My First Old House

December

2011-12-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

A lot of stuff happens in December. It's my birthday (Dec 11), Thanksmas (Dec 17), Christmas (Dec 25), and an extended trip of some sort (this year -- Cleveland, Dec 22 to 28).

As far as house news goes, I fixed our table. This hinge had been busted for about 8 months. I was never really sure exactly what was wrong with it, so I wasn't sure how to fix it. The method I used was: take off the matching hinge and bang the offending piece into the "right" shape with a large hammer. After I was done, I lubed it up with some "Liquid Wrench" and put it through the paces. Works like a charm!

Also, I got an air compressor (Porter Cable, 6 gallon, 150 PSI) and a pneumatic nailer (Porter Cable, 16ga finish nailer) for my birthday. I decided building a workbench extension from some spare lumber I had laying around would be a good first project.

The cuts:

The finished product:

I was really surprised at both how quiet and how useful the nailer was. I did use some screws, but the nail gun sped up the framing process substantially. I stole the design from the workbench I inherited from the previous homeowner. Basically, you make a box, put the legs in the corners, and secure the legs with blocking.

I put my new workbench to use already on a project that may be featured soon!

Catching up

2011-10-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of catching up to do. I have been watching too much Cardinals baseball (World Series Champs!), so I haven't been doing much else in the evening. Sorry! I was going to attempt to put things in chronological order, but I don't think there's much point. So here's a hodgepodge of things I did today as well as things we have been working on for the past few months.

Lindsay had to work this evening, so I had a chance to knock some things off my "Honey Do" list. The first thing I did was put the side panel on our pantry. That's the last piece of the puzzle as far as cabinets go in the kitchen.

The general idea with these panels is to use wood glue along with finishing nails. The wood glue gets the panel to stick nicely to the side of the cabinet, and the nails hold it there while it dries. I use some C-Clamps to hold it on while I'm working on getting the nails in.

Yes, I left my hammer on top of the pantry and spent half an hour looking for it.

By the way, in the last month or so, I made this round shelf thing and installed it.

I'm not 100% satisfied with the results -- cutting circles is an art I haven't mastered yet. In case you are wondering, the whole thing is made out of MDF. I finished it with a red oak veneer, then painted it. The shelves are glued and screwed. Attaching it to the wall was "fun". I didn't want any exposed screws at all, so I ended up recessing some toggle bolts to attach it to the wall (and normal bolts to attach it to the corner cabinet). In short, I drilled a small hole for the bolt shaft, then drilled a large hole for the bolt head - but only partially through the original hole. After everything was attached, I used wood filler to cover the bolt heads, then sand/prime/paint. Voila! (I took some pictures, but they were on my old phone and I forgot to transfer them before I sold it. Whoops!) EDIT: See a schematic here.

In other news, Lindsay found a microwave for $25 on Craigslist. We made a field trip to get it (about 30 minutes) and got Cracker Barrel on the way home (yum). I had to replace the handle (see: Wife wanted a new handle), so I bought one for $17 off Amazon and put it on. Final Cost: $42 + Cracker Barrel. Not bad.

Finally, we also put in a new ceiling fan. This was definitely a group project.

We had to kill the electricity, then take off the old fan and hang the new one. Unfortunately, I wanted to wait until the game was over (since the fan and the TV are on the same circuit). However, I also had to tutor from 11p to midnight (I tutor Calculus and Physics on tutor.com!), so we only had about a 45m window. As it turns out, this isn't enough time. So we ended up finishing it at like 12:30 or 1a. Wooooo!

The window behind the sink in the kitchen doesn't have a sill right now, since we ripped it out when we installed the new backsplash. Unfortunately, I have no experience with creating window sills. So I decided to experiment by using some scrap wood I had downstairs. Actually, it was part of the packaging of some furniture we bought like two years ago. I should probably throw some things out ...

Using my trusty jig saw and table saw, I made a template out of plywood scrap, then a 'final product' out of the aforementioned "wood".

I installed it to see if I like the size/shape. I can't decide if it should be flush with the tiles or come out a bit like it does now. Thoughts?

The final task for today was replacing one of the flanges on our outside fence. At some point, it broke. I went to Lowes and found a flange for it and replaced it.

This project was a good excuse to use my new corded hammer drill. (I also used it for installing the microwave. It was originally purchased for mixing tile adhesive / drywall mud.) Again, I bought a quality (read: expensive) drill that had good reviews and it totally was worth it. I installed a third concrete anchor, since previously there were only 2. This drill killed the 2" of concrete I had to drill through -- took about 10 seconds.

My lab is moving, so we are throwing out a lot of old stuff. I took possession of an old drill that didn't work anymore (or at least, the battery doesn't charge anymore). I had been needing a new case for my new drill, so I just ripped all the plastic walls out of it! It fits great!

We recently took a trip to our city's "free mulch pile" and loaded up our car for our new plants. We are always impressed with how much our little car can handle. Check it out!

I usually try to end with a cute picture of my wife, since she is prettier than my tools/projects. Hope you made it all the way to the end of this monster post. Phew.

In progress

2011-06-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

As per usual, I have been terribly lax at updating this blog. Either way, I'm back! We've been doing fairly continuous work, but I haven't been taking a lot of pictures. Some things of note:

* I got a faucet on clearance from Lowes. Being the king of negotiating, I took them from $175 ($285 retail) to ... $20 (with no Lowes card discount). I got the receipt to prove it!

* We bought what we thought was our last cabinet last week (the lazy susan). I finished it up and brought it upstairs to install. Even though the receipt said 36" x 36", it was only 28" x 28". What the heck? Apparently they expect you to build an 8" surround to put between the cabinet and the wall. After pushing it against the wall, we decided that we liked it better with a "stubby" countertop against the short wall. So I built the 8" shelf unit featured next to the pantry in the below images. I don't think I have any images of the construction (lame?), but it was fairly unexciting. I basically just copied the construction of the other cabinets.

So anyway, all the cabinets are screwed into the wall (and each other), just waiting for countertops. We ordered the countertops on 5/29, so they should be in any day!

To do list in the kitchen:
* Countertops
* Finish removing tile behind stove
* Drywall & Plaster
* Backsplash
* Floors
* Kickboard
* New Fan

So quite a bit, but it should go quickly.

