Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Chip It up - A fun tool
Friday, July 6, 2012
Month 2: Living in construction
We've had the house for two months. The craziness has continued. We now have all new plumbing. New electrical wires are throughout the walls. We even have a new water heater. The latest discovery of which we're still trying to figure out how to take care of: We have carpenter ants. They are living in our ceiling between the ceiling and the roof. Unfortunately, when the new roof was installed, they didn't dry it out - so we have carpenter ants living in a moist environment and being able to burrow into the wood. We've looked up lots of methods and companies. I will dedicate a blog posting to the following things we've learned:
1. Installing drywall
2. Mudding and Taping/sanding
3. Killing ants and spiders
4. Plumbing for old houses
5. Choosing a hot heater
6. Landscaping to deter bugs
7. Cleaning a flat roof
8. Choosing a Dehumidifier/ Portable AC Unit
9. Recipes for living without a kitchen
10. Drywall texture
11. Refacing a brick fireplace
12. Gravel driveways
13. Killing weeds
14. Blackberry bushes
15. salesmen and windows
The lessons are coming everyday. The biggest thing I've learned from the reno of this house is that the lessons are plentiful and there is always something to figure out. The hardest thing about this blog is having the energy to write about the lessons learned.
1. Installing drywall
2. Mudding and Taping/sanding
3. Killing ants and spiders
4. Plumbing for old houses
5. Choosing a hot heater
6. Landscaping to deter bugs
7. Cleaning a flat roof
8. Choosing a Dehumidifier/ Portable AC Unit
9. Recipes for living without a kitchen
10. Drywall texture
11. Refacing a brick fireplace
12. Gravel driveways
13. Killing weeds
14. Blackberry bushes
15. salesmen and windows
The lessons are coming everyday. The biggest thing I've learned from the reno of this house is that the lessons are plentiful and there is always something to figure out. The hardest thing about this blog is having the energy to write about the lessons learned.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Getting to the point we can upcycle
One month of owning this house has been an adventure...
Day 1: We bug sprayed everything. We found out from the neighbors that the occupants of this house for the past 24 months were spiders, ants and the occasional homeless person. The neighbors would call the police when they noticed them but because the house was surrounded by trees, it was hard to tell if people were living in the house or not.
Day 3: My sister and 4 of the 5 kids came and helped me clean out the garage. It was crazy dirty but amazing to get that done. Having the garage cleaned - even at 70% - we still have cobwebs and lots of old stuff inherited from the previous owner, really has helped us stay organized these past few weeks.
Day 5: The day started early with Mike and I picking up a U-haul and buying a kitchen off of Craigslist. It's a beautiful cherry brown kitchen from a very nice large house in Kirkland. When we got to the house, we took out the kitchen and built-ins. Well, we call the previous owner Gepetto. I call him, Johnny - since that is what the neighbor called him. Either way, it means that whatever was built by him was built strong and permanent and is IMPOSSIBLE to move! We also discovered, after taking down studs that the wall was load bearing between the kitchen and living room.
Julie (my sister-in-law) and I were at homedepot and ended up buying 4x4 posts to prop up the house and replace the load that the chopped out studs were holding up. Along with all the other smaller items we had to buy for whatever we were doing that day. Home Depot and Lowes are becoming our daily stops.
For the month:
I've made multiple calls to all kinds of electricians, plumbers, HVAC peeps and there are a lot of people who are willing to help or recommend someone else that can help. I had two HVAC people come. I had called one just to be the comparison price and ended up really liking the salesman. If I was choosing on personality, I would choose him. He came and gave me ideas about the house and how to deal with inspections and then he gave me the name of a handyman that could help us get the cast-iron radiant wall heaters out of the house. It was a job we were going to tackle but not looking forward to. Well, this hvac guy got his handyman friend to do it for $400. He was a crotchy old man but a great help! He worked for about 5 hours and disposed of the cast iron for us. Now, we may be naive but all I can find is that he would be paid about 20 cents a pound on that and I really think it was worth the struggle. The cast iron was heavy. He broke over 8 blades cutting all the metal and it was hauled away by him.
Lesson learned: Someone knows someone that would be good to work with or go with the A grade and multiple reviews people on Angie's list.
Electricians:
On Angie's list, we found a coupon to have the electrical panel replaced at the house. I got the coupon and then had that replaced before we even had bids for everything else that had to be done at the house. The first guy to do a bid for the house came up with $13,000! EEEEEK! Then, I went through a couple referrals but ended up going with the same guys who did the electrical panel for us. I was swayed towards them partly because they already had the permit in process with dealing with the electrical panel and 2nd because they worked with us on the budget. I had a contractor bring two electricians and they were the same price but the reality is, we ended up doubling what we had the electrician do because instead of just updating plugs, we ended up tearing out the bottom part of the walls in the living room and master and redoing all the wiring. Ryan & Derek, our electricians are great!
Plumbers:
I've had referrals for at least 5 plumbers. The crazy thing is I could never get them to call me back. This last one, our electrician texted me a number for a guy named Beau. The guy's voicemail box was full! So, I texted him what i needed. I felt like giving up on referrals and ended up calling Angie's list for someone to come out. They came out and gave us a reasonable bid on Wednesday. They could start this coming Monday. Well, 24 hours later, Beau called me and he had a different guy, Bryan, come down and help me. This guy bid $200 less than the plumbers we had agreed to have come the previous day and would do more. I really liked how he explained everything to me and feel like he would do everything to code and the right way the first time. Luckily, Mike had shown me the plumbing plan that morning and I was able to walk through knowledgeably about what we needed. The reality is, if you watch Youtube videos, you walk away thinking you can do the plumbing yourself. But timing and then talking about the pipes for the drain/sewer - it became too big a job and we have committed to have Bryan come. He is here right now and doing the job today. YEAH! It's the last step before drywall.
