Tag Archives: Home Improvement

New Homes are Heavy

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The wife and I have been very busy lately. It’s not yet over, but this past weekend was perhaps the busiest, not to mention heaviest, part of the process. That process is moving.

The whole thing started last spring, when we put our two houses on the market. This past spring, a year later almost to the day, her house finally sold and we had the wherewithal to purchase a new house. We packed her house into two POD units and moved them into storage until we had a place to put them. At the same time, we took mine off the market because it hadn’t sold yet, and we didn’t want to take the chance of it selling and us having no place to go. Turns out it wasn’t a concern, because we found the house we wanted to buy within days.

We made an offer, they countered, we met in the middle, and two long months later, we took possession. When that day finally arrived, we couldn’t move in immediately because we had too many other family obligations (Jami’s sister graduated with her doctorate! We couldn’t miss that graduation day…). So, exactly one week after we took possession, I had the two full-to-the-roof POD units filled with more boxes and heavy furniture than any one person has any business owning, delivered for unloading at the new house. With the help of some very friendly neighbors, we started unloading them that night. We continued unloading the next night, and did so until we dropped. We spent our first night in our new home that night. Fortunately, the bed was easily accessible in the POD unit, so we didn’t have to sleep on the floor. By the time we were done, though, it wouldn’t have mattered where we slept… we were too tired to care. Finally, on Saturday, some friends came over to help unload the rest.

By Saturday night, we were absolutely beat. Unfortunately, our work was not yet done. We spent Sunday at the old house, packing up, mowing the yard, and cleaning. Then we devoted that evening at the new home unpacking, straightening up and getting all the computers back online.

Being Memorial Day weekend, we had an extra day which was spent back at the old house for more packing (about 500lbs worth of books – plus lots of this and that) and lots of cleaning. Monday night was given to more unpacking, more cleaning, and more organizing. We did give ourselves a bit of a break for a glass of wine on the front porch before getting back to it.

At the end of the weekend, between the two of us and some very helpful friends and neighbors, we have a pretty good start on a new home.

But our work is not yet done. The POD units were still in the driveway as of Wednesday, to be picked up on Thursday and Friday. Saturday we’ll get a truck to move the rest of the heavy stuff out of my house. Until then, we’ll spend a lot of time at the old house getting as much packed and moved as possible so that the friends who are helping on Saturday only have to help us with the heavy items we can’t move by ourselves. From there, it’s a matter of final cleaning and finishing up a few little details here and thereto get it in tip-top shape to put back on the market. We’re hoping to sell it within the next 2 and a half months. We’ll see…

Ye’ Olde English Billiards Parlour in the Basement

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Light That’s what I want. That’s what I plan to have.

The basement of the house we’re negotiating on is unfinished. It’s already framed in (a very nice professional job, too), and awaits only drywall and finishing. However, I want to get the pool table installed now, and finish the room around it later. That means floor first, rather than the typical last.

Our plan for the moment is to install tile directly under the pool table and carpet tiles around that. The tile under the table will help support the table, won’t settle the way carpet does, and will provide a beautiful accent. The carpet tiles will grant the luxury of being able to take tiles up, put tiles down and cut tiles to size as I’m finishing up the walls. Then if someone… when someone spills their drink on the carpet we can just take the tile up, hose it down, let it dry, and drop it back into place. They make carpet tiles with a thick enough nap that the seams are invisible, so it’ll look just like a normal carpet floor.

Here’s the rough plan starting just as soon as possible after we take possession and move in:

  1. Pull down the ceiling tile framework the previous owner installed. Don’t need it. Don’t want it.
  2. Spray the ceiling black, or another dark color (the wife suggested a dark grey similar to the tiles we looked at) which will give the illusion of a more open space, and actually provide more space. I have a piston sprayer I used on my current ceiling. That’ll do.
  3. Install the tiles on the 45, with a border around those on the 90, with the whole area being just large enough to fit under the table. I have a professional tiler friend who has offered to help with this in exchange for beer.
  4. Make an appointment to have the table delivered and installed. This is key. It will become my deadline for everything above this line. It’s good to have deadlines. They keep us on our toes and getting things done.
  5. Install the carpet tiles around the newly installed table.
  6. Finish the basement as time and money allow, and play lots of pool in the meantime!

I’m a little worried about the weight of the table on those tiles, and potential breakage. Will an underlayment like ditera help, hurt or be indifferent?

For the rest of the room, I’m thinking of an old English pub feel, with nice dark wainscoting and other woods and stained stucco. :)

We have no reason to believe our plans to buy this particular house will fall through, but if they do, my rough plan outlined here remains, no matter what house we end up in.

Pool Table and Rec Room Furniture Moved

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We’re not completely beat, but we’re certainly tired.  Moving our rec room furniture out of one friend’s basement, and into two others will do that I suppose.

