine, like that there's no cord and it's still pretty light. The gas ones weigh a lot more than I'm comfortable lifting since my surgeon remodeled my guts to put them back on the inside.
My little weed tool works fine too - it looks like a big cocktail fork, and I've relieved the side gravel bed of most of the weeds. I'd call it a flower bed, but there aren't any flowers - only rocks!
I tried to remove some old shelf paper in the kitchen with the same hot water and fabric softener combo I used on the wallpaper. Uh, not a chance. This stuff is stuck tight. I hated to waste the hot water and softener, so I stripped wallpaper off one wall in the bathroom. I also unscrewed and yanked out the edging from the ugly shower door. Why put up all that lovely tile and then cover it all with a giant frosted glass door? Plus, the bathroom is too small to have the window blocked from view. It looks better already, and I still have to pry stray tiles off the wall to be able to finish the tiling.
15 days until my movers arrive!
Okay, must end now. Dora kitty is trying to attack my computer screen to get to the Kit and Stick smiley that is whacking away above this entry box!
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I need a lie down after reading that!
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Okay, must end now. Dora kitty is trying to attack my computer screen to get to the Kit and Stick smiley that is whacking away above this entry box!
:rofl; :rofl; :rofl;
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I finally have a mowed lawn and a working lawn mower. This took far more effort than I expected. I bought a mower Monday night on my way home. Good thing Lowes is open until 10pm, since I seem to frequently be the last one out the door. My brother-in-law told me he could come on Wednesday to help me set it up and get it running. Tuesday, I opened the box while it was still in my hatchback. I couldn't lift it out by myself, but figured I could at least read the manual and see if I could lift some of the parts out. Uh, no - it was a return, and was missing the manual and some of the parts. So I had to take it back Tuesday evening and get it exchanged. Grr....
Appliances were being delivered Tuesday, so I couldn't leave to go get the lawn mower exchanged until the delivery arrived. I was not ready to have the appliances in the kitchen yet. My plans to have the ceiling and walls painted fell through when I started to sand the spackle. Some of it had been applied in various locations, especially the ceiling, by the previous owner, and then just left rough. (Charming, I know.) Turns out that this was his way to stop multiple layers of paint from continuing to peel. Here's a hint - it doesn't work. (This is the same guy who thought painting over wallpaper would make it stop peeling off the wall, so Bob Villa, he's not.) The minute I started to sand it smooth so I could paint it, the paint began to flake off in huge chunks, spackle and all. So I had to scrape all the loose paint off, respackle, and wait for it to dry. I had to repeat the process several times, as I kept finding new spots to fix. So my quick sanding job turned into a several day project, and it still isn't entirely done. My appliances are currently plopped in the middle of the kitchen floor, waiting for me to finish the walls.
I didn't want to start work in the kitchen when the delivery guys might arrive at any minute, so I took a hammer to the ceramic towel bar in the bathroom. Got the towel bar off, but there was still a large ceramic insert stuck in the wall. Beat and battered at it until I could get it loose, since it stuck out too far to plaster over smoothly. Apparently, the best way to keep the insert in place while the mud set during the original installation was to wrap layer after layer of newspaper around it to wedge it in between the studs. Once I got the insert out of the hole, I reached in and got the papers.
My bathroom was tiled in mint green shortly after May 17th, 1963. The Rambler was the car of the year. President Kennedy was a staunchest supporter of the space program, and Gordon Cooper was orbiting the earth, and it had already become so routine for him, he actually dozed off and had a dream while he was up there! The editorial page was a long discussion of whether or not we should be spending all the money on the space program...Should we really be trying to get to the moon? The grocery store on the corner was advertising that it used S&H green stamps, and a kids' wooden picnic table was $5.83 at the local hardware.
The most amazing article to me was one discussing a town that was implementing the "most complete integration plan of any city in the south." As I'm watching my neighbors walk past my door each evening as they get walk their dogs or stroll by in the sunny weather, black, white, Asian, Arabic, all cheerfully greeting each other, it amazes me that an "advanced integration plan" was so necessary only 50 years ago.
But, historical ramblings aside....I took the mower back for an exchange that afternoon. This took at least an hour, since no one could figure out the proper way to do a simple exchange with their computer system, plus, no one could understand that they had to take the previous one out of the car for me before I could bring it in to exchange it... then I scooted home to make chocolate covered strawberries and pack up the stuff I need to take to my craft workshop I was teaching at Gilda's. I swear, I only had a little drywall dust in my hair when I got there, really.
I got back to the house bright and early this morning, with lawn mower #2 in the car, and my mechanically inclined brother in law to help. Got it out of the car, out of the box, all put to together, oil put in, gas tank filled - and the flanges are broken on the gas cap. $#%&@%
Off to the store. Take BIL's bigger car, so I can get laminate for the built-in desk upstairs, and have him figure out what plumbing bits and pieces I need to hook up new faucets in kitchen and bath. Finally get gas cap exchanged - they snagged it out of the one I returned yesterday. Back to the house, and attach the cap. I got an electric start, self-propelled mower, since I can't lift much, and didn't want to strain my stitched up guts with a pull start. The instruction manual says charge the new battery for 8 hours. BIL doesn't want to wait. The hour we were gone should be enough. Uh, no. He blew the fuse and had to pull start it. Between the two of us, the lawn got mowed and I used my new weed eater on the edges. He pulled the fuse, told me it would be easy to find another at any hardware store, and he had to leave. I spent several hours prying tile from the half-finished bathroom project, and sanding the excessive amounts of tile goop the previous owner used, so I can set in a simple border and be done, since I can't afford to tile the entire bathroom, as he clearly planned to do. I also wedged the vinyl window trim off the tub edge, where he was using it as the world's widest grout line. Eventually, I've had enough, and figure I better get to a store to see if I can find the bulk and appliance trash stickers I've been looking for all last week.
Easy to find fuse. Ha.
It's a tiny, 40 amp spade fuse. The car sections all sell up to 30. 40 amps are great big ones. No luck at Ace, but they did have real horseshoes for my pitch in the back yard, and, even more important, bulk trash stickers for trash day tomorrow. Yay, I can get rid of the antique dishwasher shell that has made it so tight coming out of my drive that I've managed to knock the side mirror loose on my car. $%$#&*&. I've been looking for someplace that sells the tags for a week, and trash day is tomorrow. Back to the house to haul stuff to the curb.
Okay, so I had to try out the horseshoes first. Man, I stink. Not a single ringer, even from the girls' line at 30 feet. I need to practice, but back to work. Slap the $12.50 trash tag on the dishwasher, and start walking it to the curb. It's big, it's heavy, it's awkward, and the feet are making horrible nails-on chalkboard noises with every shove. Peachy. Got it halfway down the drive, and a truck goes by. Stops, backs up, passenger asks, "Are you tossing that?" Uh, no, just taking it for a walk for some fresh air.
They recycle scrap metal, so they back up the truck, load it and cheerfully speed off. Well, darn it - the stickers don't come off once you stick 'em on! Still, it's gone. Pity they didn't take it a couple of days ago, so I wouldn't have to get a new side mirror.
But, I still have no fuse for my electric starter, so off to Lowes, where I bought the mower. (Again.) They don't have them either. Now, I asked for help at both stores, and each time, we visited multiple departments. Nada. Eventually, the lawn and garden guy gets smart, grabs a ladder, and snags the one out of the display model and just gives it to me. Sweet! Enough for one day, and home I come.
I'm sleeping in tomorrow.
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I think Lowes and Home Depot should both give me a designated parking spot by now.
One of my girlfriends decided to come see the house and help out this weekend. She talked her boyfriend into coming. I've known them both since elementary school, and I'm ever so happy he grew up to be a professional carpenter! They worked with me all day Saturday, and the bathroom is slowly coming along. Yesterday, the remaining wallpaper got stripped, the sink and vanity were removed, and the lino ripped up. Looks like I need to level the floor, or put in a new chunk of ply down under the vanity and toilet.
I also had their help in the kitchen. The ceiling is now a bright white, not a tobacco stained brown. The wall are now patched, sanded and ready for primer, but we got stalled trying to figure out what to do with the messy windowsills and trim on my 63 year old double hung windows.
Today, I bought paint stripper - since the window are all too mucky to even sand smooth. I've got so many layers of paint in some spots that the missing chips leave divots. That's another job for another day.
I did a lot of sanding and patching in the bathroom today. I scraped and chiseled down some of the old tile adhesive that had overflowed everywhere, and cut small patches of drywall for the random holes the previous owner apparently decided to hide with tiles. I plastered until I lost the light. I'll have to finish in the morning. I thought I might get it done, but I wanted to do the ceiling while I was at it. I had to remove the two giant florescent work lights (that don't actually work) that were left up there during the previous owner's half-arsed tiling project.
My brother-in-law had looked up at them earlier, and commented, "Oh, they are just screwed up there; it will only take a few minutes to get them down." A few minutes. HA! They were bolted up there. And the bolts, of course, were not firmly in the ceiling, so every attempt to spin the nuts holding the lights to the ceiling just made the bolts spin around. I muttered and swore a lot, but eventually managed to get them down and either pry the bolts out of the ceiling or just pound them up into it so I could plaster over the holes. At least the walls are close enough in my little bathroom that there's always something nearby to grab on to while standing on a step ladder, swinging a hammer at the ceiling.
