I don't know when I've ever been so tired. P had surgery on Monday and her right hand is in a big old cast. She's not much use around here right now. So, in the interest of domestic peace, I sent her to Lake Gaston to spent the weekend with friends. I spent Friday night dusting down the front room. Used an entire box of swiffer wipes on that room along. Saturday, I was here by 9 and spent the day dusting the rest of the upstairs. Had some hired help for a couple of hours which helped. T washed down the floors and vacuumed the stairs. I dusted part of the downstairs before quitting and heading back to the Springs. Stopped at 5 Guys (damn they have good burgers) for dinner. Went home, showered and fell into bed at 7 PM. Was up at 6:30 this morning and at the house by 8. Spent the first part of the morning cleaning up. Washed all the dishes, the countertops and did some general de-dusting. Then finished de-dusting the downstairs. Cracked open the primer around 1ish and started priming. Got the master bedroom primed to where I can reach. I don't have the energy to pull the ladder up the stairs just now. Started priming the bathroom when my hand just gave out. Decided to take a break and try and get a post in.
Taking pictures of people washing floors or dusting walls is pretty uninteresting. So, no pictures today. Maybe after priming has happened.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Walls, At Last!
We have walls, I tell you! We have walls! Plaster guys were here all last week working upstairs putting in drywall and repairing/skim coating the plaster and I have to say, it looks beautiful! So white and clean.
First the guest bedroom:
The Hallway and Bathroom:
The drywall guys said we were going to have to pull down all the plaster in the bathroom because it was so deteriorated due to the leaking skylight. Penny started to go up and work on that on Wednesday (her day off). The guys looked at her and asked if she was going to do it now. As she is having hand surgery on Monday, Wednesday was going to be the only opportunity for her to get the plaster down. I think her pitiful hand made him feel bad so he agreed to laminate the old plaster with new drywall and box in the opening for the medicine cabinet too!
Master Bedroom:
So, what's left?
Downstairs skimcoating/plaster repair has to be finished.
Electrical is wrapping up.
Need to install sink in golden bath.
Skylight has to be fixed as it still leaks.
Downspouts need to be installed.
Need to get a new stove/range as now both the stove and the oven have crapped out on me.
Need to dust and then prime.
Then we get to call in the floor folks to fix and refinish the floors.
THEN we get to move in. I'm still hoping for November 1, but I'm thinking that is going to be pushing it. We'll see.
It won't be perfectly completed, but it will be livable. We are hoping we will be able to put in the powder room downstairs now too. It would be nice to have a house that has two toilets.
I'll be back later in the week with more wall pictures. Promise
First the guest bedroom:
The Hallway and Bathroom:
The drywall guys said we were going to have to pull down all the plaster in the bathroom because it was so deteriorated due to the leaking skylight. Penny started to go up and work on that on Wednesday (her day off). The guys looked at her and asked if she was going to do it now. As she is having hand surgery on Monday, Wednesday was going to be the only opportunity for her to get the plaster down. I think her pitiful hand made him feel bad so he agreed to laminate the old plaster with new drywall and box in the opening for the medicine cabinet too!
Master Bedroom:
So, what's left?
Downstairs skimcoating/plaster repair has to be finished.
Electrical is wrapping up.
Need to install sink in golden bath.
Skylight has to be fixed as it still leaks.
Downspouts need to be installed.
Need to get a new stove/range as now both the stove and the oven have crapped out on me.
Need to dust and then prime.
Then we get to call in the floor folks to fix and refinish the floors.
THEN we get to move in. I'm still hoping for November 1, but I'm thinking that is going to be pushing it. We'll see.
It won't be perfectly completed, but it will be livable. We are hoping we will be able to put in the powder room downstairs now too. It would be nice to have a house that has two toilets.
I'll be back later in the week with more wall pictures. Promise
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Stucco
Apologies for the delay in posting. We pulled two very long days last weekend and I never got a chance to post on Sunday. We are trying to get the walls all prepped and ready for drywall and skim coating of plaster. We'll be back at it this weekend as the plaster/drywall guy starts on Monday. That will make a HUGE difference.
The stucco work was started and completed last week.
Monday they delivered materials.
