Things That Begin With G

Grout and Garage!

That's what Dad and I worked on while Mom was out of town.

Friday morning we grouted the kitchen tile.  First, we applied the grout with our trowels.  After it hardened for a bit, we wiped the excess off.  Over and over and over and over and over again.  Eventually, it was wonderfully shiny again.

I totally love it!

That afternoon we bought some wood for trim in the kitchen.

Saturday was a half-day of work, but we accomplished a lot.  I had saved the cabinets from the kitchen when I took them out.  We spent the morning installing them in the garage.  There wasn't enough space for the full L of the lower cabinets, so we didn't install the smaller part, which was kind of broken from being removed anyway.  We were able to install both the upper cabinets, but not their doors.  They were stupidly designed so that the door doesn't go the full length of all the cabinets and cuts off about a foot of the top shelf.  We decided no doors would be more functional.  On top of the base cabinet, we used an old door from the removed garage conversion as a counter top.  It fit perfectly so we didn't have to cut it in anyway!

Sunday, we installed pegboard in the garage corner and I moved in a bunch of stuff.  The garage is now totally clean and I can park a car in there!

I also converted the nearest outlet from a 220 one to a 110 one so that will be quite useful.  Dad fixed a kitchen outlet that was sticking out from the tile too far.  He then caulked the connection of the kitchen tile to the counter.  Apparently that was a pain since the counter was wood.  The caulk doesn't wipe up nearly as well as on tubs and tiles.  I also got the kitchen trim pieces rubbed with Minwax so they'll be ready to go up next weekend.

We're so close to being done.  It's awesome.  I'll keep you posted about an open house coming in the future.

Tile Work!

The day finally arrived for us to do the tile back splash in the kitchen.  I've been waiting for this for a long time.  I designed it months and months ago and finally get to see it come together.

First, everything had to be carefully planned to know how much to cut off the first tile so that the ending ones wouldn't look stupid.  Dad cut those first tiles with his tile saw.  We also got the counters covered with plastic to keep them nice.

When we were ready to begin, Dad mixed up the thinset (thin concrete-like stuff used to attach the tile to the wall) and I dipped the tiles (since they're ceramic, the suck a lot of moisture out of the thinset if they're not wet first).  Dad then applied the thinset to the wall (we chose to not use backer board for this project since strength wasn't a concern).

We then pressed the tiles into place using 1/8 inch spacers.

Along the top of the tile over the sink (no cabinet overhead) I applied some trim pieces.  First, the thinset had to be back-buttered onto the piece.

We kept applying tiles until we were at the corner.  Then, I cut the pieces to fit there.

We removed the spacers and wiped off the excess thinset.  Not enough time for grout this weekend, so we know what we'll be doing next time.

Three Days, Three Windows

Friday morning.  While Mom got dinner started in the crockpot, Dad and I installed the replacement window in the study.  It was generally an easy process.  First was to remove the window, but not the frame, of the one that was there already.  The slider came out easily.  Getting the fixed one out proved more troublesome, but we eventually prevailed.

The replacement window sits right on the frame of the original.  We just put it in and screwed it into the sides. Pretty easy.

We then made a list of jobs still needing completion.  After lunch, we hung the last remaining kitchen cabinet.  I hadn't originally gotten one for the space, but it looked incomplete.  Better now.  (Sorry, no pic.)

Saturday we started working on the master bedroom.  First up, taking off the drywall from the back wall.  The end goal was to replace the window there, but, when we first did some research on the window, we discovered that it wasn't original and that the idiots who did it cut studs and diagonal bracing without transferring the load anywhere.  We need to rectify that.

At this point, I did some work outside (planting tomatoes and cutting up branches) while Dad built a new frame for the new window.  Here's Mom and Dad installing it.

Shortly after this, we had dinner and I left for my evening plans.  Mom and Dad, being the awesome people they are, stayed and finished installing the window.  This is what I discovered when I got home.

