Our House
January 19, 2012
The Renovation Continues....
The renovation marches on and has gobbled up about 120% of my free time. I've got a whole lot more in the way of thoughts on the general aspects of the project, but I'll save that for later.
Here's a shot of the nightly tool storage area. Through the project, I've discovered a number of MVP tools that I'm going to cover in more detail in the coming days. These are tools that I've been using that have really helped things along. You can pretty much see them all here: the Milwaukee M12 Jacket, the DeWalt worm drive, the Bosch Impact Driver, the Makita 15 amp Recip Saw and the Hardcore Hammer. There are others, but those are the ones at the top of the mind (probably because I used them all last night).
December 7, 2011
My Kitchen
Um...there's not supposed to be a cathedral ceiling....
The title of the post is a bit misleading. This is actually my kitchen and my master bedroom...and the giant void where there used to be the floor that separated them.
If you have an old house and you're thinking about gutting it, this is what happens, regardless of your plan. Trust me. There will come a point, early on, when you realize that your house is held together by memory and unicorn dust and then you'll need a structural engineer and a thousand dollars in LVLs. Trust me.
November 8, 2011
Hilarious/Terrifying Things We See In Our House: Part Eight
I uncovered this corner of the foundation after taking off the "sun room."
I totally can't see it as being a problem. No way.
October 31, 2011
Hilarious/Terrifying Things We See In Our House: Part Seven
Our ongoing catalog of poor construction techniques continues with this doozie of a wiring job that I found buried in the wall when I gutted the place.
Seriously, wtf? Who does stuff like this?
Had I known that every time I turned on the light to the bathroom, I was sending electricity through this mess, I would have probably been content to leave the light off and pee all over the toilet seat.
After finding this and a few other things, I'm starting to lean towards the opinion that if you buy an old house you've got to gut it. Who knows what Jimmy the Homeowner buried in the walls. Frightening stuff.
October 26, 2011
Where's Waldo?
So it's been about a month since I last posted (thanks Jay for the guest post). It's been my longest hiatus from the site since starting it in 07. I didn't intend to take such a long break, but I got busy with things. What things, you ask? My house, of course....which I'm gutting and now looks like this....
...and this....
...and this...
It's going to be a long winter.
January 10, 2011
Hilarious/Terrifying Things We See In Our House: Part Six
- Horseshoes
- Hand grenades
Bathroom fixtures
December 7, 2010
Hilarious/Terrifying Things We See In Our House: Part Five
This one has been sitting down in the basement for waaaay too long. It's pretty shameful that it it took my months to get around to fixing it. It's a miracle that I didn't end up with a basement full of water.
I don't think I've ever seen pipe corrosion quite this extreme.
But the other night I carved out some time and 20 satisfying minutes later, peace and order was restored to the tiny village.
If you've never sweated a copper pipe before, you should giver it a shot, it's not difficult at all. Here are a couple links with the basics:
easy2diy.com
One Project Closer
Made Manual
October 19, 2010
Hilarious/Terrifying Things We See In Our House: Part Four
Here are a couple doozies of the plumbing in the basement....
...ugh....
January 6, 2010
Crazy Details in our New House: Part Three
"If a 1/8" caulk joint is good, then a 1-1/4" caulk joint must be better"
That seems to be the philosophy governing the construction behind the shower in the master bath. There's really no other way to explain the massive blob of waterproofing that surrounds the shower pan. Our best guess is that it took about two full tubes of caulking to complete. It's so thick it looks like it was applied with a trowel or maybe a frosting knife. And it doesn't just stop with the pan, it's also slobbered in around the faucet and fixtures as well.
And to top it all off, we just noticed a leak appearing in the living room ceiling, just below the shower. So it looks like the caulk joint might not even be effective. Awesome.
December 3, 2009
Crazy Details in Our New House: Part Two
The wiring here all checks out, but there's something about this junction box that just reeks of evil. It reminds us of those creatures from the Matrix that swam around looking for Neo's ship.
October 29, 2009
Crazy Details in Our New House - Part One
Like we've mentioned earlier, we've just moved into a 1915 farmhouse. It's a wonderful, saggy, uneven structure with more character than Clint Eastwood's face. The house has good bones and most of the work associated with the man who built it and first lived in it is very nice. There have been other owners though who have been tinkerers and their work is...well...interesting. Interesting enough that we're going to start a new series, "Crazy Details In Our New House."
This first installment is of the creative plumbing that occurs as the waste line leaves the house. It's a beauty. The two small lines coming in from the top are a sink and a tub (why bother with two traps when you can just use one?). Unfortunately, the photo doesn't represent the whole effect. You're missing the strange patch further down on the waste line which has a slight leak, and there's no way to tell from the photo, but the plumbing system isn't vented, so every time we flush a toilet, there's a fantastic 'GLUG...GLUG...GLUG." Actually, now that we think about it, the corroded and abandoned cast-iron pipe that's stuffed with newspaper sort of acts as a semi-functional vent. Maybe that's why the glugging isn't as loud on the first floor.
Did we mention that we love this house? We really do.
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The Renovation Continues....