I hired out the pool table itself, preferring to have someone experienced in dismantling pool tables do that job.  It was taken to one friend’s basement, along with two barstools and the light this morning.

This afternoon, I, my wife, and the couple from whom we bought the whole set, moved the rest of it into the garage in our Southern Home.  That includes the captain’s chair, the player chair, four rolling chairs, a high top table, and a flip-top poker/game table, and a 60″ standing bar.  Thankfully, we had a family truck to use, which meant we had to make a couple trips, and put stuff in cars as well, and make two trips to boot, but we didn’t have to pay anything for it.

One step closer to having a usable pool table!

The Shape of Things to Come

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See what I did there?

There’s a bit of logistics involved yet, but I finally have myself a pool table.

Pocket Detail External Pocket Detail

It’s an 8′ table that’s been well taken care of over it’s ~3 year lifetime. It comes with a bar, a high top table, two bar stools, two pool chairs, a poker table with four rolling chairs, a wall mounted cue rack and a light to hang over the table when it’s all installed. Jami is as excited about it as I am, I think. To her, it’s a sign that we’re moving forward and the promise of many fun evenings at home with our friends, or just ourselves. To me, it’s a pool table!

Light

I still need to arrange to have the table disassembled and transported to it’s intermediate location where it will sit until such a time as we have a permanent residence in which to install it. That is an event for which I can barely wait. Unfortunately, owning two homes, and with the housing market being what it is, that might take a little longer than we would like. As I keep saying, however, we’ll get there.

The point is, though we can’t use it yet, I finally own a pool table!

How to Replace a Toilet Paper Roll

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Wherein it is described how one would replace a toilet paper roll, being empty, with a toilet paper roll, being full (courtesy of a good friend of mine who felt his co-workers required assistance in the matter – he took these photos, and sent them to every employee in his office. It is unclear whether it had the desired effect, though it’s comedic value was immediately appreciated).

Here we see the toilet paper roll, empty save for a few tattered remnants.
tp01
First, pull one end of the toilet paper roller assembly out from the mounting bracket. Second, pull the entire roller assembly away from the end still held within the mounting bracket. Be careful not to let the cardboard toilet paper tube fall to the floor. In the event this happens, please seek assistance from someone within shouting distance, as that occurrence is beyond the scope of these instructions.
tp02
Hold the toilet paper roller assembly over an approved garbage receptacle, or recycling container, if one is available.
tp03
Tip the toilet paper roller assembly in such a way that the cardboard toilet paper tube falls into the receptacle.
tp04
Gently aim one end of the toilet paper roller assembly at the hole in the end of the cardboard toilet paper tube of a fully equipped roll of toilet paper.
tp05
Then gently insert the toilet paper roller assembly into the cardboard toilet paper tube of the fully equipped roll of toilet paper until the toilet paper roller assembly is fully within the cardboard toilet paper tube.
tp06
Place one end of the toilet paper roller assembly into one side of the toilet paper roller bracket, and push towards the inserted end. As you feel resistance indicating that the spring within the toilet paper roller assembly has begun to compress, and when the length of the toilet paper roller assembly is less than the width between the toilet paper mounting brackets, slide the end you are holding into the other end of the toilet paper mounting bracket, and let the spring within the toilet paper roller assembly push the ends of the assembly into the bracket holes.
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Enjoy a job well done!
tp08


But First…

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I’ve started in on the basement again. We’re having an open house this weekend, in an attempt to drum up some interest and, we hope, a buyer or two. That means the house has to be in tip top shape. The upstairs is fine, but there are a few things left to do in the basement.

  • Replace the light fixtures
  • Trim around the support I-Beam
  • Trim around the basement window
  • Trim around the basement storage door
  • Rearrange the stuff so it looks more like a living space than a storage unit
  • Move one of the desks in the upstairs office into the basement to increase the space upstairs, and make the basement more livable
  • Faceplates on all the outlets
  • Clean basement shower
  • Basement bathroom molding
  • Paint basement bathroom ceiling

Two nights ago, I worked on the light fixtures. There are only two. But they took three times as long as they should have, because it was one of those “But first…” jobs. Before I could do one thing, I first had to do something else. In order to do that, I first had to do something else again. Before I could do that… well, you get the picture.

Those two light fixtures should have taken about half an hour tops. I started at 6:30, and by the time I stopped at 9:30, I was almost done. Around the time my wife got home at 8:30, I was so sick of delays and “but firsts” that I was nothing but four letter words and steam. She offered… nearly begged, to help, but there just wasn’t anything for her to do, so I told her to relax, settle in, and enjoy her bath while I cleaned up.

I finished in no time last night after work, so I got started on some of the other tasks. In terms of visibility, and thus priority, the trim around the I-Beam and the window, and the rearranging of things is at the top of the list. After that, the rest will either be done, or it won’t.