You can see that the new window is a different size than the old one.  Once we've got the windows in the whole house installed, we'll restucco around them and make it look nice and neat.

It was off to soccer for me Sunday morning.  When I arrived home, Mom and Dad had already taken out the other window in the master bedroom.  After lunch, Mom and I started putting up OSB (plywood) on the wall from Saturday.  That's how we're overcoming the cut cross-bracing.  It will add a lot of shear strength to the wall.  Dad created the new frame during that time.  Once the frame was installed, Mom (our flashing expert) put the window flashing around the hole.

I cut up more branches during this time.  Also, Dad and I hung more OSB.

Once Mom; finished flashing, Dad and I installed the window.  I made sure it was level on the inside.  Dad nailed it from the outside.

We accomplished a lot this weekend.  And.....it's going to keep happening.  Mom and Dad are spending their spring break working on my house!  I so wish I didn't have to go to work - I'd so prefer working on the house - but I've got to earn an income.  My parents are amazing!

Trim Work

Today was focused on trim.  Mom laid the pieces all over the house where they matched up by size.  Dad and I went around with the nail gun and attached them.

The ones in dining room, living room, and hallway are painted to match the wall.  The ones in the study match the ceiling.  After they were up, Mom went around and filled cracks with joint compound.  Then she touched up the paint.

I also removed nails from the door trim that still needs to be painted.  It's best to pull the nail all the way through the board - that way the ugly tear out is at the back, not front.  You've got to use a pair of vice grips to hold the nail (nothing to grip on the bottom of it), then pry it up with a utility bar.

I also spent time everyday of the weekend working on the piece that will fill this ugly hole, left from the original kitchen fan in the ceiling.

I bought a vent/fan grill on Friday and some paint.  Put several coats of paint on it (it started out white) and was finally able to put it up yesterday.

I spent the late afternoon taking care of the backyard with the weed whacker - so nice that the rain finally stopped.  Dad put up some trim in the kitchen.  Mom wiped a bunch of dust off the heater cover before putting it back on.  Mom and Dad moved my furniture in my living room more to what I want to to be and brought the TV out.  My house is starting to come along. Yay!

Bargain!!

We spent the morning buying more work.  I got a bathroom fan, whole house fan, and the duct work to go with them.  I also got a new hall light as the one that I had was absolutely disgusting.  Found one on the shelf that was discounted from $29 to $7.50.  Looked good, so I put it in the basket.  At ring up time, I checked to make sure that it rang up at the proper price.  Got a pleasant surprise.  Check the receipt below (you may need to enlarge it):

Just 1 cent!!!!!!!  The cashier even double-checked to make sure the bar codes matched.  They did, he said that's how it was in the program, so he let it go.  We totally should have gone back and gotten the rest on the shelf to resell for a profit.

After lunch, Mom got to work on the hallway.  She sanded down the rough texture before priming it.  Fine dust everywhere:

She did the primed the edges first (slow going with a brush) and that's as far as she got before quitting time tonight.

Dad and I worked on the bathroom fan and the venting for the over-the-range microwave.  He cut the larger hold for the bathroom fan (there was an old crummy one in there before).  I cut the hole in the cabinet for the microwave venting.  Dad cut the hole in the ceiling, down from the attic.  We got most of the venting connected and figured out for it.  We'll finish it tomorrow.  The bathroom fan was installed, but hasn't been wired yet.  Still need to start on the house fan and installing the attic vents to ensure enough exhaust ventilation.

It feels like we didn't accomplish much today, but, like we told Dad, we didn't actually start doing any work until about 2:00.  More fun tomorrow!

Finishing Up the Weekend

Saturday:  Dad crawled around the attic laying electrical wire.  The circuit works and is ready to be used.  I helped with that and did some other random things that needed doing (I think the lost of hour of time took away my memory of what I actually did.)  I patched a hole in the hallway that I created on Friday. (That actually took most of the time because cutting wallboard with a razor nice is slow work and then I had to repeatedly slice it down to fit the actual hole.  The I taped it and put up the first layer of joint compound.) Mom did some touching up of some baseboards and evening some drywall compound.  It was an early quit day as I had things to do with my girls.