Tuesday they pulled down all the old plaster and nailed up a metal mesh.
Wednesday they skimmed on a first layer of concrete
Thursday they did another layer.
Friday they did the texture and packed up all their stuff and went home.
Insulation update: Our wonderful contractor, Tommy, found someone to come blow the insulation in and take the huge green machine back to Lowes. What a relief that was. Penny spent much of Saturday insulating the soon to be master bath using the blue fluffy stuff.
We spent the weekend trying to get the last of the wallpaper down in the stairwell and get the walls cleaned.
We will spend this weekend washing walls and getting all the little bits of wallpaper off. The plaster/drywall guy thinks he can do most all of it in a week. That may or may not include skim coating the ceilings. I hope we can get at least the downstairs ceilings done. With walls in and skimmed, I can start priming. Once primer is on, the floors can be done and then we can move in! Oh, I'm so hoping we can make the November 1 date. I am so ready to have something of a "real" home. Well, as much as we can get for now.
We got the quote on tiling the master bath and that is going to simply have to wait until we get the tax check in February. We should be able to get the downstairs bath in however. That will give us a bath and a half, most importantly, it will give us two toilets.
The stucco work was started and completed last week.
Monday they delivered materials.
Tuesday they pulled down all the old plaster and nailed up a metal mesh.
Wednesday they skimmed on a first layer of concrete
Thursday they did another layer.
Friday they did the texture and packed up all their stuff and went home.
Insulation update: Our wonderful contractor, Tommy, found someone to come blow the insulation in and take the huge green machine back to Lowes. What a relief that was. Penny spent much of Saturday insulating the soon to be master bath using the blue fluffy stuff.
We spent the weekend trying to get the last of the wallpaper down in the stairwell and get the walls cleaned.
We will spend this weekend washing walls and getting all the little bits of wallpaper off. The plaster/drywall guy thinks he can do most all of it in a week. That may or may not include skim coating the ceilings. I hope we can get at least the downstairs ceilings done. With walls in and skimmed, I can start priming. Once primer is on, the floors can be done and then we can move in! Oh, I'm so hoping we can make the November 1 date. I am so ready to have something of a "real" home. Well, as much as we can get for now.
We got the quote on tiling the master bath and that is going to simply have to wait until we get the tax check in February. We should be able to get the downstairs bath in however. That will give us a bath and a half, most importantly, it will give us two toilets.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Defeated by Insulation
I can't say that Penny and I are expert DIYers, by any stretch, but we'll tackle almost anything. This weekend, we tackled insulation. We did our research. We priced out the job. We reconnoitered Lowes to see what materials we needed and how much material we would need. As we did sell the Rav4 on Thursday, we had to figure out how to get all that material and the machine to the house as well. We spent most of Saturday doing all the prep work. We drilled perfectly round holes in our plaster walls upstairs. 
We stapled plastic to the outside walls where we had pulled down the plaster. We even went and purchased the lay-in insulation for the areas where we had removed the lath. We decided since we needed such a small amount, we splurged on the green stuff (which is actually blue) which can be installed without layers and layers of protection. The pink lay-in stuff is fiberglass and is a very messy and unpleasant job. We were thrilled with the way the green (blue) stuff went in. Of course, the first time we purchased it, we purchased insulation for 2x6 walls. We had to turn around and exchange them for the stuff that fits in 2x4 walls. Easy to cut. Easy to install. Skin friendly. 
This gave us confidence that the blow in insulation was going to be a snap as well.
So, this morning, armed with all our measurements, we trundled off to Lowes. As we only have a Yaris (Japanese for "very little car"), we rented the Lowes Truck. They were kind enough to load 20 bags of blow in cellulose insulation and the 500 lb green machine. We climbed in and drove the now filled truck the two miles toward home. We (meaning Penny) did a brilliant job of driving that sucker into the alley where we then unloaded all twenty bags of insulation. Then came the big green machine. We did manage to get it off the truck without breaking 1. ourselves or 2. the machine. I dragged the hundred foot hose up the stairs while Penny took the truck back (you only get it for 75 minutes). Upon her return, we started up that sucker. I was downstairs outside filling the machine and Penny was upstairs with the hose, filling the walls. We flipped the switch and waited for blow. It blew, but it didn't blow insulation. We couldn't figure it out until I decided to read the directions. It seems you have to open the hopper for the stuff to flow into the hose! With that figured out, we took our respective places again and flipped the switch. The problem was that Penny was upstairs inside and I was outside with a loud machine. I couldn't hear her yell to stop. This was the result:
At this point, covered in insulation, Penny declared "I ain't doing this shit any more. I'll stand outside and YOU blow this crap!" She was not amused. She was even less amused that I insisted on taking pictures.