Bob Villa, I'm not.
8 days until my movers arrive. :stressed;
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Beany, this saga gets better and better!
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My bathroom floor is now level. Apparently, so is my butt, since I accidentally sat on the sticky, gritty lid and stir stick from the gallon of self-leveler when I was scooting around on the floor trying to make sure I had all the divots patched. I had to spread newspaper on my car seat to drive back to my apartment. (I leveled the floor last thing tonight, as I basically had to back my way out the bathroom door as I was doing it.) ::)
I think I've finally got all the bathroom walls patched in all the possible spots, even the ones that sunk in a bit when the first patch dried. I need to do one last quick sanding in the morning and it's ready to prime. Ceiling first, then primer on the walls. I'm going to prime the kitchen walls at the same time.
Then, it will finally look like I'm accomplishing something! Pure white walls, ready for color will be such a change. The holes in the living room are spackled and ready to see if my touch-up paint is a good enough match that it won't be noticeable. I liked the color in the living room, so I just left it, but it needed some spots covered. Perhaps it's a good thing the last owner smeared paint on the edges of the outlet covers instead of removing them. At least I had something to take to the store to offer as a sample to match. ;D
I noticed today that every last bit of floor trim in the whole house was painted white, but not a single nail hole was ever filled. So there's a couple of hours in my future to spend crawling around on my hands and knees with some wood putty before I can repaint the banged-up trim.
My brother in law is coming on Wednesday to help me lay the lino in the bathroom and hopefully put the vanity in. I should be able to start tiling my decorative border to finish off the shower that day, too.
Tick, tock, tick, tock....
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jbeany, I'm loving reading all about your house project. I really admire your approach to things and your incredible determination to get things done slowly (and sometimes quickly) but surely. Keep the photos coming. I wish I could lend a hand with some of the work. :cuddle;
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How to estimate how much time a home improvement project will take: Read directions on line. Take their estimate. Multiply it by 3.
Honestly.
Still chugging along though. The bathroom is painted with two coats of something that looks like the "coffee" my 13 year-old nephew drinks. As in..."Want some coffee with that warm milk?" The kitchen in now primer white - at least the walls and trim. The windows are waiting for me to find out how bad the paint stripper is to use. If it's horrid, I may just do a single coat of white primer for now to clean them up and work on it later. I'm running out of time, and there are other things of higher priority than pretty windowsills. Like kitchen cupboards that are clean inside and ready to be used.
I blew a substantial chunk of the day at the apartment. I slept in to start with - a rest desperately needed, so no complaints there. Yesterday, I brought back my cordless drill so I could take down everything still attached to the walls, like shelves and curtain rods. I also brought back the patching plaster. I noticed as I unloaded the wire shelves in the living room storage closet had been overloaded to the point that some of the C clips holding them to the walls had snapped, so I bought replacements for those the other day. Seems simple enough....
By the time I got everything off the walls, packed all the misc stuff up, got the screws and plastic anchors out of the drywall and the holes patched, the curtains washed, and the broken shelving bits replaced, it had gone 4 hours.
So, off to the house - by the time I ate dinner, did some other errands, and drove there, it was already 6 pm. In addition to primering the kitchen, I spent far too much time chatting with my neighbor and yet another person stopping by to see if I'm planning on either flipping or renting the house. After unloading the car AGAIN, I figured I should start tiling the missing bits of the shower in the bathroom. Ha. Ha.
I've got everything, so I laid all the tiles, the tools, the adhesive, the grout, and the caulk in the bath. I have one 3 inch row of 1 inch tiles, and then a 3 inch bullnose edge tile to put up. Shouldn't take long, right? It's already 10:30 pm, but I'm in a working mood since I got here so late. First, I figure I should have everything ready before I start spreading sticky stuff, so I might as well cut all the tile first. I measured - I only need to cut two bullnose pieces - all the rest are full 12 inch tiles. That shouldn't be bad, right? Ha again.
The top row of inch pieces have to be cut, too. Okay, I've cut a hand tile cutter, and bits of the tile that I pried off the wall from around the ugly shower door. I'll practice. EASY - draw a score, put it in the tool, squeeze. More or less straight line, and I have extra tiles and a file - it will be good.
First problem - the tool is not made for cutting 1 inch tiles - it's meant for cutting big tiles, and it doesn't fit the little ones. They are so small, they don't even touch the two points that press down around the score to snap the tile. Crap. Okay, lots extra to play with. My work bench already had a vise. By messing around (and failing a lot until I got the technique down), I found I could score the little things, wedge them perfectly in the vise, and tap them just right with a hammer to snap them in half. I've now got the 6 tiny half tiles I need - 3 for each side along the top. On to the bullnose.
Which, unfortunately, is not the same tile as the stuff on the walls. It matches so closely, no one will ever know once it's up. BUT>>>it's thicker. I don't have the hand strength to snap it with the hand tool. I tried using the vise and the hammer, like I managed with the little ones, but no go.
I've now mucked around with this stuff so much it's 12:45 at night. Enough! I need to recruit one of my big, tough, male neighbors to see if he can snap tile for me - I brought them and a couple of extras home with me. If not, I have to see if I can find a tile place that will cut just those two on a wet saw for me.
Multiply all time estimates by 3.... :P
More pics....
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Busy, busy, busy...
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:clap; :clap; :clap; You're doing great - what a handy dandy gal you are - love seeing all your projects as they evolve!
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This is a wonderful thread i am cheering you on from afar!!! :bandance; :bandance;
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I'm exhausted just reading about it!
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Lowe's charges 25 cents per cut for tiles. Went there first thing - well, after this month's bloodwork, which I finally remembered to go do. So, off to the house, start with yellow paint in the kitchen.
Holy cow, who picked this awful paint color? Ooops, oh yeah, me. It picks up a shade in the floor really well. Unfortunately, I didn't hold it up next to the existing paint color in the hallway and living room, which it will be right next to. So I have all these creamy shades of brown and tan in the rest of the place - and this primary color yellow in the kitchen. Ummmm....no. It clashed. Badly. I stopped after one small section of wall and soffit.
Off to Lowes - second trip of the day. Replaced "Toasted Oat" (which is really a sunny yellow) with "Buttered Popcorn" (which is a toned down creamy yellow). Home again, home again. Started where I left off, and worked my way around the room. By the time I got back to the Toasted Oat, it was dry enough to cover. Much better - no clashing, and still tones down the look of my kitchen floor. (Which my neighbor calls "vintage tortoise shell pattern." Oh, was that the original idea? Why on earth would anyone want to walk on something that resembles turtle shells?)
Between coats, I put up the tile in the bathroom. I love the way it looks, even if it's clearly not a professional job. I can already see things I would do differently if I did it again - like more adhesive under the decorative tiles that are slightly thinner than the edge pieces, so the result would be more level. But, it's up and it's a huge improvement already.
I got the second coat of paint on the kitchen, and made a list of what I hope to accomplish tomorrow - primarily the scrubbing of everything in the kitchen from floor to ceiling that hasn't already been painted. I want the cupboards ready for dishes on Monday. Plus, I'd really like to get my appliances out of the middle of the kitchen floor and up against the walls where they belong! I also hope to grout the tiles so they have time to dry. If I'm really lucky, I get to miter the trim for the bathroom....if not, it's got to be done Monday, so I can move the vanity out of the living room and put the bathroom door back on.
I agreed to go to my sister's cottage on Sunday for the afternoon, after a lot of nagging from her. Heaven only knows why. I think my sister wants me there so she doesn't have to feel guilty about not helping with the house over her holiday weekend. ;D
Movers coming on Tuesday....auuugh!
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With this adventure in reading, if I am going to buy a house, I'll by new! Or buy a place and have someone accidentally burn it down and start over fresh! ;D
I do not have the energy you have jbeany, hats off to you.
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soooo impressed, well done girl!
love Cas
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Goals for yesterday - mow the lawn, clean the kitchen windows, cupboards, and floor, and grout the tile in the bathroom- as well as take another car load of stuff.
Got up, wedged the rest of the craft stuff in the car. Mostly bins and plastic drawers that have snap-apart storage racks. (Obstructed vision? Nah, I can still see to drive - honest!) Stopped at goodwill to drop off a bag of donations, bought a robe hook still in the package for a 5th of what it would cost new, and a giant frame for my giant rec room wall. Yup, wedged that in on top of everything else in the back of the car. It started to sprinkle on the drive over, so I dashed out of the car and mowed and weed-wacked the lawn immediately. And then the sky cleared up - but hey, the lawn is done.
Cleaning the kitchen involves finding the counter tops first. They were covered in tools and cans of supplies. So first step was reorganizing the work bench area in the basement so that I could haul everything down. Up and down the steps several dozen times, and everything is tucked in a logical spot on the bench or the surrounding shelves. Nice that they are sized wide enough and tall enough for paint cans and extra floor tiles. That done, I had to peel all the painters tape off of the cupboards, scrub and mail back on some trim, and then finally, I'm ready to actually clean something. On to the windows.