HVAC:
Well, I ended up going with the 2nd guy. I felt badly about that since the first one had connected us with the handyman who took out our heaters. I found the 2nd guy through Costco and there was a deal to get this done and get a gift card from Costco. Also, because I have the Costco card and Amex card, I will get a percentage back in the next year from my rebate checks. That's what tipped me towards this guy. It was future money. We ended up having the guys put in the gas line too. They put in the gas line for a gas dryer, gas stove and future gas fireplace.
It's is moving along but other than buying the craigslist Kitchen and an outlet French Door Fridge - we haven't been able to upcycle much. I'm painting the built in closet and have been cleaning lots. We still have cobwebs in the places we haven't been able to clean yet. It's a process but it's coming.
This will be a great house someday soon!
Day 1: We bug sprayed everything. We found out from the neighbors that the occupants of this house for the past 24 months were spiders, ants and the occasional homeless person. The neighbors would call the police when they noticed them but because the house was surrounded by trees, it was hard to tell if people were living in the house or not.
Day 3: My sister and 4 of the 5 kids came and helped me clean out the garage. It was crazy dirty but amazing to get that done. Having the garage cleaned - even at 70% - we still have cobwebs and lots of old stuff inherited from the previous owner, really has helped us stay organized these past few weeks.
Day 5: The day started early with Mike and I picking up a U-haul and buying a kitchen off of Craigslist. It's a beautiful cherry brown kitchen from a very nice large house in Kirkland. When we got to the house, we took out the kitchen and built-ins. Well, we call the previous owner Gepetto. I call him, Johnny - since that is what the neighbor called him. Either way, it means that whatever was built by him was built strong and permanent and is IMPOSSIBLE to move! We also discovered, after taking down studs that the wall was load bearing between the kitchen and living room.
Julie (my sister-in-law) and I were at homedepot and ended up buying 4x4 posts to prop up the house and replace the load that the chopped out studs were holding up. Along with all the other smaller items we had to buy for whatever we were doing that day. Home Depot and Lowes are becoming our daily stops.
For the month:
I've made multiple calls to all kinds of electricians, plumbers, HVAC peeps and there are a lot of people who are willing to help or recommend someone else that can help. I had two HVAC people come. I had called one just to be the comparison price and ended up really liking the salesman. If I was choosing on personality, I would choose him. He came and gave me ideas about the house and how to deal with inspections and then he gave me the name of a handyman that could help us get the cast-iron radiant wall heaters out of the house. It was a job we were going to tackle but not looking forward to. Well, this hvac guy got his handyman friend to do it for $400. He was a crotchy old man but a great help! He worked for about 5 hours and disposed of the cast iron for us. Now, we may be naive but all I can find is that he would be paid about 20 cents a pound on that and I really think it was worth the struggle. The cast iron was heavy. He broke over 8 blades cutting all the metal and it was hauled away by him.
Lesson learned: Someone knows someone that would be good to work with or go with the A grade and multiple reviews people on Angie's list.
Electricians:
On Angie's list, we found a coupon to have the electrical panel replaced at the house. I got the coupon and then had that replaced before we even had bids for everything else that had to be done at the house. The first guy to do a bid for the house came up with $13,000! EEEEEK! Then, I went through a couple referrals but ended up going with the same guys who did the electrical panel for us. I was swayed towards them partly because they already had the permit in process with dealing with the electrical panel and 2nd because they worked with us on the budget. I had a contractor bring two electricians and they were the same price but the reality is, we ended up doubling what we had the electrician do because instead of just updating plugs, we ended up tearing out the bottom part of the walls in the living room and master and redoing all the wiring. Ryan & Derek, our electricians are great!
Plumbers:
I've had referrals for at least 5 plumbers. The crazy thing is I could never get them to call me back. This last one, our electrician texted me a number for a guy named Beau. The guy's voicemail box was full! So, I texted him what i needed. I felt like giving up on referrals and ended up calling Angie's list for someone to come out. They came out and gave us a reasonable bid on Wednesday. They could start this coming Monday. Well, 24 hours later, Beau called me and he had a different guy, Bryan, come down and help me. This guy bid $200 less than the plumbers we had agreed to have come the previous day and would do more. I really liked how he explained everything to me and feel like he would do everything to code and the right way the first time. Luckily, Mike had shown me the plumbing plan that morning and I was able to walk through knowledgeably about what we needed. The reality is, if you watch Youtube videos, you walk away thinking you can do the plumbing yourself. But timing and then talking about the pipes for the drain/sewer - it became too big a job and we have committed to have Bryan come. He is here right now and doing the job today. YEAH! It's the last step before drywall.
HVAC:
Well, I ended up going with the 2nd guy. I felt badly about that since the first one had connected us with the handyman who took out our heaters. I found the 2nd guy through Costco and there was a deal to get this done and get a gift card from Costco. Also, because I have the Costco card and Amex card, I will get a percentage back in the next year from my rebate checks. That's what tipped me towards this guy. It was future money. We ended up having the guys put in the gas line too. They put in the gas line for a gas dryer, gas stove and future gas fireplace.
It's is moving along but other than buying the craigslist Kitchen and an outlet French Door Fridge - we haven't been able to upcycle much. I'm painting the built in closet and have been cleaning lots. We still have cobwebs in the places we haven't been able to clean yet. It's a process but it's coming.
This will be a great house someday soon!
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