The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead...not only is it fit for Halloween, but it aptly describes how my husband and I feel this Monday. after wrangling with the temperamentally undulating subfloor and our attempt to float flooring over it.

This house's major bugaboo was the joist problem.  Though the problem has been fixed (rotting joists replaced), the floor had some major unevenness--a result of the joists combined with poor attention to detail during construction.  Using a self-leveling compound was not an option as there was not a sturdy enough substrate.  There was some heavy lifting involved, which involved work that I was blissfully not involved in, so I won't bore you with it other than to tell you that it involved cutting the subfloor, some joist work and then some new subfloor.

As we were floating flooring (engineered hardwood), various unresolved ills raised their ugly head.  One area was the steps that from the beginning was a problem.  After an interminable amount of time which involved many different shim configurations, I made an executive decision--I did the unthinkable--I face-nailed the damn board to hold it down.  It worked; stabilized the rest of the work across a wide expanse until.....

The downstairs is such that there is a great room with two adjoining rooms on the right hand side of the house.  Laying floor required that we do a fair amount of planning to ensure that we had seamless entryways into the other room.  The back hall presented a problem--a bit too much float (which I call sponge).

So Mark and I spent a good bit of time on Sunday de-sponging and re-checking other "problem areas".  Here is husbando cutting one of several shims that we used to shore up uneveness.



I cannot bring myself to throw away aluminum, and as this is a construction site, there is a pile of rubbish, including cans, that needs to get transported to the dump.

Mark left, and I stayed lay as much floor as I could.  I had some help.  She'd be more help if she had an opposing thumb.

I did pretty well.  Thankfully a junction point that exceeded my saw skill to navigate combined exactly with my gas tank being empty.  I packed it in and went home with every bone in my body (particularly my knees) reminding me of every inch of floor that I had installed. A few more wall/opening work arounds on the flooring to be cut, and the balance can be finished.  I made another executive decision to install this flooring in the utility and the upstairs bathroom.

Now, I know there are better choices....but we (read me!) are in no mood for other color or installation choices given that I have no floor differential to worry about nor color choices to make.  We have plenty of flooring, and engineered is not a horrible choice.  I see it as a temporary solution.  The total spend is about less than $100 in materials, and the labor is free.  She can pull it up easily without compromising the entire install.  I'll put high quality silicone caulk around everything, and she'll have to ensure that she has a good bathroom rug, plunger! and shower curtain.  I think that it will be fine...and off my watch when ultimately resolved.

I believe that the worst (heavy lifting) of this project is over--though we have 'carpenter doors' to hang--and that will be a bit of work.  I thought I had done a great job getting these solid wood doors at the Habitat for Humanity ReSource store. However, my husband only grumbled when he saw them.

I also was successful in getting another house.  This one is a bank owned.  Plenty of work that needs to be done, but none of it involves repairing floor joists! Like the current project, it needs to be painted--which includes transforming the dark wood trim.  It is a rancher with 3 bedrooms--it also has a full basement.  Both floors have a fireplace.  I'll write more on that later.  Time to put this baby to bed.  Today was my expected end date.  That is not to be...but I can almost taste the champagne that I'm going to drink when this project is done.








Weekend

Husbando had a chance to go fishing in the OBX with a friend.  I was left to my own devices--which means I didn't have to fix dinner for two nights.   I still refer to the rehab project without any curse words, so I think that it is a good thing.   However, yesterday, Hannah and I worked until we could stand no more and my limit was sorely tested!

 I got there a bit earlier with my trusty side-kick Ella (who we have had almost 3 years now). I primed the last-repaired surfaces so I could paint them later that day.  I really detest working with primer---its utility (stick-with-it-ness) is superb which accounts for its stubbornly moving from your applicator to the surface. 

My second job was to paint the ceiling (stamped drywall).  Once all of the interior sprucing up had been done, the ceiling, much like the windows, became an eyesore  Not only was there an 8x4 repair in the ceiling (to re-plumb the upstairs) that was so brilliantly white, but there were more concentrated dark rings around the former fixtures and gradiently dirty areas around the vents. This just could not stand.

 To the BM paint store for some Super-Spec flat ceiling paint.  I had to roll this ceiling before husbando came back on Sunday (today) from his fishing extravaganza.  He had spent a very long day on Wednesday (on his vacation), leveling the downstairs floor (with our paid professionals).  This required cutting all the way through the existing subfloor and doing something with the joist to get the hump out of the floor. Once the heavy lifting was done, then new luan (1/8" from the specialty lumber store) had to be applied in areas to (1) act as shim to level floor; (2) repair areas where older luan pulled up; (3) and to bring the other rooms (formerly carpeted) up to the same level as this.  My husband deserved a 2 day (if not longer!) fishing trip after doing this.