So, we tried it again. We got some of it in and made some progress, but our plastic stapling job left something to be desired, and mostly what we ended up with was a mess. After about three hours of wrangling with the hose, cellulose, staples, plastic, etc, we threw in the towel and called our contractor and begged him for help. He's sending help tomorrow. I get to go to school. Penny's off and she will have to be helper. So, should you be so bold as to think you can blow in insulation into your walls, my advice is DON'T!
Add that to the live termites found, it hasn't been a great weak at the Domus Aurea, this week. Yes, the electrician found some live termites and so we will have to have the house sprayed again. Thankfully it is under warranty and won't cost us anything. He's coming Tuesday. The neighbors did get quite irate with the Grand Canyon trench between the houses. It was quite the show from what I heard. Penny had to deal with it, not me. She had to make a quick call to Tommy who rushed over and quickly mollified the neighbors (who in turn hired him to do a job for them!). Then, what we suspect was a drunk driver, plowed into our wall at the back of the yard. Luckily, I don't think anyone was hurt, but he sure did a number on the wall. We assume he must have blown through the stop sign and going pretty fast to have done so much damage.
We did pass a whole bunch of inspections. The trench finally passes inspection and that is now filled in (much to our neighbor's relief). The show pan passes inspection. The HVAC system passed inspection as well. The framing is to be inspected tomorrow afternoon and hopefully that will go well.
All in all, not a good week at the Domus.
Also tomorrow, the stucco work is to start. James River Exteriors will be doing that work. Once that is done, new downspouts can happen. I think somewhere in there, part of the house has to be jacked up and reinforced, but I'm kind of hiding my head from that job right now. It's more than I want to hear or can bear to hear. I think we have figured out who will be doing the drywall and plaster work and that should start once the framing work has been inspected, so likely later on in the week.
Since we sold the car, Penny is now living here. She'll be biking to work. It takes her 9 minutes to get to work. I will be in Highland Springs, taking care of animals. Hopefully, this will only be until early November, when we hope to move in. This is her new home:
Other random pictures:
Glass Block
New Terrace Surface
We stapled plastic to the outside walls where we had pulled down the plaster. We even went and purchased the lay-in insulation for the areas where we had removed the lath. We decided since we needed such a small amount, we splurged on the green stuff (which is actually blue) which can be installed without layers and layers of protection. The pink lay-in stuff is fiberglass and is a very messy and unpleasant job. We were thrilled with the way the green (blue) stuff went in. Of course, the first time we purchased it, we purchased insulation for 2x6 walls. We had to turn around and exchange them for the stuff that fits in 2x4 walls. Easy to cut. Easy to install. Skin friendly. 
This gave us confidence that the blow in insulation was going to be a snap as well. 
So, this morning, armed with all our measurements, we trundled off to Lowes. As we only have a Yaris (Japanese for "very little car"), we rented the Lowes Truck. They were kind enough to load 20 bags of blow in cellulose insulation and the 500 lb green machine. We climbed in and drove the now filled truck the two miles toward home. We (meaning Penny) did a brilliant job of driving that sucker into the alley where we then unloaded all twenty bags of insulation. Then came the big green machine. We did manage to get it off the truck without breaking 1. ourselves or 2. the machine. I dragged the hundred foot hose up the stairs while Penny took the truck back (you only get it for 75 minutes). Upon her return, we started up that sucker. I was downstairs outside filling the machine and Penny was upstairs with the hose, filling the walls. We flipped the switch and waited for blow. It blew, but it didn't blow insulation. We couldn't figure it out until I decided to read the directions. It seems you have to open the hopper for the stuff to flow into the hose! With that figured out, we took our respective places again and flipped the switch. The problem was that Penny was upstairs inside and I was outside with a loud machine. I couldn't hear her yell to stop. This was the result:
At this point, covered in insulation, Penny declared "I ain't doing this shit any more. I'll stand outside and YOU blow this crap!" She was not amused. She was even less amused that I insisted on taking pictures.
