What a Week

Wow, am I glad this week is over! It's been quite a doozy. After almost burning down the laundry room due to a dryer vent problem a few weeks ago, we thought the worst was over. Turns out, that overheating somehow damaged the dryer (even after replacing the electrical cord, downsizing the breaker, and putting in a new, better dryer vent) and allowed it to short out several days ago. It "went to ground" (whatever that means; the electrician kept repeating this as if it explains everything) and popped light bulbs, caused outlets to stop working, and worst of all, blew out the control boards in both the washer and the dryer. And let me tell you, frontload washers and dryers have very expensive parts.

As if that weren't enough, we had horribly gusty winds Thursday and into last night which took off about 15-20 shingles on the back of the roof. It's mostly where the new addition and roof penetrations are, so we suspect the shingles were weakened by that. But it's going to rain Monday and Tuesday, so we have to get someone out here Sunday.

Then, in the midst of those terrible winds, we almost cooked the chickens. We had placed a heat lamp in the chicken coop to give the girls a little warmth. But the post that the lamp was clipped to got blown down and the lamp scorched the pine shavings. If the lady who boards her horses behind us hadn't seen it smoking, we might have lost the chickens, the coop, and the shop!

To compound our animal concerns, DaVinci has not been eating well for a month but has been guzzling water lately (and experiencing the frequent bladder urges you would associate with that much liquid). After an exam and thorough workup, the vet found that he has a significant hypothyroid condition and wants him on a twice daily medication, probably for the rest of his life! We'll test it out for a month, but we're not ones to subscribe to lifetime drug regimes as a solution.

And to top it off, I've hurt my back and am hobbling around with a forward tilt like an elderly person. I strained my low back muscles carrying several 80 lb sheets of subfloor upstairs for the new closet (with Jeff of course, but somehow hurting myself over 40 lbs doesn't sound as noble). Anyhow, I've started to notice the abundance of dust and dog hair accumulating on the floor, now that my eyesight is directed downward. And just when I'm least capable of getting down there to do anything about it, too! But thankfully it's Friday and the Sabbath and weekend are upon us.

On Edge

Remodeling is stressful at the best  of times, but we had a very different edgy moment last night.

By posting this blog entry and photos, I will have to admit to a weakness for chocolate. And not even good quality chocolate; usually, any chocolate will do. So last night, while fretting over yet another bathroom decision gone wrong, I opened a package of peanut butter chocolate wafer bars and split one with Jeff. It was suppose to console me, but it ended up distracting Jeff!

We finished our treat and I went to wipe the butcherblock island counter of crumbs when Jeff interrupted me. I thought he was perturbed by a bug of some sort, but he was pointing and exclaiming about an inanimate object on the counter. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a piece of chocolate. No big deal; I was still worrying over the bathroom. But Jeff started admiring the chocolate from all sides and whipping out the iPhone for documentation. So I got closer. And this is what I saw.

Look at the little dark spot in the middle of the photo. Doesn't look like much, right?

Look a little closer. It's a tiny diamond of chocolate (a shard from the wafer bar) standing on edge. All by itself.

It's just standing there. We stared at it from all angles. It stayed put. We took photos. It stayed put. I was rather blase about it all at first, but Jeff was more excited than I usually see him. It's a piece of chocolate! On its corner! All by itself! You have to understand that Jeff has a small habit of setting things on edge. Nothing big or fragile, just little things he'll turn on a corner or an edge and balance there absentmindedly. It's a cute little quirk, but it explains why he was so excited about the chocolate. His excitement was infectious, so I guess chocolate got me through another stressful moment, though not in the usual way!

In the end, we left the chocolate diamond on the counter overnight. This morning when we found it laying down, we tried to set it up on a corner again. And failed repeatedly. It was apparently a once in a lifetime occurrence. Although I think we need to eat many more peanut butter chocolate wafer bars now in an attempt to replicate the event!

Tinker Tiles

The tiled shower is coming along. Our tile guy, David, is slow but meticulous. He's also doing all the dry wall taping and mudding, so that takes time. And I keep adding little details, like a larger, centered niche and marble shelves and thresholds and a chair rail accent tile with mitered returns and ... In addition to meticulous, he's very patient!

On another note, Jeff and I have started working more diligently on the second floor. Everything, and I mean everything, was painted flat mint green. I'm currently repainting the ceiling in the hallway and stairwell, and then it will be on to trim. But I did the cutting in first so Jeff could hang my newest eBay purchase, a vintage brass pan light! I love how it ties together with the antique five light chandelier we hung in the foyer last year.

