Tired and still nailing flooring.

Will it ever end??? Is my livingroom some sort of weird vortex of stretchiwalliness? Do the floors actually stretch longer as I nail more wood to them? Or is that my imagination? I think the former.

Today was amnesty day at the transfer station. That means, today was the one day per month the transfer station (dump, for all intents and purposes) lets people make deposits for free. We took three truckloads of the cat urine saturated and nailfilled old flooring. Also the soffits and some other mushroom nurseries from the removal of the asbestos a few weeks ago. We perfected our route to the transfer station and while we were there, we exchanged empathetic glances with a couple who were dumping truckloads of stuff that looked suspiciously similar to our own...

It snowed today, too. So, Vincent and I ducked in for a bite to eat at Wendys. Yeah, I know. We aren't Fast Food people, so this was strange, but expedient. It snowed! How cool is that? Yeah, about 32 degrees (snort, chortle).

I nailed wood past the cable. I nailed wood past the heat vent! I nailed wood past the disturbing hole in the subfloor! I nailed wood almost all the way past the hall entryway. But not quite. Vincent was a big help culling wood, cutting wood and sorting wood. He also cleaned a few things and the bathroom cabinet. He also removed some remaining old wood that we were waiting to remove until we had a little more flooring down for stabilization. This is a structural floor... He then pulled nails, vacuumed and Odo-banned the sub-floor. We left and went home, being sufficiently broken and hurting. :)

Busy, Busy Days

It was fantastic.
I got up and took the teen to school and took the trash to the transfer station and got rid of it and I was travelling back and I thought, HEY, places that sell brick are always closed when I am off of work, I'll stop in. So I stopped in to Knox Brick. Nice, nice folk. They showed me what they had and I hemmed and hawed. It was expensive and I didn;t really know how many I needed. I was just getting a feel for the prices, etc. The brick, you see, is to repair the tops of the chimneys (evident in the pictures). Turns out that old bricks are made a different size than new bricks. Also old bricks are solid and new bricks can be solid or hollow. Solids are more pricey. Bummer. So I started to go home and I saw another brick place. I don't know why the sudden and unplanned obsession with brick. This place looked closed, but they had a few pallets of brick and a couple people. They were going out of business. :( Too bad for them. Good for me - but I felt bad for them. They happened to have a very good match for my old brick in hollows and solids. They sold me a pallet (!) of hollows for $85 (that's 575 bricks) and GAVE me the 85 solids for free and I also bought four bags of morter for $5 each. I figure I can fix the chimneys and then instead of making the columns in front out of wood as originally planned, I can make them out of brick, too. I can make a brick mailbox. Maybe even a bread oven? Beyond that, I'm taking suggestions. ;)
OH - and they solved the transportation problem as well! They will deliver the pallet of brick for free on Monday! The place is Brickstone on Middlebrook Pike and they still have more brick if you are in Knoxville and need any.

I also looked into the metal roofing carried by 84 Lumber - it is manufactured by Metal Sales. I am looking at the "Classic Rib" in acrylic coated galvalume. It is exposed fastener. It is a project for another day, but I was curious on the pricing. It is $2.70 per linear foot (36" wide). Not including tax or delivery of course. Nor fasteners or closures, etc. I still don't know if this is the best price out there.

Vince and I ate out at Gondalier Restaurant. It was nice, though a lot of cheese. We are not used to that. But we needed our strength for...

The floor at the tiny bungalow!

We have since removed 90% of the livingroom floor. It needed it. We purchased a pallet of #3 common oak last weekend. I know we will have to cull out a lot, but with what is left over, we will floor the attic. Vincent and I got everything going - all set up and the tar paper down and the compressor set up and the flooring nailer adjusted, etc. Vincent and I then started nailing down the new floor, joining in with the old floor! He was a quick study. He's really smart! I like this age - 16 is a great age. Vincent has gotten to be really helpful. I'm proud of him. He and I managed to lay about 30 square feet of floor. It was a good feeling to finally leave the house in better shape than when we got there!

Now we hurt in places we didn't know we had.

Update on the other house... I have sealed the grout in the hall bathroom completely. All of it - with a tiny paintbrush... I also installed the backsplash and sidesplash. I also installed all new molding and shoe molding and the air vent. Then I caulked it all in. I cut the threshhold but still need to install it. That bathroom is looking like a million bucks! That's good since I decided to sell this house. ;) Yesterday I started mudding the drywall joints in the laundry room. I'll finish that tomorrow.

A Little Election Night Home Improvement

I went and voted. Then I felt a lot of pent up energy. I tried to ignore it, but that didn't really work. I tried to just sit and plan and daydream my way out of it. But that didn't work either.
So I installed the granite vanity top in the hall bathroom at the Tallahassee house that has to be rented before I can move into my bungalow. Yeah, I have a lot on my plate.
First I carried the slab up to the bathroom. It was very heavy and I had to be careful because if you torque it in the wrong way, it will just snap in two. I've seen it happen. You have to hold the slab from the center hole. I had to take it from in the garage and around the outside of the house and then up the stairs. Then I grabbed the bowl and the clips. I put the slab onto the vanity and mounted the bolts into the pre-drilled (thank goodness!) holes. Then I put a generous bead of kitchen and bath adhesive caulk around the perimeter of the opening on the slab. I centered the sink basin onto the hole and held it in place with one hand as I installed the four clips, washers and nuts with the other. When everything was finger tight, I made sure the whole thing was centered and then tightened everything down. Then I carefully lowered the whole vanity top into the vanity. It fit perfectly! Looks NICE, eh?


Parker inspects the undermount sink bowl for cracks or imperfections. Finding none, he instructs me to proceed.