Ah, the joy of 60 year old wooden sash double hung windows. They do have nice storm windows on them, so at least I won't freeze this winter, but opening them is a giant pain in the back. Pried them up, figured out how to wedge the screens and storms out, and began to scrub, inside and out. Hauled the ladder around outside, and ran back and forth as I tried to get all the streaks off. The first two big windows in the corner went pretty well, even if, like everything, it took so much longer than it seemed like it should have. Then, on to the little window over the kitchen sink.
Let me just say that it is clean - and will not be so again until, oh, it's replaced in several years. ;D This one is so badly warped, the only way to get enough leverage to open it is to actually climb up and stand IN the sink. I will not be getting any fresh air on my face while I'm doing the dishes!
Of course, this description leaves out all the fun little things in the middle, like removing the kitchen light over the sink while I'm standing up there, and realizing it's not really brown - it's rusted metal - and stopping to scrape and spray paint it; pausing in the garage while I have the ladder outside to replace the dead light bulbs; (I've been constantly forgetting to do it until it gets dark,I have no lights in the garage, and I'm stumbling around in the dark.) and taking the time to install the hose bracket since I needed the hose to rinse the screens.
Okay, windows finally done, enough scrubbing for a minute. Best start the grout. Got one side done, and realize I need more grout. So, off to the home store again. Get my latest shopping list, including more grout, a new light bulb for the one over the kitchen sink that is driving me crazy with the flickering, and oooh, look, contractor grade grime remover.
Finish the grout, and on to the kitchen floor.
Uggh. Good thing I bought the heavy duty cleaner. The next three hours I spent on my hands and knees with a Brillo scrubbie, the rapidly dwindling bottle of grime remover, and a clean bucket of water after every 2 square feet of flooring. NASTY! Surely this thing must have been cleaned at least once in the last 63 years? Well, maybe not. My ugly floor is still an ugly yellow pattern, but it's a much lighter color ugly yellow pattern now.
But - my stove and fridge are now both plugged in and working and in their proper places. I now know that the unmarked breaker in the box was actually the kitchen stove fuse.
It was also now 1:30 am. I got up and got moving at 9:30am . And I still hadn't unloaded the craft supplies in the car. I got them out and up the steps, put them back together, and fit them into the closets upstairs.
Home by 3, and of course, the cats had me up before 10 again. Time to go load the car again! I only get an little bit of time to work today, then I'm expected for dinner at my sister's cottage an hour and a half away.
Tomorrow - the kitchen cupboards I didn't manage to do today.
More pics....
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Oh, my gosh, Jbeany!
What an accomplishment. And inspiration, too! :clap;
You are amazing!
Aleta
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:2thumbsup; You are an energizer bunny!! It's amazing what you have accomplished!
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This is all just terrific! Congratulations on so many jobs well done! Everything is really starting to come together.
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I am tired just reading your busy posts. Have fun moving and renovating!
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Time's up! It's now almost 5 am. My movers will be here in 3 and a half hours. I admitted I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight sometime about 11. ;D I have a substantial portion of my kitchen cupboards clean and freshly painted, but the bottom row of big cupboards still needs work.
Yup, that would be the cupboards of doom. Dear lord, the previous owner clearly never cleaned ANYTHING. So thickly grimy and disgusting, I actually found it faster to use a razor blade to scrape the dirt off the areas where the cupboard doors were grabbed to open them. And - here's the best part - when the grime started to build up substantially on the cupboards, rather than cleaning them, he pulled them off the hinges and flipped them upside down. This gave him clean places to grab onto. Seriously, that's the only explanation I can think of for why there is hand print grime on the top of the cupboards near the hinge - on 8 foot tall cupboards. All those with the hand prints up top also have hinge holes on the opposite side.
Thankfully, I still have until the end of the month on my lease. My kitchen stuff, with the exception of my very large and heavy microwave, is staying put for another day or two. When I have all the cupboards sanitary enough to put clean dishes in, then I'll bring them all at once. It will be easier to organize, and I have plenty of empty boxes and milk crates to transport it all.
Okay, I logged on to pay a few remaining bills and transfer more money from savings. Then I'm tearing apart my computer and loading it into my car. I won't be online for a day or two, most likely. Or longer - I need to scrub the floors in the entire house just like I did the kitchen - on my hands and knees with a scrubbie. I mopped tonight, and it certainly looks better and smells better, but it's a hardwood floor, and the mop just doesn't get the grime out of the seams.
Plus, Wednesday, I may not get out of bed at all..... ;)
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It's now Thursday evening, and everything I own is now at the house - someplace. I know it's here, just not exactly where!
I finished loading the last of my things from the apartment kitchen into the car today, and rented a steam cleaner and did the carpet. I need that security deposit back! I also used the shower at the apartment, since my grout sealer won't be completely dry until late tonight. I paid off the remainder of my lease, and dropped off all my keys. Everything that isn't perishable is stacked in the kitchen, waiting for me to finish the cupboards and put it all away. I've still got rooms to paint, floors to deep-clean, curtains to put up, and a laundry sink to finish installing, but.....I'm sitting at my desk in my new office watching the rain splash on the tree in my front yard, with a purring kitten on my lap, and another sprawled purring on the desk next to me, eying the flashing icons on the computer screen with far too much interest.
Messy house, unfinished projects, and still no job, but life is good.
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Loving it, Jbeany! :clap; :clap; :clap;
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I just think back to what life was like when you were on dialysis. And after your transplant, all you went through. You have come a long way baby!!
I am so happy for you! :yahoo;
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Bathroom is nearing completion. Need BIL to bring over air nailer to get my trim up. Every attempt to nail it by hand has been complicated by the fact that the walls are NOT straight lines. Nail one end, the other tries to pop loose over the curvy parts. Then I can caulk the trim and put down the threshold and I'm done with one room. Hurray!
I do need to have BIL tighten down my new shower head. It drips a bit where it's connected at the top, and I can't get it tight enough by myself.
I'm repeatedly finding that I lack the hand strength to do what needs to be done, even if I know how. As if being female with short fingers wasn't enough of a handicap, I've still got minimal gripping strength in my left hand after the nerve damage from the failed fistula surgery. After nearly a year barely able to use it all right after the surgery, I won't complain. I can do most normal things again, but it does get annoying when I'm working on something at 2 in the morning and there's no one around to turn something for me.
Or open something - it took me longer to get the little metal jars of PVC primer and cement open than it did to actually do the rest of the plumbing on the laundry sink. But I finally pounded them loose and got the laundry sink put together and plumbed into the drain. Even did 3 loads of laundry last night.
Upper kitchen cupboards are done and loaded with dishes and food. The remaining 4 on the bottom are tonight's project. I plan to scrub them and see if I can paint over the mess without having to sand them down inside, at least with a covering of contact paper to top them off. If not, it's going to be a few days project to sand and paint the mess under there. Once those are done, the kitchen will be as done as it is going to get until I have money for major remodeling.
Then it's on to the closets. I still have giant boxes of clothes and bathroom supplies. I need to paint the insides of the clothes closets and linen closet, and install the organizers I bought.
Then paint the bedroom and office, then scrub the living room walls and touch them up - I bought matching paint for the existing color. Then paint all the trim in the living room and hallway.
Then, I get to scrub every bit of hardwood flooring on my hands and knees. Uggh.
Then I can decorate - and hey, I'll only have two levels left to work on after that - the basement and the upstairs! :P
Makes you want to run right out and buy a fixer-upper, doesn't it? ;D
More pics, now that I've found my camera cable...
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And more -
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Still more...
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Wow
Must feel good to see progress
I just think back to what life was like when you were on dialysis. And after your transplant, all you went through. You have come a long way baby!!
I am so happy for you! :yahoo;
:clap;
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What about buying some cheap white floor tile that is pre glued forthe cupboards? Other idea I have takes more time, buying a thin sheet of plywood, cut to shape, paint and install.
Selfsticking was the word I was trying to think of, not pre glued
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You are really transforming that place! Kinda makes me feel guilty, i need to paint something! :bow;
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What about buying some cheap white floor tile that is pre glued forthe cupboards? Other idea I have takes more time, buying a thin sheet of plywood, cut to shape, paint and install.
Selfsticking was the word I was trying to think of, not pre glued
Self-stick vinyl tiles might be good. Have to keep that in mind....
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The cupboards of doom are done! :bandance; My kitchen is now fully usable, and I even ate a meal sitting at my table finally. I still have a few switches and outlets to change out, and the faucet to replace, but everything is finally tidy and clean.
I painted the insides of closets last night and today - the bedroom, office, and linen cupboards. Opened up my Rubbermaid closet organizer and measured it out. Shoot, most the wood pieces that were put up to hold the old shelves and clothes rods are going to be in the way. They had to come out. Look out! Woman with a hammer, a chisel, a pry bar, and a mission. I just finished prying them loose and patching the holes. Once the patch is dry, I can paint the left over spots.