Busy Busy Weekend

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And indeed it was. I’ll start with Sunday and move backwards, because it’s just easier that way. After a hectic day, I had intended Sunday to be a relaxing day, but as it turned out, I got quite a bit done.

The Elliott Haz SheltersFirst, Jami brought her kitty, Elliott over from our Southern Home to live with us in the Northern Home. He’d been staying down south since the wedding, and we felt it was time to integrate him. He’s 23lbs of Big Baby, and cried the entire drive, and when the terror of the drive was over, he wedged himself far up underneath a table and boxes in the basement. He did, eventually begin exploring with more confidence, and by this morning, he’d all but settled completely in. However, if his shenanigans of last night are any indication, he’ll be fantastic practice for when we have a baby, and a full night of sleep is but a fond memory.

He. Was. Restless.

It’s possible that my banging around didn’t help him settle in, and served to spook him something good. I can admit that. But I got on a bit of a roll, and didn’t want to stop.

The Squanto didn’t really have much to say about him. I’m sure they saw each other, but beyond a tolerant glance here and there, I don’t think they’re going to have much to do with each other. At 15, he’s up in his years, and just doesn’t have the energy to deal with the young-uns like he used to.


Back to What I AccomplishedThe Hanging Wheelbarrow

  • Finally mounted the hose rack, so the hose isn’t laying in the dirt next to the doghouse.
  • Finally hung the wheelbarrow on the side of the house next to the hose rack, so it’s not sitting in the dirt and gathering rain next to the hose. It’s a pretty clever mounting system my bro-in-law gave to me before he was my bro-in-law. Just roll the wheelbarrow up to the house, lift up the back end, and snap into place.
  • Finally hung the bike rack my bro-in-law gave to me before he was my bro-in-law. It’s in the garage and replaces a simple nail that supported the old Kona Fire Mountain frame, which in turn supported the tires and fenders. Now, it’s a much cleaner look.
  • Spread anti-weed and anti-crab grass granules on the driveway, sidewalks, and lawn to try to combat the weeds and crab grass that threaten to take over.
  • Spread grass seed in the back yard where the grass is having a hard time staying alive.
  • Watered said grass seed.
  • Pulled some weeds on the patio.
  • Swept the patio of excess sticks and branches, and pushed some of the sand back between the bricks.
  • Cleaned the “very dirty” baseboards to make for better house showings (it is up for sale, by the way).

Oh Noes!!

YES!! IT IS BACK!!!

Something will be done about this. I assure you.

And with that horrifying discovery, I think that about covers it for Sunday.

Saturday was a busier and interesting day, but I think I’ll save that for another post.

Filthy Nasty Poison Ivy… We Hates It!

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I’ve known I’ve had poison ivy in my yard for a couple years, but I get hit by it rarely enough that I didn’t do anything more than a cursory examination with little in the way of actual familiarity with the vile plant. I got it again a few weeks ago, though, and decided I’d had enough. Today I did some serious research over lunch, and my suspicions grew as to the location…

I just checked, and I definitely found it. It climbs up the tree in my front yard pretty far, as you can see to the right, and judging by the size of the leaves, is a relatively old vine. At *least* a few years… more than I’ve been here, anyway. There is more at the base of that same tree growing from the root system that spawned that filthy, horrific vine.

An yet it looks so peaceful and serene in that image to the left, doesn’t it? Don’t be fooled. It’s of the Devil.

If you look closely, you can see the telltale hairy root feelers that keep the vine attached the the tree. Nasty things. They just look evil. I hates them. I truly do.

I pulled quite a bit off that tree out front, and I think my next step is to wash the gloves I was wearing very very very well. If they’re not machine washable (I’ll be *very* careful when I check), I’ll just throw them away. It’s not worth it.

I found more along the west side of the house, and more yet on the east side in the wood pile. Three little patches, and one hefty vine. I couldn’t find any in the back yard, which would explain why I’ve never gotten any from Squanto. You’d think, if there were any back there, he’d have gotten it on his fur, and transferred it to me. That hasn’t to the best of my knowledge, ever happened. I’m going to count that as a positively Good Thing. I’ve only ever gotten it from when I, myself, was outside working.

More images in the online album…

Slide It In, Right to the Top

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Since I moved into my house, I’ve had troubles with the sliding door in to the back yard. It started out difficult, got exceedingly difficult, improved a little with some cleaning, and finally got impossibly difficult. I’ve actually found my shoulders sore from the effort of opening it. I work out. I’m not unused to lifting. Sore shoulders from opening a frickin’ door is ridiculous.

So, a few weeks ago we went to Home Depot and set in motion the replacement of the old and busted door with the new hotness that is a new insulated door that… get this… actually slides easily back and forth!!

I thought briefly about going for french doors, or just a single swinging door, but for cost, convenience and general personal aesthetics, went with the sliding option. Duder comes over tomorrow morning to get it installed. I cannot wait!