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| Looking from the utility room past the laundry room to the back door |
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| The stairs |
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| Steve's toy room |
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| Data wiring room |
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| Kids playroom |
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| An insulated support pole! |
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| Looking into the utility room |
Friday, July 29, 2011
Insulation PIctures
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Insulation!
After waiting nearly an entire month, the contractors came back today and started installing insulation into our basement!
In one day, they nearly insulated the entire thing, ceiling walls, and even the support posts that they framed. They only have one small section of ceiling left to do, and one full wall of Steve's room. Everything else is done.
We actually didn't expect EVERY wall to be insulated, but it's not like we're paying extra for it. Clearly we're paying for it as it's what the contractor thought we meant so I'm sure it's factored into his price.
I'm guessing that means drywall will come tomorrow. Either that or they'll take the time to install our new door. I suspect that job will be relatively tough.
In one day, they nearly insulated the entire thing, ceiling walls, and even the support posts that they framed. They only have one small section of ceiling left to do, and one full wall of Steve's room. Everything else is done.
We actually didn't expect EVERY wall to be insulated, but it's not like we're paying extra for it. Clearly we're paying for it as it's what the contractor thought we meant so I'm sure it's factored into his price.
I'm guessing that means drywall will come tomorrow. Either that or they'll take the time to install our new door. I suspect that job will be relatively tough.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The week from H-E-double-toothpick
It's been a really long week (well, 2) in the Steak household.
Starting with July 10, we had an autocross and by the end of the event, we knew the club's Ford F550 crew cab with 11 foot steel reenforced flat bed wasn't going to start. We need that truck to tow our 46 foot gooseneck trailer back to where we store it. That started the search to find a company that could tow the trailer while I called AAA for the truck.
You can imagine how amused a bunch of car geeks were when a Ford F550 truck arrived to flat bed our F550. The guy tried valiantly to get it on his truck, but ultimately bailed on it. He called for a medium duty truck to come.
The medium duty truck arrived at the same time as the heavy duty truck arrived to pull the trailer. The medium duty truck, another F550, looked at ours and effectively refused to tow it or flat bed it, leaving us high and dry.
When the medium duty truck left, the heavy duty driver called his dispatcher for another truck to tow our F550. These guys lift 18 wheelers, so we knew that picking up our F550 would be no problem. And their motto on their truck says, "Relax. We got this." Sure enough, they picked up both the truck and the trailer like they were toys, and hauled them where we needed them to go. And they cut us a price break, too. They were awesome.
Little did I know that there was a little foreshadowing in that picture... but before I get to that, it turns out that with every phone call I received from the Ford dealership, my bill was getting worse. But I had to have it done ASAP because I had 2 events scheduled that weekend! The kicker was when they had fixed the initial issue, started the truck, shut it down, then tried to fire it up again to test it, and it failed. That fix cost my club's autocross budget $1300 alone. The service manager cut me a $500 break, and only charged me $5000 for everything... OUCH.
Although our event on Saturday was fun, an event the next day had us headed out early to get home. As I was driving, I heard a rattle in the engine of my WRX. I looked down at my temperature gauge, and it was nearly at the hot zone. I pulled over as fast as I could, took it out of gear, and drifted on the shoulder until the car shut itself off. I drifted to a stop on the 175 ramp towards Columbia. Hi, again, AAA.
$100 later, my car was sitting at Hampton Automotive so that Gary could confirm for me what I already knew... I'd blown the engine. We had plenty of offers to drive cars at the event the next day because the autocross community is *awesome* like that, but we chose to just stay home.
Good thing we did stay home because I ended up helping Ernie and George with the yard regrading. Plus, Ernie took out some overgrown landscaping for me. Ernie dumped the extra stuff behind our fence line, effectively creating a 5 foot berm to combat what the land owner removed. See, we can play with big machines, too...that's a whole other story. Anyway, both DJ and Elektra loved watching the Ernie drive the backhoe!
Meanwhile, I had asked our electrician to come fix a couple more things we thought weren't quite right on Tuesday. He said he'd come Thursday or Friday. Thursday he texted me that he'd come Friday. Friday came and went, no electrician. Saturday, nothing. So now it's the day before insulation and drywall is supposed to go in, and he tells me that it's all fine and to code. I'm sure it is, but come and walk Steve through your work, answer his questions. No, his work is fine. I told him that Steve was ready to cut him loose at with only the payments we've given him, but I was giving him an opportunity to earn his full fare. He said to call another electrician. He had fired himself.
Awesome.
Ok, get that it's an hour to drive here from where he is, but for the money he was leaving on the table, I'd drive the hour every time! Steve called a friend who is in the home theater business (and apparently is a master electrician). We didn't hear from him Sunday, so I postponed my contractor another week. Ross came by on Tuesday, fixed the issues we had, and gave Steve guidance on others. Steve was MUCH happier.
Having posted my frustrations on Facebook, Steve's Uncle Kenny saw it and said he'd be over with his son (and Steve's cousin), Ryan, to help Steve finish the electrical work. We thought Kenny and Ryan were only into HVAC, else we would have had them come do the whole job!! I wish we had known about Ross, Kenny, and Ryan earlier!!!
Experience is what you get right after you need it.
Thursday, I was braking hard to a complete stop in the Outback, and it stalled on me. I tried replicating the scenario under my own terms, and it stalled again. This could be a sign of a transmission failing. I had already made an appointment with Hampton Automotive for Friday to have him recharge the A/C, so I asked him to look at that first. I wouldn't fix the A/C if the transmission was dying.
Yesterday afternoon, Gary called and said he couldn't replicate the stalling issue, but he ran out of time to recharge the A/C. So he kept the car to work on it until Monday.
Last night, on the day in which the outside temps hit 106 degrees, our air conditioner failed to start after BGE Peak Rewards cycling. We never signed up for that; our previous owner did. I wrote George and told him to come over on Saturday to take that thing off!!! No more! Our house got up to 88 degrees last night, so we slept with all of the fans and windows open. The house got down to 80 by the morning but uuuugh it was humid, too.
It turns out, Ryan used to work for BGE, can install and uninstall those things in his sleep, and was coming over this morning. Kudos to Ryan for troubleshooting the problem, fixing it, and removing the Peak Rewards thing!!! It has taken the house over an hour to cool down 1 degree.
Admittingly, with the way this week (and this remodeling project) has been going, where everything I touch dies, I was convinced we would be shelling out for a new HVAC unit. Glad I'm not... yet.
When it rains, it pours.
- Posted using BlogPress from my newest toy.
Starting with July 10, we had an autocross and by the end of the event, we knew the club's Ford F550 crew cab with 11 foot steel reenforced flat bed wasn't going to start. We need that truck to tow our 46 foot gooseneck trailer back to where we store it. That started the search to find a company that could tow the trailer while I called AAA for the truck.
You can imagine how amused a bunch of car geeks were when a Ford F550 truck arrived to flat bed our F550. The guy tried valiantly to get it on his truck, but ultimately bailed on it. He called for a medium duty truck to come.
The medium duty truck arrived at the same time as the heavy duty truck arrived to pull the trailer. The medium duty truck, another F550, looked at ours and effectively refused to tow it or flat bed it, leaving us high and dry.
When the medium duty truck left, the heavy duty driver called his dispatcher for another truck to tow our F550. These guys lift 18 wheelers, so we knew that picking up our F550 would be no problem. And their motto on their truck says, "Relax. We got this." Sure enough, they picked up both the truck and the trailer like they were toys, and hauled them where we needed them to go. And they cut us a price break, too. They were awesome.
