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 :)

Sheetrock!

The sheetrock is up! It has been hanged (hung?), finished, textured, and almost all of it is primed. I had the primer tinted so it's beginning to look like a finished product. I would post pictures, but I don't know where the camera is at the moment.

The whole process was interesting. The sheetrock hanger was great. I was truly impressed. They were quick, efficient, professional and they did a good job. For those who don't know, these are qualities rare to sheetrock contractors. The sheetrock finisher did good work. That's all that can be said for him. He showed up 10 hours late the first day (no lie). He was also drunk. After an ultimatum he showed up the next day on time and sober. From that point on, things went pretty smoothly. I have been trying to get everything primed, but 1600 square feet of sheet is a bunch. I have primed the walls and some of the ceiling. Hopefully I can finish priming tomorrow and get painting.

Jenny and I have been running non-stop since Christmas. Every weekend has been completely booked. We are finally through all of it (not that it wasn't enjoyable) and have some time to get some work done. We have plenty of painting to do, then trim, then more painting, then floor! Then we take a break.

MR. CHAMPION, TEAR DOWN THAT WALL!!

oh my goodness. The temporary wall between the kitchen and the den is officially gone. I forgot how big my house is. Beau finished up most of the insulation in the den this weekend, and with the help of some fantastic friends (Frankie, Jim, Dustin, Kristen and Miranda) the paneling has been demo'ed. Sheet rock is supposed to be delivered today (Monday) and the craftsmen should start work tomorrow. I'm so excited. With the combination of no more visqueen in my house, and no visible studs (except for Beau. ha.) it's going to feel like a real house!!!!

We're taking out the furdown above the kitchen cabinets at the same time too, so our kitchen may actually look a little updated. I'm so excited to have my house back in one piece. It's hard to describe. (This does a pretty good job). (and makes me realize that I need to clean my camera lens.)

I'm so appreciative of all of Beau's hard work through all of this.

Now some more fun starts -- who wants to come paint?!

Jenny's Inaugural Post!

So, this is completely not house related, but I figured if you cared enough about our house, you'd care about my job too.

Dow announced yesterday that they will be cutting 5000 company jobs and 6000 contractor jobs beginning in 1Q09. They will also be shutting down a number of plants. I thankfully, don't fall into any of those categories. To all of the Vicknairs out there -- it's ok, you can stop your stomach from being in knots and allow your food to begin digesting again.

Thank you for your time. That is all.