I have the slab on the vanity, balanced precariously.



Here is a closeup of one of the bolts installed into a pre-drilled hole.



And the whole thing is installed and together. No I have no pictures in between. I was holding the caulked bowl in one hand and tightening the clips with the other and then lowering the whole thing with both hands, so, sorry, no pics!

Rain in laundry room and Back porch finished - almost

So Vincent calls from downstairs: "MOM! There is a whole lot of PITA dripping from the ceiling down here!" Who says he doesn't have a sense of humor. Yeah, it was raining in the laundry room. The kind of rain that can't be ignored. He had just started the dishwasher. Dan had been downstairs earlier and reported that the place had been dry. I removed the items from the kitchen cabinet and found no real water. I looked in the laundry room and saw that the water was coming in from around a pipe. We couldn't really gather where the pipe was coming from though... It made no sense. I sawed a hole in the wall under the sink. Nothing. Everything seemed dry. I uninstalled the dishwasher. Ok, Dan helped (I love you sweetheart!). I sawed a hole behind the dishwasher. Nothing. Everything seemed dry. I drywalled back the dishwasher wall. We reinstalled the dishwasher. We scratched our heads. We ran water. We reinstalled the dishwasher. I went to connect it back to the water source and HEY! I got wet. Turns out it was a PVC leak under the sink. Hell and half of Germany later and it was a PVC leak under the sink. It was a terrible job of PVC plumbing under the sink, too, so I decided to purchase all new. So another trip to Lowes. $15 later and another hour and it was all back together and everything was cut to the right lengths and tight and perfect. ALL DRY! I drywalled back the hole behind the sink. That pipe in the ceiling in the laundry room? Probably just a vent. Do yourself a favor and check all PVC connections under the sink if you have a mysterious plumbing leak. Seems this one was intermittent. It's fixed now, so I'm much happier. But it was a setback because it caused me to have to take another day away from the goal of fixing the little house enough to move in...

Scott from Matthew Millsaps finished the back porch - almost. He came out, sistered two rafters, cut back the porch 15 inches, reworked the gutters, and re angled them, replaced the fascia boards, removed the wooden soffits and replaced them with the vinyl soffits that were there before (now the soffit vents actually vent!) and put in a drip edge and new .45 mil EPDM fully adhered rubber roof. They did the work well. They reused as much of my own materials as possible to keep my costs as low as possible - especially since this was an unexpected expense and since this will be the rented and eventually sold house. Not to say that the quality is not good - it is very good. A EPDM rubber roof is, IMO, the only way to go on this flat roof. There is not enough of an angle to use roll asphalt and other materials are more expensive. The drip edge all the way around will save the wood underneath from rotting out again. This basically saved the entire porch. The only thing left for him to do is reattach the downspout to the gutter and pin up the corner soffit where it came loose.

Now, I just have to build stairs. I plan on using premade stringers and reusing the treds because the treds are not rotten. I'll also use my other scrap pressure treated wood. Then I'll paint the whole thing brown to match the porch and it will look as new as it is - brand new. Unfortunately, I cannot leave the steps and rent out the house. It is not safe. :( Fortunately, I know how to build steps.

That leaves only 4 more "big" house projects. Finish the bathroom. To do that I need to install the vanity top, the faucet, and run the plumbing. I have done these tasks before and am happy to do them again. I need to drywall the ceiling in the laundry room and reinstall the light fixture. I also need to install the hot water heater and purchase and install a furnace. I can do the water heater and furnace after renting out the house because their counterparts still work - they are just not as efficient as they could be.

Tonight: BATHROOM VANITY.
Pictures at 11.

Another look at what's important.

Well, I took quite a plunge just now. I hope I did the right thing. I've done a lot of research in the past few days and have decided to go green and healthy when it comes to the paint I use on and in my house and on my floors.
I just got the following from solventfreepaint.com:
Item Name: Boiled Linseed Oil 5 Liters
Item Number: 50345
Quantity: 2

Item Name: Linseed Wax Liter
Item Number: 50020
Quantity: 3

Item Name: Le Tonkinois Linseed Varnish NO 1 2.5 Liter;item_number=0100
Quantity: 2

Item Name: Linseed Glazing 3 Liter
Item Number: 50380
Quantity: 1

Item Name: Custard Linseed Paint
Item Number: 50008
Quantity: 12

Item Name: White Linseed Paint 3 Gallon
Item Number: 50247
Quantity: 1

Item Name: Pail and Hanger
Item Number: 63722500
Quantity: 1

Item Name: Double Wide Mixed Brush
Item Number: 377200
Quantity: 2

Item Name: Adjustable 4ft to 6ft ANZA Handle
Item Number: 620016
Quantity: 2

Item Name: Wood Oil Linseed Paint Mixed Brush
Item Number: 313120
Quantity: 2

Item Name: Natural Oil Brush 1in
Item Number: 201030
Quantity: 1

Item Name: Natural Oil Brush 2in
Item Number: 201050
Quantity: 1

Item Name: Natural Oil Brush 1 3/8in
Item Number: 201040
Quantity: 1

Item Name: Linseed Soap 5 Liter
Item Number: 50433
Quantity: 1

Item Name: Raw Linseed Oil 5 Liter
Item Number: 50347
Quantity: 4

With any real good luck, it will get here this weekend so that I can start. The company representative said that the wood would be protected as soon as I get a coat of raw linseed oil on it. It would also help to soften the pealing paint already on the house. I am also getting a silent paint remover. Yes, biting the bullet. That I don't need as quickly since I was making an IR paint remover as well. Plenty of work to do (miles to go before I sleep and all like that). No boredom here. And I'll have lots of time to contemplate the world and my place in it while I scrape paint.