* We bought an aboveground pool. It's filling as we speak. More pictures on this later!

* We heinously put our cat in one of the old cabinets.

New Year, New Projects

2011-01-03T16:11:00.000-08:00

I have fallen behind on this blog. I blame computer problems (my main computer died and has since been replaced since this blog was updated), but that was really a minor inconvenience rather than a catastrophic blow to my blogability. (As it turns out, it only requires a minor inconvenience to totally incapacitate me. Probably a life lesson in there somewhere...)

Anyway, I wanted to recap what I have finished since this blog was last updated:
* The tile was completely removed from that kitchen wall.
* The outlet on that wall was moved up into the area where the new backsplash will go.
* The missing wall was replaced with drywall and painted.
* We had our bay window replaced. I didn't DIY this one so I wouldn't screw it up :P
* I built a window seat for said new window. Lindsay upholstered it. Skeeter sits on it.
--> This will eventually make it into the blog. Lots of fun pictures and "over-engineering-it" commentary to follow.
* I installed a new programmable thermostat.
--> Discovered that this is the house's 5th thermostat!
* I got a miter saw AND a table saw for my birthday.
--> First project: a work table for my new tools.

Coming up?
* Finish the kitchen
--> More tile removal, more cabinet hanging
* Rewire the basement
--> Subpanel and more electrical fun
* Floors
--> Refinish everything (including the kitchen, again =/)!
* Bathroom
--> Gut? We'll see what the budget allows.

Old Construction

2010-09-04T18:20:00.001-07:00

The beauty of old construction is that it is stubborn and built to last, even when you want it gone. Case in point -- our kitchen walls. They are tiled, with red accents. Not the worst hand every dealt, but I am installing new cabinets and the tile has to go. I was just gonna carve out enough to put the cabinets in, but we decided to take it down to studs, drywall it, install the cabinets, and put a nice (new) backsplash in. Easy peasy, right?

Like I always say, the right tool for the job is essential to actually finishing it (and keeping your sanity). On the other hand, the right tool for the job is oftentimes expensive. Seeing as I didn't own a sledge hammer (and I'm cheap), we started the job with a normal hammer. After 10 minutes or so, I could tell it was gonna be impossible to finish the job in a timely manner with that wimpy little thing. In lieu of a sledge hammer, I decided to use my heavy duty axe (bought back when I thought I could take out the huge stump in our backyard with it - hah!). It's pretty heavy, and the back end is blunt, so it worked pretty well.

Here you can really see the construction of the wall. It's heavy duty. There are arguably 4 layers, including at least 2 inches of what Ask The Builder calls "Cement Mud" behind the tile. It's all laid on top of a metal lathe that was attached to the studs with a small piece of plasterboard (for an extra bump out). Believe me when I say it feels like hitting a thick cement wall.

Although the axe wasn't a bad solution (see: free), I really could use a sledge hammer. Luckily, we went garage sale-ing Saturday and I found one for $6-8, depending on how you count (I got $12 worth of tools for $10 -- the sledge hammer, a thin margin trowel, and a crow bar). When I got it home, I sanded the haft down smooth (220 grit) and put new "grips" on it with duck tape. Watch out, Wall!

Lawnmower Engineering

2010-09-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

I use a reel lawn mower. Besides being cheap on gas (free) and maintenance (free) and fumes (none) and storage (little required) and self-fertilizing (kinda), I just like it. It's a little workout, but I have a small yard and it's not bad, especially when it's nice outside. That being said, my poor mower had a wobbly wheel for a long time. I tried to tighten the bolt up, but I couldn't get the wheel off to tighten the dang thing -- the wheel assembly is riveted together and bolted to the mower, so the access to the bolt is blocked by the wheel itself.

I dealt with the lemons life had handed me for awhile, but a few weeks ago the wheel itself just fell off. At that point, I decided I needed to do something to salvage my engineering pride. What to do? Drill a hole in the wheel, of course.

Actually, I drilled a hole in the wheel with a spade bit, but then I had to carve out a little more with my jigsaw to fit my socket driver in the hole. A few minutes later, we were back in business -- maintenance cost still $0. I'm planning on sharpening the blade myself as well, and I'll definitely post on that!

As an aside, what you DON'T want to do is cut into the actual rim part of the wheel. Although the inside does carry some compressive stress, the outside carries the majority of the stress (see: hoop stress). If you bite into the rim, you'll need to fix it with a hard plastic or a piece of wood to keep the wheel from bending (and wobbling).

Miscellaneous Happenings

2010-07-21T06:29:00.000-07:00

There are always some miscellaneous things going on that loosely relate to my first old house.

Example 1: Dirt Bags vs. Rice Bags. Homemade corn hole bags, engineered from scratch. Not too shabby, in my humble opinion.

Example 2: Lindsay's cake. She took the recipe from a friend's blog (who took it from another blog), but I think it turned out pretty good. This is it before it got eaten. I think it needs a good name, so I have proposed "Peanut Butter Dynamite Cake".

Example 3: Lindsay's bulbs came up in our front yard just in time for Easter. Here is an "Old House at Easter" shot.

Big Blue Monster

2010-07-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

When we first bought the house, we had painted the kitchen white as a "placeholder", since we didn't know what color we actually wanted. Although I had grown fond of the white, Lindsay didn't like it. 8 months later, we decided to paint the kitchen the same color as our two-kitchens-ago kitchen, a color called "Deep Sea Dive". Here's the painter herself:

And the newly painted wall:

If you're saying "Ugh!", don't worry… you're not alone. We said ugh too, so it didn't actually even make it to all of the walls. Clearly this color wasn't working, so we tried out a couple others.

The Last of the Blue (see: The Last of the Mohicans) -- being swallowed up by one of the paint samples. To be completely honest, I can't remember if we went with the right or the left, but I think it was the right.

All finished up. Look forward to a "complete kitchen" picture sometime … well, eventually.

Kitchen Cabinets

2010-07-20T21:59:00.000-07:00

We have a blank wall in our kitchen, so we are putting in a new bank of cabinets -- uppers and lowers. This is part of an "overall kitchen makeover" which we started when we bought the house. It started with the floors (check), painting the existing cabinets (check), getting new cabinets (in progress), painting (check -- see next post!), and getting new countertops (no check). Anyway, here are some pictures.