Has anyone ever watch the movie Pleasantville? Remember the part where they wanted a short list of "Approved" colors? Was the entire 50's on this list? I wanna know. I pried loose the boards in the office first. The original paint under the boards is the same pink my grandmother had in her bedroom since time immemorial. Since the kitchen was also pink, I guess that's not a surprise. Of course, the kitchen was also the same mint green Grandma used to have. The same bright yellow she had in the kitchen at one time was in mine as well.
But what really got me was finding the same mustard yellow under the boards in the master bedroom that used to be in my grandfather's room.
Gram was adopted, and her dad vanished from sight as soon as her mom announced she was preggers, so who knows. Maybe they were related!
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oh boy was this FUN!! this somehow kept slippen by me and man was it fun tonight to sit and go over it. What an amazing home you've made and so fun to watch you do it!! It sure makes me want to get some paint and be brave and paint. I love what you've done and geesh what energy and determination you've had. :2thumbsup; WoW!! So nice and cozy and will be fun watching the rest of what ever it is you decide to do next. Love it and thanks for sharing!! beautiful!!
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Looks great and the cat too! :rofl;
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Lovely, lovely
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oh boy was this FUN!!
It's been a lot of fun and frustration for me, but well worth it! It's been fun sharing it, too. :)
Looks great and the cat too! :rofl;
It's Murphy in both of those pics. He was bound and determined to add a few more white spots to his coat while I was painting. Dora had the sense to stay out of the way!
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Wow, look at how its coming together! Catflap and all! Murphy's incredibly cute. Is that an enormous camilia outside the kitchen window? Its all looking so nice now!!!
:cookie; :cookie; :cookie;
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Wow, look at how its coming together! Catflap and all! Murphy's incredibly cute. Is that an enormous camilia outside the kitchen window? Its all looking so nice now!!!
:cookie; :cookie; :cookie;
The catflap was already installed when I moved in. Dora has figured it out. Murphy, well, bless his little heart, is a bit slower at things. I bought a second cat pan for the basement, so my growing kitties would have two options, one up, one down. The new pan has a flap on the door that pushes in very easily, but takes a bit more on the way out. He's got that down now, mostly because of sheer panic. ;D Eventually, he should get the hang of the one in the door, too!
I don't know exactly what the flowers are - some kind of giant rose bush with some wicked thorns. It's actually on my neighbor's property, cascading over my fence and covering part of her bedroom window, so she has something prettier to look at than my side door. I love it - it makes for a lovely view while sitting at the kitchen table.
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My closets are all white, pretty and full of organizers. Clothes and shoes, too. I've got almost enough room in just the one in the bedroom - but I am going to miss having a large walk-in closet where everything is spread out nicely. Guess I'll just have to get rid of some clothes.
I planned to rest on Sunday, read the paper, relax - just a bit of laundry and shopping, no projects. Yeah, right.
I got the shopping done - always a joy in an unfamiliar store, but I'm not driving 25 minutes back to the old one when there's another just 10 minutes away.
I had one last load of laundry in the dryer, and I was thinking about going to bed early. I carried the clean stuff up and put it away. As usual, when I arrived in the bathroom to put away the washcloths, there were little dirty cat prints all over my nice clean white tub, toilet, and sink. This has been a source of annoyance since I finished the bathroom. I've been wiping up kitty prints two or three times a day. I had a white sink at the apartment, and they never left footprints on it, so I suspect it's coming from the grubby basement floor. I haven't done anything to it yet but a quick sweep. So, I figured while I waited for the laundry to dry, I could at least do a quick mopping in front of the laundry area. That's where I walk the most right now, so that's a good place to start.
On my way down the steps, I remembered the puffs of dust the dirty brown carpet gave off when I watched my brother-in-law walk up it in front of me the other day. Uhhh, right. Maybe it's not the floor. And even if it is partly the floor, cleaning it won't do me any good if I'm tracking the grime from the nasty carpet along it.
So, I started yanking. 3 hours later, I finished. I was so filthy I had to take a second shower for the day. I thought the green shag carpet on the upper stairs was bad - at least it was only ugly and overly tacked on. The basement stuff was horrible! Both cats and I were sneezing from the dust and dirt flying. And even more nails, because they kept trying to pound in more when the stairs started to shift. It didn't help, because they were shifting because the treads were broken.
3 of the treads are snapped in two lengthwise. All of them have had some application of black goo in squares in the center. It was painted on thickly in the centers over the ugly gray cement paint, and then a notched trowel like one I used to put tile mortar up with was dragged through it. I'm sure it gave lovely traction, but it's going to be impossible to get off and a horror to paint over and attempt to put any nice looking tread patches on. As a whole, they are a banged up, gooped up, half-nailed together mess.
So, after the shower to get rid of the grit, I got online and found out that new stair treads in paintable pine are less than $10 each at home depot. Of, yeah, much better option. The cost of the sandpaper and stripper to clean the old ones would be nearly that much, never mind the effort. So I went shopping again today. I had to have them all cut down, since they only come in up-to-code 11-1/2" width now, and not the 9-1/2 that I need, but hey, that's what all those guys in the red aprons are there for. They were happy to cut 2 inches of them for me, and I took all my scraps home as well, 'cause, hey, who knows what I'll need to do next?!
I also bought enough screening and parts to make screens for all the windows missing them, and all the bits and pieces to mount them properly. I had found the kits during the previous shopping trip and bought one to try. Once I figured out how easy it was, I just bought the parts as needed for the rest.
I also got some more fans. I'm going to miss having central air, too!
So, projects for tomorrow, when it's supposed to be hot again - screens and basements stairs. Time to break out the pry bar again!
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The stair project expands in scope as I go....
I knew the treads were split. I figured I might need to replace a few risers as I went.
I didn't realize that the treads were splitting because the stringer underneath was disintegrating. :P
BIL arriving tomorrow, so I can get his opinion on if it would be easier to add on squares of 2x or just install a new stringer to the inside of the existing one.
Okay, off to paint something instead....
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No idea what a stringer is. I guess I need to look underneath the stairs in the basement to possibly find it.
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Treads are the part you walk on. Risers are the piece of wood at the back that your toe touches. Stringers are the zigzag pieces underneath that the treads and risers are nailed to. There are usually two, sometimes 3, stringers spaced out under the stairs.
I did all the puttering projects instead of stairs yesterday. All the little stuff that needs doing, but that don't have any visual impact. I replaced the battery in an existing smoke detector and got it mounted back on the wall. I dug my carbon monoxide detector out of my packed boxes of stuff, replaced the battery and hung it up. I used the little bit of paint I had matched to the existing color in the living room to touch up all the holes I spackled and painted some spots in the hallway that clearly had gotten handled a lot. I painted the wood outlet covers I bought to put in the living room. I sprayed bug spray around the outside of the house and the garage. (Two words: jumping spiders.) I filled the bird feeders I had washed and hung up the other day while they were still wet. I pulled some weeds from the horseshoe pits. I poured boiling water on the ants' nest by the garage. I put a handle on the cupboard over the gas meter so I didn't need a screw driver to pry it open every time. I put door stops on two doors. I measured and made another four screens for various windows, three of them upstairs, so I could have more air flow in the house during the upcoming 90 degree weekend. I did a lot, and it doesn't look like I lifted a finger. :P
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All this morning?
You do not sleep much I take it? ;D
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All this morning?
You do not sleep much I take it? ;D
That was yesterday, after tearing up the bottom two steps and having to stop. My brother-in-law had to reschedule, so I guess I'll be waiting to see what needs to be done on the steps. I think I'll paint one of the bedrooms today instead. Or nap all day. One of the two!
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Bedroom is painted - now green, white, and a light cream with a tinge of pink.
Cat is painted - now black, white, and a tinge of soft green.
Hallway floor is unpainted - light hardwood with tinge of green paw prints.
The other cat managed to use her tail as a paint brush, but didn't get it on anything that was covered with plastic or newspaper.
Tomorrow, I need to scrub the floor on my hands and knees to get some carpet gunk off that won't mop up, but will scrub. I'm trying to decide on a furniture layout now, before I start hanging artwork.
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And the endless projects continue....
The conclusion from both BIL and myself - the basement stairs are past fixing. I had a carpenter come and look at them on Saturday. He's getting back to me with an estimate to replace them properly. Hopefully, the damage to my wallet isn't as bad a the current damage to the stringers.
So, I puttered on after the carpenter left. Started on the living room, planning to wash the walls, paint the trim and the front door, and finish with scrubbing the floor before finally putting down my new rug. Ha. Scrubbing took massive chunks of plaster off the window frame. Annoying, but this, at least, I can fix. Right after I went and got more patching plaster, that is. So I started on the front door. It's old veneered wood. It had gotten soaked, and the veneer had buckled, so I did my best to peel off the loose parts, and puttied over that. Then I buzzed off to go shopping, still looking for a bedroom rug and stopping to get the plaster.
Sunday, I woke up just long enough to take pills and go back to bed. Can't win 'em all - apparently, it was my day to feel lousy. Guess I brought home more than plaster. Lots of germs, no rug.
Today, the front door is sanded, the holes in the window frame are plastered, and I put together and hung a jewelry organizer. It's already overloaded, mostly because I keep making more while I'm teaching my beading classes. Maybe, just maybe, I have too much jewelry.