So, we tried it again. We got some of it in and made some progress, but our plastic stapling job left something to be desired, and mostly what we ended up with was a mess. After about three hours of wrangling with the hose, cellulose, staples, plastic, etc, we threw in the towel and called our contractor and begged him for help. He's sending help tomorrow. I get to go to school. Penny's off and she will have to be helper. So, should you be so bold as to think you can blow in insulation into your walls, my advice is DON'T!
Add that to the live termites found, it hasn't been a great weak at the Domus Aurea, this week. Yes, the electrician found some live termites and so we will have to have the house sprayed again. Thankfully it is under warranty and won't cost us anything. He's coming Tuesday. The neighbors did get quite irate with the Grand Canyon trench between the houses. It was quite the show from what I heard. Penny had to deal with it, not me. She had to make a quick call to Tommy who rushed over and quickly mollified the neighbors (who in turn hired him to do a job for them!). Then, what we suspect was a drunk driver, plowed into our wall at the back of the yard. Luckily, I don't think anyone was hurt, but he sure did a number on the wall. We assume he must have blown through the stop sign and going pretty fast to have done so much damage.
We did pass a whole bunch of inspections. The trench finally passes inspection and that is now filled in (much to our neighbor's relief). The show pan passes inspection. The HVAC system passed inspection as well. The framing is to be inspected tomorrow afternoon and hopefully that will go well.
All in all, not a good week at the Domus.Also tomorrow, the stucco work is to start. James River Exteriors will be doing that work. Once that is done, new downspouts can happen. I think somewhere in there, part of the house has to be jacked up and reinforced, but I'm kind of hiding my head from that job right now. It's more than I want to hear or can bear to hear. I think we have figured out who will be doing the drywall and plaster work and that should start once the framing work has been inspected, so likely later on in the week.
Since we sold the car, Penny is now living here. She'll be biking to work. It takes her 9 minutes to get to work. I will be in Highland Springs, taking care of animals. Hopefully, this will only be until early November, when we hope to move in. This is her new home:
Other random pictures:
Glass Block
New Terrace Surface
Monday, September 7, 2009
Not much to post
Not much progress to post this week. Mostly a continuation of previous projects.
Outside Work
The dig to China (replacing the lead water supply from the street) has continued and is at a standstill, much to my poor neighbors' regret. The trench is deeper, but we still haven't found the supply line yet. The city has to come out and do the next step by digging up the sidewalk and replacing the line under the street.
The roofers have been here the past two weekends. Last weekend they fixed the gutters. This weekend they are replacing the terrace roof. The last thing they need to do is replace the downspouts. That will lead to the start of stucco work.
Inside Work
Penny took down the plaster in what will be the master bathroom. Tom (my wonderful contractor) and the tile guy were in there last week discussing tile options. Penny was off so she was in there as my proxy. They were asking too many questions and I ended up talking them through my desires via cell phone. Oy. I think we are going with a basket weave tile inside the shower floor, a 2 inch white hex tile with black buttons on the floor, white subway on the walls with a black pencil line just below the top of the wainscot. These are the lights we've picked out. This is my bathroom inspiration. Lovely, isn't it? I think the plumbers are coming to put the shower pan in and there has to be an inspection of that this week as well.
Glass block is in and it looks beautiful! I will post pictures a bit later, promise.
Electrical continues. We did pass the rough in inspection.
We put the Rav4 up for sale. It's a lovely car and I do hate to part with it. It is probably the nicest car I'll ever own and it breaks my heart, but having two cars in the city just doesn't make sense. You can see the ad over at the AutoTrader. There's also a listing on Craigslist - Richmond as well, but I can't link to it from work. Someone, please buy it!