Little did I know that there was a little foreshadowing in that picture... but before I get to that, it turns out that with every phone call I received from the Ford dealership, my bill was getting worse. But I had to have it done ASAP because I had 2 events scheduled that weekend! The kicker was when they had fixed the initial issue, started the truck, shut it down, then tried to fire it up again to test it, and it failed. That fix cost my club's autocross budget $1300 alone. The service manager cut me a $500 break, and only charged me $5000 for everything... OUCH.
Although our event on Saturday was fun, an event the next day had us headed out early to get home. As I was driving, I heard a rattle in the engine of my WRX. I looked down at my temperature gauge, and it was nearly at the hot zone. I pulled over as fast as I could, took it out of gear, and drifted on the shoulder until the car shut itself off. I drifted to a stop on the 175 ramp towards Columbia. Hi, again, AAA.
$100 later, my car was sitting at Hampton Automotive so that Gary could confirm for me what I already knew... I'd blown the engine. We had plenty of offers to drive cars at the event the next day because the autocross community is *awesome* like that, but we chose to just stay home.
Good thing we did stay home because I ended up helping Ernie and George with the yard regrading. Plus, Ernie took out some overgrown landscaping for me. Ernie dumped the extra stuff behind our fence line, effectively creating a 5 foot berm to combat what the land owner removed. See, we can play with big machines, too...that's a whole other story. Anyway, both DJ and Elektra loved watching the Ernie drive the backhoe!
Meanwhile, I had asked our electrician to come fix a couple more things we thought weren't quite right on Tuesday. He said he'd come Thursday or Friday. Thursday he texted me that he'd come Friday. Friday came and went, no electrician. Saturday, nothing. So now it's the day before insulation and drywall is supposed to go in, and he tells me that it's all fine and to code. I'm sure it is, but come and walk Steve through your work, answer his questions. No, his work is fine. I told him that Steve was ready to cut him loose at with only the payments we've given him, but I was giving him an opportunity to earn his full fare. He said to call another electrician. He had fired himself.
Awesome.
Ok, get that it's an hour to drive here from where he is, but for the money he was leaving on the table, I'd drive the hour every time! Steve called a friend who is in the home theater business (and apparently is a master electrician). We didn't hear from him Sunday, so I postponed my contractor another week. Ross came by on Tuesday, fixed the issues we had, and gave Steve guidance on others. Steve was MUCH happier.
Having posted my frustrations on Facebook, Steve's Uncle Kenny saw it and said he'd be over with his son (and Steve's cousin), Ryan, to help Steve finish the electrical work. We thought Kenny and Ryan were only into HVAC, else we would have had them come do the whole job!! I wish we had known about Ross, Kenny, and Ryan earlier!!!
Experience is what you get right after you need it.
Thursday, I was braking hard to a complete stop in the Outback, and it stalled on me. I tried replicating the scenario under my own terms, and it stalled again. This could be a sign of a transmission failing. I had already made an appointment with Hampton Automotive for Friday to have him recharge the A/C, so I asked him to look at that first. I wouldn't fix the A/C if the transmission was dying.
Yesterday afternoon, Gary called and said he couldn't replicate the stalling issue, but he ran out of time to recharge the A/C. So he kept the car to work on it until Monday.
Last night, on the day in which the outside temps hit 106 degrees, our air conditioner failed to start after BGE Peak Rewards cycling. We never signed up for that; our previous owner did. I wrote George and told him to come over on Saturday to take that thing off!!! No more! Our house got up to 88 degrees last night, so we slept with all of the fans and windows open. The house got down to 80 by the morning but uuuugh it was humid, too.
It turns out, Ryan used to work for BGE, can install and uninstall those things in his sleep, and was coming over this morning. Kudos to Ryan for troubleshooting the problem, fixing it, and removing the Peak Rewards thing!!! It has taken the house over an hour to cool down 1 degree.
Admittingly, with the way this week (and this remodeling project) has been going, where everything I touch dies, I was convinced we would be shelling out for a new HVAC unit. Glad I'm not... yet.
When it rains, it pours.
- Posted using BlogPress from my newest toy.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Pictures of the basement remodel in mid-stage
Here are some pictures that are of the basement remodel about midway through the project:
Notice Steve's new toy room has a subfloor. It will also have something called Quiet Rock and insulation to basically contain any noise made within it.
George found 4 new basement windows from Gnome Despot. We were surprised to find windows that fit there; we thought we'd have to have them custom made. It's a whole lot less expensive when things don't have to be custom made! Score one for George! The Sombreros installed them.
You can see that the subfloor has 2 parts to it: Delta FL plastic matting and OSB (plywood boards). The Delta FL plastic matting has hard indentations in it to allow moisture to escape and evaporate from underneath to the sides. The Delta FL and the OSB are screwed into the concrete. The Sombreros broke a couple of drill bits and screws trying to install this.
George did a supremely good job with this. Before all of the water filtration, water tank, and water well pump were moved, it was a rats nest of pipes. Now it's all neat, clean, and organized. It took George 2 full days to get all this moved (and therefore, get water back). Steve helped him source parts and helped whenever he could. George did "fire" Steve as his helper twice during that phase, but apparently, Steve has earned his plumbing wings back with George. haha THANKS GEORGE!
This is a few into the kids playroom from the opposite end of the finished part of the basement. This is going to be pretty awesome when it's done!!!
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| Steve's new toy room. |
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| New double paned window and its framing. |
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| New framing around the electrical panels. |
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| Subfloor. |
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| The new water center. |
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| View down the long finished room. |
New tile
We decided to have tile installed in our new basement bathroom, in the hallway connecting to it, and the laundry room. Steve picked out the tile from Gnome Despot, and George was going to install it. Somehow, George convinced Don, the guy who remodeled our entire kitchen, to install the tile for us because Don is a tile expert. It's actually really hilarious in that George ragged on Don for not using the right plumbing fittings, and George knows that Don would rag on him for poor tile installation. So George is not taking any chances, and convinced Don to do the work.
We were thrilled to have Don back in our house, and so were our dogs. Napoleon LOVES LOVES LOVES Don. Sorry, tangent.
Don understands little boys like DJ. He showed DJ how to mix the quick set, and how to cut tile. Then he showed DJ how to lay tile, too. DJ was totally fascinated, and couldn't get enough!!
Even with the littlest helper in tow, Don had the bathroom floor tiled in no time flat. He's going to wait until all the drywall is up before tiling the rest. Meanwhile, this allows George to start installing walls in the bathroom to start finishing it.
We were thrilled to have Don back in our house, and so were our dogs. Napoleon LOVES LOVES LOVES Don. Sorry, tangent.
Don understands little boys like DJ. He showed DJ how to mix the quick set, and how to cut tile. Then he showed DJ how to lay tile, too. DJ was totally fascinated, and couldn't get enough!!
Even with the littlest helper in tow, Don had the bathroom floor tiled in no time flat. He's going to wait until all the drywall is up before tiling the rest. Meanwhile, this allows George to start installing walls in the bathroom to start finishing it.
Waterproofing, sort of.
When we ripped up the old carpet that was in the basement, I noticed it smelled musty in the sections near the basement door to the outside.
Then, in mid-May, it rained for one straight week. Our basement floor was covered in muddy water. The water had come in from underneath the basement door, proving that the drain that is at the bottom is worthless.
My cousin George suggests renting a backhoe, and having another cousin, Ernie, operate the machine because he's trained on it. A hole would be dug to where a new drain would empty, add stone to make a drain pit, and then refill the hole while grading the earth away from the house.
The backhoe arrived last Saturday. I'm convinced that the delivery guy was on speed; he was just nuts. Maybe you have to be nuts to be a delivery guy of heavy machinery... what do I know??