ZEN.

I suspect that I'll also end up using the real milk paint on the interior of the house, too. It's a terrible thing to find out about the healthy alternatives that work better than their modern cheap counterparts - guilt works at me until it is deafening and I can't stand it. Sigh. No more Lowes "Opps" paint for me. But then, apparently, I won't be needing it as often anyway.

Progress, regress, sidesteps, back burners

Yes, yes that's it in a nutshell. And I owe you some pictures, too, I suppose. I'm very sorry I have none prepared, but some are coming and my lack of attention to this website does not mean that there has been a lack of attention to the houses.

It just seems that way.

You know how sometimes you get to a spot where you realize there is so much to do that nothing seems big enough to make a dent - to be worthwhile doing? I was there, but I worked through it.

I actually have two houses right now, you see. I am trying like hell to move into this little bungalow, but the fates are conspiring against me so far. Still, I worked past a few mental blocks the past few weeks.

In the current house, I have to finish a few things. There was a SAGA. An unexpected loss. A tragedy, really. I'll start with the back porch.

THE BACK PORCH
The back porch is a screen room with a flat roof and decked floor overlooking and acre of wooded property. It is quite nice, really. The rafters are exposed from the inside of the room. I have a previously freecycled patio set that I sanded and painted with hammered finish rustoleum paint and made cushions for. I have various candles and statuary and lanterns. I plan on moving these things to the front porch of the bungalow. A few months ago (I am a master procrastinator!) a peice of the aluminum trim fell off the side of the outside of the porch. I bought a ladder. I planned on climbing up there and addressing the small amount of wood rot I saw with some sort of boracare or timbor and hardener and maybe sistering the thing and tacking the trim back on. Months pass and I'm getting ready to rent the place out, right? I finally climb up there. Dan climbs up there, too. Oh, it is rotted. Not just a little. CaRpEnTeR AnTs and the realization that the flat roof is in terrible shape. I should have had it replaced with the rest of the roof 3.5 years ago - hindsight is 50/50. Disappointment. Fatigue. Dan digs out the rotten boards and he keeps digging. It's worse than originally thought. I go inside and look at the rafters at the ends. The gutters are holding on by a thread. The ends of the rafters are rotten and there are mushrooms growing on the rotten soffit wood. Woe and misery. Dan tacks the trim back on and I call the exterminator in the morning to treat for the carpenter ants. Combat Pest Control out of Knoxville, TN is always so nice and professional, by the way. So, they recommend some people and I also call the people who did my roof in the first place. So Westbrook comes out to do the estimate and they were really nice. The first part of the estimate was to get the wood repaired, and that part came in low, so I thought the whole bid would be low, so then Matthew Millsaps came in to look at the job and I told them that I had a hard budget top of XYZ. They were also nice. Interesting to note that both places bid the same fix and same materials. Anyway, long story short, the bid was won by Matthew Millsaps by over $700! I mean, that was totally blown out of the water. Amazing how the places can vary in price. They did the original roof, so they will also warrent the connection between the two roofs, so that is better as well. I cannot believe that the other place wanted almost 1/3 more for the job. Pays to shop around. They start on Wednesday. This was an unexpected expense, but the back porch will have an EPDM fully adhered rubber roof with drip edge and the rotten parts will be removed, the rafter will be sistered and the porch edge will be cut back and the gutters reworked and cleaned out and the wooden soffit removed and the vinyl left in place (but cut back of course) and my roof will not have to be messed with for the next 30 years. Literally. Good Karma for me since I will probably sell this house - I did not cover over a problem.

THE BATHROOM
The hall bathroom in the big house I want to move OUT of had a problem when my parents were visiting. We had discovered rain in the basement and a leak of some magnitude in the drain of the hall bathroom that ruined the wall, the floor, the vanity, etc. The bathroom basically had to be semi-gutted. Another unexpected and unintended expense and "improvement". Dad and I started it. We removed the floor, the walls behind the vanity, we remediated the mold by removing it and we scraped the studs. We also sprayed lime sulfer on anything left over (very little). Dad and I then installed plywood subflooring and cementboard over that. Dad and I installed drywall where the wall was taken out. I then leveled the floor with two bags of leveling cement. Then the door would not close, so I cut off the end of the door and reinforced the bottom because it is hollow. Then Dad laid the 3x3" tile (sandstone color). I then grouted the floor (also in sandstone color). Dan and I installed the same toilet three times until we got it not to leak. We love installing toilets, and find it a soothing zen-like activity. We delight in things like finding out the bolts are too short or the rings not wide enough. We live for this stuff. I personally like how the excess wax ring residue that squirts through the mounting holes moisturizes my skin. :( There the forlorn hall bath sat for weeks until this past weekend. I finally got around to chiseling out the grout on the wall tile and regrouting! This is an activity that is almost as fun as installing toilets, but not quite. Now, I know that this may seem horrible to the purists out there, but I tried two kinds of grout for regrouting. Bear in mind that I did chisel out at least 1/8" depth of grout. I tried regular unsanded grout and it would not stick and was messy. Then I tried adhesive premixed grout in bright white - a winner. Not as bright as the regular grout and it seems to be more of a latex product, but it is ok for use in wet locations (good because this is in the shower!) and it went on smoothly and stuck in the joints! It almost stuck too well - I dropped some on the sandstone colored grout ont he floor and it took a lot of elbow greese to remove it. The entire hall bathroom has been regrouted now. Then Vincent and I brought up and installed the New Vanity. It matches the Wall Unit. It is "Sandlewood" in color and it is beautiful. Instead if the knobs it came with, we went for a custom look with fish shaped pewter knobs we ordered many moons ago. I was one short, but I called my Mom who had one extra (we liked them so much we all got fish knobs!). In that bathroom, I still have to wash off the grout haze, clean the bathtub, figure out why it won't drain (probably because of grout and cement - I will remove the trap underneath), install the molding around the floor perimeter and the granite countertop and sink and plumbing for said sink. I will also install the air vent and then will be finished. I'm 90% there.