Close up of new (old) upstairs hall fixture

View from the bottom of the stairs

Closeup of downstairs foyer chandelier

Foyer light

Trade Days

Jeff and I spent our last pleasant Sunday (for awhile at least) outside. The weather was forecast to turn cold and rainy after the weekend, so we wanted to make the most of the balmy day. We decided that a venture to the famous Lacon Trade Days was finally in order.

We had heard about the flea market quite a few times, and I even purchased the clawfoot tub for the bathroom from one of the vendors, but it was through Craigslist. The market is open every weekend and is just the old-time flea market you might remember from your youth. There are booths and buildings with more permanent wares, but most people just pull in with whatever miscellaneous they want to sell, pay their $2-3 for a spot, and unload their merchandise. There are guns and clothes and goats and housewares and chickens and antiques and toys and jewelry and concessions and doors and shoes and crafts and on and on. As their lovely colloquial slogan goes, "If it ain't been here, it don't exist".

The place doesn't look like much, but as it turns out, we found many things we were interested in. There was an 18" prehung door that looks just the right size for our little attic access door, a neat cast iron handpump for water that would make a fabulous water garden feature, a darling bantam rooster who would look so cute running with our big hens, and an upright balance scale from a doctor's office which I have always wanted for the bathroom. We were just planning on looking, so we didn't purchase any of those things. But it was neat to know they could be found there!

And we did end up coming home with one item. It's a fascinating antique adding machine, probably from the teens or twenties. It's in good condition and it really works! You click the tabs up to the desired number in each decimal place, pull the lever, and then select the next set of numbers. Every time you pull the lever, it adds to the tally. When you're done, you push the keys to zero and pull the handle to zero it out. There is even a little lever to clear out a mistake if you accidentally set the wrong number without deleting all the previous input. Jeff and I kept playing with it and found it irresistible. And the 20% offer clinched it, so we came home with this adorable unit. It will eventually sit in Jeff's study on the big partner's desk I bought last month. What a productive day!

Green with...

...walls (not envy). Look at the pretty green board in the bathroom!

It's actually such a lovely shade of green, I may have to get out my paint deck and find a match for future reference!

I'm happy to report that we seem to have a fabulous tile guy. And he hasn't even started tiling yet! He did the moisture resistant drywall and shower surround cement backer board yesterday and today, and I can already sense that he is a real craftsman. He works alone (other than a helper just for the ceilings), and he is incredibly tidy. Every afternoon, he sweeps, vacuums, and stacks all his gear in one little corner of the room. He was perfectly amenable to a few changes this morning, all corrections required because of other trades' mistakes. He actually appreciated my very detailed graph-paper drawing of the shower niche design (instead of rolling his eyes or stating how he usually does it). And he even offered to polish the unfinished bottom surface of the marble shelf in the niche that is at eye level. I didn't even think of that! I'm excited to see what he can do with the subway tiles and accent pieces I've selected.

Here is the shower on the left and the toilet location to the right. The large square over the toilet is my solution to the accidental 15" rough in the framers left us with. I had them furr out the wall three inches and frame a built-in recess for shelves.You can never have enough storage in a bathroom!

What's in a Name?

Our town building inspector's name is Chip. He's a wonderful, helping, accommodating guy. I love Chip.

My mosaic floor tiles just arrived. They have many, many chips. Every sheet, in fact. I'm not loving chips so much anymore.

Hiding in Plain Sight

I finally got around to a niggling little project several months late. Our central heat and air system was installed in the spring, and our air return is in the dining room wall. It's usually a bit obscured from the general line of sight by the piano, but since the floor finish is still curing, we haven't moved the beast back in yet. So I started noticing the large white grate and felt it was time to do something about the eyesore. I would love to upgrade to one of those decorative iron grilles like this:

But I'm not sure drawing attention to mine is the way to go, and they are also very expensive. So I whipped out my leftover wall paint and a small brush and gave the original grate a few coats (after a thorough cleaning, that is). Now it practically disappears (until the furnace kicks on and there is a whooshing sound in that general vicinity; kind of gives away my secret)!

Before:

After:

Beam Me Up

We suddenly realized late last night that the lone ceiling joist in the unfinished cathedral attic would be in the way of the spray foam insulation going in early Wednesday morning. It's a rather beefy roughcut beam, but our inspector had okay-ed its removal after we reinforced the roof rafters. So Jeff and I were up on ladders with lights, bracing, gloves, and a jigsaw to get the thing down at 7:30 this morning before he had to leave for campus.

