Concentrating on the Kitchen [at the moment]

Here's my bum refrigerator, just purged of its putrid, rotting contents, disengaged from its parasitic draw on my electrical and water supplies, and prepared to return to meet its maker. An identical (but hopefully more reliable) replacement is due in on Thursday. As you can see here, this one never got as far as being relieved of the bubble wrap on its door handles. There is still protective plastic film on the stainless doors.

Around dealing with the fridge, I went full-bore at the cabinets. They had been piled in the garage for 2 years prior to my buying the house, and they were covered in cobwebs & layers of dust, dirt and droppings. I previously set the base cabinets in their places in the kitchen, but they were not fit to use. This weekend, I gave them a thorough cleaning inside & out. They're not perfect, because they have some knicks and scuffs, but they are good enough to use in any functional kitchen. I'm impressed with the results; I was afraid I'd have to refinish them. I think I will just have to spot repair some areas. The wall cabinets may be a different story; I haven't touched them yet. I know that's backwards; you should put them in first, but given the jigsaw puzzle I started with, I decided that the base cabinets should be there first in order to sort out and organize the wall cabinets' locations and alignment. I'm pretty sure they were misaligned and mismatched under the previous ownership.

Above is my temporary sink, dropped into a piece of OSB placed on the sink base. Countertops are on order. They will be Formica, but ultimately I'd like to switch to granite. Maybe in a year or two.

The space at left is where the previous owner had his dishwasher. He had a wine cooler where I have the dishwasher now. I plan to put another cabinet in the empty space. I don't drink enough wine to justify buying a wine cooler.

There's that space again to the right. I am also missing a base cabinet that goes to the right of the fridge, between it & the wall. (See the first picture above.) I am having a replacement made. I have identified the wall cabinets that go there though.

I think they cleaned up pretty nice! I originally thought they were cherry, but there is a label inside saying birch. That may refer to the wood used inside, because it is much lighter in color. Whatever it is, I sure hope the new cabinets match! I sent them a sample (one of the drawer fronts from the sink base.) My dad knows a shop in Riceville, TN that always does good work, so they are handling the job. He is hauling them down here toward the end of this month--two base cabinets, various missing doors for the wall cabinets, and a full complement of countertops.

A Lot Going On

It's been a while since my last post, and I'll have to edit this one later since I don't have pictures to upload right now, but it's been really hectic. I moved out of my apartment and into the house at the end of August and got the big picture window installed in the living room the same weekend.

The cable company came out to transfer service and discovered that they would need to string a new line across the 4 lane highway, necessitating a bucket truck that didn't arrive for another 2 weeks. That left me without tv, phone or internet access all this time, which is part of the reason I haven't posted any updates lately. :) The very next weekend after moving in (Labor Day weekend), I had a family reunion in Pittsburgh, PA.

That has impaired my ability to get settled in, as have other problems: bad leaks in the newly plumbed water heater, a gimpy drain on the only working bathroom vanity, and now a failed refrigerator. And if you remember, that last one is brand new. I am finally back online and have resolved the water heater mess, so I hope to have more opportunity to get updates in. Maybe I'll expound on my water heater experience later, as well as get some updated pics. Just as soon as I get that fridge fixed...

Climate Control

We finally got around to calling in an a/c guy, and of course he recommended replacing the unit. He said he'd visited this house a couple years earlier and told the former owner the exact same thing. He said the guy struck him as a loose cannon. Based on what else I've heard about him, that seems to be the consensus. I've heard stories of affairs, fights in the yard, cops being called in, etc. from the neighbors before. I'm pretty sure I will be an improvement since I have so little to live up to. :)

So the a/c guy sold me a new unit and called in the crew to install it. They didn't like the existing duct setup, so they called in the company owner, who told them to do whatever it took to make it right, This turned out to be an extensive 2+ day job with several people working on it. Wow. Here are some shots at the halfway point.

The downstairs closet has been demolished. There was an old return there, but it had been sealed off. They are putting it back in so that both floors get the same air. It will even things out quite a bit. The work is largely finished now; Dad and I will still need to finish the return closeout downstairs, but I've already got it set to a steady 73 degrees, and it is performing beautifully.

