I hate plumbing

I will explain the photo above in just a minute, but first a little bit about plumbing.  There is a saying in construction: "There are only two things to know about plumbing: sh!t rolls downhill and payday's Friday."  This is not far from the truth.  Plumbing is very simple and uncomplicated.  It is, however, a royal pain in the butt.  As I was attempting to get some work done in the kitchen (removing the dishwasher in this instance) I realized there was water dripping from the hot water connection under my sink.  Because there is not a shut-off installed, I figured I would go ahead and kill two birds with one stone.  A shut off is that little knob that you will probably find against the wall underneath every toilet, sink, washing machine, etc. in your house.  A brilliant idea, this is intended to allow you to shut off the water supply to that fixture without having to turn the water off to the whole house.  This was not part of the building code in 1962.  (Was there even a building code in 1962?)

Unfortunately, due to the simplicity of the basic nature of plumbing, every joe blow handyman thinks that he can tackle any plumbing problem.  Apparently this was the case when it comes to the hot water supply to my kitchen sink and disposal.  The reason it was leaking is because the two fittings you see on either end of that T connector above are for natural gas.  As you might guess, natural gas and water have some slightly different properties.  Genius.

Having done one previous plumbing project in my house, the whole thing was galvanized pipe which is pretty helpful.  I say this because there are no special tools or knowledge required to work with galvanized pipe.  Since I couldn't see what was in the wall, I assumed that it was all galvanized pipe.  It wasn't.  I tried in vain to disconnect that T connector in any way that I could.  Note: underneath the kitchen sink is not the most comfortable place to work.  Eventually, I just tried to turn the whole thing.  The copper elbow you see on the left was happy to let go and the whole thing came out.  This is because copper is very soft and doesn't screw together.  

After a few unhappy words, Jenny showed up and we brainstormed a bit.  The most common way to connect copper pipes is by soldering them together.  This is the third thing that you need to know to be a plumber.  It is not all that difficult to learn, but it does require a blow torch.  There are some downsides to this.  When you are working inside a wooden cabinet, most things around you do not respond well to a high temperature flame.  I decided to go to the hardware store and purchase a brass compression fitting, the other way to attach copper pipe.  

Long story short, by the next day I had the thing sorted out and the hot water turned back on.  We still don't have hot water on the kitchen sink because the hardware store was out of the cap I needed to close off the dishwasher connection and I haven't bothered to find another one.

Here is why I hate plumbing: there is nothing difficult conceptually about plumbing, but it tends to be in the most awkward spaces to work, it never goes quite as you hope, you NEVER know what is behind a wall, and most importantly plumbers cost a fortune!  I despise this because there really is nothing particularly difficult about plumbing!

Kitchen Remodel Under Way!!!

All right, folks, the kitchen remodel has officially begun!  Make sure to check out the photos by clicking the link on the right-hand side.

Well, Jenny and I ordered the tile last Thursday and began our grand adventure into kitchen rehab.  Over the weekend we packed up all of our kitchen items setting aside what we considered the bare essentials to get us by until the project is done.  I will be setting up a temporary kitchen in the front room in the near future.

On to the project -- There is a good bit of work for me to do before the tile can be laid.  Our cabinet guy delivered our new lower cabinet (a three-drawer piece) that will go where the refrigerator was.  We needed this to get started because the tile will be laid around it.  I spent yesterday (Tuesday) ripping out cabinetry.  As with any renovation, there are always some small (or large) unexpected hurdles.  Since I wasn't around in 1962, I kind of assumed (before we purchased the house) that cabinets were built then as they are now.  Not so!  Most (read: all that I know of) modern custom cabinets are built modularly.  That means that each unit is assembled in a shop, transported to the house and then installed and attached to one another in place.  In the 1960's many cabinets were built on site, in-place.  What this means to me is that I can't just unscrew the cabinets and carry them to the curb.  They are all attached to each other with lots of 2" nails.  All in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I was pleased with my progress yesterday.