We bought unfinished cabinets from Lowes. First, I use my trusty sander with 200 grit paper to make a nice finish. Then a coat of primer and 2 coats (or more) of paint to get a nice smooth look.

After primer:

All finished:

This picture demands some explanation. I had planned on getting some plywood and cutting it to fit the top of the lowers so we could actually use this cabinet's countertop while we were "in-progress". However, after pricing plywood, I decided there had to be something I had laying around that could work (and be free!). I had this piece of drywall laying around downstairs, leftover from the closet repair (see a previous post). After cutting it to fit, it actually works pretty well. Stylish too, with my ducktape border! :)

The Dining Room Light

2010-03-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

For a long time, we have wondered about the "mystery switch" in our dining room. There's a light switch, but no light. We had investigated the ceiling, and thought that one place looked like it might have once had a ceiling light. In addition, it was in about the right place. Lindsay decided to climb up into the attic and check it out. With a little guidance from me, she located the box. Eventually, we opened that sucker up from the bottom. First try, right into the junction box. Of course, the power was turned off at this point. Notice my excellent choice of footstool.

After opening up a sufficiently large hole to pull the wires out, I noticed they were ... gross. This box had been sealed up before the advent of wire nuts and modern electrical tape, plus all the connections were made with soldered pig tails. It was pretty much disgusting. After clearing off all the gook, we tested the circuit. Success! Apparently the "mystery" light switch wasn't such a mystery after all.

Flash forward about a week (to yesterday). Knowing the circuit was a go, we tested to make sure the light actually worked. Again, success. And a funny picture.

What remains? To actually hang this sucker. In order to put a secure hook into the ceiling, I wanted to make sure I was screwing into one of our rafters. Since the junction box wasn't actually screwed into a rafter, I went into the attic and measured the distance from the box to the rafter. Next, I estimated where the rafter should be based on my measurement. Then I used a stud finder to find the position of the rafter in two positions near my position. Finally, I drew a line between my measurements (linear regression ftw), and I screwed that sucker in. Success! Of course, being the engineer I am, I had to go back up into the attic to get a confirmation before I hung anything from it. (Hanging a chandelier on a hook that falls out of the ceiling goes under the category of "Man, that was stupid.")

Anyway, I'll cut to the chase. We're pretty happy with it. Voilà!

You may have been wondering, "What's Lindsay doing anyway?" She probably would have been watching TV, but it turns out that this light is on the same breaker as our TV. So no dice. Instead, she was planting vegetables in her cool little inside planter deal. Check it out!

New Vanity

2010-03-06T08:17:00.001-08:00

We have always hated our vanity. This is the best "before" picture I can find, but, by this point, we had already pained the cabinet doors, so it looked a little nicer than it started. Either way, it was one of those "necessary evils" that we were living with, because vanities are expensive, and we are saving for bigger fish (fishes?). A couple weeks ago (yes, I'm catching up!), Lindsay saw a vanity on sale at HD for $40. So we jumped on that. To my credit, it only sat in our living room for a couple days before I decided it was vanity day. It ended up staying like ... this ... for awhile.

For some reason, the builder did not include on/off knobs for the water supply to the vanity, so I had to shut off the water to the entire house to install it. This is/was a pain, so I decided to install some knobs myself. As it turns out, the supply lines running to this vanity are a strange breed -- I couldn't find the fitting anywhere! So our bathroom was a bit of chaos for a few days until I decided to give up and just install them like it was before -- knob free. In any event, it looks like this now:

Foundation Repairs

2010-03-06T08:13:00.001-08:00

So about 2 months after we moved in, we discovered there was a foundation wall on the west side of our house that would seep/leak during a bad rain. It was pretty close to the drain, but it was still annoying. So about 5 months ago (I know, I'm a bad blogger), I fixed it. It's not too difficult, plus working with concrete is fun. In this case, I used hydraulic cement. Before hand, I cleaned out the joint really well with a steel brush and a "chisel" (see: screwdriver).

I have several other spots I would like to shore up, and then we have plans to 'whitewash' the basement walls with Drylok paint. I'm told that's a real joy, so I'm sure it'll warrant a blog post! :P

Slideshow Addendum

2009-10-25T11:31:00.001-07:00

Addendum:

Lindsay reminded me that I had forgotten our favorite before & after. I didn't notice until I had put it on the slideshow -- it's kinda like one of those weight loss commercials where the before image, usually black & white, shows the guy hunched over and smoking a cigarette or coughing, while the after image, in beautiful color, shows the guy frolicking in a field of green. Well, maybe not quite so dramatic, but notice the tools and dust vs. strawberries and platters. At least I thought it was funny.

Before & After "Slideshow"

2009-10-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

We had our housewarming party on Sunday. I made a before and after slideshow for the party, but I'm a little late posting it. I decided to abbreviate it somewhat -- it was much longer!

Anyway, here's a before and after of the front of our house. Lindsay did all the landscaping and design -- I was just around for hauling bags. Also, she built almost all of the two-tier retaining wall -- it was going to be three-tiers, but Walmart stopped stocking our bricks, as they are a seasonal item. It's hard to see the far end of the wall, but it is five bricks high over there. (There's a whole story about the drainage over there -- basically, there was none, so I installed a new elbow and french drain before we got started. I'll spare you the details, but feel free to ask if you're interested.) There are some hidden bulbs planted too -- it should be really pretty in the spring!

My major project before the party was to finish the kitchen floors and cabinets. The whole process was: 1) Pull up the two layers of linoleum 2) Remove all the nails and staples from the floor 3) Use adhesive remover to get rid of the adhesive 4) Sand the floors with 40, 80, 120, and 220 grit paper 5) Apply wood stain (2 coats) 6) Apply polyurethane (3 coats). It was a lot of work, but I think it turned out pretty nice, plus it was cheap. Same deal with the cabinets -- we pulled them down, cleaned them with mineral spirits, lightly sanded, primed, and painted (Behr Premium Plus "Frost", if you're wondering). We also got new hardware, which I think looks really nice. We have a few more project ideas for the kitchen -- we are going to add more cabinets, a pantry, and an island. We're also planning to change the countertops -- something stone and dark. Anyway, here are some before and afters:

Finally, the story with Nibs. After she was back to health and being hyper in our house, we decided to drop her off at a wildlife rehab center. When she was there, she learned how to be a squirrel -- make a nest, forage for food, etc. When she passed rehab, she got to come home! She's living in a tree in our backyard now. Lindsay showers our backyard with corn regularly, so we get to see Nibs every once in a while. I won't tell you how long Lindsay staked out Nibs' tree to get the after shot :P

This weekend

2009-10-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

So the lull is over -- we've been doing more work on the house for the last few days. In particular, we've been working on the kitchen floor and the front yard. Without further ado...