Nah.
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Kittens look like they are very happy in their home. Love the picture above the bed. Hope you're feeling better. :waving;
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How lucky you are to have such helpful kitlings!
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They help with everything! Well, expect the living room window, when I started dropping chunks of plaster on their heads. ;D
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I'm so enjoying reading this, especially the ct antics!
And the pictures are great! :2thumbsup;
Aleta
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Between the holiday and heat wave, I haven't gotten much done lately. I did quite a bit on my front stoop. I got the storm taken apart and spray painted the metal panel on the bottom, which had faded from brown to something that looked more like rust than paint. Also spray painted the iron rails while I was at that. Got the disintegrating threshold repaired, puttied and painted as well. I even painted a new house number sign, since the old chip board house numbers were falling apart. I caulked every screw and nail hole I could find in the siding. I lowered the mail box. My 6'2" brother-in-law mounted it for me while he was here helping a while back. He put it at a height easy for him to reach. My 5'2" mail carrier couldn't get the out-going mail out of the bottom unless I left a step stool on the porch for her. ;D I only need to install the new porch light and repair the spalling concrete now. Should hopefully only be another day's worth of time there.
Inside - well, other than puttering in the basement cleaning and messing around running my tv antenna wire up to the first floor, it doesn't feel like I've done a darn thing. I've been shopping for bargains, mostly. I found an ugly canvas at the thrift store that I repainted into a bit of fun for my kitchen wall. I used coupons for both the canvas drop cloth material and stuffing I need to make a cushion for my $9 thrift store papasan chair. After several attempts and returns, I finally found living room curtains that were both on sale and long enough for my giant living room window. Not in the burgundy I wanted, but the dark brown will do, I think. Hey, at $17 each for $70 curtains in the length I needed, it's going to do, regardless! Also found an area rug on sale that might work in either the living room or the rec room.
So, today I finally got my butt in gear and started painting trim in the living room. I've got the windows and the door trim coated in primer. I should have all the trim done tomorrow, and hopefully get the living room scrubbed and put back together by Monday. Can't wait to see what it looks like with curtains up and a rug down. Maybe even artwork on the walls....
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It's looking really good. I'm sure it's all that feline supervision!
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I love following the progress of your house jbeany...and I really love those little shelves on the living room window...so great for displaying glass for example.
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They would be lovely with glass bottles, or plants, or small sculptures. So far, I've opted for cats.
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Oh my goodness, jbeany, this house is looking fantastic! I mean, really...it is looking so cute! I am so impressed. I'm loving the pics...keep them coming.
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Love the canvas! You are really amazing. I am so impressed at all that you've accomplished!
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I love the kitchen art work. You are so busy and doing a great job!
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More to-do projects stacking up today. A friend got seven pallets in varying sizes and shapes for me and left them at my sister's - her place is on his way home from work. My BIL dropped them off today. When I'm ready to start working downstairs, I'm going to paint four pallets black, bolt them together, add casters, and turn them into a platform for a twin mattress to use as a lounging couch and guest bed. One super-heavy one with a fabulously weathered coat of orange paint is getting cut in half, stacked together, and turned into a coffee table with the addition of block legs and casters. With a little reconfiguring, one will be hung on the wall for a shelf. The last one is going to be ripped down to repair slats on the others, and because it's built around chunks of 4x4 which will be the block feet for the coffee table.
Such a great barter - A roomful of furniture for a batch of cookies. What a deal!
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hahahahaha! What brilliant ideas! Oh, I can't wait to see the pics of THESE finished projects!
Do you have a yard/garden? I don't remember...do you have any ideas in that regard? Can we help you design your garden when you're done with the more important/necessary stuff inside the house? I'd bet monrein would have some brilliant ideas! Don't want to step all over your project, though! Well, maybe just a little bit. I wanna play! :rofl;
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I have a rock garden. Literally. The only landscaping I have consists of plastic covered in small rocks, which lines the front and both sides of the house about 3 foot deep. There is a nice, sturdy wood fence that runs up the driveway to the garage. It has more small rocks along it, with some bigger rocks at intervals. I do have horseshoe pits out back behind the garage, and my yard is nearly regulation width for a double set of pits. I even found real metal horseshoes to play with, and have already hung a thrift-store find chalkboard out there for keeping score.
Personally, I can kill hen and chick succulents, so I'm glad my sister is good at gardening. She's going to help me plant this fall - or at least help me plan it, with things that will require as little care as possible. I'll take all the advice I can get from anyone with a green thumb, so when I get there, please, monrein, feel free to chime in!
Sis has already decided I'm getting some kind of flaming bushes for the front, since I'm going with deep squash orange for my door and shutters. I'll nod and pay and dig holes where she tells me too. It will look fabulous when she's done. She's agreed with my choice of lots of lavender along the wooden fence, some tiger lilies 'cause those never die, and lily of the valley along the back of the house, where there is a 10 inch overhang from the foundation, making a dark little alcove that the lily of the valley should fill quickly. I want ferns too, but not sure if it's shady enough along the fence. There are some things planted and spreading along the back property line which she approved of and named, but I haven't a clue. She said I'll be able to transplant some it up front. Oh good, I can afford that.
Eventually, I want to plant more trees, too. While I'm in a lovely tree-lined neighborhood and my back property line is solid trees, none of them are actually on my property. The only tree I own is in front of the house on the other side of the sidewalk. I want a big fluffy lilac bush to provide a screen between my backyard and the neighbor's driveway/car collection on the side of the house without the fence. Until it grows, I plan to buy 3 or 4 doors at the salvage store and hinge them together into a giant screen. That will be a project for next year, I think. I also love red maples, so I want at least one of those, if not a pair. I am aware I'm recreating the plantings I liked best at my grandmother's house, and my sister thinks it's funny since this house has so many design elements in common with Gram's. As long as I'm skipping the sticky pine trees with cones to rake up and the crab apple that left little piles of skunk bait everywhere that Gram also had, I'm okay with that.
Right now, I'm the one pathetic house on the block with no landscaping at all, but given the drought we're having, I'm in no rush to start planting things I have to remember to water anyhow. :P
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The living room is finished! :bandance; I scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees and got all the carpet-backing imprints up from the last owner's rug. I rolled out my new rug and got all the furniture back in place. The curtains and curtain rods are up, the windows are sparkling clean, and I've even got a little bit of artwork on the walls.
Washing the windows was an adventure. I've got an 8 foot wide, 6 foot tall window, that angles out at the top outside. The 3 panels of 6 foot tall storm windows were filthy inside, and had to come off to be washed. I had to climb up on the step ladder to reach the screws to loosen the them, and then try to get them pushed up to release them from the bottom ledge, and back to the ground without dropping them, when they were already at an angle because of the tilted window frame. Putting them back was equally entertaining.
My neighbor was highly entertained watching me. He was going by in a car as I was wrestling one of the panels down. I was focusing on what I was doing, so didn't realize he stopped in the middle of the road to watch. When I got the last panel safely to the ground, he beeped the horn and hollered "Nice job!" Gee, thanks, Brian. :P At least the other window only involved climbing up on the step ladder to scrub it.
But, boy, were they both filthy, and wow, is it brighter in the living room now. After all that, I really needed curtains to block the summer sun. I got the curtain rods up, with a bit of finagling. I bought a $20 rod at the discount store that was supposed to be big enough for the 8 foot window. Well, apparently, it was at the discount store because of defective packaging. What should have been 3 rods that notched together was two identical rods and one that slipped into the width of one of the other two. Phooey. I already had the smaller matching one up on the other window when I realized this. Taking it back meant taking that one down as well, plus having to find another big enough, which was unlikely for that price. Hmmm..... I realized if I could find a dowel that would slide into the center of the two identical rods, I could still use it.
Oh, hey, how about the handle from mop I just broke. I snapped off the cheap plastic end, but the handle is metal. Yup, it fits perfectly, with just a little bit of electrical tape on the inside to keep it from sliding back and forth. Tada! I hack-sawed off the remaining plastic ends and wedged it all together.
Then all I had to do was sew the curtains. For my huge windows, I needed extra long curtains. I finally found some on sale that I liked ($17 for $70 panels - Score!), but only 5 panels left. 6 would have been easier, but cutting the fifth panel in half and sewing it to the panels for the big window was enough width. So that was my project last night. I hauled everything up to the craft room and set up the ironing board, dug the iron and the pins out of a packing box, and....realized the plugs don't fit in the ancient outlets upstairs. Well, the sewing machine does - because it was my mother's and is nearly as old as the house. So, I hauled the iron and ironing board downstairs and ran back and forth sewing and ironing all the panels.
Whew! Tiebacks up, and it all looks lovely. I dug out a set of prints to hang over the couch, just so the walls aren't bare for now. I repotted a plant, bought a new one on sale for a bare corner, and it's all coming together.
Office next! Or maybe the electrical - this is getting annoying....
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:2thumbsup; Wow, jbeany, your living room looks great! The window washing doesn't sound or look like it was any fun at all. :(
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You are amazing! It's taken me a month to hang new shelves in my breakfast room, but finally did it - was tricky standing on the counter and balancing the shelves on a pile of boxes so I could put the screws through the toggle anchors. I was thinking of you. It's so hard to do projects alone. Not impossible, but really hard! The shelves were from IKEA so not really heavy, just big.