The installation crew had prepped everything yesterday, so they were ready to go full bore today. They got about 75% of the upstairs sprayed. It looks so much brighter up there with all that reflective white. It's like living in a cozy igloo! But it's a little cool temperature-wise right now, since I have several windows open and a fan exhausting to the outside. The smell is barely noticeable downstairs and only a tiny bit stronger on the second floor. It has been described as a fishy odor, and I would have to concur. But it hasn't caused me headaches or any other physiological effect, other than a silly smile on my face every time I peek into one of the rooms and see that fluffy white cloud settled over my walls and ceiling ;-)

They still have to shave the ceiling in here, but it's looking good!

Fun Stuff

Now that we've gotten past the bulk of the important structural stuff with the bathroom, it's on to the enjoyable decor decisions. I've been selecting items all along, even buying things months ago on sale, but now I can finally picture it coming together. Here is the moodboard for the vintage, nautical inspired bathroom.

The Greek key style fabric in the upper center will be the curtains on the triple windows. The cobalt and white basketweave on the far right middle is the mosaic tile for the shower floor and the inside of the shampoo shelf niche. The creamy white subway tile at the bottom is the shower surround. The dark lanterns will be the sconces flanking the two matching vanities. The outside of the antique clawfoot tub will be painted the dark blue of the paint swatch, and Jeff fell in love with the floor mounted chrome faucet, so we splurged just a tiny bit for it. (I'm probably exaggerating here, as Jeff never *loves* an inanimate object, but he was surprisingly smitten with one on the showroom floor and said we should get a version!)

I'll be trimming the lower two-thirds of the bathroom wall in a Craftsman style wainscotting, like the picture above. The upper wall will be papered in the navy and cream toile wallpaper taking up the upper left quadrant of my moodboard.

The tiled shower will feature the small threshold and a fabric curtain, instead of the now-popular frameless glass doors. I do like that look, but it's a tad too modern for our bungalow, and you have to keep a very neat, tidy, and clean shower to get away with such a statement! But we will have the wood-look floors shown in the inspiration photo, which I love. I would prefer to use real pine, like the rest of the second floor, but that's not a good idea in a bathroom, so we're going with a very realistic vinyl plank.

Stuff It

We've passed our rough-in inspection for the bathroom electrical, plumbing, and framing. Now it's on to insulation. This is a biggie for our old house. We can't possibly have enough of the stuff. Because some of our living space upstairs is under the slope of the roof, it's traditionally very difficult to get a good R value in only three or four inches of rafter space. So we're going non-traditional.

We've decided on open cell spray foam insulation for the entire upstairs. The idea is to totally "seal the envelope", encapsulating rooms, closets, attic space, and everything. It will coat all exterior walls and roof decking, forming a complete air barrier as well as a 95% efficient thermal barrier to convection, conduction, and radiation.

It's not brand new technology, but it's so expensive that many people aren't familiar with it. When I first got the quotes last spring, I laughed and thought that was that! But then summer came and we realized we don't really have many other options if we intend to use the second floor. So we're biting the bullet and having it installed this week. I'm actually really excited, because it's top of the line stuff and Jeff and I really try to implement quality buying practices. But when you're faced with several choices that seem pretty similar, it's much easier to just pick the cheapest, even when you know it means poor quality. But in this case, it's more of a necessity than a luxury, so here goes!

This stock photo shows a room very similar to our vaulted future master bedroom

Progress

One bright light in this remodel has been our electrician. Dennis is absolutely wonderful; he's tidy, good tempered, patient, timely, non-smoking, and he has a good sense of aesthetics. He really thinks through the best function and appearance of every light switch, outlet, and lighting fixture. And he doesn't even fuss when I have him undo or change something!

We're having the entire upstairs rewired (or perhaps I should say wired, as there really isn't any "re" about it), as there was only one outlet and one wall switch for all three rooms and the hallway up there! Now, I have switches on every light, one or more outlets on every wall, GFCI plugs in the bathroom, sconce lights over the bed, service lights and plugs near all the mechanical systems, heavy duty junction boxes for ceilings fans on the deep front porch, hardwired interconnected smoke detectors, properly sized breakers, and a neatly labeled electrical panel. He also built the nifty little access door and service platform to the attic because I didn't trust the framers to cut into my almost-90-year-old wooden walls and get it right.