There were a lot of old floors in the kitchen. #1 and #2 were the linoleum floors (most recent). (The black stuff on the floor is the adhesive -- I used Adhesive Remover (duh) to get it off the floor.) #3 is, in fact, a carpet threshold strip. Yes, there was carpet throughout the house, including the kitchen (eww) at some point. No carpet when we moved in, though. #4 is the new threshold for linoleum that was just screwed in over the carpet threshold -- pretty awesome. #5 is the screws, nails, and staples that I took out of the floor. Better pic coming up:

This is about 1 hours worth of removal. I ended up doing about 3 hours worth of removal all together. As such, I needed to get some wood filler to fill all those holes:

This picture was taken after I had sanded once with a 40 grit paper, and filled in some of the holes. I hope to be finished sanding and filling in a couple days. After that, I'll stain it a nice dark color, and slap on some polyurethane.

Next up -- the front yard. Lindsay has been chomping at the bit to put some landscaping in our front yard. The first goal was to remove the grass for about 5 feet in front of the house, and to remove some ugly bush/weeds we had growing. The sucker in the next picture was so heavy that the yard service wouldn't pick it up! (For the record, I couldn't either. I stole a trick from TV to get it out of the ground. I dug out all around it, sat down next to it, put my feet on the side of the house, and leg pressed it right out of the hole!) By the way, check out the spigot we uncovered!

Here's a teaser. We decided to build up a retaining wall (or three) and make a tiered front yard. It has turned out very nice -- some of the plantings are already in. Here's what it looked like after grass removal, before wall building. More when it is done!

Finally, in case you are following along, I didn't forget about the toilet. I ended up having to replace the hose from the wall to the toilet -- it was some old plastic part that had sprung a leak. I replaced it with a nice steel braided hose -- I feel like I need a Tim Taylor laugh here.

A lull

2009-09-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of activity around the house lately. Just thought I'd pop in to fill you in on what's going on, and what's taking up my time:

1) My best friend got married last weekend. I was partying out of town for awhile. No house work - woo!
2) My computer's hard drive died when I was installing Snow Leopard. It's a long story. My data is fine (horray), but I need to reinstall everything. (Transferring Information: 2 hours and 13 minutes remaining...)
3) The toilet tank started leaking.

Projects in various stages of completion:
1) The kitchen floor is about 85% stripped. I plan to finish the stripping and sanding by/on Saturday.
2) The patio has the cracks sealed. I am debating about whether to lay down a top layer of concrete and stain it, or just jackhammer the whole thing and start over (paver stones?)
3) The front lawn is missing some grass. (I started ripping out grass near the house to make way for flower beds today.)
4) The toilet has a tupperware container underneath it. I thought I fixed the problem with my trusty silicone tape, but it turns out it is still leaking (slowly). I need to go get a new gasket.
5) The backyard is mostly cleared. A few stumps to get rid of still. No fence yet. (The big stump on the side of the backyard laughed at my axe. Need to get some stump killer or a stump grinder.)

I'll post pictures when something is done. Check back in a ~~year~~ few days.

Photo Proof

2009-09-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

My wife put up some pictures, including some semi-finished interior decorating stuff. I decided not to do a post on how to put up blinds, etc., so this will suffice:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/linnylou/sets/72157622186553190/

Nibs

2009-09-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

No Joke. I was at Sonic, and this baby squirrel runs past my table while I'm waiting for the food to come out. She runs up to this table of 2 girls and 1 guy, and sits on the guy's foot. He tries to shake it off, but it won't get off, so he takes his sandal off. The squirrel just sits on the sandal, until he grabs sandal out from under it. They all get up and leave (after giving the squirrel a piece of bread), but the squirrel just sits there and looks sad/cold/lonely. I called Lin to come bring a box. She came and did her furry-animal-whisperer thing with it, and we ended up taking it home.

By our best estimations, she's about 6-8 weeks old. We're pretty sure she's a girl. At first, we had her in our kiddie pool with a laundry basket over her when we had to go out. After about 24 hours with her, I went and got a proper cage from Craigslist. We filled it with some branches for her to climb on. We were afraid she wasn't going to make it (she was very cold and hungry), but Lindsay has nursed her back to health. She's perked up a lot in the last 24 hours.

She's also surprisingly domesticated. She will sit in your hand (or on your head) to eat. She likes to climb and explore. Autumn (the dog) and Nibs (the squirrel) seem to get along pretty well. We're not sure what we're going to do with her when she gets older. Squirrels make pretty good pets (or so we've been told), but we might end up releasing her when she's old enough to fend for herself. We shall see. VIDEOS:

Closet Disaster?

2009-08-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Our closet originally had two shelves and a single closet rod in it. Since we don't use the shelves to their capacity anyway, it seemed like a good idea to remove one of the shelves and add a second closet rod. I went to the store and bought this closet tension rod. You can see the results above, after Lindsay "was just trying to hang up a skirt." Clearly we have a problem -- a closet rod with skirtaphobia.

Since I already had a grudge against these stupid closet rods, I had kept the receipts and packaging in the event I would gleefully be able to return them to the store (which I did). With the proceeds from that transaction firmly in hand, I trudged to the next store to get this closet rod. I also had to pick up some nails, some Liquid Nails Interior, and some spray paint.

Since these closet rods mount to a wooden lip, I had to construct a wooden lip. Not too terribly hard -- I picked up some rough cut wood, cut four 18" sections, and sanded it smooth. Have I mentioned how much I love having a power sander? Love it. By the way, I would definitely recommend my Porter Cable ROS Power Sander if you are in the market. I decided to go with one that had solid reviews, and I do not regret it.