THE ASBESTOS DEBACLE
So, this past Monday, I was very sick. I had a sinus and ear infection. The doc gave me methylprednisalone and some antibiotic that sounded more like a charitable organization: Omnicef. On the way back from the doctor's office I stopped by the tiny bungalow to drop off the PEX-A plumbing stuff that had just arrived and I thought I'd measure the window (or, rather, gaping hole in the side of my house). I was measuring the hole and CRUNCH and I looked down and asbestos was crunching under my feet. I looked up and asbestos shingle pieces were falling out of the soffits! I had hired a LICENSED asbestos abatement company to remove the asbestos transite siding from my house, but they decided to break off the pieces at the soffit level because they "didn't know what my intentions were for the house" and thought I would want to keep my soffits. Nice. No, I did not, I told them. I want the asbestos gone, please, all of it. They said no problem and they would be back at no charge to finish up. At that time, they would also get the asbestos wrapped pipes I had in my basement. A few weeks passed and then we had a cold snap over night. But it is Tennessee and it got really cold - under freezing - and then warm (upwards of 70) during the day for two days in a row. I think this caused the soffits (wood) to expand with the rafters (wood) against the siding (wood) releasing the pinched in asbestos siding (not wood, not affixed). It's a guess. But I had asbestos all around my house, raining down around me. Nice. I stopped breathing immediately and ran away shaking my hair out (still not breathing) and then rinsed off in water (cold - not breathing) and drove home - sick, soaked and probably covered in asbestos. I took an immediate shower, bagged my clothing, mopped the floors where I walked and washed the clothes and called the asbestos abatement company. They said they would take care of it right away, but they would need $250 more for the interior asbestos. Okay - that was fine (previously discussed this - I was ok with this). But they needed me to drop off a key under the bathtub (on the front porch - I'm classy like that) right away. No rest for the weary! I had to go to lowes, get a key made and drive all the way back to tiny bungalow and put the key under the bathtub. When I got back home, I fell over. I never felt more sick. But maybe this was all a blessing in disguise? I'm hoping my snot protected my from harmful asbestos. I actually think I'm fine.
The company came and removed the rest of the asbestos. They also removed the large amount from inside the house - it looked like bandage-wrapped pipes - it was old duct work.

EXTERIOR WORK PROGRESSES BUT IS THWARTED BY VICIOUS DOG

Well, the HAZMAT team may have removed the rest of the asbestos, but they didn't put the house back together at all. That's ok, but they didn't put the plywood back over the gaping hole in the side of the house (the hole that needs a window). I guess I thought they would have put that one piece of plywood back. This hole has pink batting insulation in it and behind that is drywall into the living room. The asbestos hazmat team never called to tell me they finished the job, so I did not know the thing was open. It has rained for three days. So yesterday me and Vincent went over there after giving it a good sunny day to dry out. We took the big orange ladder and nails and hammer and thank goodness we did not find a giant pink fiberglass sponge. :) We pulled out the insulation in case it was damp (we use gloves, so can't really tell if it is damp). Meanwhile, the black and white dog that has been terrorizing us was back. We made no eye contact and we thought he would leave us alone (HE is obviously a HE - no questions). He did at first. But then a car had to stop in front of the house. I was on the ladder and the car honked. I looked. They yell "Is this your Dog??!" I yell "NO" - the dog bites the tire. they back up and beep. I don't know if it hurt the dog or not, but after that the dog was truly ticked off. We were pulling off the tar paper encasing our house and taking the tar paper to the trash bins at the street and the dog charged Vincent. Barking and snarling. Unprovoked. Not even looked at. I called animal control, but they said they could do nothing until someone had actually been bitten.
We have about 30% of the tar paper off the outside of the house, and in trash bins. The plan at this point is to stabilize the house so I can later strip it and repaint it. So I plan on repainting it OVER the current lead paint just to encapsulate it, then going back with an infrared heat stripper and doing a section at a time to repaint the same color. We are definately leaning toward the sunshiney apricot-ey yellow. It is a historic color. We will roll paint. I noticed that the rafters seem to be in OK shape. Someone nailed rotten wood TO them in order to, well, I'm not sure why - something to do with the ugly soffits maybe? But I think we are OK there. The plan is to get the rest of the tar paper off and start painting next weekend!

GARAGE SALES AND DONATIONS

There is an inventory reduction sale going on at Tallahassee Junk Emporium! This coincides with Walker Academy's First Annual Flea Market, Pancake Breakfast and Bake Sale! Nobody needs to bring anything else. I could pretty much provide everything they need to run a successful flea market. I am finding stuff I had no idea I had. It will be good to donate to the school.
The Sale is November 15th at Walker Academy on Lovell Rd. in Knoxville, TN. Come support the kids and Vincent's school! You know I have to get rid of half my things to fit into the tiny bungalow - some af them are really really truely great and fantastic wondrous things! Come One, Come All!

Stop The Leaks!

Stop the Leaks! A month late!


The first project? Finish the floor! I have to say it is drafty in the livingroom since I can see the basement through the floor!

Phew. Western Red Cedar Clapboard Siding!

Well, I came home to this:



and almost had an accident when I turned into the driveway because I was taken aback in such an abrupt, and black way. I know, I know, it's tarpaper. But I was not properly prepared to see my house clad head to toe in black. It is quite a change in appearance.