I still have some kitchen demo to do, but this stuff will be more tedious.  Yesterday mostly consisted of removing stuff that we were throwing away.  The next step is to perform surgery on the cabinets to remove what we don't want and preserve what we do want.  I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do this, but I have a few ideas. I will be making a trip to Lowe's today to pick up some supplies and seek some ideas.

The next step prior to tile installation is removal of the old vinyl plank flooring.  At first thought this might seem an easy task.  Hell, half of it is coming up already.  Unfortunately, I must remove the base trim in the hallway and closets in order to pull up the floor in there.  Let's also not make light of the fact that we are talking about over 500 ft² of flooring including three closets.  Yay.  Also, the glue that was used to adhere this stuff is pretty nasty.  The tile guy will take care of the glue as long as I remove the flooring.  To keep from getting this stuff all over the bottom of our shoes and into other areas of the house, I will put down some type of floor protector in the meantime.

There are about 2 dozen more steps in this process and I won't bore you with all of the details yet.  I hope to keep up the blog on a daily (read, days I work on the project, not every day) basis.

As a side note, one of the camellias is dying.  The biggest one has struggled since being transplanted and is in dire shape.  On the other hand, the other two seem to be doing very well.  I will let you know what happens.

NEW ADDITION!

NEW ADDITION

As most know, Beau and I are expecting our first child in August. We are both very excited, and in typical Jenny-fashion, I’m thinking about all the things that need to get done before the little one arrives. Of course normal baby preparation isn’t good enough, and being the over-achievers that we are, we’ve decided to over-haul the kitchen too. This post will be long, so I’ve split it into “Baby Thoughts” and “Kitchen Plans.”

BABY THOUGHTS:
Beau and I found out we were pregnant on Christmas Eve 2010. Appropriate, I guess, since 5 years prior we had decided to start our family by getting engaged. I find it funny that I didn’t even consider I could be pregnant until a girl-friend accused me of messing with her cycle. Oops… I guess her body knew before anyone else.

Frankie has dubbed the baby “Beau-rito” and our friends have been very helpful with name suggestions. We appreciate them all and they’ll go onto the list once I can convince Beau to discuss names. He says we have to wait until we know whether it’s a boy or girl, which will be the end of March.

We’re both very excited, and I’ve had a very easy first trimester. I hope it continues as nicely as it started. I’m constantly worried, because I don’t feel “pregnant” and haven’t had any of the less-desirable side effects (no morning sickness… heck yeah!). Beau explains it best by saying that I “think I’m doing this wrong.”

There have been requests to see the 1st sonogram (10 weeks) and I tried to scan it in at work, but failed. I guess eventually I’ll do the old-school "picture of a picture" to put it up. I’m currently at 15 weeks, and the baby is the size of a navel orange. There are conflicting reports on other sites that it’s the size of an apple, so decide what you will.

Here’s a “your baby is the size of (Insert Fruit here)!” ticker. Maybe this HTML will work...



That's all the baby thoughts I have for now. On to more fun, immediate things... THE KITCHEN!

KITCHEN PLANS:
Ever since we saw our house for the first time, we've had plans to redo the kitchen. Everything functioned pretty well, but it wasn't pretty (By 2000's standards). I'm glad we lived in the kitchen for 3 years before re-doing it. It helps you understand what you like and what you hate. The impetus for starting now is the flooring (and the fact that we have enough money saved). The existing flooring is vinyl/wood laminate combo that's glued down. I'm sure when it was installed it was beautiful, but over the years, things have leaked under the flooring, causing it to peel and come off. It's pretty ugly and grosses me out a little.

Yesterday, we ordered our new, porcelain 18" x 18" tile and it should be arriving sometime next week. Because we didn't want to be out of our kitchen for longer than necessary, we haven't done anything to prep for it, and will have a whirlwind weekend packing and maybe doing some cabinet modification. I'll have to say good-by to my avocado green, 1972 fridge, but the environment (and my electric bill) will thank me. We're replacing it with a Kitchen-Aid french-door stainless model.