Anyway, after sanding, I spray painted those suckers white to match the white. 3 coats did the trick.

Next, I put both boards on the wall and moved the rod so it was level. Then I positioned the boards so they were level on the wall. After applying Liquid Nails to the back of the boards, I put them on the wall. Then I proceeded to nail them in.

Horray, finished! And with much more storage. You can see who gets the bottom rod :P

Electric Dryers Suck

2009-08-24T15:02:00.001-07:00

I had a guy come out to give me an estimate for a fence in the backyard. He hasn't gotten back to me yet, but if he gives me a reasonable offer I think I'll take it. Either way, he is a former engineer turned entrepreneur. We "talked engineer" for awhile when he was surveying the backyard. We were lamenting that the problem with engineers is that we are overqualified and underexperienced for every construction job. I'm not even a "real" engineer (biomedical engineering!), but I've still taken classes on circuits [electricity, wiring, design], thermodynamics [vents, ducts, flow], materials [stone, metal, ceramics, etc.], and industrial design. Unfortunately, I've never actually done any of that stuff -- like pouring concrete, for example. But I know the principles, and so that is enough. Right?

I have put the patio on hold for a bit. Lindsay was doing the laundry the other day, and noted that the clothes weren't as dry as she would have liked. We had planned to replace the old gas dryer with our own electric dryer sooner or later, so now seemed like a good time. (As it turned out, the old gas dryer is working fine -- it just needed the lint traps and vents cleaned out.)

However, there was no 220V electrical outlet near the dryer. Luckily, I am an engineer :P Having watched my experienced-and-handy father-in-law install the 220V outlet for our new electric range, I felt fairly confident that I could splice a new outlet into that line. Doing what I do best, I started by faithfully googling "How to install dryer outlet" and commenced reading for awhile.

I started my journey over the weekend by purchasing all the parts I would need -- a junction box for the splice, 8 feet of wire to make the connection, a new outlet, and some wing nuts. Although the dryer was already set up with a 3 wire dryer cord, I decided to upgrade it to the new 4 wire dryer cord. I figure this will be more appealing to future home buyers. Here's what my tools and parts looked like before I started.

Since the wire from the range is coming through the floor in the kitchen into the basement, I had the brilliant idea of mounting the junction box on the ceiling in the basement, so the wire would come into the box from the back. Supply would come from the east, and the new outlet would go out the west. Beautiful, and elegant. From the outside, it will just look like a pass through!

Lindsay doesn't like when I work on electricity when she's not home, so I waited until she got home from work on Sunday to start -- about 9pm. First, I tripped the breaker, made sure the power was off, and cut the supply wire to the kitchen range with my garden shears. (I had to use 6-3 wire, because the circuit breaker is 60 AMP. Yes, you read that correctly -- AWG 6 gauge stranded wire. It is a real pain to work with.) With a little help from Lindsay, I screwed the junction box into the ceiling -- it fit into the hole like a glove! See the wires poking in from the back?

I proceeded to put the supply wire and the dryer wire into the box, and found out that I had a lot of big cables in a little box. On top of that, the cable coming from the kitchen was way too short. I messed around with the wires until about 2AM, trying to get it to work. It just wouldn't go, my hands were full of cuts, my wing nuts sucked, and I was fairly demoralized. What to do? Of course, I went to the internet and read up. I went to bed with a lot of good ideas.

On Monday, I put my plan into action. First, I replaced the cable coming from the range with a longer one that I had left over from when we first installed that line.

Next, I went to the store and bought the three items that were key to my success. First, I got wire strippers. Although you can do electrical work without them, I would find out that they are a HUGE boon. Second, I got a junction box extender. I didn't know they made them until I did my late night googling on Monday. Turns out that junction boxing is a science, not an art. My junction box was too small for the size and amount of wires I was putting into it -- it just wouldn't fit. A junction box extender is just a junction box without a back. You can screw it right on top of your old box to make it twice as big! Lastly, I got some appropriately sized wing nuts that were not filled with insulation.

Shortly thereafter, I was able to clean up the now-larger box, and make all the appropriate connections. Horray!

Next, I had to install the outlet on the concrete foundation wall. I used TAPCON screws along with the bit they provide. Although they recommend using a hammer drill, I found that a normal drill can be used as long as you have a bit of patience. I ended up having to drill an extra hole, because I'm a dummy. I also put some Liquid Nails behind the box (belt and suspenders!), so that outlet isn't going anywhere soon.

As I said in my previous post, having the right tools is really the key to any job. In this case, having wire strippers and a good set of needle nose pliers was very helpful. Since the wire is so big and unwieldy, doing anything "by hand" is impossible. Anyway, here are all the tools I ended up using (besides the garden shears). In case you are wondering, the dryer passed its first test this evening with flying colors.

To the Patio...and Beyond!

2009-08-22T18:46:00.001-07:00

The last line of your home loan paperwork should say "I affirm the tube as the ultimate vehicle for home improvement products." It seems EVERYTHING comes in a tube -- a cartridge for the real fun stuff.

Anyway, I had a semi-productive morning -- some yard work, lawn mowing, etc. My wife also took me to see puppies for adoption -- as luck would have it, the one she really wanted to see wasn't here. Huzzah!

I discovered this awesome product the other day at Ace Hardware -- Pour-N-Restore. Basically, you pour it on a stain, such as oil, tar, etc., and wait for it to dry. It sucks up all the stain, and then you sweep it away. It pretty much works just like the directions. It works better on stains than deposits, and it continues to work for awhile after you sweep it away. Recommended.

Here's a time lapse of one part of the patio. You might be able to tell where I put it down. Obviously, an unlimited supply (relative to the size of the stain) is best, but it costs $13 a bottle.

After 1st treatment:

After 2nd treatment:

One of my main frustrations from home improvement projects comes from trying to do something without the proper tool. Instead of going to get it, I'll just try to finish the job with whatever I got laying around. Typically this results in stains, rips, and broken finger nails. Today, I got started right, by laying out the appropriate tools for filling in the patio cracks with concrete. I got those three masonry tools on the left at a sweet estate sale (where I also found this gem).

I am using a watering can to put sand in the cracks between the slabs, so I don't have to fill as much. And yes, even the sand comes in a tube. No, I am not kidding.

