Soon, Very Soon...

The front half of the house is almost complete. A little more scraping of the trim and we will cross over into the second half of the house... A time for celebration perhaps? We shall see. Although there is less old paint to remove, there are many new problems that will take some creative thinking and assumably lots of labor.

So let me recap what had been going on in the house since the last time I posted.

The dining room had some fake brick around the stove. It was a thin veneer that didn't match the surrounding brick. I tried hard to let it go, but it HAD to go. We removed the old brick wall and found a heat vent that runs along the wall there. We decided to re-build the wall, but will have to use a heat shield to protect the new drywall, since the old wall was a little toasted from the previous owners.

Before


After demolition


After the wall was re-built (Eventually, I wouldn't mind fixing the bend in the pipe as well.)


Remember the hallway? Well, the drywall is completed and the trim has been replaced. It looks crappy at the moment, but keep in mind that we will paint the trim white and everything should be happy again.





Plus as far as the trim goes, I cut all the cove pieces throughout the first part of the house. They are just setting in place right now, since we need to take them off while we finish the floors.

Before


After


Sorry I can't resist showing off the baseboard work, since that was my project. Notice the cutout around the new brass cable plug. Oh yeah!



After a lot of convincing, Brice fixed the crack in the ceiling from the living room fan. He really didn't want to, as he thought he wouldn't be able to do it, but he did a great job with joint compound and a comb...it will be painted.



In the master bedroom, we worked on the closet. Lots of small things there. We ditched the closet organizer, since it wasn't even put in straight and fixed the walls.

Before (look at the baseboards and the plywood wall on the left)


Rebuilding the wall


Almost there...just need some paint and a new closet organizer.

Alphabet Soup

Another weekend, another day closer to moving in.

Brice continued work on the hallway. Just three small walls, but by far the most challenging area of the house. The east wall was actually a piece of plywood. Normally we would rip this out and replace it with wallboard. However, spatially challenged Do-It-Yourselfers did not leave enough room in either the closet or hallway to frame a wall. We decided that the best option was to attach wallboard to the plywood. When Brice removed the trim to do this, we found the plywood wall was not really attached to anything at the bottom; sort of like a sideways saloon door. We talked about solutions, only to find that best approach would be to use shelf brackets to secure the wall in place. Then when the trim is put back on, the brackets would be hidden and the wall would be secure enough to put drywall on both sides. I sure hope that the next owners don't think that we put the plywood there to begin with!

The other two walls had enormous cracks in them, plus what appeared to be peeling, painted wallpaper. After Brice chipped away at the walls, he realized that it would be easiest to just remove the failing plaster and lath and replace it with wallboard. Everything that I have read suggests keeping plaster walls since they add value to older homes, have insulating qualities, and dampen sound. However, at some point (when the plaster is bulging at every seem), it just doesn't make any sense. If I had my way, I probably would replace most of the plaster in this home with wallboard, but I don't have the time or money to address all the problems this would bring (like replacing all the trim for one).

Here is the hallway in all its glory... Notice the quarter round where the angles converge.



And here is the hallway after Brice had finished 2/3 of the walls. Notice the outlet at eye level (probably for a clock?). The wall that is facing the camera is made of plywood.





A shot of the wall after Brice put up the drywall. He wants everyone to note his electrical genius (the plug is now lower).



After a long day of building walls, we went out back to investigate a large metal cover bolted into the ground. Here is Brice breaking the hundred-year-old bolts with his bare hands...



It looked like something that would normally enclose water lines for a sprinkler system. However, it revealed something much more sinister. Could this be the opening to Hades?



or an hundred-year-old septic tank?



If you look closely you can see a really old bottle of ginger ale and what appears to be children's magnetic letters. We are assuming that the bottle (and possible some of the other items) were not flushed, but probably did float to the bottom. Yummy!



Ultimately, I would like to keep some of the more interesting things we find in the house and put them all together in a some sort of an art piece. We have collected a smattering of wallpaper, old tile, nails, and various other items. However, I would really like that bottle! Any suggestions for retrieving it would be greatly appreciated.

Where Is My Beautiful House?!?!?

I have noticed that there is a inverse relationship developing in the house. The rooms that the previous owners claim to have remodeled, actually have the most work to do in them. Take, for example, the bathroom. This room presents the greatest challenge, since the shower head hits most people in the top of the head. Not to mention, the ugly tub surround that it looks like it was trimmed down from a larger piece with a dull knife. While there is caulk in every nook and cranny in the house, there is no caulk around the tub surround on one edge or around the sink. Go figure.

Since we are replacing the surround with tile and we need to raise the shower head, I figured this would be a good time to get new fixtures for the bathroom. As many may already know, faucets aren't cheap and I want something that will fit with the "new traditional" style of the house. So after exhausting searches on the internet, I went onto eBay. I could take something old or new as long as it is in good shape.

Here is what I found...


Most of my friends know that I like copper and bronze, so this continues to be a good fit. Not to mention that I got for a really good price...$66.00 with shipping. At the store it retails for around $120. Now I need to find the matching (or close anyway) bathroom sink faucet. Can't seem to find it for a discount...

Finally, Brice has been working on finishing some corners in the house. In some areas where someone replaced the plaster with drywall, they didn't know how to finish the corners, so they simply put quarter round trim all in the corners. This was a popular solution for them. Well it looks like crap. We pulled off all the trim and found a large gap, which was not a surprise considering some of the things that we have found in this house. With a lot of determination and dry wall compound, Brice has managed to repair these corners and make it look like a professional job.

Here is the trim in the hallway...


Here is the corners in the bedroom after Brice was nearly complete...


And here is Brice with his exciting find...more caulk!