Anyway, Ernie comes over, and I look at him, point to the backhoe, and say, "That is NOT a small backhoe!" He replied with a grin, "Nah, that's just a baby! I've seen backhoes with wheels that are 9 feet tall!" If you're digging the foundation for a skyscraper, you better believe that backhoe has tires that are 9 feet tall!
DJ couldn't keep his eyes off of this thing. It wasn't as loud as we expected, so DJ tolerated it pretty well. When Ernie started digging, DJ went and sat on his dresser to look out the window to watch the entire show. He was GLUED to it. If I were a 4 year old boy, I'd be glued, too. How often do you get to watch a backhoe at work from the comfort of your own room??? DJ was fascinated with the whole process!
Meanwhile, Elektra slept through ALL that racket, and they were digging outside of her window!!!
After the whole was dug deep enough, George and Ernie used a jackhammer to crack the concrete at the bottom of the stairs to install the new drain pipe. They also drilled a hole through the concrete retaining wall for the pipe to exit into the new drain pit.
All of this was too much for DJ. He couldn't get enough of it all!!
Hopefully, this coming weekend, George will get the drain installed, the stones will be delivered, and Ernie can finish. We only have the backhoe until Monday!
Then, in mid-May, it rained for one straight week. Our basement floor was covered in muddy water. The water had come in from underneath the basement door, proving that the drain that is at the bottom is worthless.
My cousin George suggests renting a backhoe, and having another cousin, Ernie, operate the machine because he's trained on it. A hole would be dug to where a new drain would empty, add stone to make a drain pit, and then refill the hole while grading the earth away from the house.
The backhoe arrived last Saturday. I'm convinced that the delivery guy was on speed; he was just nuts. Maybe you have to be nuts to be a delivery guy of heavy machinery... what do I know??
Anyway, Ernie comes over, and I look at him, point to the backhoe, and say, "That is NOT a small backhoe!" He replied with a grin, "Nah, that's just a baby! I've seen backhoes with wheels that are 9 feet tall!" If you're digging the foundation for a skyscraper, you better believe that backhoe has tires that are 9 feet tall!
DJ couldn't keep his eyes off of this thing. It wasn't as loud as we expected, so DJ tolerated it pretty well. When Ernie started digging, DJ went and sat on his dresser to look out the window to watch the entire show. He was GLUED to it. If I were a 4 year old boy, I'd be glued, too. How often do you get to watch a backhoe at work from the comfort of your own room??? DJ was fascinated with the whole process!
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| Digging the hole outside of the basement door. |
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| The "baby" backhoe/front loader. |
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| Another view of the hole. George is in the foreground. |
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| HI ERNIE!!!! |
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| Backhoe at work! |
After the whole was dug deep enough, George and Ernie used a jackhammer to crack the concrete at the bottom of the stairs to install the new drain pipe. They also drilled a hole through the concrete retaining wall for the pipe to exit into the new drain pit.
All of this was too much for DJ. He couldn't get enough of it all!!
Hopefully, this coming weekend, George will get the drain installed, the stones will be delivered, and Ernie can finish. We only have the backhoe until Monday!
Some fun pictures
Just posting some fun pictures of the kids!
This first set happened because DJ climbed into Elektra's crib one morning to hang out with her. So she played peekaboo with him!
Then there's this picture... of DJ... going potty... with his underwear on his head. "Why is your underwear on your head, DJ?" "Because it's a hat!" It was all Steve and I could to not laugh, and we didn't succeed... this was hilarious!
This first set happened because DJ climbed into Elektra's crib one morning to hang out with her. So she played peekaboo with him!
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Then there's this picture... of DJ... going potty... with his underwear on his head. "Why is your underwear on your head, DJ?" "Because it's a hat!" It was all Steve and I could to not laugh, and we didn't succeed... this was hilarious!
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Because we don't have enough to do...
... we decided to help Italian Greyhound Rescue, and foster a 9 month old boy puppy.
Yes, we're nuts. We know, thankyouverymuch.
And yes, he might just become a failed foster... i.e. I'm not sure Steve can give him up for adoption when the time comes. ;-) Here are some pictures that Greyhound Rescue took of him: http://www.smbrjphoto.com/egor
His former name was Egor... we've changed it to Comet because he ZOOMS from one place to the other, and he has a bent tail right on the tip as if it got caught in a door at some point, and comets all have bent tails.
Comet is a sweet boy, with a great personality, curious as can be, and ridiculously smart! He's been dealing with the dominance wars from the senior incumbents just fine, and at some level, hasn't given in to Napoleon yet. He's driving Napoleon NUTS, though, with the amount of play and running around. It's great... Napoleon, age 11, is exhausted. :-) IO is just done with all of it. He's a tired old man at the ripe old age of 13.
So how and why would a 9 month old puppy come into Rescue? Well, a couple in their mid-late 80s decided they wanted another Italian Greyhound after their first one passed away. Unfortunately, they came into ill health recently (stroke and hip replacement) and couldn't care for him any longer. That said, I'm not really clear what they were thinking since IGs live to be 15 ... being that they shouldn't be buying green bananas either... maybe they were being optomistic that they'd live to 100?
Anyway, they weren't versed in the ways of breed rescue, and apparently calling the breeder from whom they bought him to return him wasn't an option. There were some choice words for the breeder, so I hear. Sooooo, they called the local police dispatch and asked if any of the officers would like a puppy, and could they get the dog in the next 3 hours - this was the only time their neighbor could take the dog to the pound. Luckily, the dispatcher is the ex of someone in the local Greyhound Rescue group, and called Greyhound Rescue. Greyhound Rescue called around to find who the local Italian Greyhound Rescue Rep is and if they could take the dog.
IG Rescue agreed to take the dog, and then the call to foster this boy went out to the Rescue list of which I am a part. Greyhound Rescue was located in Aberdeen, and I know that we're the closest IG Rescue Rep geographically.
Aaaaaaand I also know Steve has wanted a puppy for forever. So I offered to foster this boy, knowing full well that he may never leave us.
Yes, we're nuts. We know, thankyouverymuch.
And yes, he might just become a failed foster... i.e. I'm not sure Steve can give him up for adoption when the time comes. ;-) Here are some pictures that Greyhound Rescue took of him: http://www.smbrjphoto.com/egor
His former name was Egor... we've changed it to Comet because he ZOOMS from one place to the other, and he has a bent tail right on the tip as if it got caught in a door at some point, and comets all have bent tails.
Comet is a sweet boy, with a great personality, curious as can be, and ridiculously smart! He's been dealing with the dominance wars from the senior incumbents just fine, and at some level, hasn't given in to Napoleon yet. He's driving Napoleon NUTS, though, with the amount of play and running around. It's great... Napoleon, age 11, is exhausted. :-) IO is just done with all of it. He's a tired old man at the ripe old age of 13.
So how and why would a 9 month old puppy come into Rescue? Well, a couple in their mid-late 80s decided they wanted another Italian Greyhound after their first one passed away. Unfortunately, they came into ill health recently (stroke and hip replacement) and couldn't care for him any longer. That said, I'm not really clear what they were thinking since IGs live to be 15 ... being that they shouldn't be buying green bananas either... maybe they were being optomistic that they'd live to 100?
Anyway, they weren't versed in the ways of breed rescue, and apparently calling the breeder from whom they bought him to return him wasn't an option. There were some choice words for the breeder, so I hear. Sooooo, they called the local police dispatch and asked if any of the officers would like a puppy, and could they get the dog in the next 3 hours - this was the only time their neighbor could take the dog to the pound. Luckily, the dispatcher is the ex of someone in the local Greyhound Rescue group, and called Greyhound Rescue. Greyhound Rescue called around to find who the local Italian Greyhound Rescue Rep is and if they could take the dog.