Your curtains look great - your home is looking quite cozy! :cheer:
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Wow wow wow! I have a lightbulb in my kitchen that needs replacing. You're just the woman for the job. Please come to my house!
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Im very impressed.
I had to comment on the green shag, my house I bought had green shag carpeting! I loved it but my son would find things in it, i felt it too unsafe for him. so I ripped it up, what a nightmarish thing to do by urself!
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Ripping up old carpet is the nastiest, dustiest job ever... bleah. And do I really want to ask what kind of "things" he was finding? :P Watermelon seeds, perhaps? My family bought a house when I was in 6th grade, and I kept peeling watermelon seeds out of the shag carpet in my bedroom. One of my schoolmates used to stay at the house - we had bought it from his grandparents. He confessed that he and his cousin had seed spitting contests when they slept in that room, trying to bulls-eye one of the knots in the paneled wall. Boys.... ::)
Today's triumph - electrical plugs and switches in the office. My computer is FINALLY plugged into a socket in the same room it's actually in. No more giant orange extension cord running through my hall. My Better Homes and Garden electrical DIY manual states that changing a plug takes 10 to 15 minutes. They neglect to mention the half hour per plug scraping paint from the screws and prying it off the wall where it has been slathered with paint half an inch thick.
Now on to the living room, after a water and food break. That looks to be more interesting - since I had the breaker labeled "Bedroom and Living Room" off to do the office electrical - and all the living room lights and the fan were still on. Pity my label maker is still packed away - I could use it for the breaker box. Tape and marker will do for now, though.
Onward! (I'd yell "Charge!" but I don't want to tempt fate until the electrical work is done.)
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Who cares about your stupid carpet! What about my lightbulb! LOL!
Oh, do be careful with the electrics! We don't want a fried jbeany.
This thread has been so much fun, and I can't wait for more! Thanks so much for giving us all such brilliant updates.
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So, how many Moosemoms does it take to change a lightbulb, anyhow?
All the switches and outlets are changed in the living room - it only requires turning off 3 different breakers to cut the power to the one room. :urcrazy; I'm guessing the kitchen is the same, because the light was out but the fridge, stove, and micro were all still on. But, I changed the switch in there while I was at it. And the hallway, too. Bleah, most of the grotty old plugs and grimy switches were disgusting. Good thing they are cheap and relatively easy to change out - I wouldn't want to have to try to scrub the nasty, paint-covered things.
Tomorrow - I volunteer at the transplant games, but hopefully, I'll get some more done in the morning before I leave.
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I look forward to your report from The Games! :clap;
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You're my DIY heroine jbeany! :flower;
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Another set of Adventures in Home Ownership...
Still working on the electrical. Got the broken front porch light replaced, and all the outlets upstairs. My handy how-to book on wiring informed me that two way switches like the ones that run the light in the upstairs hallway need a different kind of plug, so I had to go to the store to get those. (I'm not an electrician, so why would I know this, right?) I didn't realize that when I shopped the first time. The side porch light is still not working. I don't know what happened there, but it's somehow tied in with the mystery plug to nothing just inside the side door that has enough wires for 4 plugs, but doesn't seem to go to anything. I put an illuminated plug in it that never lit up, so I think I may have a wiring issue. I bought a funky little volt tester. Get it near a live wire and it lights up and beeps. Hopefully, it will help me make sense of the wire scramble. I also need to take the new light back off and make sure my connections are tight enough, since the old light did work occasionally. It was a motion detector one, and the sensor only worked part of the time, which is why I wanted to replace it. (Plus it was really ugly. :P ) From the looks of the weather report, that's a job for next week. I'm not going to play with live wires in the rain. I'm only crazy, not stupid.
Today's adventure was the garage door opener. It's pitch black in the back yard (see above about the #$%*& side light) so I didn't realize it was still up when I went to bed last night. When I saw it this morning, I tried to close it with the remote I keep in the kitchen. Nada, no matter what angle it's held at, pointing out the window. Phooey, I just replaced the battery, and it's one of those funky sizes. My car wasn't in the garage, so I scooted out the side door and pushed the remote on the visor. Nada. Oooh, that's not good. Used the electrical tester - both batteries are fine. Dashed through the downpour to the garage and hit the button on the wall. The light turns on, but no motor, and no door moving. Checked the alignment of the laser sensor on the bottom of the opening. Seems fine, all lights are on. Checked the track, and all the wheels look like they are still on it. Well, okay, grabbed the rope handle and pulled it down. Yup, slides fine. Phooey.
When all else fails, ask the family mechanic. Run in and get the phone, send him a text describing the problem and what I've done so far to troubleshoot. BIL texts back - Was it latched into place at the top? It won't move the door otherwise. Huh, I don't know if it was latched when I tugged it down or not. I never realized there was a latch spot. I'm not a mechanic any more than I'm an electrician, so why would I know this either? Hey, the garage doors we had when I was a kid swung up and out when you pulled on it. I was the opener.
Okay, run back out through the rain and try to pull the door up. I can see the latch spot, but I don't have enough leverage to pull that far back. Run back in and get the step stool. Climb up, tug it into place, and get down and use the wall button.
The door start doing a jig. BANG RATTLE SLAM, only six inches down and right back up, repeatedly. Yikes! I unlatched the door again to stop the banging and ran back in to the house and head downstairs to the electrical panel. So little else is correctly labeled, I hope the fuse marked GARAGE is right. Turn it off, turn it back on, head back out in the rain again. The light is on, and the motor has stopped bouncing up and down. Climb back up, re-latch the door, get back down, and gingerly press the button on the wall. Hurray! It works now. I guess all the attempts to press the remotes and wall buttons overloaded the poor thing. Turning off the power reset it. Last night's wind must have been strong enough to tug on the rope and unlatch it.
I'm now soaking wet and probably just extended my head cold for another week, but hey, the garage door works again.
So much to learn!
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Wow Jbeany that sounds like a fantastic achievement, now please go, and have your self a coffee, and rest, and sit, and check if the door still works.
Well done though,
love Cas
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Today's project - Replace the 3 outlets and one double switch in the kitchen. I started at noon. I just finished and it's midnight. Another quick project!
Turning the electricity off took forever. The double switch to the kitchen sink light/garbage disposal is on two separate and (previously!) unlabeled circuits. The plugs are on two others. Good grief. The garbage disposal had a broken switch, so that really needed to be done. I could tell it had gunk built up in it, since the sink takes forever to drain on that side. In spite of running up and down the stairs repeatedly to find the right breaker, all went well. My new volt meter is my new best friend - it makes it much easier to tell which wire is hot and which one is neutral.
Okay, so, now the switch is fixed, does the garbage disposal finally work? Ummm....no. I googled troubleshooting tips. Hey, there's a reset button on the bottom. Okay, reset and the motor hums, but nothing else happens until the reset button pops again. Crud. More research. I need a particular allen wrench by Insinkerator to spin the fly wheel loose. Off to Lowe's with my list. Get everything else on the list, but they are out of the Insinkerator wrenchettes. (Don't look at me like that - that's what it's called!)
Off to Home Depot another 20 minutes away. Home again, insert wrenchette and attempt to move flywheel. Yeah, right - it's not budging. Okay, my BIL told me he took it apart and rinsed it out while he was here without me one morning, so maybe if I take it apart, I can get more leverage on it than I can laying upside down half out of the cupboard. Uh, back to Google for more directions. Pry it off and undo as much as I can. Holy Crud! BIL must not have taken it this far apart when he rinsed. It's got so much goo cemented into it, I have to chisel it off with a hammer and ice pick. This is never going to spin again. I looked back at the technical drawings of what it looks like when it's new. I've got a good inch of caked and rusted crud on both sides of the fly wheel. I tried for quite a while, but there's no hope. I give up when I realize the top of the flywheel has actually got rust flaking off it in the few spots I can scrape down to metal.
Back to Lowes. Get a new disposal. Home again, read the directions. Okay, this looks manageable. Except, if I've already got half the plumbing out from under the sink, I might as well put my new faucet at the same time, right?
Surrrre.
I bought a new one because not only is the old one beat up and leaky, it doesn't have a sprayer attachment - even though my sink has a hole for one. Classy look, with the extra hole to no where, let me tell you. ::) So, more directions to read. Oh, surprise, there aren't any shut-offs at the kitchen sink. I read the directions for installing shut-offs while replacing the faucet, as the experts recommend. Okay, NOT. I'm just going to put in the new faucet and call it good! I know how to shut off the water to the entire house.
What I did not realize is that even with the water to house completely shut off, there is enough water in the system to make the faucets still drip a steady stream of water once you unhook the lines. Geez, and I thought I got wet fixing the garage door! At least I wasn't upside down getting it in the face while causing myself back injuries from being half in and half out of the cupboard. One full bucket of water and two half-soaked bath towels later - tada, new faucet!