When I arrived back home from soccer this morning, I found Mom emptying my fridge so that it could be moved.  Yay! A fridge in my kitchen!  This evening, out of habit, I walked into the garage to get what I needed from the fridge.  =)

Dad and I then spent the afternoon installing my over-the-range microwave.  This took quite a bit of time - mostly spent attaching the mounting board and prepping the overhead cabinet with strategically placed holes.  It looks great!  And I now have a fully functional kitchen!

Things still to do in the kitchen: toekick, trim around the top of the cabinets, venting the microwave, and the backsplash.

Mom spent the afternoon texturing the hallway.  I gave her a brief lesson and she went to town.  It was quite amusing to hear her pressing the trowel against the wall while we were working in the kitchen.

More Electrical Fun

We found and fixed my circuit relatively quickly.  It was the first outlet on the circuit - a wire in it was wobbly so it would connect and disconnect with every touch.  We just tightened it and problem solved!

Dad and I then moved on to other electrical activities.  We realized that the wiring we needed done was holding up finishing the hallway.  We need to run a new circuit for a whole house fan, bathroom fan, over-the-range microwave, outdoor outlet, and outdoor light by garage.  This morning, we cut holes in the hallway and the wall that is the back of the electric panel, so we would have access.  We then drilled holes up into the attic and stuck wires up there so we can find the holes when we go up and crawl around tomorrow.

Mom did some cleaning of outlets and switches in the kitchen and living room.  Then we ate lunch and went to the store to buy wire.

In the afternoon, I drilled the hole for the microwave.  Dad got the exterior light prepared.  Mom did some drywall patching.  Generally thrilling day.  Ready to crawl around the attic tomorrow and get a circuit wired.

Time Consuming Jobs

Saturday:  Mom spent the morning getting the bathroom protected from ceiling cleaning.  She spent the afternoon cleaning.  It was the most disgusting room in the house.  Near the fan, there was about 1/16" layer of tar from years of cigarette smoking.  Quite disgusting.

Dad spent the day pulling nails from floor moulding and painting it.

I did a little of this and a little of that. Major project was getting the buffet ready.  I put the doors on the cabinets that are acting as a buffet in the dining room.  I attached the countertop.  I measured and cut the backsplash.

I also planted some camellias in the front.  This involved carrying several buckets of dirt from the backyard to the front.  Before putting in the actual plants, I filled in some random holes in the front yard that were right next to the entry.  Then I got the three plants in the ground.  They're hard to notice in the picture now, but they'll get plenty big in just a year or three.

Sunday:  Mom finished the bathroom ceiling - with a really long break for lunch.  (She went out with friends and lost track of the time.)  She's actually finishing it as I type this.  It will be good for the plastic wrapping to be gone because it would be difficult to take a shower before work tomorrow.

Dad and I spent most of the day measuring, cutting, and installing floor moulding (kitchen, dining room, living room) and door trim.  It's a surprisingly slow process.  This evening, while I got dinner prepared, Dad put caulk along the edges and holes. Next weekend, we'll do some touch-up painting.

That's pretty much it.  We were plenty busy this weekend, but not a lot to show for it.  Oh, well, it's all got to get done eventually.

Slowish Day

While waiting for Mom and Dad to arrive, I painted the shelves Dad made a few weeks ago.  They're for under the bathroom sink to give me some more space.  When they arrived, Mom started preparing dinner and Dad measured for floor moulding.    We then went to the store and bought it.

After our return and lunch, we worked on getting the stove installed.  I got the sides cleaned while Dad started connecting the gas pipe.  We then attached some Magic Sliders to the feet so it would move easily and not scratch my floor.  It just barely fit in the space we left between cabinets.  We're good!