IG Rescue agreed to take the dog, and then the call to foster this boy went out to the Rescue list of which I am a part. Greyhound Rescue was located in Aberdeen, and I know that we're the closest IG Rescue Rep geographically.
Aaaaaaand I also know Steve has wanted a puppy for forever. So I offered to foster this boy, knowing full well that he may never leave us.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sweetest. Picture. Ever.
Steve's timing in capturing this picture with his iPhone was impeccable.
Evan was looking at Elektra's strawberry birthmark on her leg, and he went to go give it a kiss because he thought it was a boo-boo. Elektra, in turn... gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Sweetest. Picture. Ever.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Basement Remodel Update
The infamous Exxon Ansari incident was Day 2 after the contractors (we affectionately call them The Sombreros) started their work. Plus, this was after they incorrectly framed the bulkheads on Day 1. Not only did they not follow the "curve" of the bulkhead, but they didn't use a level!!! On Day 2, George let them borrow his nail gun (because they don't have one!), and we had them fix the framing so that it was as we expected... and it was level! So when they hit the oil line, it was because they were reframing the bulk head for a second time because they didn't do it right the first time. It's a little amusing that they had to reframe one of the sections for a 3rd time to replace the boards that had been soaked in oil.
There was a point on Exxon Ansari day that I thought I was going to fire them, but they have done very solid work since. Plus, each day, The Sombreros work a very fast paced 12 hour day. They work HARD. I give the a lot of credit for their work ethic, and they really are doing good work overall. I'm glad I didn't overreact and send them home.
On Day 3 (Wednesday), they framed 3 walls of the bathroom, and 2 walls of the kids' playroom. They also found George's radio, and turned to a Spanish station. This drove George BANANAS to listen to that all day while he worked on our plumbing. George hid his radio that night, and wanted to bring a CD player of Greek music... he didn't do that part, but he did hide his radio!!
Speaking of our re-plumbing project, George cut off our water midday on Wednesday to move the well connections, the water filters, the water softener, and the hot water heater. Not only was he moving all those things, but he was also installing the new laundry water connections as well as the new water pipes and connections in the new bathroom. Talk about a huge job. George thought it would take him at least 2 days, if not longer, and we would not have water for the duration of this part of the project. Bless his heart, he's been managing to keep us with running water for 90% of the project and with this being the last major part of the project, we knew we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. That doesn't make it any easier to be without water for 2.5 days. To make those days a little more bearable, I filled three 5 gallon buckets with water before George shut it off so that we would water to "flush".
Steve worked from home to help George on Thursday and Friday in between work crises, including running errands, picking up supplies, and doing whatever he could to help. He even tried his hand at some plumbing. A couple times he did something incorrectly, and George "fired" him. The running joke now is how many times George has "fired" Steve. :-)
On Day 4 (Thursday), they started laying the subfloor in the kids' playroom and our new entertaining space. Unfortunately, they didn't have the right screws (and as we later found out, the wrong sized screw head) because they kept breaking. So they nailed the floor down instead of screwing it down as per spec. They also finished the 4th wall of the bathroom, and one wall of the laundry room.
Also on Thursday, we had not secured an electrician. I was trying to hire one of my neighbor's guys (who runs an electrical company) who is laid off, but that didn't pan out, unfortunately. I found someone else who not only took my call at 8:30PM on Thursday night, but came to the house at 10PM that night to give us an estimate. The one thing that was going to hold up the project was the electrical work because the
On Day 5 (Friday), they finished framing the rest of the entertaining space and the kids' playroom, and they installed the subfloor in Steve's toy room. Steve claims that it's "our" office, but really, it's going to be his playroom.
Meanwhile, sometime on Friday afternoon, George looked at him and said, "Are you helping me so that you can get your water back faster?" Steve said, "YES! I need to take a shower!!"
Friday evening, George turned the water back on to check for leaks. Between checking for leaks and flushing the pipes of all the silt, this took a while. Our new water sediment filter needed to be changed immediately!!!! We'll change it when we're fully done testing all of the new water connections in the new bathroom, too. We had to turn the water off again to flush the hot water tank out, and fix one leak (that's it just 1 leak!), but it was on again before George left for the evening. Steve finally got to take his shower.
Friday night, I used the gallon of Drylok ($23/each!! ouch!) to finish painting the back wall of the basement, and a few other spots I'd seen. I ran out of paint at 1:30AM, but I don't have much left. I bought one more gallon to touch up spots which I will do this weekend.
I ran laundry the next morning, and we discovered a 2nd leak at the hot water line for the washer which was, naturally, before the shutoff valve. We stuck a bucket underneath and figured George would fix it on Monday as it wasn't a significant leak. I also ran the dishwasher, and I realized that they hadn't turned on water to it. Steve went downstairs to do that, and it started spraying water everywhere!! Steve quickly shut it off again, and tightened the connection. Turned it back on, and voila, no leak. Steve learned a lot about plumbing, apparently, those few days he was home with George!
On Sunday, George came out with Ernie to look at our re-grading the outside job. Unfortunately, the job is not just a simple re-grade, but we also have to dig down to the bottom of stairs to install a new french drain. Then we'll have to add stones, then the new drain, then more stones, then fill the hole. Finish the job by regrading a few spots, and plant grass. That job will probably start July 9. For as much as it sucks that we have to do this job, too, if we don't, then we'll continuously have water in our basement, rendering worthless all this work we've done lately. It'll cost us more later if we don't do it right now. I'll keep telling myself that to ease the pain of all the check writing I've done lately.
This past Monday (Day 6), The Sombreros, the electrician, and George were at the house. The electrician fired up his phone to listen to music as while he moved the big 200 amp service line off of the ceiling and to the back wall of the house. The Sombreros framed Steve's toy room. George and Steve went to go buy a new back door and a few other supplies. Apparently, the new back door was strapped to the top of the Outback to be brought home. That must have been a sight!
On Tuesday (Day 7), the electrician started wiring new lines and lights. The Sombreros screwed down most of the subfloor (with the correctly sized screw head!). They also started to frame the support pole. George had another job, so he didn't come.
On Wednesday (Day 8), The Sombreros installed the new windows (no caulk yet, but shimmed). The electrician couldn't make it and neither could George.
On Thursday (Day 9), only the electrician came to continue installing new stuff. The Sombreros must have gone to another job as they really can't do much until the electrician has completed his work. Once he's done, they can start installing insulation and drywall.
On Friday (Day 10), all was quiet on the Western Front.
This weekend, we are working through plans for any other wiring that needs to be installed before insulation is installed, like speaker wire and any other RJ/coax wire. I need to finish DryLok painting, too. We are also trying to make sure we've thought through the project while the walls are still open.
We can't believe how far this project has already come in less than 10 working days. There is still a ton left, though... tile the bathroom, laundry room and hall to the bathroom and laundry room. Included in that tile work is installing underfloor heating in the bathroom. The Sombreros still need to install the back door, caulk the windows, frame one more support pole, and then install the insulation and hang the drywall. Once drywall is up, we are going to have a LOT to paint. Any flooring we buy will take 4 weeks to arrive.
Maybe, just maybe, we'll reach our goal of having this project done by Elektra's 3rd birthday.
There was a point on Exxon Ansari day that I thought I was going to fire them, but they have done very solid work since. Plus, each day, The Sombreros work a very fast paced 12 hour day. They work HARD. I give the a lot of credit for their work ethic, and they really are doing good work overall. I'm glad I didn't overreact and send them home.
On Day 3 (Wednesday), they framed 3 walls of the bathroom, and 2 walls of the kids' playroom. They also found George's radio, and turned to a Spanish station. This drove George BANANAS to listen to that all day while he worked on our plumbing. George hid his radio that night, and wanted to bring a CD player of Greek music... he didn't do that part, but he did hide his radio!!