On to the disposal. Okay, this went well. I do wish though that they would print the list of "Not included" stuff on the outside of the package. Thankfully, I had what I needed to get the wiring together correctly. A little forceful shoving and a whole lot of test runs finally fixed the one last leak from where I reconnected the pipes. Okay, back down to flip the breaker.
Hurray! It works!
Everything is clean again, the trash is out - I even straightened up the workbench. It must be time to call it quits, right?
At least until tomorrow. My friend's daughter asked me today if she could come next weekend...and bring a friend...and a puppy. :o She's taking the puppy to her father, who lives in Ohio. They are meeting at my place, which is half way. I've known her dad since elementary school, so well that he used to call me "Sis," so of course, I said he could stay as well.
There is no incentive to get things done like company!
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How are my freekin hero!!
I am learning so much! I need a voltmeter too!
What's the name of the book you're using?
:yahoo; You're fearless!
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It's a Better Homes and Gardens book. "Wiring: Step by Step Instructions." I know it's all available online, but as I don't have a laptop, I can't look online when my power is out! The volt detector is like a magic trick. When I get it near a hot wire, it lights up and beeps, without even toughing the wire. I've had a regular meter for a while, but the detector is highly entertaining and useful.
Got the trim and the edge of the tub where the new lino meets it caulked in the bathroom, as well as some gaps in the trim in the hallway caulked over too. That means the bath is officially finished, except for some final decision on artwork. So far, I've just set the picture I had hanging in my apartment bath on the shelf in this one. It may not get anything more for quite a while.
I unpacked the glass shelves for the curio cabinet, washed them, put them in it, and unpacked enough knickknacks, artwork, pictures, and other decor items to decorate the living room. The bathroom vanity came with a mirror that doesn't work in the bathroom - no wall space left since I put a medicine cabinet over the vanity. It was hanging out in my office, still in the box, when I realized it would look nice in the living room in the last empty spot on the wall. I wanted something simple, and everything I had for artwork was going to look to fussy. I like the way it looks, although I keep doing a double take as I walk by, wondering what's moving on the wall. At any rate, the living room looks decorated finally. Some of the pics and things ended up in the bedroom, so that looks a bit less barren as well.
I spent time working upstairs today. I'm slowly working at heating the old lino off the built in desktop. I was trying to heat and scrape the adhesive off, too, but umm....no. It's nasty, and it's going to take weeks with a heat gun. Time to get some chemicals and strip it in an afternoon. I did unpack a large stack of boxes and sorted things into the built-in drawers. Much of my material is now hanging in the closets, and many of my bins are now tucked away underneath the fabric. It's lovely to see the floor space again, and I can't wait to get the desk done so I can really start setting up. I'm tired of trying to find things for my craft classes and not having a clue where I've put them.
Company coming tomorrow, so I won't get much done this weekend. Ah well, the mess will still be here when they've gone!
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:flower; Company! How nice!
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Wow beany. Your house is coming along something amazing! :bow;
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Sure you do not want a cable show on HGTV or TLC? ;D
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It's a Better Homes and Gardens book. "Wiring: Step by Step Instructions." I know it's all available online, but as I don't have a laptop, I can't look online when my power is out! The volt detector is like a magic trick. When I get it near a hot wire, it lights up and beeps, without even toughing the wire. I've had a regular meter for a while, but the detector is highly entertaining and useful.
Found the book on Amazon - thanks.
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Sure you do not want a cable show on HGTV or TLC? ;D
Actually, filming the entire process would have gotten high ratings as a comedy...I can see high speed shots of me zooming up and down the steps, trying every combination possible on the breaker box, trying to figure out the tangled wiring. I'm betting they would have done a slow-motion replay of the water in my face when I replaced the kitchen faucet. :P Perhaps someone should consider it as a contrast to shows like "This Old House" when everyone always has the right tools and nothing ever goes wrong!
I'm getting my basement steps replaced on Tuesday! :bandance; :bandance; :bandance; My carpenter friend-of-a-friend finally had an opening in his schedule. My bottom two steps have been a milk crates for the last month. I can't wait to have sturdy, no-squeak steps with clean, wood tops that I can paint in fun colors! I think I want to do ombre shading on them. Paint the steps all the same color, but the risers a progressively lighter shade each step up. I just have to add white to the color in increasing amounts as I work my way up.
My company just left. I need to do laundry to wash all the extra sheets and towels, and then get to work ripping out the old steps. I'm hoping the replacements can be done in one day, so I'm going to give him a head start.
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My steps were started at 8:30 and finished by 1:30. Travis works fast! (And shirtless. Darn, that was tough work, watching a buff, tan guy with great abs working on my house. I might need a cold shower.)
I did tear all the treads and risers off last night, so that probably helped the work go faster. Nothing like de-construction to work out your frustrations! The only thing I left in place was the stringers - mostly because I couldn't get an leverage to knock them loose. I'm too short!
I'm working on scraping the nasty, cracked laminate off the built-in desk upstairs. The chemical stripper may have sped things up, but the smell sure is headache inducing. Bleah. Taking a break before I start patching the dings and sanding the last of the wood smooth.
Pics!
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I was wondering how you got out of the basement with no stairs until I saw the ladder. Kitty found a way! New stairs look great and the paint idea sounds cool!
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I'm getting wiped out just reading this thread......... ;D Wish I had your energy! The house looks great, you really have a gift for this :bandance;
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Hmm...gift or curse? :)
Finally mowed the lawn today. The mower wouldn't start yesterday. It's an electric start, so I plugged it in overnight, hoping the battery just needed charging. Nope, was still doing the same thing today. The motor would turn over, but not catch. It had oil, it had gas, it had a charged battery and - well, seriously, it's an engine. That's about as far as I get before I run out of bright ideas. I'm smart enough to have added dry gas to my new car when it shuddered every now and then, but other than a few basic things, I'm not much good with engines. And this is a lawnmower, not a car, so I really don't where things are.
So, I tried for a bit, and dug out the manuals and started to read all the troubleshooting tips. No help there - the next thing it said to do was adjust the spark plugs. No clue there. Pity they didn't let me take auto shop in high school instead of home ec. (With a professional chef for a dad and a former home ec teacher for a mom, the how to cook and sew class was a total waste of my time.) Okay, last resort - text BIL with what I've checked so far, see if he's got any ideas to try.
He's working on his deck today, so I wasn't expecting an immediate response anyhow. I got busy with a bunch of other things. I watered the pinks my sister gave me to transplant. I measured and started working on the pallets I'm turning into casual furniture for the rec room. No response from BIL, so I decided to put the mower away and get it out of my work area in the garage.
Of course, just because I was irritated with it not working, I tried the key one more time.
And it started.
And I had left my glasses in the house.
I REALLY didn't want to let go of it and have it shut off again. What if it didn't restart? My lawn wasn't getting any shorter. I last mowed it 9 days ago. If it had worked yesterday, 8 days of growth isn't too bad. If the mower died again, it might be several more days before BIL could come see what was wrong. Not a pretty picture.
So I mowed without my glasses. Squinting in the sun isn't such a big deal - it was trying to figure out where my mowed lines were, when I couldn't tell the short grass from the long grass until I was right on top of it!
Ah, well - After I shut it off, I went back over the few stray spots I missed with the weed wacker after I went and got my glasses. It looks pretty good, really.
Even with my glasses on.
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Those velcro straps come in handy for the mower jbeany. It will keep the saftey switch engaged while you attend to something elsae in the way or in your case, get your glasses. Without looking hard to tell why it acted up, but I would have checked for a short in key areas between spark plug and ignition switch. Those troubleshooting tips in a manual never help, never list the problem you are having!
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Velcro would have been good! I've got some giant twist ties that would have been helpful, too. Must remember to wrap one around the handle. If it's going to be fussy to start, I don't want to have to shut it off every time I need to move the lawn furniture or the gutter drain.
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From my experience the twist tie route is not good. They wire tends to be to flimsy. But if you do use it, keep extras on hand.
In my day we did not have these darn saftey devices, we knew better!
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Engines need air, fuel and a spark to start. Spark plugs can get a little gunky and not work. Sometimes you just unscrew them, wipe them off where the head is and it could help. Adjusting them is by checking the gap, but since you mowed 9 days ago it seems unlikely that the spark plugs would need adjusting. How does your air filter look? (I know this stuff from my motorcycle days.)
Here are some good tips http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL_DyQX29UQ It's a bit much but gives a general idea
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I don't think I've mowed more than 6 times - the drought killed the grass and there was little to mow in June and July. It frustrates me to be having trouble already with a brand new mower.
Thanks for the link, karol - I'll take a look before I head out to try to get it started next week!
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I haven't posted on this in quite a while! I got off track once I started volunteering again, and things have been taking muuuuuuch longer to get done these days.
My brother-in-law finally had to come check my lawn mower. It had something caught in the throttle spring. He taught me how to check the spark plugs while he was here.
I have some incentive to get moving again now. It looks like I've (been!) volunteered to hold the end-of-term party for the pro-bono clinic at my place. I'm centrally located for most of the students, and I've got plenty of space for a party of 30 to 40 people. 20 students, 5 staff, and various dates and significant others. Even if only half show up, it's going to be a crowd!
Sooooo - I've only got space if I have the family room downstairs finished. Time to get moving again!