We then did some planning so we could install the countertop for the cabinet to the right of the stove.  We cut and installed that.  Kitchen now just needs microwave, floor moulding, fridge, and tile backsplash.  It's coming along nicely.

I then unpacked a few boxes into the hall cabinets.  Mom did some drywall patches.  Dad repaired my roof leak.  Mom and Dad pulled up some floor moulding so we can clean and paint it tomorrow.  That's about it.  Like I said, slowish day.

Sore Arms

Sunday morning Dad and I continue working on the kitchen sink.  We attached two countertops to their respective cabinets with silicone.  Then we did the same with the sink, being very careful to clean up all the squeezed out stuff so it won't be visible on the counter.  That part was messy, but we got it done.  Dad then went to work getting all the plumbing connections joined under the sink.  That took him most of the day.

While he did that, Mom continued her battle with the hall wallboard.  She was using 2 pieces of 1/4" board (we had a bunch left over from the heater hole).  At one edge, it would be flush with the 1/2" piece adjacent to it.  At one edge it would bulge and be almost 5/8".  She planed that edge down and was finally successfully.  I knew she would win the war!!  When she finished that, she spent the rest of the day with joint compound smoothing out joints and all those ragged edges from the scraped paint.

I spent most of the day outside with the weed whacker attacking the jungle that had sprung up recently.

I earned a blister and sore arms for my efforts.  It took several hours (not sure exactly how many since I wasn't actually paying attention to the time).  Looks much better now.  Sorry, no before/after pics.

After Dad and I finished our jobs, we hung some cabinets in the bathroom.  They'll give me some much needed extra space there.  Putting those up was not fun.  Everything was super heavy yesterday with my sore arms.

Scaring Dad

Saturday started with Dad and I finishing the living room floor.

While we did that, Mom scraped paint from the last wall of the hallway.  She then cut open a hole that had been kicked in at one point in time.  It took a bit longer than originally though because he kick had cracked the backside of the board.  It wasn't visible, but made the board wobbly.

At out lunch break, we went to the store and bought a bunch more stuff, in order to use a coupon that was expiring this weekend.

When we got back, Mom attempted to patch her hole.  It turned into a war and the wallboard patch piece won the day's battle.  Mom came up with a plan to be implemented Sunday to try to win the war.

Dad and I worked on installing the kitchen sink.  Dad put the sink baskets and stuff on while I cut the counter for the sink hole.  That took quite a bit of time.  Dad's little jigsaw hadn't had such a workout.  Here's a shot of Dad doing the last of the cutting.  My arm was tired of the constant vibration and needed a break.

It was pretty funny taking this photo.  Dad was focused on what he was doing and had no idea that I had pulled out the camera.  I took one photo without flash, but it didn't turn out very well.  I turned the flash on for this one.  When it went off, Dad looked up, frightened.  He thought the saw was blowing up!  Totally didn't mean to scare him at all, but it sure was funny.

The last bit of work for the day was painting the cut edge of the sink hole to seal it.  By the end of the weekend, I'll have a kitchen sink.  That will make living here much nicer.

Frustrations

So, my electric meter hasn't been registering anything.  At the beginning of the month, I called and let them know there was a problem.  The first time they sent someone out nothing happened.  Thursday, they sent someone out again.  I arrive home at 11:30 at night to discover my power is off.  Street light is working so I know it's not that the rain storm knocked out power.  I somehow manage to find the flashlight in the garage and head out to check the meter.  It's totally gone!  Now, I'm pissed off.  I know what has happened before I call - previous tenants had tampered with it to get electricity for free. I just know it.  I call customer service and wait for 45 minutes to speak to someone (clearly not many people working the overnight shift).  I'm willing to wait because I want to get someone to come out on Friday to fix this problem.  No such luck when I reached someone.  All she could tell me was that I had to call Revenue Assurance in the morning.  Alas, we got disconnected before she was able to give me the number.  I had to start the whole process all over again.  Finally got to go to bed at 12:45 - very upset and annoyed.