After working on the front a little, it looks like this:



which is not much better, I understand. But at least you can see that it is siding. What is less noticeable in the picture is that it is in very good shape. The tar paper is stuck to it like glue and there are only like a bajillion nails in it, but other than that, it is not rotten or anything.Looks like the house was a sage greenish color. It's a nice color! I may do that again.

The asbestos guy said he took the asbestos out up to the soffit line, but stopped at the gutters and soffit because he didn't know my intentions for the house and thought I might want to keep my soffits. I said, no. I want to keep none of the asbestos and any soffit casualty is ok, so please return to finish the job. Please stay tuned on what is under the soffits when Asbestos Management Corporation from Lenior City comes back and they come down... Harry Gilman, the owner, seems very nice and he said there would be no additional charge since he had quoted me for the whole house. They will come back out - working me in between other corporate jobs.

I wonder if there are exposed rafter tails under there then??? The suspense is killing me. As much as I hate to have the house in a state of disassembly, I don't want to have broken asbestos shingles lurking anywhere. Is it weird to imagine asbestos as a beast?

Also the asbestos registers inside the house were not easily removable, like I thought they were. Harry came over on Saturday and I showed the registers to him and, well, he showed me that it was going to be more involved. I felt bad to have wasted his gas on a Saturday. He thinks they can get to it with a full crew when they come back for the soffit asbestos.

I had this crazy thought - the attic space is so hot and there is no ridge vent. Why??? Did they just do that that way back then? Or, was some ventilation system shorted so to speak by enclosing exposed rafter tails in a non-vented boxed plywood soffit? I welcome commentary on this. :)

Goodbye Asbestos Transite Siding!

Tomorrow is the day! Harry Gilman of Asbestos Management Company out of Lenoir City, TN, called today and said that he had a day open tomorrow to take the siding off the house! He'd been over at the house and could do it. I'll be happy to tell you what it cost if you email me. ;)

Please, please keep fingers crossed that the old clapboard siding underneath the asbestos is in good condition! Please!!! I'm going to give myself an ulcer worrying about this until it is over. :P

Colors?

Thinking of paint colors, I came up with this...
My house:


My Inspiration:


The roof I will most likely choose (Berkshire Collection in Chelsea Green by Owens Corning):



What do you think?

Closing, Aquisition of a fridge, tearing up of floor, horticulture

Closed on the house on Friday! We brought home the claw foot tub (good to get it out of my truck finally - boy that increases gas mileage!) and then went and bought a 1946 Westinghouse refrigerator for $30 - it is so cool.. But very small - up to my shoulder. More on that later - with pictures. I have a deep freezer, so we are up for having a "go" at using it for our primary fridge. And it fits the tiny fridge area in the kitchen. This weekend we took out the scratched laminate flooring to reveal... blue padding. Okok, to reveal... Luan plywood... Okok, under that, we took off one piece ever so gingerly and found the original hardwood floor. It is in moderately bad shape, but not rotten at all. Needs a few patches and of course, to be sanded and refinished. Dan and I have gotten SO GOOD at putting in hardwood, we are up for the challenge. And the old floor has so much more character and satisfies my inner purist (the only thing that will "do" actually). We will stain it dark dark dark, so the new patches will not show so much. I have patched hardwood before. It doesn't suck as much as putting in a whole floor. Just a few boards so far will have to be taken out.

I've ordered the floor jacks and also have the asbestos abatement company ordered too. Dan sprayed round-up on poison ivy. We found I have wild roses, a holly tree, an enormous shade honeysuckle, LOL, lovely wisteria, boxwoods, etc. Someone planted nice things here. They are just overgrown.

"The Bungalow as a Home", The National Builder, March 1915, 72 - 74

Everyone thinks of a bungalow as something a little different. Why should it differ from a Cottage? Or from a House? Or from a Residence? And does it?

One need not travel back more than a few years to see why a Bungalow is popular. The Bungalow Idea originated in the West, where Sociability is supposed to be above Society. The necessary adjuncts to Social Duties being absent, there is in consequence, a freedom not generally present. It is nearer to being in a Summer Camp year round.

But even the popular conception of the Bungalow fails when the true artist begins to think over the project. An artistic effect is obtained on the exterior by getting away from the conventional materials and finishes. Rough boards and shingles take the place of finishing lumber while stains replace paint or even Time decorates the clean surfaces.

In the interior there is further room for Ideas. Built in Furniture, often Home Made takes the place of movable chairs, tables, sideboards, cupboards, etc. In one way everything is simplified, to provide the maximum comfort for the least labor.

ake this Florida Bungalow for example. Not a great deal is spent on the exterior and yet it is positively not a Cottage or a House. It is a Bungalow and cannot be called anything else. It lends itself to the landscape and in a few years, will appear as part of it.

But if the exterior is satisfactory, how about the interior? The plans show the arrangement while the photos will give one an excellent idea of the finished appearance. The use of disappearing beds is new to many sections, but there is no insuperable objection to their use almost anywhere. The arrangement has the quality of furnishing two extra rooms for very little space.

It is not the number of rooms, nor their size that makes or mars a home, but rather, their appearance and use. A closed piano is about as effective at subduing conversation as a muffler, while drawn curtains and shades drive company away just as effectively as a Smallpox sign. By all means, let the House or Cottage or Bungalow show what it is and be made for some visible purpose. Then it will be successful from the landscape, the Artistic and the Social viewpoint.

The National Builder Magazine

I just got THE COOLEST primary source ever. :) Off of craigslist (of course, my current obsession). I got an issue of The National Builder Magazine from March 1915 - vol. 57, No. 3. On the cover is "A Bungalow in Florida".