High level plan is: All new appliances, move the fridge to where the in-wall oven currently is. Install a slide-in gas range where the cook-top is. Install new cabinets with lower pot drawers where fridge currently is. Replace cabinet doors, paint cabinets. The furdown was removed in Gustav recovery. Install a hood (OMG! I haven't had a hood since we moved in because we felt it would be easier to just throw-away the old hood than to clean it. It was disgusting.). Install some sort of tile back-splash. New solid-surface countertops (we want soapstone, but may end up with a man-made product). 18" x 18" porcelain tile floor, set in diamond pattern. Remove the mini-wall between the sink and the bar.
I think that's it. There are some side projects (a new pantry, bookshelves where the phone jack is) that may or may not happen.

Contrary to the blog title, Beau will not be doing everything. He and I both recognize what our skill sets are and aren't, and will probably be contracting out some of the work. Hopefully we'll keep the blog updated since we'll have an active project happening.

Project Camellia

You thought I had forgotten about this, didn't you? Well, I kinda did. I didn't forget about the blog per say, but I haven't really done much work on the house recently. The next big project planned for the house is the renovation of the kitchen. As this is easily one of the most expensive projects we plan on tackling, we are currently trying to save up enough money to be able to complete the project once started. Donations are welcome!

On to the task at hand. Here's the background:

Jenny and I really like these camellias and, based on a conversation we had with the ladies from the Camellia Society (ha ha, we're old), we believe that ours are particularly large and special. We were told that the way to go about moving them was to root prune (stick a shovel a foot in the ground all the way around them) in late spring and then transplant in October/November. The reason that we wanted to move them was so we could open up the area outside of our back door and eventually put in a deck or patio.

Jenny spoke with one of her coworkers who tends to own some random pieces of equipment and he said that while he did not own one, he was planning to rent one to do some work on his property. He told Jenny that he would be more than happy to bring it over to our house to help us out.

December rolled around and he has not gotten around to his project, but we really needed to do this now to avoid waiting another year. Our December calender has gotten pretty full by this point so we need to do it this weekend. I spoke to Nathan on Friday night and asked if he would be able to help. He said he could, so I spent Saturday morning pricing compact or mini excavators.

Lo and behold no equipment rental outfits are open on Saturday. AAA Rentall had one, but it was $195 for the day (Saturday afternoon until 9 AM Sunday morning) and they charge $50 to rent a trailer to haul it on. My experience with AAA is that they have a large selection of equipment in rough shape. Having seen the excavator they rent on a previous occasion, I sought other viable options. I called a place, Volvo Rents, in Geismar. I only called because their web page listed their hours as 7-5 with no days listed. I call and the number transfers to a cell phone. Not wanting to bother someone with my small job on their day off, I hung up without leaving a message. Long story short, the lady on call returned my call, opened up the place for me, and rented me a much, much nicer excavator with trailer for around $200. I will call them first next time.

Nathan and I tried to get some work done yesterday, but it kept raining and we didn't get much done. We started fresh this morning around 9. It probably took us about 2 hours (maybe longer) to transplant the first one. We didn't really know what we were doing and that was part of the problem. I think we transplanted the second one in about 30 minutes. The third one was the largest and by far heaviest of the group. It probably took as much effort to dig it up as it did to get it standing up straight in its new home. That kind of sucked. A lot.

Nathan did a fantastic job and was an invaluable help. I will probably buy him a thank you gift for this one. He is much better at operating equipment than I am, though I did a lot better than I thought I would. When my back wore out, he did the manual labor and let me work the machine. God bless him for that. For the record, there was little to no swearing and we never fought with each other. We make a really could pair for projects like this, sometimes.

I don't know when I will post again as we are still trying to save up for the kitchen. Hopefully that project will start soon. I hope to post several times as the project gets underway. I hope you enjoyed this post and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Check out the Picasa album as there are a few pictures.

Well, Beau did complete (most) of his lofty goals from the last post. We got the house put back together just in time for Monique's shower. It's amazing how effective a deadline can be. The shower was really nice, and everything went perfectly. Eventually there will be pictures, but we haven't gotten around to it yet (maybe I need a deadline for that too...). The den furniture isn't exactly where we'd like it, but there's time to fix that. Maybe one day, we'll even buy some furniture of our own!