Speaking of our re-plumbing project, George cut off our water midday on Wednesday to move the well connections, the water filters, the water softener, and the hot water heater. Not only was he moving all those things, but he was also installing the new laundry water connections as well as the new water pipes and connections in the new bathroom. Talk about a huge job. George thought it would take him at least 2 days, if not longer, and we would not have water for the duration of this part of the project. Bless his heart, he's been managing to keep us with running water for 90% of the project and with this being the last major part of the project, we knew we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. That doesn't make it any easier to be without water for 2.5 days. To make those days a little more bearable, I filled three 5 gallon buckets with water before George shut it off so that we would water to "flush".
Steve worked from home to help George on Thursday and Friday in between work crises, including running errands, picking up supplies, and doing whatever he could to help. He even tried his hand at some plumbing. A couple times he did something incorrectly, and George "fired" him. The running joke now is how many times George has "fired" Steve. :-)
On Day 4 (Thursday), they started laying the subfloor in the kids' playroom and our new entertaining space. Unfortunately, they didn't have the right screws (and as we later found out, the wrong sized screw head) because they kept breaking. So they nailed the floor down instead of screwing it down as per spec. They also finished the 4th wall of the bathroom, and one wall of the laundry room.
Also on Thursday, we had not secured an electrician. I was trying to hire one of my neighbor's guys (who runs an electrical company) who is laid off, but that didn't pan out, unfortunately. I found someone else who not only took my call at 8:30PM on Thursday night, but came to the house at 10PM that night to give us an estimate. The one thing that was going to hold up the project was the electrical work because the
On Day 5 (Friday), they finished framing the rest of the entertaining space and the kids' playroom, and they installed the subfloor in Steve's toy room. Steve claims that it's "our" office, but really, it's going to be his playroom.
Meanwhile, sometime on Friday afternoon, George looked at him and said, "Are you helping me so that you can get your water back faster?" Steve said, "YES! I need to take a shower!!"
Friday evening, George turned the water back on to check for leaks. Between checking for leaks and flushing the pipes of all the silt, this took a while. Our new water sediment filter needed to be changed immediately!!!! We'll change it when we're fully done testing all of the new water connections in the new bathroom, too. We had to turn the water off again to flush the hot water tank out, and fix one leak (that's it just 1 leak!), but it was on again before George left for the evening. Steve finally got to take his shower.
Friday night, I used the gallon of Drylok ($23/each!! ouch!) to finish painting the back wall of the basement, and a few other spots I'd seen. I ran out of paint at 1:30AM, but I don't have much left. I bought one more gallon to touch up spots which I will do this weekend.
I ran laundry the next morning, and we discovered a 2nd leak at the hot water line for the washer which was, naturally, before the shutoff valve. We stuck a bucket underneath and figured George would fix it on Monday as it wasn't a significant leak. I also ran the dishwasher, and I realized that they hadn't turned on water to it. Steve went downstairs to do that, and it started spraying water everywhere!! Steve quickly shut it off again, and tightened the connection. Turned it back on, and voila, no leak. Steve learned a lot about plumbing, apparently, those few days he was home with George!
On Sunday, George came out with Ernie to look at our re-grading the outside job. Unfortunately, the job is not just a simple re-grade, but we also have to dig down to the bottom of stairs to install a new french drain. Then we'll have to add stones, then the new drain, then more stones, then fill the hole. Finish the job by regrading a few spots, and plant grass. That job will probably start July 9. For as much as it sucks that we have to do this job, too, if we don't, then we'll continuously have water in our basement, rendering worthless all this work we've done lately. It'll cost us more later if we don't do it right now. I'll keep telling myself that to ease the pain of all the check writing I've done lately.
This past Monday (Day 6), The Sombreros, the electrician, and George were at the house. The electrician fired up his phone to listen to music as while he moved the big 200 amp service line off of the ceiling and to the back wall of the house. The Sombreros framed Steve's toy room. George and Steve went to go buy a new back door and a few other supplies. Apparently, the new back door was strapped to the top of the Outback to be brought home. That must have been a sight!
On Tuesday (Day 7), the electrician started wiring new lines and lights. The Sombreros screwed down most of the subfloor (with the correctly sized screw head!). They also started to frame the support pole. George had another job, so he didn't come.
On Wednesday (Day 8), The Sombreros installed the new windows (no caulk yet, but shimmed). The electrician couldn't make it and neither could George.
On Thursday (Day 9), only the electrician came to continue installing new stuff. The Sombreros must have gone to another job as they really can't do much until the electrician has completed his work. Once he's done, they can start installing insulation and drywall.
On Friday (Day 10), all was quiet on the Western Front.
This weekend, we are working through plans for any other wiring that needs to be installed before insulation is installed, like speaker wire and any other RJ/coax wire. I need to finish DryLok painting, too. We are also trying to make sure we've thought through the project while the walls are still open.
We can't believe how far this project has already come in less than 10 working days. There is still a ton left, though... tile the bathroom, laundry room and hall to the bathroom and laundry room. Included in that tile work is installing underfloor heating in the bathroom. The Sombreros still need to install the back door, caulk the windows, frame one more support pole, and then install the insulation and hang the drywall. Once drywall is up, we are going to have a LOT to paint. Any flooring we buy will take 4 weeks to arrive.
Maybe, just maybe, we'll reach our goal of having this project done by Elektra's 3rd birthday.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The Exxon Ansari
A construction project in your home wreaks havoc on your life. Besides all of the "extra" issues one finds, contractors can also add to the ::ahem:: fun.
Tuesday night, around 8:30, the contractors were still at the house, framing the ventilation system. There was still lots of noise... nail guns and circular saw and hammering. Then we started to smell a gas smell. Didn't think much of it except that it started getting stronger. Finally, I realized the contractors had hit our heating oil line.
I sprinted down the stairs, seeing the pool of oil at the bottom of the stairs and the nail through the bright cone orange oil line yelling in Spanish, "EH!!! EH!!! Do you know what that is?!" pointing at the oil dripping from the line. He came back at me and said, "Agua?" NO!!!!!! "Aceite?" YES!!!!!
His eyes got wide, and all worked stopped as I called the oil company 24 hour service line, Steve was outside looking for a shutoff valve on our new tank, one worker was blotting with paper towels and sawdust while the other was trying to wrap the line with electrical tape to stop the leak.
There's no shutoff valve on the tank. The tech with whom I was on the phone said to pull the line out of the tank. I'm thinking... uuuuh no, no idea how. Plus, it seemed like the electrical tape was working to stop the leak. No matter what, though, I'd be calling the oil company in the morning to get a tech out there to replace the line.
I sent the workers home (it was after 9pm at this point, and we needed to get the kids to bed!), so Steve put the kids to bed while I started cleaning. I opened the doors, windows, and whole house fan to try and air out the fumes, and grabbed a mop, Lysol, and water. And Windex. Windex cleans everything, right??
As I'm cleaning, I'm trying to figure out WHY they thought that putting a nail through a BRIGHT fluorescent orange line was a GOOD idea. And WHY did they think that was water?! And how did they NOT notice it was leaking?! I was getting angrier just thinking about each scenario...
I finished mopping the floor, and needed to change the water. Good thing we are car geeks because we have a big filter for pouring oil into containers to go to the dump. I picked up one of the buckets full of oil, it slipped out of my hands, and I dropped it. It hit the driveway, bounced, and splashed ALL over me, head to toe... hair, face, arms, legs, shoes... everywhere.
I stood there, thinking about how this had just added insult to injury, trying to decide exactly how to wipe my eyes because finding a dry spot on my shirt was going to be a challenge. And really, this night could not get worse.