I would rather have needles stuck in my eyes than paint a ceiling.  Part of this painting required cutting in around the kitchen cabinets.  Cutting in a rough surface (ceiling) against a smooth surface (top trim on cabinets) was not easy.  A reminder why there is a reason for sequential steps in painting (ceiling first, trim next, walls last).  I cut in, and Hannah and I took turns rolling.  My extension pole (I'm not sure that it was anything more than a mop handle) snapped at the screw base (it was plastic).  Luckily, my paint-laden roller missed my head and merely imprinted my left arm with 1/4 roller's worth of paint.  I had another extension (broom handle?).

We finished downstairs.  With paint in my bucket, we went upstairs to inspect the bedrooms.  One greatly benefited from a coat of paint.  I had saved several of the flooring boxes which I had opened flat to create floor protection.  I also had a drop cloth.  As with the windows, upon inspecting our ceilings, we exclaimed, "I'm glad we decided to paint these ceilings!"  At least it was just two problem areas...but it was 500+ square feet. Our collective necks, arms and backs (and feets! (sic)) think that is was more than that. It is done, though.

With that done, I grabbed my last gallon of Hawthorne Yellow to paint over the repaired walls and put a second coat where needed.  I'm glad it was my last gallon, because I would have finished painting the last bit of walls otherwise.  We had already pushed ourselves pretty hard--and we really were beyond our bodies' capabilities at 9 hours of non-stop work.  I need one more gallon of HY to finish painting the stairway (may I survive that endeavor) and the few other places.

On Sunday, husbando returned, and we began the process of laying the floor downstairs.  Finding a true line from the wall required some planning given that walls/rooms/houses are rarely true.  This house, with all of its problems, had surprisingly true walls.


Exterior work

Here's the house with washed exterior, new windows, new front door and new shutters.
 We still have to paint the front door.  I'm second guessing the top lights in the door, but they do let in light.  Once the door is painted another color, it will be less 'stark' those two peeping pains. The roof is so visible and so brown that tannish that borwn shutters and door were a logical choice.  But we don't like the looks of yellow and brown and freshened the color a bit with blackwatch green shutters.  Washing the exterior helped a bit too! It still has brown gutters, but I'm not going to worry with that just now.  The pics were taken with two different cameras.  Notice that some of the bushes (azaleas), were planted far too close to the foundation.  These will have to be pulled up and (two were already sacrificed) am moved away a bit.

I'm waiting for drywall to cure for the interior work required be complete.  Yesterday (I started this post yesterday a.m. and am tacking another whack at it), I painted the back room...the only room not to receive any paint. It is a beautiful color, BM's, Harbortowne.  It is a lovely green/gray.  It looks terrific with the Chantilly Lace Trim and is pleasing to view as a transition from the Hawthorne Yellow.  Hannah worked on the trim pieces--putting a first coat over the sanded primed trim.

 While there are several big things to get done (counter tops, flooring downstairs), the interminable amount of painting has disappeared.  I still have painting...but very discrete, manageable pieces.  And that feels very good.



Windows!

The windows have been installed on the house, and my only regret is that I did not make the decision sooner to replace them.  I would have saved some time sanding, painting, repairing etc.  They look fabulous--and most importantly, they are functional.  A window should open and close easily and without causing you bodily harm. Shutters have arrived, and they will be installed this week too.  Once I get that done, I'll post a picture.

Husbando is heading out to Hatfield and McCoy in West Virginia.  At 56 years old, he still is riding his KTM along with others his age.  It is a trip met with much anticipation.  I just hope none get hurt.  It is very hard riding--long and technically difficult.  My husband is a very advanced rider--but anything can happen.  For myself, I'm on vacation too! 

Here is one of the scenic and utilitarian pics of what he will encounter.




Weekend Stuff

This weekend was very busy.  First a picture:





Here's our first completed room of the hardwood (engineered) flooring.  My husband and I laid the floor (having done same at our home when we build it many years ago).  We've had a long respite from laying floor.  This is what it looked like previously!

The engineered hardwood went down beautifully.  There were no 'rejects' in any of the flooring boxes that we used.  I was surprised how uniform the flooring was; how easily it went down; and I how it turned out surpassed my expectations.  Though the floor boxes are supposed to be random lengths, in general, the flooring was either full sized or 1/2 or (with just a smattering of something smaller).  In pawing through 3 boxes, I found not one piece that was less than full size.  So, I surely wish there were more randomization.  With a 9" minimum on adjacent row staggered seams, with only a few variable lengths, it gets a little tough!  Because it locks in place on all 4 sides (except adjacent to walls where there is a cut end on one side of the other), there is no "butting together" like regular hardwood.