The biggest thing taking up space downstairs was all my crates and boxes of books, along with boxes of artwork. Only way to move most of it was to put it away where it belongs. Which would be the office, upstairs. I've been plugging away at it for a while, but keep getting buried in paperwork for job apps, Assistance Apps, Ticket to Work - and oh yeah, the research for the huge trial I'm helping with. I've been living with a giant mess for weeks now, as I puttered away at painting and other odd things like replacing all the broken cam locks that hold together my bookshelves.
My sister volunteered to come help me get rolling again this Saturday. She's amazing at designing things, so I wanted her to spend her time here doing the decorating stuff, not the painting stuff. I spent 12 hours Friday finishing the painting, washing the windows, scraping and puttying the window trim prior to painting it, and all the other annoying things I had been procrastinating on. She came Saturday just as I was scrubbing the floor one last time, and we began hanging blinds, curtains, and artwork, as well as rearranging furniture, getting the room size rug in place, and hauling up the books and decor from the basement. I got all the books shelved yesterday, and I spent today reorganizing files and office supplies.
I still have papers from school to sort and shred, but everything is tucked neatly away, and there's no rush on doing those, thankfully. I can start on the next room now. I think I'm going to get the rest of the craft room together next, as I need my sewing machine set up properly so I can make cushions and curtains for downstairs.
Onward!
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And the finished project...
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Wow, sounds like you've got our work cut out for you, but the finished bits look amazing. Nothing like a deadline to keep a person on track - and you will no doubt make an elegant and welcoming hostess when the party day arrives.
I wish you the best of luck. Now get moving! :)
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Oh wow...it all looks AMAZING! I love love love the red accent wall.
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Next on the deadline list - paint the stairs to the upper level. These were the ones I yanked the gawd-awful 70's green shag off the first day I owned the place. I finally have them refinished - or at least close to it. I swept them, scrubbed them, pulled all the stray nails and carpet tacks I missed or didn't have the tools to remove the first time, puttied them, sanded them, swept them again, vacuumed them, wiped them down, primered them, and painted two coats of brick red floor paint on them. I think I need a third coat on the treads because the paint goes on thin, but they look really good.
The paint was one that came pre-colored, so I wasn't entirely sure how well it would match the tiny color sample on the label. It is really close, but it's the scariest paint I've ever seen. It dries a lovely brick red - but it goes on a horrible purple-mauve! I had to get out my blow drier and double check.
The cats were duly unimpressed. I locked them out when I started painting at the top of the steps. When I worked my way down far enough, I had to open the door at the bottom of the stairs to have room to work. Since they wanted to help, they got locked in the bedroom. The bedroom door is directly opposite the basement door, so they whined and begged to be let out the whole time, and glared under the door at me like I'd imprisoned them for life!
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So, with steps more or less done, (I.e., I can skip the 3rd coat until after the party if I need to!) I move on to the basement. I hauled the leftover chunks of wood from the dismantled and replaced basement stairs up the new ones and out to the garage. I hammered the nails out of them so they would stack. Then I hauled my folding tables down and set them up in the laundry area. I unpacked all the boxes of
clutter decor I haven't used yet and set it all out, so when my sister comes to help, it's easier to see what I've got to decorate with. Then I shifted the furniture down there into the center of the room and started repairing holes.
The previous owner certainly entertained his friends down there a lot. And had a dart board. And used it while they were all drunk.
I can tell from the 6000 tiny holes around the big round spot on the side wall. ::) Apparently, he had never heard of cork board.
The biggest project was covering the ass hole. (See the pic for the simple explanation.)
Tomorrow I scrub and start painting. Hurray!
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It's looking amazing! Of course I realise the cats supervision is probably responsible for at least 90%.
My daughter made a wonderful bit of cat furniture. She bought a cheapish Ikea bookcase and cut holes in the back and side and covered the front of several sections of the shelves. Now her two cats have a sort of maze that they can chase each other through and places to hide. Her cats are utterly spoilt with entertainment choices
Whenever I check out this posting I leave in a state of exhaustion. I love it.
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Oh, yes, it is alllll due to the cats! They even killed their first mouse today. They knocked it off the top of the step stool and it died.
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I had missed your previous update so happily read all the news - you sure are doing an amazing job!
Kittens have grown so big too!
When is the party?
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The party is December 14th, so my time clock is ticking down!
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Well, with help from my sister and a friend who came to stay for a few days, I had everything ready for the party - just barely! The party was good, although I, as usual, made too much food and had far to0 much for everyone to drink. My fridge and bar are still stocked if anyone wants to come by... and it's a good thing Mexican food freezes well.
So, a few more pics, since I haven't posted any in a while. I didn't get the basement steps painted, but I did get the top one covered in matching pine luan so all the icky construction glue that was showing disappeared. The craft room was tidy, but not very well organized behind the closet doors and in the drawers. I should be working on that now, but I've been using it instead of organizing it. I figure if I use up a substantial chunk of my fabric stash on tote bags to sell, I'll have less to organize later. Right?
I still haven't done anything to the laundry room except fix some lights and switches. I have the paint, and I'll get to it eventually, but there's a limit to how much remodeling I can stand at a time!
Sooooo...starting with the craft room....
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One last shot upstairs, and down to the basement...
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And more....
My grandfather had the first Harley Davidson dealership in Northern Michigan, back in the late 40's/early 50's. I have a collection of things like repair manuals, sales slips from him selling his first bike to his brother, photos of him, my grandmother, and my toddler mother on the bikes, and a great pair of his riding gloves with huge cuffs. I arranged them all in an old bulletin board frame (with the "Property of" sticker from the Catholic High School still on top) that I found at a flea market. The front panel is plexi, and was pretty scratched up, so I had to polish it before I could hang it. I had kitten help, of course.
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I LUST after your sewing room. I could help with your left over Mexican food, so I might just move in. I am a fully qualified cat cuddler, too.
:clap;
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One of the law students brought his wife to the party. She's a quilter, so she was ready to divorce him and move in, too. :) And you have to love cats to even enter my house, because mine are total tramps. They love EVERYONE. My sister ordered the bed frame for me as a house warming gift, and she used my computer to do. She was logged onto it for about 15 minutes, surfing, when she finally asked me what was wrong with Murphy. He was standing at her feet yelling his head off the whole time. I told her to scoot the chair back, he jumped in her lap, and all was quiet.
More pics, if the server will let me....
Note the fun I had using the sewing room to actually make something. I made a reversible cushion out of painter's canvas dropcloth and a secondhand duvet cover that I found at the thrift store for $5. My sister gave me an old bean bag so I could have the beans. Except when the bag is used long enough, they aren't beans anymore. They are styrofoam snow. I think I've vac'd the whole house 5 times since I made the thing, and I'm still finding bits of it. It's really comfy in the chair, though. The slip cover over the platform bed is also a paint drop cloth from Lowes. Huge chunks of sturdy material for very little money - it's a great deal for an industrial look.
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So here's what it looks like now... and a few Before shots for comparison!
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awesome- you are very talented!! :bandance;
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That was fun to see all the new photos - I love the changes - you really have transformed those spaces!
And all the kitten support really helps!
Is my room ready yet? I need a vacation... :)
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My friends tell me the platform bed is pretty comfy for overnights, so I'm ready for ya, Karol!
I think my friends are planning on filling the place to max capacity for next September's ArtPrize contest. I've got the couch, the platform mattress, and a queen air mattress, and plenty of room to spread everyone out in! It's a 3 bedroom house with a full basement, so I've no lack of floor space for sleeping bags, either. :) (I've just turned it into a 1 bedroom with an office and a giant craft room.)
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:2thumbsup;
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Today's project - a coat rack for the stairwell. I need a place for a sweater for when I'm running up and down doing laundry or when I'm running in and out the side door to the garage.
I looked at regular coat hooks at the local big box stores. I wasn't particularly inspired by any of them. They were kind of boring, and even the cheap ones run $3.50 or so. Anything fun was a lot more. I really wanted something fun - it's a pretty dull stairwell - white plaster walls and dark brown paneling. Spending $12 on boring just didn't seem like a good idea. Plus, hey, I just like weird stuff.
Hours spent searching yesterday's big antique show with my sister were a total bust. I found nothing, even with a $50 budget. Sis suggested we visit my favorite thrift store and shop for antiques in a place where the price tags don't run to triple digits so much. The place is run as a combo of thrift. antique, and estate sales. There are about 30 booths, and each vendor has their own specialty. Some of them have valuable antiques. Some of them have random garage sale crap. It's always busy, and it's always interesting.
My sister picked up a beat-up garden trowel at one of the back booths full of beat up tools and tool boxes, held it up so the spade part was flat against the wall and the handle angled out, and pointed it that it would be a great coat hook. Hmmmm.....YES! I dug around and ended up with 3 old masonry trowels. Grand total for the 3 of them - $2.75.
So, holes drilled, drywall anchors installed, and tools mounted, I now have one more bit of recycled, useful quirkiness that I love.
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Love the "coat hooks"! :clap;
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That's a clever solution! :2thumbsup;
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keewlll
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Nice!
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This is fantastic!!!!!!