As I am sure it is out of print and the magazine is no longer published, I'll be transcribing the articles here and scanning the pages just for you, dear reader(s) (are there more than one of you?)

How cool and exciting!

I locked in my Mortgage Rate

Yesterday, I decided I waited long enough and I locked in my mortgage rate. I don't even mind to tell you all that it is 5.25% without any points. I also want to remember for later, that this day in history, that was just about the best rate you could possibly hope for. Good things come to those who wait.

In anticipation of a second bathroom

I have a teenager. I can live with one bathroom for a little while, but it would be a tough thing to think about long term. There is a really large second closet that used to be a sleeper porch off of my bedroom and the inspector said it would be a fine bathroom with a little floor bracing under the tub. I've since decided I'd keep everything as close to an "original feel" as possible. Sure, I know there would not have been a bathroom on a sleeper porch, but, I can't think of a better place to put it. It will raise the value of the house immediately, too. So, I've been scanning Craigslist every now and again for a clawfoot tub. I know what I want to pay. I know what I won't pay. I know the "going prices". Seems like a used and unrestored clawfoot tub in decent shape with a little rust, all four feet and no faucet hardware will go for about $350 around here. One in very good unrestored shape would be around $450 or $500. A restored, and painted (professionally) clawfoot will go for $750 to $1000 depending on if it has anything special about it or hardware.

Then you get crazy folks who think their peice of junk is worth $300 even though it has a rust hole in the rim and is missing 2 feet. Uhhh, no. Also, the tub that has spots of rust is not worth $2500. I skip those ads.

Occasionally, you get the guy who wants to get the clawfoot tub out of his garage TONIGHT and at a discount.

That's what I found, I think!!!
This guy wants $100 for his tub in decent shape with only a little surface rust on the outside of the tub (none inside. It has all four feet and has the faucet (not sure if I'll need to replace it though). At this price, I'll be able to get it coated correctly by a professional, or look into what needs to happen to have it restored correctly and I will save $$$. Here's pictures!

And here was the ad:
"I have an antique claw foot tub that im looking to get rid of i bought it a couple years ago with intentions of putting it in my own house we'll it never got put in so now i just want it out of my garage,i paid $275 for it but will sell for $100 or make me an offer and we'll go from there,you can email me at XXXXXXXXXX@yahoo.com
the measurements on this tub in 60 long x30 wide AND 16 DEEP"

I got a cabinet! I got a cabinet! It's really old.

Yesterday I got a much anticipated cabinet.

It is a Sellers Kitchen cabinet. It is a Hoosier style cabinet, which mans that it was built in Indiana and has a retractable work surface and a flour bin/sifter and a configuration of drawers and doors that would have housed different canisters to make life easier before the time of extensive built-in and fitted cabinetry. My Cabinet is a Sellers model 31-12 "Ivory on Mint Green Enamel". It was repainted white a very long time ago, and someone put new decals of gardenias on the doors over the original stencils. But I can still see the outlines of the original stencils and have found another Sellers cabinet on the Internet that has the same stenciled design that also had the same dimensions (though a different configuration of doors, drawers and flour bin) and it was dated at 1915. I wonder if mine was also 1915 or if the "12" on the model number means it is 1912? Or the "31" means 1931? If anyone knows, please comment!
I found this cabinet on Craigslist for $300. All the original hardware was there. The hinges confuse me though. They don't show except a tiny amount on the edge. They are not large and there are no holes on the face of the doors. I have not seen reproductions of these hinges. The old white paint that someone had repainted over the top of the mint green is scraping off slowly with the aid of time and a straight razer. I feel like an archaeologist. :) The repaint looks like it is probably 70 years old itself. It is lead paint, I believe, since it made my gloves look metallic, like I had colored them with pencils. I will not sand this stuff without a respirator.
Check out the pictures of the cabinet before restoration!

Ice Box. How I plan to convert an Ice Box to a Refrigerator.

I've been thinking, nay, pouring over the many options there are for my tiny kitchen in my tiny Bungalow. What I know is this. When my bungalow was built in 1930, there was no electricity. The cookstove was woodburning (or coal) and vented to a chimney. This part of Knoxville wasn't really Knoxville. The Gay Street bridge was not yet complete. There were a few farms around and a few small communities. There were still guys delivering Ice. My bungalow would have been on a main-enough thoroughfare that an ice truck would have delivered. My house would have had an Ice box - at least at first when it was new.

Now I want a period kitchen. I do. But I have come to terms with the fact that I cook far too well and often for this to be a practical thing. It would be doable if I did not also work and was not also a single parent. If I was Sally-homemaker... I'd push for authenticity and we'd see how long it would last. Alas, convenience will win out and I'm just not *that* eccentric.

But I'll still get my ice box. Ice boxes are still available for sale by people who use them as armoirs, liquor cabinets, and storage. They seem to be running about $300 for something nice on Craigslist. Much higher at Antique shops. I'm more of a Craigslist girl. Besides, if I got something too perfect, I'd feel bad about what I was going to do to it...

Who else has ice boxes? Boaters. Boating people have Ice boxes that they often use with ice blocks and they often convert (retrofit) them into condenser type refrigerators. I'm using the term "often" loosely here, but they do it more often then, say, people converting oak, tin-lined ice boxes into refrigerators for their kitchens. I may be a member of a very small and exclusive club here... So, going with boaters, there are companies that sell retrofitting refrigeration kits. These kits are "remote operation". That means that I would have the "guts" of the fridge someplace other than in the kitchen. Someplace well vented and cool. Like the basement. That keeps the noise and the heat out of the kitchen!