I got a lot of work done on the patio (approximately 3/4 finished), but I had to run to the store to get more Quikrete and I ended up taking a break to organize the basement. My wife and I started on it the other day, but I was finally able to clear out enough space between the extra drywall and the Christmas tree for this:

My drumset has made a long-awaited revival. Although the music corner isn't really set up yet (still got a trumpet, two guitars, and a keyboard to put up), it's great to have my drums out of storage finally. Also, I got the 6'x9' carpet for $22 -- I've played on stages smaller than that! Being an "adult" is pretty fun -- sometimes, you get to buy what you really want and put it where you really want.

By the way, I've been busy with some other stuff too. I re-fixed the drain -- apparently moving the drain up on the tub misfit the pipe, and it leaked a bit. I had to take the drain off, put some sealant on the joint, and screw it back together. I also repaired some of the grout in the shower and kitchen. I only did the parts that really needed it, as we might be removing the tile in the near future.

Sorry for such a long update. Lindsay and I have been goofing off a lot lately because it was our anniversary on Tuesday, I passed my qualifying exam on Wednesday, and she had four days off from work. As of 4:45 this afternoon, at least one of us is back to the grind. Lame!

Patio Part 1

2009-08-15T18:39:00.001-07:00

The patio is four square concrete slabs. They had been caulked together with a variety of substances. Looks like round 1 was tar. Round 2 was that black stuff they use to repair driveways. Round 3 was a poly-urethane-type deal. All together, it looked pretty bad.

I went to Ace Hardware and bought "De-Solv-It Contractors' Solvent" to take up the tar. Its one of those orange-smelling cleaners that is "100% Guaranteed" to work on a variety of substances, including but not limited to tar. It actually works really well. Unfortunately, I have a metric ton of tar in stupid places on the patio. I got a lot of it off, but there is still some on there. My solution is to get enough tar off so its level, then cover it with a skim layer of the Quikrete stuff I bought. More on that in Part 2 -- coming soon!

In another episode of "righting other people's wrongs", I am using PL Polyurethane Concrete Crack & Masonry Sealant to fix the side stairs. Basically, the concrete stairs were pre-poured somewhere else, then plopped down next to the house when it was built. Unfortunately, they have separated, and I'd rather not have water sitting right next to my foundation. It is supposed to dry and look like concrete. I'll post part 2 of this as well.

Insurance Sham

2009-08-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

July 20

Our insurance agent ("Laura") calls me to let me know that they will need some inspection paperwork to issue our homeowner's insurance policy. The story unfolds via emails! As my dad would say, "Everything is negotiable."

July 21

Laura,

Here is the inspection we had done before we took occupancy. We have since mitigated some of the issues (licensed plumber fixed the kitchen stack issue, GFCI protection in kitchen/bathroom, smoke detectors installed, new drain tubes, and plaster repair on ceiling and walls), but it should shed light on the electrical system (page 11-12). Let me know if I need to do anything else.

Thanks,
Ryan

July 25

Hello Ryan -

Thank you. I have forwarded the inspection info to the underwriter.

Nationwide Sales Solutions
Hours: M - TH 12PM - 8:30PM SAT. 12PM - 8:30PM EST

July 27

Hello Ryan -

I have updated your phone numbers through customer service.
Also, I received an email back from underwriting stating that we will need an inspection from a licensed Electrician no later than 8/18/2009.
I apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.

- Laura

July 27

Laura --

It is no inconvenience, but it is a considerable added expense. Since I have already had (and paid for) a comprehensive home inspection from a qualified inspector, I think it is somewhat redundant. Will Nationwide reimburse me for this expense, or otherwise incentivize me to obtain this inspection?

Sincerely,
Ryan

August 4

Hello Ryan -

I apologize for the delay in response, but it took me this long to get an answer to your question. Unfortunately the answer would be no. Nationwide will not provide reimbursement to your expense.

Nationwide Sales Solutions
Hours: M - TH 12PM - 8:30PM SAT. 12PM - 8:30PM EST

August 4

Laura,

This is not an acceptable resolution. I feel an inspection from a certified home inspector (in addition to the municipality's inspection!) would be sufficient for other insurance companies. Please call me at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
Ryan

August 5 or 6th

Laura calls me. I tell her that a third inspection is ridiculous, outrageous, egregious, and an infringement on my constitutional rights. Well not really, but it did sound something like the first 9 seconds of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IinXi19WeYg -- either way, I threatened to cancel my homeowner's policy and my auto policy. She told me she would continue to "look into it." I also told her that she needed to give me a list of the things the underwriter wanted, not just a blanket "Get an Inspection!" The story continues via email.

August 10

Hello Ryan -

the message I received from the underwriter states that the inspection paperwork that you had sent has a noted statement "Not on Code". He states that your inspection paperwork shows that the wiring in the home is 60 Amp, and Nationwide requires at least 100 Amp.
He asked me to call him to discuss. As soon as I get a hold of him I will let you know if there is anything more I can do.

I just wanted to keep you in the loop of what I have found out so far.

Thanks,

- Laura

August 10

Laura,

Thanks for following up with me.

In regards to the 100 Amps service minimum, please pass along the following information: Inspection paperwork, page 11, please find "Service Size Amps: 125"

I am also sending along the Brentwood occupancy permit along with the Brentwood inspection checklist, indicating our service is in excess of 100 Amps (which the city also requires). Its the 5th item from the bottom, in the second column. Let me know if there are any other issues. Also, the underwriter is welcome to call me to discuss.

Since the deadline for getting an electrical inspection was originally 8/18, I would like to request that this requirement be suspended until we finish this discussion to my satisfaction.

Thanks,
Ryan

August 12

Hello Ryan -

I had forwarded your last message to underwriting and he responded that he has ISSUED the policy.

Looks like everything is taken care of.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

- Laura

August 12

I post this on my blog. Victory is sweet. Names have been changed to protect the guilty. I mean greedy. I mean innocent. By the way, there's nothing wrong with our electrical system. The inspection paperwork even includes a picture of the breaker box. ::bonk::

Outside and Inside

2009-08-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

Man did our grass need a trim. The lawn was nicely manicured before we bought it, but it has been awhile now. We decided to get a reel mower (commonly referred to as an "old" mower) for a variety of reasons. For one, its a lower initial investment as well as lower maintenance costs. It's better for your grass (scissor instead of rotary cut), and we can safely leave it in the basement without the fumes bowling us over. Of course, no gas required, better for the environment, and a good workout. The downsides? It's a tool, not a machine -- effort is required. Luckily, our yards are not very large. I'm expecting this will be the "hardest" mow, since the grass was a bit of a jungle. See the picture!