I did one more round of cleaning before I went to shower. I tried a normal shower, washing my hair 2 times, once with shampoo, once with soap. Still smelled like oil. Asked Steve to get the orange scented pummus called GoJo. That got it off of my skin, but not out of my hair... and pummus in my hair was a disaster to try and get out. I went to bed so angry that I couldn't see straight, smelling like oil and wearing long sleeves to ensure I didn't get any on the sheets.
The next morning, I expected the house to have aired out. I couldn't have been more wrong. The house smelled WORSE. I got the kids ready to go to Eleanor's and kicked Steve out to go to work as the house smell was intensifying. The oil company promised they'd be out in the morning. As the smell got worse, I started to panic.
Finally, one of the oil guys who had come to install our new tank arrived. Boy was I happy to see him. I showed him the damage, and he followed the oil line to the furnace. That's when he said, "That's why the smell isn't going away.... it's all pooling right here!!" There was a huge pool of oil surrounding the base of our oil burner.
?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!
We went out to the tank, and removed the line from it. Then we grabbed the bag of kitty litter we keep for when we work on the cars and put that down. Experience lesson #1: in situations like these, clay-based kitty litter is better because it doesn't clump. The oil guy asked me to go get more, which I did.
So what happened? The oil line is actually a copper line with a bright orange plastic sheathing around it. When we taped the line the previous evening, the oil then went between the copper pipe and the orange sheathing, emptying at the base of the oil burner where the orange sheathing stops. No wonder the smell intensified.
The oil guy said this happens ALL the time; contractors hit the line way more often than you'd think reasonable. He even told the story of a guy who was trying to shoot a groundhog with a .22 and managed to put the bullet clean through the oil line instead. Oops.
I asked how to get the smell out of the concrete and my hair. For the concrete, we have to keep the kitty litter on it for a number of days, every once in while, moving it around to put a fresh batch on it. Experience Lesson #2: grind kitty litter into a powder so the dust will go into the pores of the concrete and soak up the oil. For my hair, apparently, I just have to wait it out. UGH. It has taken until today (Saturday) to not smell oil in my hair... 4 DAYS!!!!!
The oil guy replaced part of the line, added a shutoff valve on the line at the tank, bled the line, and tested the burner. We are back in business.
Before he left, I asked how to get oil off of the venting, and that's when I learned Experience Lesson #3: oven cleaner cuts the grease! Apply the oven cleaner, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then wipe it away! No residue!
We vented the house all day and all night, and the smell is gone, thankfully. The workers learned their lesson and are framing in a much different manner than before, *clearly* missing the lines with nails. The kitty litter is still down, and the project has continued to progress.
- Posted using BlogPress from my newest toy.
Tuesday night, around 8:30, the contractors were still at the house, framing the ventilation system. There was still lots of noise... nail guns and circular saw and hammering. Then we started to smell a gas smell. Didn't think much of it except that it started getting stronger. Finally, I realized the contractors had hit our heating oil line.
I sprinted down the stairs, seeing the pool of oil at the bottom of the stairs and the nail through the bright cone orange oil line yelling in Spanish, "EH!!! EH!!! Do you know what that is?!" pointing at the oil dripping from the line. He came back at me and said, "Agua?" NO!!!!!! "Aceite?" YES!!!!!
His eyes got wide, and all worked stopped as I called the oil company 24 hour service line, Steve was outside looking for a shutoff valve on our new tank, one worker was blotting with paper towels and sawdust while the other was trying to wrap the line with electrical tape to stop the leak.
There's no shutoff valve on the tank. The tech with whom I was on the phone said to pull the line out of the tank. I'm thinking... uuuuh no, no idea how. Plus, it seemed like the electrical tape was working to stop the leak. No matter what, though, I'd be calling the oil company in the morning to get a tech out there to replace the line.
I sent the workers home (it was after 9pm at this point, and we needed to get the kids to bed!), so Steve put the kids to bed while I started cleaning. I opened the doors, windows, and whole house fan to try and air out the fumes, and grabbed a mop, Lysol, and water. And Windex. Windex cleans everything, right??
As I'm cleaning, I'm trying to figure out WHY they thought that putting a nail through a BRIGHT fluorescent orange line was a GOOD idea. And WHY did they think that was water?! And how did they NOT notice it was leaking?! I was getting angrier just thinking about each scenario...
I finished mopping the floor, and needed to change the water. Good thing we are car geeks because we have a big filter for pouring oil into containers to go to the dump. I picked up one of the buckets full of oil, it slipped out of my hands, and I dropped it. It hit the driveway, bounced, and splashed ALL over me, head to toe... hair, face, arms, legs, shoes... everywhere.
I stood there, thinking about how this had just added insult to injury, trying to decide exactly how to wipe my eyes because finding a dry spot on my shirt was going to be a challenge. And really, this night could not get worse.
I did one more round of cleaning before I went to shower. I tried a normal shower, washing my hair 2 times, once with shampoo, once with soap. Still smelled like oil. Asked Steve to get the orange scented pummus called GoJo. That got it off of my skin, but not out of my hair... and pummus in my hair was a disaster to try and get out. I went to bed so angry that I couldn't see straight, smelling like oil and wearing long sleeves to ensure I didn't get any on the sheets.
The next morning, I expected the house to have aired out. I couldn't have been more wrong. The house smelled WORSE. I got the kids ready to go to Eleanor's and kicked Steve out to go to work as the house smell was intensifying. The oil company promised they'd be out in the morning. As the smell got worse, I started to panic.
Finally, one of the oil guys who had come to install our new tank arrived. Boy was I happy to see him. I showed him the damage, and he followed the oil line to the furnace. That's when he said, "That's why the smell isn't going away.... it's all pooling right here!!" There was a huge pool of oil surrounding the base of our oil burner.
?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!
We went out to the tank, and removed the line from it. Then we grabbed the bag of kitty litter we keep for when we work on the cars and put that down. Experience lesson #1: in situations like these, clay-based kitty litter is better because it doesn't clump. The oil guy asked me to go get more, which I did.
So what happened? The oil line is actually a copper line with a bright orange plastic sheathing around it. When we taped the line the previous evening, the oil then went between the copper pipe and the orange sheathing, emptying at the base of the oil burner where the orange sheathing stops. No wonder the smell intensified.
The oil guy said this happens ALL the time; contractors hit the line way more often than you'd think reasonable. He even told the story of a guy who was trying to shoot a groundhog with a .22 and managed to put the bullet clean through the oil line instead. Oops.
I asked how to get the smell out of the concrete and my hair. For the concrete, we have to keep the kitty litter on it for a number of days, every once in while, moving it around to put a fresh batch on it. Experience Lesson #2: grind kitty litter into a powder so the dust will go into the pores of the concrete and soak up the oil. For my hair, apparently, I just have to wait it out. UGH. It has taken until today (Saturday) to not smell oil in my hair... 4 DAYS!!!!!
The oil guy replaced part of the line, added a shutoff valve on the line at the tank, bled the line, and tested the burner. We are back in business.
Before he left, I asked how to get oil off of the venting, and that's when I learned Experience Lesson #3: oven cleaner cuts the grease! Apply the oven cleaner, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then wipe it away! No residue!
We vented the house all day and all night, and the smell is gone, thankfully. The workers learned their lesson and are framing in a much different manner than before, *clearly* missing the lines with nails. The kitty litter is still down, and the project has continued to progress.
- Posted using BlogPress from my newest toy.
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
The hall bath is back in business!
George solved all of the backwards water issues yesterday, and the kids were thrilled to be able to take a bath last night! And they were happy to have their potty back. In fact, when I went in to get Elektra this morning, she said to me, "I want to go potty in that bathroom" (pointing to the hall bath). Hilarious! Slowly, we are getting a little bit of normalcy back... the calm before the storm, as it were.