I will have to make some modifications to the old ice box. I plan on it being a refrigerator only (I have an upright freezer I will keep in the basement for frozen foods). Chances are I will need to bolster the insulation a little, drill a hole and install weatherstripping in addition to the retrofit kit.

I'm looking at an ice box tonight!

Here's an article on insulating refrigerators:
http://www.fishingandboats.com/boat-refrigeration.html
And a place that sells conversion units:
http://www.seafreezeinc.com/products/conversion_units.html

These guys make conversions but put the ice box up on wheels:
http://www.antiquevintageappliances.com/turn_ofthe_century_conversions.h...

Has anyone ever done this? Comments? Suggestions? Admonishments?

Still haven't closed. Thinking about the fireplace.

I'm all ready to close. I have the insurance bought, the title company on standby, my mortgage is all set, etc. Everything on my side is complete. The seller, a bank, is dragging its feet! Very frustrating.

Meanwhile, Mom and Dad have gone back to Florida. Dad laid the tile for the impromptu hall bathroom fiasco-er-project in the current house. It looks great! I know he wasn't happy, but I think he's a bit of a perfectionist. The floor was very uneven and the tile was all seconds, so I didn't give him much to work with. I plan on finishing laying the couple of tiles to finish the job (3 or four maybe - the tile nipper was not cooperating with Dad) and then grouting tonight. With any luck, it will be beautiful and dry by tomorrow and we'll be able to install the toilet and the vanity. It is not quite as much fun working on a house that is not mine. ;) But it's still a little fun fixing anything up at all. I also hope to be able to take pictures of the bus to try to sell it.

Meanwhile, I was thinking about the chimney that is falling down in the bungalow. I could take it down. I could... And I could replace that space with a turbine roof vent. But I like the chimney and it is an important one - it is one for the Kitchen and my bedroom. If I want to use a wood burning stove, then I have to have a chimney. I don't yet know if this is at all practical or doable, but I'm thinking about it. One option seems to be to have the chimney rebuilt partially and relined with a flexible stainless steel liner. A "Flex King" has a warranty even if the home owner installs it... But is that the preferred method? If the bricks are taken down anyway? Hmmm.

I'm making another link category for chimneys and masonry.

Terrifying adventures in cleaning out the garage

Lets move the bus out of the garage so that we can take pictures of it and sell it!
OK.

We have to dig it out first.

So we moved all this stuff that was on top of it, under it, leaning against it, in it, etc. and the tires were deflated. SO we fired up the compressor and filled up the tires and then tried to push the thing out. The wheels were frozen. I volunteered to steer. The wheels broke free and the bus lurched backwards down the hill with me inside. I couldn't see the direction that the wheels were in. The steering wheel unmounted from the frame and fell into my lap. they threw blocks of wood behind the wheels. The bus had moved a total of two feet, but I was already terrified. I had the door open to try to see which way I was turning the wheel. They pushed the bus backwards another two feet, but it rolled a little further and I was not paying enough attention to my hand and got my hand pinned between the door and the basement pole. Ouch. We got me unpinned and there was no damage to my hand. Light truck. Tried to get it out but it got stuck on the garage door. Tall van. Pushed the garage door further up and it lurched backward again. I steered it (with direction and help from others) to back into the driveway. They had to push it uphill forward and then back again to straighten it out so it wouldn't tumble down the hill.

I was steering, but I had no brakes and no clutch nor transmission. Terrifying! I hope somebody wants this bus and can love it and make it nice again.

I have insurance now

State Farm just called! They can insure the house! They have that information back to the mortgagor, too. I'll be happy to tell you what I am paying for insurance if you email me. ;) It is about what I thought I would be paying. :) It ended up being lower when I provided pictures to the insurance company because it has modern utilities. A breaker box and good wiring, namely... ;) Thank goodness for small miracles. Actually this whole thing seems to be a series of small miracles...

Getting There

I'm getting there. We finally have a contract back from the bank selling the property! Thank goodness for small miracles. They were very, very late, but my agent is still pushing to close by the end of the week! I am really impressed! Home Inspections are checked off, etc. The appraisal was done yesterday and the results are in! It passed and appraised for exactly the amount I am paying for it (who'da thunk it? Now just how does that happen to just happen that way EVERY time??? I'm not complaining... but LOL) The appraisal was sent to my insurance agent who is working on getting it insured, the title search is underway and my Realtor is setting up the appointment with the closing company! She'll call me back when she has an appointment. WOW is all I can say!
The place is smaller than advertised, as I suspected. I guess I'll have to be ingenious with my storage. IKEA and naked furniture, here I come!

Last night I went to my South Woodlawn Neighbors meeting. Nice folks! I think I ended up on the social committee to help plan the get-together in October. I was nominated for Governor at large. Cool! Be active in your neighborhood!

This is the home stretch! One foot in front of the other - I'm getting there! I am so excited!

Solid Foundation

It is OK!
So I'm going through with it. :)
A good house starts with a steady foundation, right? Well, the foundation may be steady or it may not. The recommendation is to watch, measure and see, but if it is repaired, it will take three piers at a cost of only $2700. The Olshan guy is sending me the information in the mail. He also walked over the rest of the house. He noted the sagging lintel (is that what that is called??? I had no idea. I lintle is the front porch roof) and said in his opinion, they took out two columns (mine, too!). He said he would put another beam in the basement with new basement jacks (and they can provide that service, too, lol). I think it doesn't look too hard to do myself though to get a beam and Ellis screw jacks for the basement.

All in all, though, he said it looked like a "solid little house with lots of potential".

YAY! Proceeding...