Outside Work
The dig to China (replacing the lead water supply from the street) has continued and is at a standstill, much to my poor neighbors' regret. The trench is deeper, but we still haven't found the supply line yet. The city has to come out and do the next step by digging up the sidewalk and replacing the line under the street.
The roofers have been here the past two weekends. Last weekend they fixed the gutters. This weekend they are replacing the terrace roof. The last thing they need to do is replace the downspouts. That will lead to the start of stucco work.
Inside Work
Penny took down the plaster in what will be the master bathroom. Tom (my wonderful contractor) and the tile guy were in there last week discussing tile options. Penny was off so she was in there as my proxy. They were asking too many questions and I ended up talking them through my desires via cell phone. Oy. I think we are going with a basket weave tile inside the shower floor, a 2 inch white hex tile with black buttons on the floor, white subway on the walls with a black pencil line just below the top of the wainscot. These are the lights we've picked out. This is my bathroom inspiration. Lovely, isn't it? I think the plumbers are coming to put the shower pan in and there has to be an inspection of that this week as well.
Glass block is in and it looks beautiful! I will post pictures a bit later, promise.
Electrical continues. We did pass the rough in inspection.
We put the Rav4 up for sale. It's a lovely car and I do hate to part with it. It is probably the nicest car I'll ever own and it breaks my heart, but having two cars in the city just doesn't make sense. You can see the ad over at the AutoTrader. There's also a listing on Craigslist - Richmond as well, but I can't link to it from work. Someone, please buy it!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Summer ends...
Bye Bye Summer
Well, this is it, summer is over and I go back to school on Tomorrow. I am so not ready to face the classroom. I have no clue how I will split my brain between these two all consuming projects. I’m sure I’ll figure a way. I am excited to meet new kids and see my friends more regularly.
Much progress this week, however. We have laundry facilities once again (thanks to everyone who let us mooch their washer and dryer for the past two months!). We have plumbing for the two new baths. We have framing for the closets and baths. Most of this all happened on Wednesday. The house was an absolute hive of activity. I think there were six guys from the plumbing company, a day laborer digging a trench to replace the lead pipe, two HVAC guys, a carpenter, and two electricians. It was all I could do to just stay out of the way.
HVAC is finished and we have air conditioning (and heat) now. And, we have a new hot water heater. Yeah! The only drawback is the AC return. It’s kind of an eyesore, but I think I’ll be able to build a cabinet around it so that it doesn’t stick out quite so grossly. I am thinking a marble counter top with a matching cabinet on the opposite side and we’ll have buffet room. Maybe some open shelves on either side for dishes?
In the flurry of plumbing activity on Wednesday, the crew removed the yucky ceiling and all the faux bois wallpaper (not to mention all the plaster) so I didn’t have to. Upstairs, the master bath was also plumbed and the shower stall framed out. Originally, the plans blocked up three windows up there and had the shower wall running to the ceiling. I was afraid it was going to feel like a coffin. We modified the shower wall to have a transom for ventilation and one of the windows is going to be filled with glass block. That leaves me with two functioning windows and a glass block window. Glass block should be installed Monday morning.
We are spending weekends here at the Domus now. We had some old friends drive down from Delaware. They just built a house in Milton and they had twenty eight gallons of left over Benjamin Moore paint and primer they brought to us. We do have the most remarkable friends.
Roofers started yesterday on the gutters. Given they’ve left their ladder, I am assuming they will be back today. I tell you what, I wouldn't want to be wandering around up there, that's for sure!
Pictures:
Shower
Laundry
Closets
HVAC
Trench for new pipe
Well, this is it, summer is over and I go back to school on Tomorrow. I am so not ready to face the classroom. I have no clue how I will split my brain between these two all consuming projects. I’m sure I’ll figure a way. I am excited to meet new kids and see my friends more regularly.
Much progress this week, however. We have laundry facilities once again (thanks to everyone who let us mooch their washer and dryer for the past two months!). We have plumbing for the two new baths. We have framing for the closets and baths. Most of this all happened on Wednesday. The house was an absolute hive of activity. I think there were six guys from the plumbing company, a day laborer digging a trench to replace the lead pipe, two HVAC guys, a carpenter, and two electricians. It was all I could do to just stay out of the way.