My dad spent nearly a whole week down here helping me, mainly with coordinating this a/c install, but also completing the plumbing work, some electrical, and some drywall. The first 2 shots are in the kitchen, first behind the sink, then behind the refrigerator. A new icemaker fitting is now in place at the lower left.

This is the new drainage system. This didn't turn out quite right, but hopefully it'll work. There will be plenty of cleanouts to deal with clogs; we're just worried about how the laundry will drain with that elbow so close to the box. I need to take more pictures to show the other work that has been done; I hope to do that very soon. Since I've been back on my own, I've insulated the front bedroom and installed electrical sockets throughout the upper floor. There's also a lot of changes in the kitchen--drywall is up, and APPLIANCES have arrived!! Stay tuned...

Water Problems

I skipped going to the house Friday, and had a second bird in the master bedroom when I arrived Saturday. After opening the windows, I went straight over to him, scooped him up in both hands and tossed him out the window. Hardly had time to chirp in protest, and he flew away like a natural. Anyway, that was already 5 days ago, and I haven't seen or heard any more birds, so the others must have gotten out the same way their momma got in.
Over the past week, I got all the remaining windows on order. The upstairs still has the original single pane wood frame windows, and I am finishing what somebody previously started downstairs, which is to replace those with double pane low-e vinyl windows. I also finished my drywall teardown of the front bedroom & kitchen, drilled holes in the studs around the bedroom and began pulling new wire for outlets, phone jacks and cable. That process will continue this weekend along with finishing the basic plumbing hookup. One bedroom wall has had a fair number of modifications in the past. That's the first shot below, then 2 of the kitchen.

That's some of the plumbing that almost connects to the bathroom fixtures. One more weekend should do it. I still need a vanity though. The old one walked off.

The Huntsville Utilities guys came out this week and dug out the meter box. They finally replaced the valve and meter and covered back over the hole.

Guess that's one spot I won't have to mow for a while. I did manage to mow the yard for the first time last weekend, none too soon. It has been neglected for a while, and it will take some TLC to make it nice. There's lots of time for that though. I just wanted to knock it down for the time being, quick & dirty.

I cleaned up all the remaining glass before I started, so the place is starting to look presentable from the outside now. I just wish the inside could go a little faster.
I installed new door knob & deadbolts on two of the exterior doors. One of those was the one that vandals kicked in, and I have yet to repair the smashed doorjamb, so I put back the 2x4 that was screwed into the frame to hold it closed for the time being. But at least the empty hole is filled in so that critters can't come in there. Only leaves me with half-a-dozen more similar holes to seal, one of which is this foundation vent into livable space.

I'm using it to route my outdoor faucet & dryer vent and bricking up the rest. I don't like having those 2 items so close together, but it's a lot easier than cutting new holes in that brick & concrete block.

This is for the birds.

The weekend before last, we worked on plumbing. The previous renovators tied PVC into the existing galvanized pipe, which is asking for trouble. Most of those old steel pipes are almost completely clogged with rust and debris.

We are replacing everything with PVC. We moved the water heater to a more central location in the basement for the sake of getting hot water to all the fixtures in a reasonable amount of time. Our goal was to have at least one working bathroom, but we didn't quite make it. At least the main trunk is in place, but now the water meter isn't giving the house any pressure. I called the water company, and they began the slow process of fixing the problem. They dug up the meter box, but that's as far as they got. I haven't checked it in a few days, that reminds me...

Once my dad left, I continued work thru the week on the front bedroom demolition. Picture taking isn't high on the priority list when I'm working, but here's one shot.

I think there used to be a doorway here from the current foyer when it was once a carport. There used to be steps here on this side of the wall to go down into the basement; I can see the patch from underneath. The wall is kind of sloppy, so I'll clean it up as best I can.
I also added some R30 insulation to the attic over the cathedral ceiling; for some reason they skipped that part.