I set my alarm for 7:55 so I could call as soon as they opened at 8:00.  Did that and only got the chance to leave a message.  They would call me back by the end of the next service day.  That did little to quell my anger as there was no way I was going to wait until Monday to talk to someone about this problem.  I left a detailed message explaining the fact that I had called to report the problem so there was no way I was the one to have tampered with the meter.  It was quite obvious from my tone that they had a disgruntled customer on their hands.  As I was telling Mom ad Dad, I would have been significantly less pissed off had they left me a message on Thursday.  Apparently simple courtesies escape some people and businesses.

After leaving my message, I start getting myself ready for the day.  It's then that I discover that I have more to add to my frustrations.  The rain storm has shown me that I have a leak somewhere and it is evidencing itself in the bathroom.  Fortuitously, it's coming down right into the garbage can.  One more thing for us to work on.

Since we had no electricity, we chose to do work in the hallway that needed doing.  Mom finished cleaning the ceiling.  I scraped paint from the walls.  Mom and Dad have never seen paint behave this way in all their years of fixing up houses.  It's just coming off in sheets.  The end result:

Alas, I swept up the paint before I could take a picture.  They really were large sheets, not little chips.  While this was going on, Dad was working on that hole above the heater.  He added some cement board to try to insulate some of the heat from coming all the way through the wall.  We'll have to buy some 1/4" wallboard to finish the job.

We're thinking the heat from the furnace is what is causing the paint to peel away in large chunks.  It just does it for the top half of the board.  The bottom half of the wall has the paint stuck on well, like it should.

At 10:30 I get a call from Katie at the power company.  She's wonderful.  She clearly listened to my message.  First thing she tells me is that it was their fault.  I'm right about the fact that I called the problem in and that I should not have had my power cut off.  She's already called it in and someone will be out to replace my meter that day.  Thank goodness!  At 11:45, Kevin showed up and fixed it.  I now have a working meter and electricity. Yay!

After the paint chipping and cement board putting up, Dad and I rehung one of my kitchen cabinets to be 2" lower so that my antique cookie jar will fit in the display shelf the cabinet creates.  We then worked on finishing the living.  We got it mostly done when we discovered a chip (which would quickly grow significantly larger) in the end of a board that had already been placed.  It would require us to remove some boards to get to that one.  We decided that would be a good stopping point for the day.

The Rest of the Weekend

So, Saturday saw Dad and I laying more floor.

Mom took this while she was cleaning the ceiling.  It was a short day of work.  I left for a friend's birthday.  Mom and Dad, being the wonderful people they are, worked the rest of the afternoon laying floor and plugging holes with spray foam.

Sunday, Dad and I continued laying floor.  We got the kitchen finished. Yay!

While we worked on that, Mom spent her time removing the damaged wall board from over the wall heater.  It had bubbled out and was going to need replacing.  This is what she found:

The wallboard had actually been on the furnace piping.  The constant heat has disintegrated the sheetrock, which is why it missing on the pieces that have been propped up for the photo.  Time to figure out how to fix something else.  This seems to keep happening.

At about this point, we stopped for lunch and made a shopping list.  When we got home, all three of us worked on fixing the gate.  Earlier this week, it had been windy and rainy.  The wind hates my gate and I came home to discover this:

The wind is just too strong coming off the channel behind my house.  It puts far too much stress on the hinges, as you can see.  So, we took down the gates and cut them shorter since the above post was clearly no longer good at the top.  This involved removing two support bars, cutting planks and reattaching the support bars.  Then, we rehung the gates.  We then used a bar closure (similar to a barn door).  This provides a lot more rigidity at the center where the two gates meet.  Hopefully this will be enough to keep the gate from swinging around wildly in the wind and stressing the hinges.  The new gate looks much the same, but is significantly shorter than the original.  It's kind of humorous actually.