Structural Engineering

I'm meeting the Olshan guy at the house at 5pm. He's close by and he's doing me a favor by coming out to inspect it and give his opinion. No charge. Last night I stayed up waaaay too late learning about PEX plumbing and how to repair house foundations. These folks use a pushed preformed pile system - kinda like a string of beads pushed down into the earth to the point of stable ground. Then the house is jacked up under the existing foundation and set on top of the pilings. Underground. Hopefully it doesn't need much/many. We shall see! The idea is that I would then follow up myself and seal the cracks with injection epoxy - "set and forget".

I haven't bought the house yet, but I am nervous. I guess I want this to work out and make sense. I don't want a money pit. A project, yes, a money pit, no...

Keep your fingers crossed for my foundation and please send steady solid thoughts for non-shaky foundations or inexpensive repairs my way!
I did find this site that I thought was pretty cool: http://www.basementanswers.com/

Inspection Happens...

I had the inspection today! There was good stuff, bad stuff and ugly stuff.
I'll touch on the highlights.
There is a stair step crack in the foundation. He is not sure if this is a terrible thing or not. Honestly couldn't tell me. He said I needed to get it looked at by a structural engineer. SO, I called around and found one and gave them a call. They can maybe come out to give it a looksee tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully it is nothing too horrible and they can anchor it with their cable system for not too much trouble and expense.

The plumbing. Ohhh. It is bad. Pretty much it leaks everywhere there is a pipe that brings water to a faucet or back from a drain! But he gave me a tip. He said to look into PEX plumbing. WOW! I can do that. I could replumb the whole house in a day or two using pex. It is flexible tubing with special fittings. No elbows. They even have special manifolds with separate shut-offs so you have the water come in from the street to the water heater and then to the manifold and then there is a separate shutoff for each new connection - like a breaker box for your water lines! Running up the costs associated with replumbing the entire house with PEX (including that new bathroom I want) and replumbing the whole drainage system with PVC - totals about $800 and this suddenly becomes do-it-herself-able. Wow, wow, wow.

The roof. It needs one very soon-like. Sooner, rather than later. They never used flashing. It has two teeny tiny vents. That's it. It needs a ridge-vent or something. The chimneys are not doing well, either. They need to be rebuilt or removed. The rafters need to be tied. They are just toe-nailed together.

There is water damage in the basement, but it is water damage that can be fixed. Oh, a few 2x6s. No big deal.

Heat and air work fabulously!

Floor in bathroom is sound and nice!

Wood looks good!

Good bones!

Under the asbestos, there is wood siding... The house used to be red. How about that!

He agrees that there are two columns missing from the front.

The electric service is good! Modern 200 amp service with good looking wiring.

So the next step is to get the foundation looked at.
The plumbing is a non-issue to me.

Saying

I saw this today:

"A closed mouth gathers no feet"

Awwwww... :)

Inspection

I called Knox Utilities Board and they will be turning on the electric and water for the home inspection tomorrow. No deposit needed - this was easier than I thought! I'll call them again to turn it off. Funny thing is that I have to have the utilities turned back off again for the week and a half before we close on the 29th, then I'll have to call them again to set up for them to have the utilities turned back on again the 28th. I have a feeling someone is entertained by this...

In any case, I don't mind, I'll do it. I have Bentley and Associates coming over to inspect on Monday at 2pm. I've just taken the afternoon off from work so I can be there and take pictures to share with you! Oh excitement. I'm entering the home stretch, er, bungalow stretch. Hyuk hyuk hyuk.

How this came to be

In a nutshell. Ok, I never write anything in a nutshell and it just isn't how my life works... So, not so much in a nutshell, here is how this came to be.

I was thinking about the economy. I was thinking of how someday I'd love to be my own boss, work my own job, be in charge of my future. I was getting into this whole do-it-yourself stage by baking bread, making my own soap and laundry detergent, etc. I was saving money and being frugal. I thought about how nice it would be if my entire job was just to ensure my own self sufficiency. I thought I'd open a bed and breakfast. I looked into it and was encouraged to explore this possibility. I looked into properties that could become bed and breakfasts and then I realized that I could not afford them and bed and breakfast owners all counseled me to have some other source of income or at the very least have my debts paid off. I am far from that...

But I noticed that there were some real deals out there. And I thought maybe there was something that could help be increase my cash flow and that later I could turn into a bed and breakfast. Later after the mortgage was paid. The plan was to look for a rental. I looked at the MLS. I saw a triplex close to Maryville College and thought it might work. The location was good, the size was great and I like the craftsman houses. We went and saw it and it was falling apart, a den of hazards, lawsuits waiting to happen. I felt sorry for the residents. I also found out that the mortgage crisis has had a negative effect on obtaining a mortgage and that I would have to plunk down 25% of the purchase cost of any property with more than two residences. I modified my search to look at less expensive places and looked at another small house that was also falling apart. The real estate agent seemed shocked that I would expect more and she didn't really have time for me, so I switched agents. My new agent showed me a lot of houses! It narrowed my focus still more until what I thought I was looking for was a single family small residence to fix up and rent out.
Some were better than others, but I was getting tired and it was time to go home. She said, "just one more? It's the one you sent me last, but we might as well since it is on the way home".
OK.
We went and it was perfect. Sure, it is worn and it needs work, but it has great bones, it is not falling in and it is actually pretty big. Cute as a button, too! I fell in love. Then we went inside. Two bedrooms. Original things such as moldings, fireplaces, cabinets with art deco hinges, a claw foot tub in great condition, nice straight flat floors, good size bedrooms, original windows, sleeper porches, and a full basement!
So, I decided I have entirely too much stuff anyway, it is time to clean out. I decided to take a leap, make a change and I'm moving in.