I did that last weekend when the temperatures raced up toward triple digits. I know it was 106 on the main floor, much hotter in that attic. Maybe I'll get an 'after' pic later; it was just too hot and dark up there.
Yesterday I picked up a replacement sash for the broken window downstairs. Here's the before picture:

...and there's the after picture. A ten minute job.
There is a huge pile of glass between me and the house in this shot that I will still have to pick up. It includes shards from the upstairs picture window, which I now have on order.

At least I got it out of the grass.

And finally, today I went back with the intention of cleaning up more glass, but had an uninvited guest in the master bedroom.

I knew there was a bird's nest in the chimney from all the chirping, but I didn't expect them to be able to squeeze past the damper to get in. This one is very young and can't fly well, but I chased it around the room for a while once I opened all the windows as a suggestion. I sat there strategizing several times, even falling asleep once, but he finally got the hint and went for the window. It took a total of 3 hours including my nap, which eliminated the possibility of other work. My stomach was feeling queasy all day anyway, so I wasn't really up for much. Must've eaten some bad grub. Hopefully I'll be 100% tomorrow and can retrieve more glass and pull some wire in the front bedroom.

Work Begins

The first order of business was getting those exterior walls insulated. That's just grunt work. Smash stuff with hammers, make lots of noise with crowbars, rip stuff apart, and throw it out the door. In one weekend, we got half the house done right up to the drywall. That included rewiring, adding cable & phone along the way.

Here's the few shots I got of bare studs; this is the upstairs bathroom. I'm trying to save that wonderful tile in the tub. Still not sure how I'm going to insulate behind it.
Rear bedroom, post-demo, late night.
Living room, post-demo, partly insulated.
Dining room, post-demo, partly insulated.

We left the demo debris until the drywall was done, then cleaned it up.


I'm really happy to see that puke green wall at the bay window disappear.

Here's yours truly sweeping up at the end of the first big construction weekend. The board will go back up over the busted window in a second. Hey, we needed some airflow.

We also test-fit the cabinets in the kitchen to see where they fit. A Home Depot label was on the back of one, so their kitchen designer helped up out by finding a picture of the complete kitchen in an old real estate listing. What a break!



We also tore down the ceiling in the downstairs bathroom in preparation for replumbing the following work weekend. My dad's plan is to come down alternate weekends to help with the big stuff. I can't figure out the main workroom that contains the electrical panel and the incoming water line. What is the layout here? There is no provision for laundry, but there are copper water lines and drains all over the place. The place is shaped like some kind of alcove, but I don't know what it's for.



Part of the block has been broken off and dirt is spilling on the floor. I hope this is just fill; I'm tempted to just tear it out and see if I can get down to a footer further down. I will have to choose my battles until this place is appraised though. I've got to get a mortgage very soon to have enough dough to do more work.

Starting in Mid-Stream

Since I am in danger of losing track of this project's history, I decided to start a blog to document it. I first became aware of a listing for this house on MLS in March '10.













I made an inquiry, looked it over, and made an offer. After several rounds of counteroffers, I gave up.

The $6000 tax credit deadline had expired, and my last offer had been within $4000 of their asking price. So after waiting a month, it went to public auction. They were taking prebids online, so my dad put one in to see what would happen. Even though it was well below what I had offered before, they quickly accepted his offer.











During this long process, some vandals kicked in the back door and smashed two windows.


That big one is expensive, too. The house looks pretty good on the surface, but as we dug in, we found that it was built in the mid 1950s and had been extensively remodeled more recently. Unfortunately, nobody bothered with insulation in the outer walls.
Plus, the previous owner gutted the kitchen and took it with him when he was evicted.

Luckily, the bank made him return the cabinets, which he dumped in the garage.

The basement is partially finished, with a recent master suite featuring a glamor bath--missing a few pieces.
And what's up with the different sized vanities? Whoever did the work in this room must not have had a tape measure, much less any amount of skill. It's a shame to waste this nice tile, but this room will need to be redone. But that's way down the list. The old '50s wiring and galvanized plumbing needs to be replaced first. The wiring makes me nervous, so I turn off the breaker whenever I leave. I'll document the first work next time. I've already got some going, but let's stick with the storyline here.