Thankful

One of the many reasons I love Thanksgiving so much is because it's the only time of year you can buy fresh cranberries in the store. Even as a picky eater in childhood, I have always loved cranberry sauce. The whole berry canned variety will do in a pinch, but my mom spoiled us with homemade and it is that which I truly prefer. A homemade batch is my yearly contribution to the Evans' family Thanksgiving table. I always make a double or triple batch so we can enjoy it before, during, and after the holiday!

It's basically the staple recipe on the bag of cranberries, with lots of my own variation. I substitute orange juice for half of the liquid, and I simmer cinnamon sticks, allspice, and cloves to infuse the water for the other half. I often stir in a tablespoon or so of brandy just after boiling the berries, too.

One of Jeff's favorite meals: tender turkeyloaf with pineapple glaze, candied sweet potatoes, spiced cranberry sauce, and a green veggie for good measure & pretty color!

Great Blue Heron

We've had a large avian visitor several days in a row now. He (or perhaps she) lands in the large expanse of side yard we idealistically call the West Meadow (I hope to plant a field of wildflowers there one of these days). He's quite gorgeous, and he just sits there or walks slowly through the tall grass. Once, I saw him stretch low and then swoop quickly at something, so we wonder if he's hunting. He's welcome to some of the mice around here!

To date...

It doesn't look like much yet, but here are the requested photos of the bathroom. The framing went up weeks ago, but all the effort so far has been in the little and hidden things, like the HVAC vent, electrical, plumbing rough ins, etc.

View from outside

View from bathroom doorway

View of future shower (on the left) and toilet (on the right)

View of vanity wall

Small Town Parade

Sunday was Veteran's Day, and our small town celebrated with a first ever local parade and dedication of the new county veteran's memorial. The parade lined up just down the block from us, so we could see the activity coalescing for about an hour while we worked on some painting and caulking out on the back roof. Then we got ourselves down and cleaned up and headed over to watch the festivities.

After the parade passed, we walked over to Veteran's Park and looked at the beautiful new granite memorial and statue. There was a very nice presentation with color guard, singing, presentations, and addresses. All in all, a very nice way to spend a gorgeous fall afternoon in our little town.









 

Bathroom Update

The bathroom is coming along. We have developed a plan to make a regular door and jamb work, so the pocketdoor problem has gone away (though the plan is not implemented yet, so there is still plenty of time for things to go awry). The room is fully dried in, as evidenced by several rains and no late night trips for the drip pan. So that's good news.

Now it's just constant decision-making. How many sconce lights? What height for the chandelier? Which lights on which switch? How far from the sidewall to place the toilet? What distance off the vanity for the outlets? Shower drain in the center or to the front? Center plumbing based on pan curb or not? Decorative tile accents or no? Bullnose wrapping the wall end, or just sheetrock? How large for the shower niches? Separate handshower or incorporated showerhead? 30" or 32" entrance door? Bath fan vented to the right or the left? HVAC duct turned horizontal or vertical? What size crown molding? Window casing mitered or built up with stool and apron?

It never ends, and I feel rather incapable of the task at times. I am a very visual person, and I have to mock things up. The problem is, I often have to make decisions now for something that is coming later. For example, the plumbers are coming tomorrow to rough in all the drains and supply lines. So I have to know where the tub is going. But since it's centered just in front of the window, I have to decide now about trim to know how much space to leave. That's just a tiny example, but it's the one I'm dealing with right now. Or will be as soon as I finish this post and get back to work!

Weekend Work

Jeff and I enjoyed a fairly laid-back weekend. We had a church chili supper Saturday evening and didn't get home until very late, so the extra hour we gained was spent in much needed sleep. But then we got busy.

I finally found time this week to put the final coats of Waterlox on the floors, so this weekend we moved a few furniture pieces back in. Until the finish has really cured, we don't dare bring the antique piano or a couple of the heavier items in, but just having the rooms straightened up a bit has helped the rest of the house not feel so disordered.

Dining room floors before

Dining room after refinishing

Before view in living room

After

Our other project was hanging the living room ceiling fan. Jeff prefers ceiling fans and I like attractive fixtures, so we were excited to find a version we both love.