We also decided to tackle the back line of our property. It is ... overgrown. I got back in the brush and chopped, and Lindsay was in our yard pulling it out. It was actually kinda fun. I'd say we are about 50% done with removing gross stuff. Then we're gonna add 1) a privacy fence 2) our own plantings 3) both. I'll post something on the final result.

Stupid drain stopper wasn't working so good. Basically, it doesn't open as far as it should. As you can see from the picture, its basically a little lever. You push it down to make the drain stopper come up. Since it wasn't coming up far enough, I pulled the cover off and played with it some. Originally I thought it was rusty, but I think the real issue is that its too long for where the drain hole is. My solution was to move the drain up on the tub and screw it down. I'm not sure if that's a permanent fix -- I guess we'll see. If it annoys me again, I'm taking that sucker out.

Stupid garbage disposal wasn't working so good. Every time I would run it, it would seize up and quit. This time I finally took it slow and figured out the real issues. Before I go much further, here's the rundown on garbage disposals:

1) Water goes into a little cup with holes along the bottom edge.
2) The motor runs little cutting things that spin along the bottom edge of the cup.
3) If the motor gets too hot (ie gets caught on something), the circuit breaker will trip.
4) If the circuit breaker trips, you can't reset it right away -- gotta wait for the motor to cool down.
5) You can use an allen wrench to spin the motor from the bottom.

So to fix one that's stuck on food, you stick an allen wrench in the bottom and spin the blades. If you can make a complete revolution, you've fixed it! Reset and run. Unless you have a little plastic button in it. In this case, you keep fixing it and it keeps breaking. Why? Because that thing doesn't flush away, nor does water break it down. I finally tracked it down today, dislodged it from a hole, and pulled it out with my hand. Voila -- fixed!

Distractions

2009-07-28T22:26:00.000-07:00

You may be wondering how this picture relates to our house...

Today we went over to the old house to collect more of our belongings. Turns out we have another 2-3 car loads, due to some larger objects (filing cabinet, hamper, etc.) that we had left. In any event, we dutiful loaded the car and drove back over to our house. By the time we had unloaded, we didn't feel like going back for loads 2 and 3, but ice cream sounded really good. Enter above picture -- it's actually a picture of the Sonic Drive-In at the end of our street about 5 minutes ago.

Sonic Blast beats loading the car every time.

At least we had a good time. Lindsay and I split an M&M Sonic Blast, and we danced to the sweet swing music. Good times were had by all. (Victory is still close at hand. Fear not. We got like ... 2 days left!)

PS Some house news -- I listed and sold the old gas range today on Craigslist, so I consider that a win. I also listed a refrigerator and the aluminum awning we took down. For the super bored:

Fridge, Awning, and Stove.

Appliances and Leftovers

2009-07-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

So we are getting closer and closer to victory. (Victory = all of our stuff in the house!) In case you missed the memo, we ended up replacing our gas stove with a flat-top electric stove, my wife's favorite. Her parents pitched in most of the cost, which we ended up getting quite a deal on. Here's the link:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=273658-83-JBS55DMWW

We used a price match + 10% from Best Buy, who had it on sale, plus an additional 10% coupon from USPS Address Change package, so it ended up being $326.

There are two caveats -- 1) The gas pipe behind the old stove is too high (11" from the ground) to clear the stove. So the stove is about 3 inches out from the wall. This is on my todo list, but I don't have time right now. 2) Our house is turning into a bit of an appliance warehouse. All together, we now have: 2 refrigerators (1 installed), 1 dishwasher, 3 ranges (1 installed), 2 washers (both "installed"), and 2 dryers (both installed, electric doesn't have power...yet). See the pictures.

Every old house usually comes with some leftovers from the previous owners. In our case, we let the previous owner leave anything/everything she wanted to, because we might gain some diamonds in the rough. We ended up getting quite a few "nice" things (a relatively new dehumidifier, for example) in the haul. Here are some pictures of my favorites -- a patio set, complete with hippy umbrella (the inside is a crazy floral pattern), and a cool little stool. I don't know why I like the stool so much, but I do.

Finally, my most recent project: fixing the stairs. As the house settled, the stairs leading to the basement had fallen off of their perch. Some wood had been nailed onto the backside of the stairs, and I had shim'd it when we moved in to make it level, but this was only a temporary fix. Tonight, I cut a 4x4 to fit the angle of the stairs (45°, of course), wedged the wood in place, and screwed in some 3 1/2" gold screws. I was going to use some Liquid Nails on the 4x4 as well, but it seemed like a bit of overkill and I've only got 1 cartridge left -- I've got other plans for him. Anyway, after I got the 4x4 in place, I put 2 additional screws into the support as a bit of belt & suspenders. Either way, those stairs aren't going anywhere. If you look carefully, you can see the freebie dehumidifier under the stairs.

I picked up my wife from work during the middle of this project. I had already cut the wood, but didn't have screws long enough to screw it into place. As such, I wedged the board into place (securely), picked up some screws while I was out, and told her on the way home not to use the stairs until I was done. Actually, I told her that I had jumped on the stairs just to make sure they were secure, but that I wasn't done fixing them. Apparently jumping on stairs that aren't fixed yet is one of those things you should keep to yourself.

Monday Monday...

2009-07-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is an apology for interested parties -- I will get back to blogging as soon as I remove a few higher priorities "to-do's" from my list, like work and school.

Closing in!

2009-07-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

We are moving tomorrow. Or at least that's the plan. At least we've got the truck on lock down. First move will be to pick up a refrigerator from our new craigslist friend, Casey. Here's the low down on what went down today.

After doing some "real" work this morning, I arrived over at the house around 1PM to find the plumbing fairy had come in the morning! Actually, my father-in-law replaced the rest of the pipe between newer pipes under the sink and the professional-plumber-replaced kitchen stack in the basement. Horray! We discovered this link after we installed a dishwasher. Although we have plans to refinish/paint the kitchen cabinets, as well as the floor, a dishwasher was a must before we could move in. Here it is, in all its glory.

