General
Back In Action
August 28, 2006
Well... after 6 months of hiatus, we're back. What was once known as 'Making A House A Home' will now be known as 'Get Me Out Of This House!'
The reason for the name change is because life took a little unexpected turn and my final goal once the house is renovated is to put it on the market and to move on.
I'll continue to update things as they move along, so check this space on occasion to see what's happening (or isn't happening in some cases).
Posted by house at 10:01 AM | Comments (3635)
General
House Fact of the Day
December 19, 2005
"Drywall can be disposed via "Ocean Dumping", ie dumping used gyprock into the sea where it will cause no harmful pollutants to sea life."
via Wikipedia
Hmmm... I didn't know that!
Posted by house at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)
General
Wall waterfalls and other words of interest
November 08, 2005
I called my plumber last night... he said he would be coming on Wednesday around 5pm. I've got to make sure I'm home by then... I need to figure out what exactly has gone wrong with our house.
In other news... I'd like to update most of my electical outlets in the house so that they are... oh... grounded. I'd love to do most of the work myself, but I'm not sure where to start. How many of you housebloggers out there can direct me to some online sources and maybe even some books I might be able to find at my local library? I'd hate to pay an electrician money for something I might be able to take care of myself. Probably some legal issues with that, but hey... I'm getting desperate.
I'm also still trying to track down exactly what model my oven is. There are very few sources online to help me out, so I may just never know. There's quite some rust damage under the top burner plate... I might have to take care of that myself and spray it with some grill paint to seal it up. That should be totaly safe. I'll definately have someone come by and look at it before I consider using it. Ever.
I'm still in the market to find where I can get a solid slate of marble for cheap that's around 29" by 6". Lowes has some 4" and 2" deep pieces, and I really don't want to have to glue the two together to get what I want.
Any comments on these topics would be appreciated.
Posted by house at 09:16 AM | Comments (3)
General
Still here
October 18, 2005
I'm still here. Just trying to save enough money for drywall and insulation.
Also still working on the antique kitchen sink. (New photos soon)
Any tips on getting the best price on a buttload of drywall?
Posted by house at 10:28 AM | Comments (1)
General
Houseblog Forums
August 09, 2005
I question why Houseblogs.Net doesn't have a members forum? So much use would come out of one, I would think.
I would totally be willing to moderate them as well.
Posted by house at 08:05 AM | Comments (7)
General
Mulch man
August 04, 2005
I laid more of that wonderfully red mulch on the side of the house last evening. I can't stand trying to mow in this area and this should help out a lot.
I also formed a natural border with the fence and garden.
I discovered this little guy moving along the mulch this morning.
And I also took the duty of covering the area for our three bushes on the other side of the house
Posted by house at 11:59 AM | Comments (1)
General
Breaking and entering...
August 02, 2005
...into your own home.
That's right. I had to break into my own house yesterday afternoon.
I was on my way out of the house to go to Lowes when I pulled to door shut and reached in my pockets for my keys. I tried to push on the door when I realized the keys were not there in my pocket but it was too late.
So... I used a sharp rock to cut through my screen window and forced the window (which I knew to be slightly cracked open) up and climbed right in.
Without a doubt so far the most embarassing experience in owning my house so far.
Posted by house at 12:04 PM | Comments (2)
General
Moving Day
May 31, 2005
Yesterday and Sunday were moving days, as I told my landlord I would be out of my apartment by the end of May. I'm hoping she lets me out of my lease, as I left the apartment in better shape than I received it.
Special thanks go out to my sister, who helped me move all of my large furniture; my mom, for letting me borrow her van; and my dad, who helped me lug my mattress, box springs, and TV over to the house.
As for everything else, I took over 20 individual loads in my Jetta going back and forth between my apartment and the house. It was quite the pain in the ass and I'm glad its over now.
You never quite realize how much random crap you have until you have to pack it all up and lug it somewhere else.
Time for a yard sale.
