The Closet is gone

After a bit of sweating and cursing, the closet it gone. I guess there's not too much to really say about it. I used a flat bar, maul, and hammer to take it all out. I'm having a bit of trouble getting the top plate down. My boss has offerred me a larger pry bar and I think I am going to take him up on that. I'm sure I can get it down otherwise, but I think it'll be easier with a larger lever.

We now have to get on to the much larger and more daunting task of laying out the room (basically the electrical/lighting) and then hanging sheetrock. Anyone who wants to help (especially anyone with experience) is welcome!

Progress has been made!

So I know I haven't maintained my previous frequency with the updates. Trust me, I know more than you do! I haven't been making the steady progress on the house that I once was. We were out of town last weekend. I have been doing various small things and have not made a substantial amount of progress in any particular area... until today!

The main project going on right now it the remodel of the "den." In a prior post, the desk/shelving unit was demolished. Today I began to "demo" the dryer closet. 'What is a dryer closet,' you might ask. Apparently many years ago (long before I existed) people had washing machines, but no dryers. Apparently it was in these prehistoric days that our house was originally built. When the den addition was constructed, dryers were in vogue. In order to accomodate this new bit of technology, they built a closet in the den to house the dryer. This placed the washer and dryer in two distinct (although adjacent) rooms.

Some time ago, I set about moving the dryer (vent and electrical outlet) into the laundry room proper. Today I cleaned all of my stuff out of the closet (Jenny removed her stuff earlier) and began the de-constructing. I decided to remove the paneling before breaking out the maul. I think it is less messy this way. It also allows me to view and dismantle the wiring before destroying the framing. Today I got all of the paneling from the closet, the shelves in the closet, and all trim molding. Jenny also assisted me in hauling all of the debris to the curb.

I took pictures to post here, but Jenny damaged her hard drive and the new one apparently does not have the necessary software to link up to the camera. I will work on that for next time.

Update...

Not too much to say. Jenny and I are away this weekend and so won't be able to get any work done. The custom blinds that we ordered came in this week. They're just your standard 2" Faux Wood blinds. I have about half of them up so far. They're easy to put up, but I've been scrubbing each window as I go along. That's the pain and takes a while. I will update later this week as I hope to get some work done during the week. Stay tuned!

Shelf Demo

On saturday, after my previous post, Kristen, Chris B, and I took out a built-in in the den. I had mostly disassembled the shelves on a previous night this week. Chris and I finished it up while the girls picked up lunch.

It didn't take very long and was pretty uneventful. I have posted some pictures of the work. Just one more step in the sheetrock project.

French Doors

As with most of my adventures, this one begins with "Nathan and I..."

So a group of my friends (Chris B., Sarah, Michael, Nathan, Brooke, Jenny and I ) went out to dinner last Friday. After stuffing ourselves and drinking a couple of beers, Nathan and I decided to change out the sliding doors at our house for french doors. As I had already purchased two sets of french doors and was low on beer, we went to the grocery store. After securing "supplies" we make it back to the house. It is now around 10:00.

It is decided that the sliding door in the dining room will be changed out first because it is the most offensive. When we moved in the door was broken. It wouldn't move and was allowing water to enter the house. As a temporary solution I had previously siliconed it shut. Back to the story - the sliding part of the door came out with a bit of grunting and cussing. The fixed part of the door (which can usually be removed whole) was not so willing. It was built into the jamb. We thought, let's remove the glass so we don't break it. Well, it was impossible to remove it without breaking it. Okay, let's just rip this thing out. In doing so, we broke every piece of glass in it, save one. Hoorah! The door is out!

As a side note, Michael decides to remove the single piece of glass that survived, for posterity's sake I suppose. In the course of trying to remove it, he broke it. Now we install the door! The door is brought over, placed in the hole... The opening is too big. About an inch and a half too big all around. There is no way we can finish this in one night.

So, there's a big hole in the side of the house (approx. 6' x 6' 8") and a door that is not quite big enough. So we stick it in there for the night and hang some fabric over it. With plans to start fresh the next day, we drink some more beer and then go to bed.

The next morning Nathan called at 9:00. I answer the phone, still in bed, to find that he is at the front door. I am speechless. Jenny called me a liar (not really, but she probably thought it). I throw on some shorts and run to the door and (Holy Crap!) he's actually standing there. This is shaping up to be a good start. After a Lowe's run and a call to Michael for backup, we eat some blueberry muffins and set to work.

By about 3:00 we have both doors installed, squared and good to go. Turns out we should have started with the other door. It was much more cut and dry. As with any good project, it's not entirely done. I can't trim out the inside because I have to sheet rock over the paneling first. I can't trim out the outside until I purchase some tools. The doors function and look so much better than the sliding doors did.