HVAC is finished and we have air conditioning (and heat) now. And, we have a new hot water heater. Yeah! The only drawback is the AC return. It’s kind of an eyesore, but I think I’ll be able to build a cabinet around it so that it doesn’t stick out quite so grossly. I am thinking a marble counter top with a matching cabinet on the opposite side and we’ll have buffet room. Maybe some open shelves on either side for dishes?
In the flurry of plumbing activity on Wednesday, the crew removed the yucky ceiling and all the faux bois wallpaper (not to mention all the plaster) so I didn’t have to. Upstairs, the master bath was also plumbed and the shower stall framed out. Originally, the plans blocked up three windows up there and had the shower wall running to the ceiling. I was afraid it was going to feel like a coffin. We modified the shower wall to have a transom for ventilation and one of the windows is going to be filled with glass block. That leaves me with two functioning windows and a glass block window. Glass block should be installed Monday morning.
We are spending weekends here at the Domus now. We had some old friends drive down from Delaware. They just built a house in Milton and they had twenty eight gallons of left over Benjamin Moore paint and primer they brought to us. We do have the most remarkable friends.
Roofers started yesterday on the gutters. Given they’ve left their ladder, I am assuming they will be back today. I tell you what, I wouldn't want to be wandering around up there, that's for sure!
Pictures:
Shower
Laundry
Closets
HVAC
Trench for new pipe
Sunday, August 23, 2009
First Night
We slept in our new place for the first time last night and it was wonderful!
Some wonderful friends came to visit and provide free labor. Since there is no room at our little cabin in the woods, we decided to camp out in the new place. Yesterday, two of us went upstairs and scraped more wallpaper (argh!) while Penny and our other guest demo'd the sunporch. They took up the floor and pulled out the paneling in the area that is to be the new powder room. They uncovered the blocked up door. Then, we all showered and headed out for a fabulous seafood dinner and a terrific bottle of wine. Came back, and we each snuggled into our beds. The late afternoon had brought a lovely, and much needed rain storm, which cooled everything down. With the fans blowing, it was quite comfortable to sleep. We kept giggling that we were spending our first night in the house. Didn't hear any ghosts or goblins. We did hear a couple of drunks stumbling down the street at a rather early hour though.
All in all, it was a good night!
We see the light at the end of the demo tunnel. All major demo is done (I hope). I still have to remove wallpaper in the tiny bedroom, the closets, the sunroom and the golden bathroom (which has been de-paneled). Since there is only a week left before I go back to school, I hope to get all the wallpaper down and all the walls washed in the next week.
Things we've done last week: I washed the dining room walls so they are ready for whatever comes next. The paneling in the sleeping porch (soon to be master bath) has been pulled down. All the moldings that need removing have been removed. Sunroom floor has been pulled up and all that paneling has been removed that's going to be removed. Oh, I fixed the leaky faucet in the kitchen almost all by myself (with a little bit of guidance from my electrician). I was quite proud of myself that day.
What's happening this week: The HVAC system is almost finished and we should have AC (and heat) by next weekend. We are getting quotes on the framing/drywall work and the plumbing for the two baths we are installing. We went ahead today and purchased the medicine cabinets for all three bathrooms. Penny has Monday off so we are going to look at pedestal sinks for the master bath tomorrow. This is the style of sink I want in the master bath. Roofing guy is supposed to start sometime this week but do the major work next weekend. Things are moving rapidly. I think we'll probably spend the night here again so that we can get started in the morning.
BUT, the best thing is happening tomorrow! We are finally getting a washer and dryer!!!!!! OMG, I am so happy I could just cry. They will be installed sometime tomorrow. I am OVER THE MOON about this. For the past two months we have been begging laundry time from friends or going to the laundrymat.
So, on to the pictures. As demo winds down, the pics are less dramatic (except for the sunroom ones).
Bathroom without sparkly faux marble paneling (only to reveal pea soup green paint over more @#$% wallpaper)
Faucet Repair: I carefully removed all parts and laid them out in the order I removed them and even took a picture so that if things got mixed up, I would have a record of their order.
Sun Room Demo
Faux Bois Wallpaper
The room formerly known as the "blue room" without wallpaper
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