Speaking of the kitchen, we have been debating about what to do with the floors. Clearly the awesome vinyl needs to go. We were thinking about installing ceramic tile, but it would be great if there was hardwood floor underneath it all. Turns out there is -- we discovered this after pulling out the kitchen cabinet to make way for the dishwasher. There's also some awesome tile! The tentative plan is to strip away all the excess layers on top of the wood and pay someone to refinish it. That's awhile out though... =/

So if you have been following along, you may remember some crazy plaster work I did on the ceiling in the living room. Here's the play-by-play in picture form. It turned out very nicely, if I do say so myself. The best -- its a permanent fix, so I won't have to go fixing it again next year, if all goes well.

I used one of those paint edger things (SHUR-LINE Classic Paint Edger to be exact), and it works just as advertised. Very easy to use, perfect edging, just be careful with the wheels. Here's some shots of finished or semi-finished rooms.

Finally, we also discovered we have a hawk that lives in our backyard. S/he was perched on top of our roof for awhile today. My wife is a lover of all things furry or feathery, so she got some sweet pics and video. Here's a shot:

Day ... uh

2009-07-23T01:01:00.000-07:00

So the days have started blurring together a little bit. We've been hard at work on the house. So far the bedrooms are finished -- all plaster repair and painting is accomplished. We had some plumbing issues that are being jointly worked out by a plumber visiting on Monday as well as my father-in-law drilling holes willy-nilly. Cable and internet is setup and installed.

As it turns out, the fridge isn't working as well as hoped. Instead of getting it fixed, we are getting a new (used) fridge from Craigslist. We had planned on replacing the fridge sooner or later with something newer/prettier, so its not a big deal. Plus the new fridge is quite a steal. Either way, at least this one keeps the sodas cold while we're working.

Today we cleaned, painted, and worked on plumbing. I also had to shim the downstairs basement stairs -- not sure if this will be a permanent fix or not. Might need to use something a bit more heavy duty. Friday is the big day -- we hope to move all of the remaining junk over to the new place. Should be a good time.

I will post pictures soon! They are all on the camera which is at the new house.

Day 3

2009-07-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

My in-laws came down today from Ohio to help us fix up the house and move in. Father-in-law knows about the electrical stuff, so he is helping put new outlets in the bathroom and kitchen. Also switching out some stuff in the basement. I did more work on the ceiling today. I also found a patch of bad plaster in the master bedroom closet. After I started clearing it out, I realized it was much too large a patch to use joint compound. Instead, I removed the plaster from the bricks behind it with a crowbar and installed moisture-resistant drywall. (I used this kind of drywall because it is an outside wall.) Because there was some uneven quality to the wall, I used some sheet insulation to fill in the spots. Finally, I applied Liquid Nails to the back of the drywall, and stuck it in place. I also put some nails in the board to hold it to the wall while the adhesive dries. Hopefully I used enough Liquid Nails -- I think I might have been a bit stingy. Tomorrow I will use joint compound to make it flush to the rest of the wall. No pictures today -- some more soon, I promise :)

Day 2

2009-07-18T18:56:00.001-07:00

Today is Saturday, the first real day of work. I woke up today with a vengeance to start repairing the large-ish cracks in the plaster walls. I had placed an order for Big Wally's Contractors Pack from Plastermagic (plastermagic.com) on July 10th and received it on the 15th. Now, it was time to bust it open.

Having watched all the videos available on their website and This Old House's website, I was not surprised by the contents of the relatively small box. A bunch of tubes of adhesive, some spray bottles of conditioner, buttons, screws, and ... latex gloves? Psh, latex gloves. Pansies.

I decided to start in the bedroom, but found out quickly that the plaster cracks in the bedroom were actually poorly jointed dry wall seams. Whoops. Moving on...

I found a crack in the living room and got to work. The procedure goes somewhat like this -- drill holes on either side of the crack. Vacuum the holes. Spray conditioner in the holes. Wait 10-60 minutes. Shoot adhesive into the holes. Screw the button into the lathe (clamping the plaster to the adhesive to the lathe). Wait 24-72 hours, sand, paint, and move on with life.

So back to me -- I drilled into my wall and hit a dead end of red dust. I moved over a bit and tried again -- same result. Apparently the wood lathe in my plaster was made out of red bricks. Apparently not all plaster is created equal -- some is on wood lathe, some on metal lathe, and some on masonry. Mine is the latter. Although Big Wally's Plaster Magic is reported to work on masonry, they only give instructions for wood lathe type plaster. Stumped, I left the plaster for a few hours to work on some other things.

Later that day -- Eureka! Wood shims! The pinch hitter for every construction project -- I laid wood shims across the repair and nailed the shim into the good plaster surrounding the crack. Instead of using the buttons to screw into the lathe, I would use the "good plaster" surrounding the crack to brace the repair. My wife was sceptical of my plan -- see the pictures for proof.

Tips:

Prepare to make a mess. A big one. Especially if you're working on the ceiling. Also, expect to get rained on by plaster, conditioner, adhesive, and everything else. Clean freaks, abandon all hope. Those latex gloves they include -- don't use them unless you've a poncho to go with it.

If you are repairing over a previous repair, like I was, plan to use wood shims creatively. The repair won't allow the shims to sit flush to the crack -- use a 2nd or 3rd shim to shim your repair. (Too many shims?)

Don't get too aggressive. If some of your plaster falls off, you're kinda in trouble. Basically, check for loose plaster before you drill. You want to be on the outskirts of loose-land, rather than in the middle. If you drill into the middle, the whole patch will pop off.

Day 1

2009-07-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

We closed on the house at 10 am, and I started work about 11. Since we aren't moving into it until the 23-24, I have some time to do the messy work before there's anything in the house to get messy. Unfortunately, most of today consisted of getting ready to get dirty...

This is my first old house. It has a brick exterior, plaster walls, and grandma curtains -- the whole shebang. In the next 4-5 years, the plan is to rehab/refurb/update as much of it as possible. I put together a todo list with a rough timeline, but I'll keep that to myself for now. Hopefully this blog will serve as entertainment/downtime for me and reference for those that would come after me.