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Good (?) things comes to those who wait
Late last night, George almost had our hall bathroom back in service. Then he discovered he reversed the hot with the cold. He switched it back, but the glue takes 6 hours to cure on pipes that hold water pressure. So we were nervous about turning on the water shortly after he'd glued them together. As we were standing there, trying to decide if we should take the chance and turn on the water or just leave the water off until the morning, Mr. Field Mouse went scurrying across the top of the cinder blocks in the laundry room. So we moved the mouse trap to where we saw his path. Good thing we were just standing there to see that!
Meanwhile, George decides to take a chance and turns on the water. The worst outcome would that the basement floods, but it's not like there is anything down there that would be ruined. We go upstairs and bleed the pipes. As we tested it, I discovered that the hot and cold in the master bath was now switched (oh boy! hot water in the toilet... hey DAVE! Does that sound remotely familiar??? At least we don't have condensation on our toilet bowl!! LOL).
As you can imagine, George was confused, considering everything USED TO work in the master bathroom just fine....
It turns out that George had the hot and cold water correctly connected the first time, but when he tested the shower in the hall bath, he thought he'd switched them. It turns out that the shower was just wrong. But he'd switched the hot/cold at the pipe level, thinking he was fixing the hall shower, but created the master bath issue. Oops. I told George just to leave it alone until today, and we'd deal with opposite day in our bathroom in the morning accordingly.
While we had been standing there, trying to figure out where the hot/cold mix up was, George felt a drip. Uh-oh. One of the copper pipes that George hasn't replaced yet is leaking hot water at a solder point! Good thing we were just standing there!
And good thing we are replacing all the pipes!!!!!
Meanwhile, George decides to take a chance and turns on the water. The worst outcome would that the basement floods, but it's not like there is anything down there that would be ruined. We go upstairs and bleed the pipes. As we tested it, I discovered that the hot and cold in the master bath was now switched (oh boy! hot water in the toilet... hey DAVE! Does that sound remotely familiar??? At least we don't have condensation on our toilet bowl!! LOL).
As you can imagine, George was confused, considering everything USED TO work in the master bathroom just fine....
It turns out that George had the hot and cold water correctly connected the first time, but when he tested the shower in the hall bath, he thought he'd switched them. It turns out that the shower was just wrong. But he'd switched the hot/cold at the pipe level, thinking he was fixing the hall shower, but created the master bath issue. Oops. I told George just to leave it alone until today, and we'd deal with opposite day in our bathroom in the morning accordingly.
While we had been standing there, trying to figure out where the hot/cold mix up was, George felt a drip. Uh-oh. One of the copper pipes that George hasn't replaced yet is leaking hot water at a solder point! Good thing we were just standing there!
And good thing we are replacing all the pipes!!!!!
Friday, June 03, 2011
Warrior Baby - update
Dave and Nancy were so disappointed that they lost 3 of the 4 babies in her pregnancy.... but one remained, and Nancy dubbed it the Warrior Baby.
Earlier this evening, Steve's brother, Dave, informed us that Axel will have a little sister in a few months!! She is no longer a Warrior Baby... she's a Warrior Princess!!
May Axel be as protective of the Warrior Princess (can we nickname her Athena? ::huge grin::) as DJ is of Elektra.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! We love you West Coast Steaks!
Earlier this evening, Steve's brother, Dave, informed us that Axel will have a little sister in a few months!! She is no longer a Warrior Baby... she's a Warrior Princess!!
May Axel be as protective of the Warrior Princess (can we nickname her Athena? ::huge grin::) as DJ is of Elektra.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! We love you West Coast Steaks!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Rain in the basement
Shortly after we got our master bathroom back, DJ announced that he needed to go pee pees. He dutifully went to our bathroom, he prepared to pee standing up, and did what he needed to do. When he finished, he said,
"Mommy, look! It's on the wall!"
!!!!!!
He had missed the toilet entirely.
He managed not only to hit the wall next to the toilet, but also hit the hole in the floor behind the toilet where the bathroom vent used to be (George had moved it).
Meanwhile, George and Steve were in the basement, and saw liquid fall from the floor above. George wondered if his plumbing work was leaking.
No, no.... that would be a little boy leaking....
- Posted using BlogPress from my newest toy.
"Mommy, look! It's on the wall!"
!!!!!!
He had missed the toilet entirely.
He managed not only to hit the wall next to the toilet, but also hit the hole in the floor behind the toilet where the bathroom vent used to be (George had moved it).
Meanwhile, George and Steve were in the basement, and saw liquid fall from the floor above. George wondered if his plumbing work was leaking.
No, no.... that would be a little boy leaking....
- Posted using BlogPress from my newest toy.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Basement Remodel - update
A couple of weeks ago, George finished the basics of our master bathroom replumbing job so that we could use it again. He framed the wall between the closet and the bathroom, but he hasn't solidified it yet nor put up drywall. He decided to leave it all open until all of our plumbing issues have been completed... and that's a whole other problem!!
Meanwhile, our hall bathroom has been taken out of commission so that he can replace its plumbing. While doing this, he figured he'd put in the rough-ins for our new bathroom in the basement. What does putting rough-ins require? It requires a jackhammer to break the concrete and a trowl to scoop out the dirt surrounding the area where you're going to put down new pipes. It's not all concrete surrounding the pipes. It's just concrete on the top layer, and packed dirt/rocks underneath of a layer of concrete.
In the following picture, you can see where the concrete was broken and new PVC pipe was installed. In fact, George only intended to jackhammer to where the new shower will be (see the first picture - there is a T-square on the floor... that will be the shower drain), but he went further to where the tall pipe is on the wall (which leads to our kitchen drain). The reason for that is forthcoming.
The cleanout at the far corner of the picture is where the toilet will be. To the left of that, there is another pipe sticking out of the ground - that's where the vanity will be. And as mentioned earlier, where the T-square is sitting is where the shower drain will be.
The reason George jackhammered all the way to the kitchen to replace all of that drain piping is because the pipes and drains were disgusting. George was shocked our kitchen was draining at all. The following picture shows just how clogged the kitchen drain was.
That's 50+ years of grease and overall digustingness... Steve and I are actually really careful about what goes down that drain in terms of grease because I grew up with septic, and you can't afford to put grease down your drain!
In the next picture, you can see the leftover dirt pile of dirt and rocks we excavated to make room for the new drains. Some of that will go back in the whole, but not until we're ready to re-cement the holes. We won't use it all; there is no way we can pack it in there the way it was.
George has also eliminated some (oh yes, there's more!) of the plumbing rats nest we have. Between a laundry drain, the air conditioner pump drain, the water filtration system drain, the kitchen and the utility tub drains, there were pipes EVERYWHERE, including an unnecessary one that was bolted to the back wall of the house and went all the way around the back wall (air conditioning drain).
Now that George is done replacing the kitchen stuff and laying down the rough-ins for the new bathroom, he's going to replace the drains and pipes for the hall bathroom so we can get that bathroom back. The kids like showering, but they really do miss the bathtub. But George has had to wait to change that bathroom's pipes and drains to see how both the hall bath and the downstairs bath were going to fit together drain-wise.
Although this is a slow process, this is definitely worth it. We would have had more issues later on had we ignored the signs.
Meanwhile, our hall bathroom has been taken out of commission so that he can replace its plumbing. While doing this, he figured he'd put in the rough-ins for our new bathroom in the basement. What does putting rough-ins require? It requires a jackhammer to break the concrete and a trowl to scoop out the dirt surrounding the area where you're going to put down new pipes. It's not all concrete surrounding the pipes. It's just concrete on the top layer, and packed dirt/rocks underneath of a layer of concrete.