All that aside...it was far more easier to lay than the solid stuff.  My fingers hurt from handling the wood. 

After laying flooring (lots of squatting and raising as my thighs are howling sore), I went home to take a nap.  I was tired.  I was doing a mega-leg to help out the Above and Beyond English Setter Rescue...drove to Rocky Mount and then back again to overnight two five month old English Setter/lab mix puppies and a Dachshund.  The Dachshund was sprung from a kill shelter...two more days and he would have been down.

They were coming up from Georgia. By the time that I picked them up, they had already been traveling almost 15 hours...their day starting at 7 a.m.  They were very hungry.  I had no food, but their sensitive noses knew that I had eaten.  Jill (sister of Charlie), licked every surface of my car that might have come in contact with food.  After about 30 minutes they settled down.

My main concern was not staying awake (my nap and a Pepsi helped), but rather the deer.  Rutting season is upon us.  I did not want to have a close encounter of any kind with deer.  Unfortunately, they are very active at night.

We arrived home safely.  Where there are farts, there is fire.  Not very elegant phraseology, but if you drive dogs, you know, at some point, when they have to go....they go.  And as dogs cannot speak, you must pay attention to the odoriferous signals. Dogs are not unlike some people....'to go' requires harmonic convergence of time and space.  If neither is right, then nothing happens.  At some point in time, biological imperative overcomes time and space, and it happens.

Despite my best efforts to orchestrate harmonic convergence (I don't think harmonic convergence is orchestratable), nothing happened at the preferred intersects of time/space.  Rather, the biological imperative happened inside my home during the mad frenzy to investigate new surroundings, sniff out the cat food and the remainder of my dogs' dinner.  They were so eager to eat, I had hard time getting their food to them without being mobbed.  

The gulped their food down.  I was tired.  It was 12:30 a.m.  Time for my winkie land.  I put them in crates with comfy blankets.  One of them did not go down so easily.  I put sheets over 3 sides of the crate of each of them.  That provided some comfort.  Off to bed.

Next a.m. we had brief potty, lite breakfast, another inopportune poop by one, and then a drive to Fredericksburg.  None of these pics is very good, but here they are....




Sunday we finished the second upstairs bedroom.  A very productive weekend.  Replacement windows go in Tuesday.  Everything is starting to really come together.



















Faux No!

I'm writing a quick post before I take a lovely English Setter boy to a longer term foster situation.  My step-mom is riding with me...her first time.  I've not been able to visit with her much as I've been working on this house on the weekends....and she lives in the opposite direction.  So we'll get to catch up (as my sister and I did while transporting Ollie) during the drive from Richmond to South Hill.

As we continue our progress (which is now taking exponential leaps) on this house rehab, we found out something, err, "interesting".  I have to give my daughter suitable projects which do not in any way involve painting.  She is a workhorse; however, she has some bull in the china shop tendencies (some honest DNA she received from me, but she lacks my many years of refining that proclivity!).  I told her that it was time to scrub the kitchen wall behind the countertop.

The kitchen wall had what we both thought to be a textured, faux application.  It was a bit rough, and I was unsure of the materials, and a blend of greens, yellows and browns.  I did know that it needed to be cleaned, so I set my daughter on the project.  Well, what we soon came to find out was that the application was not a faux application at all.  Rather, it was......grease splatters.



Here's a photo that shows the remainder splotches (which have since been cleaned--this was a photo taken during my daughter's break).  Notice my beautifully painted cabinet on the left.  By the time my daughter finished cleaning that edge between the wall and the cabinet, she managed to scrub off 1/2 inch strip of paint.

The pot you see on the stove is our source of hot water as the water heater had to be pulled out as part of the plumbing redo.  How many years of grease accumulation exists here, I do not know.  This 'faux no!' will be something that we always remember.  I think that a metal or tile backsplash will be in order.  The logistics of why the wall accumulated grease are not going away. 

Our weather has cooled quite a bit here.  Yesterday morning we found a tree frog and a giant dragon fly on an outdoor lamp.  My husband turned the light on to warm up the tree frog who is tucked in.  These pictures are not great, but I'll share them with you anyway.  Thhe first is our tree frog tucked on the outside of the glass. 

This one shows some of the lovely detail of the dragon fly's wings and body.


I'm off now to drive.