Posted by house at 09:16 AM | Comments (2)
General
Plumbing - Part 2
May 26, 2005
Well... I finally heard back from Doug, my plumber, yesterday. He says in order to...
- Remove and replace sewage line running into sewer
- Install shut off valves at kitchen sink
- Pull laundry connections down into the basement
- Install a shower in the upstairs bath
...that it would cost roughly $300-$600 dollars.
Not bad.
He's throwing the $600 figure out there because he's not sure what kind of trouble he will run into when pulling out the cast iron sewage line from the kitchen wall. That's right... we get to cut into the kitchen wall that I decided not to pull the plaster from. No big deal... maybe I'll make an access panel there or something for future needs.
Posted by house at 11:19 AM | Comments (2)
General
Plumbing - Part 1
May 24, 2005
I haven't updated the site in a few days for good reason. I'm still waiting to here back from the plumber, who came last Saturday to get a general idea of what needs to be done in the house to make it somewhat livable. Things like replacing a drainage line that connects to the sewer line, installing a shower, and placing shut off valves for the kitchen sink. Simple things that I'm sure are going to cost a fortune to do. Now... I could probably handle some of the challenges myself, but I don't exactly want to be responsible for flooding my new home, you know?
It's amazing how the plumber doesn't have a home answering machine, so getting a hold of him has become a chore. I'm really considering donating my old answering machine to him since I'm eliminating a phone line at the house. I have no use for it, and it would really be a convenience to me.
Work has really been kicking my ass lately, so hopefully I'll find time to finish up with the kitchen walls and get some of our ordered Soy-Gel on the hardwoods to see if it helps getting those into shape.
Oh yeah, and I have to be out of my apartment by the end of the month.
Joy.
Posted by house at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)
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Fluff
May 17, 2005
Fluff is a new composting and potential building material made entirely from recycled household waste.
Pretty cool!
Posted by house at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)
General
1800
$1,800
That's how much it's going to cost to refinish our hardwood floors.
Yeah right.
Time to get another estimate.
I guess I need to explain that I tried doing this myself, but the machine we rented (avoid the Varathane models you can rent from Lowes!) heated the (very old) finish from the floor and then burned it back onto it. I spent an entire evening stripping the floor, which didn't help anything. I ended up taking the machine back and demanded a refund, which I received.
So... I decided to get some estimates on hiring someone else to do it and that's the price I got for the living room, dining room, and kitchen.
Looks like I'll be investing in a belt sander in the near future.
Posted by house at 08:17 AM | Comments (8)
General
House style
May 14, 2005
Can anyone tell me what style my house is?
Any help would be appreciated.
Posted by house at 12:40 AM | Comments (5)
General
Revealing the hardwood floors
May 03, 2005
Well... the carpet is up and the hundreds of staples have been pulled. To prove to you how many staples I had to pull up manually take a look at this:
Those staples represent about 1/5th of the number that I ended up pulling up. This better be worth it...
As for the aftermath...
Above is an image of the living room and connection to the dining room. As you can see, there is a large patch in the middle of the room, where I believe a hearth once stood. They did a pretty lousy job at patching the floor, if you ask me. Still undecided on what to do about that.
This second picture is of the dining room. You can barely see on the left another elongated patch where I will probably install a window seat to cover up the mess.
Another shot of the hardwood.
As for the next image, you might remember briefly seeing the floor tile in the entryway...
Here's a photo of the tiles piled up after removal which revealed some interesting results...
GLUE!
Sanding should take care of it, but it will be a lot of work.
And finally... after removing the nail strips from around the perimeter of the rooms...
..., I discovered that the power outlets in the floor were easily accessible from the basement ceiling (or 1st floor). This will allow for me to simply run a new line to the new boxes once I replace the breaker box with a newer one.
Posted by house at 10:55 AM | Comments (3)
General
Bent over in a permanent position
May 02, 2005
That's what I looked like for a majority of the weekend.
And now I hurt.
More photos to come tomorrow.
Posted by house at 01:52 PM | Comments (0)