We weren't able to get the sod laid, and it's probably too hot now to do it, so that will have to wait until late summer. Next on the spending list is to get some trees taken down. There are 2 or 3 that give us concern, and for my peace of mind, I need them gone before the middle of August.

Beau and I are headed to H-town for the 4th, and can't wait to see all of his family. I'm sure it will be a calm and relaxing weekend.

Before and ... current?

So I am little late for my monthly posting...

We had a number of busy weekends all in a row, but things seem to be settling down a little bit (though not much). In the midst of life, we have gotten some work done. As seems to be the case with home remodel, I don't have anything completely finished, but some stuff is substantially under way.

The painting is getting toward a finishing point and I pretty darn happy with how things are turning out. I'm trying to get it done, but I've been having some trouble motivating myself. I'm resolved to get it done. We will be hosting a baby shower here on June 19th and my (lofty) goal is this: finish painting, get the wood floor installed in the den, get the shoe installed, repair the floor in the kitchen/dining room/hall, and get the back yard graded and sodded. I don't think it is all going to happen, but I'm going to try.

Nathan and I succeeded in getting the hardest and probably the most expensive part of the first stage of the backyard renovation done on Sunday in about an hour and a half. It is a pretty entertaining story, but I have been advised not to put it into writing. You should ask me about it the next time you see/talk to me. Anyway, the rough grading work is done.

I am going straight over to the photo sight to upload some before and after pics. I will do my best to caption them before I crash tonight. Enjoy!

I have been remiss

I have officially been scolded for not updating the blog. Honestly, I kinda forgot about it a little bit. I know, I'm a horrible person. The trim was installed quickly and expertly. It took less than two days to get it all done. I have been trying to get it painted ever since. So, for the details...

In the days just before the trim carpenter is to come and install everything, Jenny decided that she didn't like my plans for the shelving unit. We had to go to Lowe's and Home Depot in search of some sort of "decorative" trim with which to trim the front of the shelves. I was rather perturbed, but. as usually happens with these things, Jenny was right. She decided on base cap and it looks a lot better than what I was going to do. If it counts for anything, I did a good job with the selection of all of the other trim.

There's been a whole bunch of puttying, caulking and some painting going on. The good news it that what I have painted so far looks pretty darn good. I'm working with oil-based paint on the trim. It's kind of a pain to work with and Al Gore has been leaving me nasty phone messages, but it looks really good when all is said and done. I've been using an additive called Penetrol which helps eliminate brush strokes. My painter turned me onto a while back. They make one for latex, but he said it's not nearly as effective.

A good hint: do you have any paint brushes that have stiffened up? Do you hate how you can never get a roller all the way clean? Well, I have and I do. I was running low on paint thinner and was at Lowe's picking up various things. I'm staring at the section with the paint thinner in it and I spy something in an identical metal can labelled "brush cleaner". My first thought is: paint thinner in a different, more expensive can? It says it is intended to clean brushes and rollers that have been used with latex or oil-based paints. Hmm... not paint thinner... So I figure, what the hell. It it saves one brush it pays for itself. This stuff is pretty amazing. I'm buying a gallon the next time I go. I still have no idea what it is, but it's worth it.

Jenny and I have decided on a floor for the den, I think. When we went to Carla and Charles' house right after the hurricane, we saw the wood flooring that Charles installed and Jenny really liked it. It was a wide-plank, hand-scraped wood floor. That's what we're going to do. I was thinking of trying to install it myself, but Nathan's dad has a good friend who is willing to do it for me for 1.25/ft. I can't argue with that. I'm trying to get the dining room/kitchen finished up first so that we can move furniture back in, but then I'm going to finish up the painting in the den so that I can get the floor installed. He has an opening in mid-April, so that's my goal.

One final anecdote... two of my friends, Chris and Dustin, are moving into my grandmother's currently vacant house. There is some painting to be done and when mom and dad asked them what color they wanted the walls, they responded "the same color as Beau and Jenny's walls." I take that as a complement :)