In the following picture, you can see where the concrete was broken and new PVC pipe was installed. In fact, George only intended to jackhammer to where the new shower will be (see the first picture - there is a T-square on the floor... that will be the shower drain), but he went further to where the tall pipe is on the wall (which leads to our kitchen drain). The reason for that is forthcoming.
 | |
| New bathroom rough-ins |
The reason George jackhammered all the way to the kitchen to replace all of that drain piping is because the pipes and drains were disgusting. George was shocked our kitchen was draining at all. The following picture shows just how clogged the kitchen drain was.
 | |
| Former kitchen drain pipe |
That's 50+ years of grease and overall digustingness... Steve and I are actually really careful about what goes down that drain in terms of grease because I grew up with septic, and you can't afford to put grease down your drain!
In the next picture, you can see the leftover dirt pile of dirt and rocks we excavated to make room for the new drains. Some of that will go back in the whole, but not until we're ready to re-cement the holes. We won't use it all; there is no way we can pack it in there the way it was.
 |
| Excavation dirt pile |
Now that George is done replacing the kitchen stuff and laying down the rough-ins for the new bathroom, he's going to replace the drains and pipes for the hall bathroom so we can get that bathroom back. The kids like showering, but they really do miss the bathtub. But George has had to wait to change that bathroom's pipes and drains to see how both the hall bath and the downstairs bath were going to fit together drain-wise.
Although this is a slow process, this is definitely worth it. We would have had more issues later on had we ignored the signs.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Poopy on the potty!
This morning, I received a phone call from Eleanor, and she put Elektra on the phone to tell me that she poopied on the potty! At first she told me she peed, and then Eleanor corrected her to tell me she pooped.
Apparently, Elektra had gone to the same corner to hide that DJ used to frequent. Eleanor spotted her, asked Elektra if she wanted to sit on the potty, Elektra said yes, she sat, she did it in a hurry, flushed the toilet, and then said, "Bye bye poopy!" as it went down.
Everyone had to see what she had done. DJ cheered for her!
YAY ELEKTRA!
Apparently, Elektra had gone to the same corner to hide that DJ used to frequent. Eleanor spotted her, asked Elektra if she wanted to sit on the potty, Elektra said yes, she sat, she did it in a hurry, flushed the toilet, and then said, "Bye bye poopy!" as it went down.
Everyone had to see what she had done. DJ cheered for her!
YAY ELEKTRA!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Stink bug trap update
Here is a picture of our stinkbug trap hanging in the garage.
The Pros:
 |
| Stink bug trap |
The Pros:
- Yep, it's working. That's a pretty big Pro right there!!
- It's not working fast enough!!
- When the stink bugs get stuck, they get mad, and therefore, they STINK! Our garage smells and we have to air it out daily.
- Replacing the cartridge will be a pain.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
PreSchool
Today, Steve and I took DJ to visit a preschool at the St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lutherville. Nadia and Jeff had taken Grace to see it, and she seemed to really like it. Since we would like to keep the kids together as long as we can, thought it would be a great opportunity to enroll them together.
When we got into the classroom, DJ immediately wanted to go explore and play. First he went to the Lego table. Then he saw the boys playing on the floor, building some monstrosity with blocks, and he wanted to jump right in and build with them. And when it was time to leave, DJ didn't want to leave. "I want to stay here at the school!"
The classroom was full of things to explore, including a reading corner, an instrument corner, legos, blocks, crafts, stamps, you name it. There was art all over the walls, and all sorts of things to see and do; I honestly can't remember all of what I saw because there was so much!
I asked how much theology there is, and there really isn't that much. They will say a prayer every day before snack and the Pastor will come in once a month with his guitar, sing songs and tell them a Bible story. I'm game for that.
And next year, one of the Kindergarten teachers will be moving down into the preschool so likely, there will be a little more structure in terms of traditional education.
It all sounds good, and DJ really seemed to like it! We'll coordinate putting down a deposit with the Cheevers and go from there.
When we got into the classroom, DJ immediately wanted to go explore and play. First he went to the Lego table. Then he saw the boys playing on the floor, building some monstrosity with blocks, and he wanted to jump right in and build with them. And when it was time to leave, DJ didn't want to leave. "I want to stay here at the school!"
The classroom was full of things to explore, including a reading corner, an instrument corner, legos, blocks, crafts, stamps, you name it. There was art all over the walls, and all sorts of things to see and do; I honestly can't remember all of what I saw because there was so much!
I asked how much theology there is, and there really isn't that much. They will say a prayer every day before snack and the Pastor will come in once a month with his guitar, sing songs and tell them a Bible story. I'm game for that.
And next year, one of the Kindergarten teachers will be moving down into the preschool so likely, there will be a little more structure in terms of traditional education.
It all sounds good, and DJ really seemed to like it! We'll coordinate putting down a deposit with the Cheevers and go from there.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Univited visitor
With construction usually comes unwelcomed guests as they are displaced because of the destruction and subsequent construction.
While we were giving my parents a tour of the "mess" we have in our basement, I saw a field mouse run across the top of the foundation. After my folks left and the kids were in bed, I went back downstairs and set a couple of mouse traps with peanut butter. It took me 3 or 4 tries to get them set without snapping, and I'll you I'm not a fan of setting mouse traps any longer.... I didn't get my finger caught, but boy was I jumpy...
I also sent George a text so that when he comes on Monday, he's aware of them and doesn't accidentally get his fingers snapped!
Tonight, I was sitting in DJ's room waiting for him to fall asleep, and heard a SNAP!! from the basement. I thought that was a weird sound to come from downstairs. I left DJ's room, told Steve that we should check the traps, and off we went.
Sure enough, there was a mouse, trapped in a trap. And it was still alive. Steve picked up the trap, and took it to the light where we could see it better. Sure enough, the little bugger was well trapped, and very much alive. So we stood there.... trying to decide what to do. I suggested we take it outside.
Up the stairs Steve went with the trap, took it outside to the deck, and the next thing I know, Steve's releasing it from the trap. Apparently, when he took it outside, Steve said it started squeaking at him, so he couldn't bring himself to kill it. The little bugger was a little shaken, but apparently JUST fine as it scampered off into the night... and back under the deck.
Steve re-set the trap, so we'll see if we catch any more... or the same one (not that we'll be able to tell).
While we were giving my parents a tour of the "mess" we have in our basement, I saw a field mouse run across the top of the foundation. After my folks left and the kids were in bed, I went back downstairs and set a couple of mouse traps with peanut butter. It took me 3 or 4 tries to get them set without snapping, and I'll you I'm not a fan of setting mouse traps any longer.... I didn't get my finger caught, but boy was I jumpy...
I also sent George a text so that when he comes on Monday, he's aware of them and doesn't accidentally get his fingers snapped!
Tonight, I was sitting in DJ's room waiting for him to fall asleep, and heard a SNAP!! from the basement. I thought that was a weird sound to come from downstairs. I left DJ's room, told Steve that we should check the traps, and off we went.
Sure enough, there was a mouse, trapped in a trap. And it was still alive. Steve picked up the trap, and took it to the light where we could see it better. Sure enough, the little bugger was well trapped, and very much alive. So we stood there.... trying to decide what to do. I suggested we take it outside.
Up the stairs Steve went with the trap, took it outside to the deck, and the next thing I know, Steve's releasing it from the trap. Apparently, when he took it outside, Steve said it started squeaking at him, so he couldn't bring himself to kill it. The little bugger was a little shaken, but apparently JUST fine as it scampered off into the night... and back under the deck.
Steve re-set the trap, so we'll see if we catch any more... or the same one (not that we'll be able to tell).
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