Unattractive (but functional) fan

Stained glass Craftsman style fan

Potty Problems

I really want to keep perspective. My new bathroom is too small. Okay, it's smaller than I wanted. Truthfully, it's a decent size bath; I've had bedrooms that were smaller! It's really just the proportions that are off. The framers made it wider and shorter than it was designed to be (partly because of a legitimate concern and partly because of mis-communication from the contractor to the framers). But then it was badly compounded by the fact that no one told us, and we had to find out days later on our own when we were measuring the room. It's not the square footage loss that is the real problem, it's the fixture placement and layout. I very carefully designed the room for maximum function and aesthetics and already purchased key items, and now that's all been thrown for a loop.

Since it was already done and our contract said it couldn't be changed, we settled on a pocket door to save space and allow us to use the vanities I already bought. I had to go get the framing kit myself from a distant lumberyard (a multi-hour ordeal) because they needed it that morning. Then the framer, who knew we were using an original, vintage door from the house, never measured the height of said door (which is very non-standard, as you can imagine), and now the header and pocket framing are installed three inches too high. I can't swap it for another door that is standard height because the opening and cavity were framed for my specific door width. And the framing kit is fragile-looking to begin with, so we don't know if it will survive them tearing it out and cutting it down and re-installing it. 

We really don't trust the framer to do anything more with the door at this point. We wouldn't even need a pocket door if the room were the right size! As the saying goes: good, fast, cheap; pick two. Well, I think we only got one of those (if you don't know which one, just look back at the title of the last week's post)!

 I try to remember that at the end of all this, we will have a bathroom with shower, tub, and sinks. I just hope it has a door!

Momma needs a new hammer!

Jeff and I spent some time salvaging the lumber from our old roof. It is great quality, old growth true 2x4s (which means it really measures two inches by four inches, not one-and-a-half by three-and-a-half). We don't have a specific plan for it, but we hated to see it thrown away. But it meant we had to knock the boards apart and pull out some pretty hearty nails. That is when I lost my head!

My hammerhead, that is. Jeff always called this my "lady hammer", as it's a rather lightweight, slim handled hammer. It was sometimes too slight for the job, but it usually performed household tasks well. Now I guess I'll be on the hunt for a new model.

In addition to losing my head, I lost a foot as well. Not a limb, of course. But it almost feels that way. We discovered this morning that our new addition is one foot too short! That's a full twelve inches! For those who have ever constructed or remodeled anything, you'll know how significant this is, especially in a small-to-medium sized room. In our case, it dramatically affects our floor plan. We'll be talking to the contractor and the framers tomorrow, but I have a feeling that what's done is done.

Famously Fast Framers

Our bathroom has begun! The framers arrived Thursday and started cutting, pounding, and building. They were creating the flooring system of beams and joists that would carry the walls and roof, so they just worked in the existing attic.

Imagine my surprise when I went out mid-afternoon to check on the chickens and looked up to see a tidy rectangle cut out of my old roof! I had no idea they were that fast. By the end of that first day, they had the exterior walls framed and standing like a railing for giants around a look-out deck.

Thursday morning:

Thursday evening:

 
Today is only the second day, but they're telling me they'll have the roof, shingles, siding, windows, and trim in. It's only four hours until sunset (and there is a small chance of rain tomorrow), so as long as it's reasonably dried in, we should be good.

Now I'm starting to panic about plumbing fixtures, lighting, tile, etc. I thought I had weeks to make decisions, but they may start asking me for rough-in info in a matter of days!

Oh, and on top of that, I'm still in the middle of refinishing the downstairs floors. Here is the before:

And after sanding:

I have since managed to get two coats of finish on the floors, but now I'm stuck. I really need uninterrupted time to work on them, but with the contractor and tradesmen coming and going and needing answers and decisions, I can't really dedicate the hours to it. And there is a lot of dust in the air; not something I want with wet, tacky flooring exposed.

So in the meantime, living room and dining room furniture is spread all over the house and porch, construction debris litters the yard, and, oh, I forgot to mention, we had a wiring incident in the midst of yesterday's "deconstruction" and our overhead lights are all out. Thankfully we have lamps. Which makes the clutter around the house less noticeable. I think that's a good thing.

The Best Of...

Here are just a few highlights of our trip to Israel and Jordan. I've realized we are sometimes rather indiscriminate about taking pictures, and also that context is key. Otherwise, half of the major landmarks and historical locations in the Middle East just look like brownish rocks!

On the Mount of Olives

At Caesarea

Really, this sign was on a stall in the marketplace in Jerusalem! We have no idea what they were selling.

I'll give you one guess where this was taken!

Find the slideshow with titles and descriptions here. I promise, it's not overly long and I tried to make it not too boring!