Sunday, March 04, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
... and we're back
Oh my gosh, whose blog is this?? Someone needs to tell these people who run this blog to lighten up already.
Okay.
First: We're back in our house, which smells better than many bad-smelling things.
Second, because who doesn't like a bit of neighborhood gossip: At the end of October our neighbor Land Rover apparently filed complaint with the city regarding one section of Matt's finely crafted retaining wall. (This is the section that sticks out into the street to avoid harming the roots of an old, old apricot tree.) And the folks at the DOT who handled the complaint said, ah, yes, we see why you did it that way, how very clever, but technically you may not put a wall in the right of way, so please take the wall away and leave just the vertical wall of dirt that is behind the wall, and perhaps plant some ground cover or shrubs in a doomed attempt to keep it all from eroding into the street. Which is an okay resolution, considering. But then today our other neighbor, Architecta, informed us that she herself has filed sort of an anticomplaint, asking the city to let the wall stay, because it looks great and serves a purpose and was generally a fine and functional idea. Isn't that nice?
Third: I have a carful of plants! For the yard! Front, and back! In the car there are four bareroot roses, three kinds of peony, two kinds of hosta, some dahlias, some daylilies, some regular lilies, some ferns and some other stuff I can't even remember because I am so overwhelmed with gratitude to my mother, who wheeled her granddaughter all over Costco in an entertaining fashion while I singlemindedly dug through all of those wonderful bagged bulbs and rhizomes that Costco stocks in the early, early spring, i.e. winter. And the roses, oh, wow, I could bore you to streaming tears talking about roses. So I will not. I will only say that our garden will be awesome, and the retaining wall will or won't be present, and the sweet smell of flowers will waft through the house and brace us for whatever the next thing may be.
Okay.
First: We're back in our house, which smells better than many bad-smelling things.
Second, because who doesn't like a bit of neighborhood gossip: At the end of October our neighbor Land Rover apparently filed complaint with the city regarding one section of Matt's finely crafted retaining wall. (This is the section that sticks out into the street to avoid harming the roots of an old, old apricot tree.) And the folks at the DOT who handled the complaint said, ah, yes, we see why you did it that way, how very clever, but technically you may not put a wall in the right of way, so please take the wall away and leave just the vertical wall of dirt that is behind the wall, and perhaps plant some ground cover or shrubs in a doomed attempt to keep it all from eroding into the street. Which is an okay resolution, considering. But then today our other neighbor, Architecta, informed us that she herself has filed sort of an anticomplaint, asking the city to let the wall stay, because it looks great and serves a purpose and was generally a fine and functional idea. Isn't that nice?
Third: I have a carful of plants! For the yard! Front, and back! In the car there are four bareroot roses, three kinds of peony, two kinds of hosta, some dahlias, some daylilies, some regular lilies, some ferns and some other stuff I can't even remember because I am so overwhelmed with gratitude to my mother, who wheeled her granddaughter all over Costco in an entertaining fashion while I singlemindedly dug through all of those wonderful bagged bulbs and rhizomes that Costco stocks in the early, early spring, i.e. winter. And the roses, oh, wow, I could bore you to streaming tears talking about roses. So I will not. I will only say that our garden will be awesome, and the retaining wall will or won't be present, and the sweet smell of flowers will waft through the house and brace us for whatever the next thing may be.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
basement floor setback
We're displaced again, staying at my parents' again. The concrete contractor we hired used an exterior-only sealer on our basement floor (claimed it would be an "epoxy topcoat" but it was, like, driveway sealant) and the house smells poisonous. Can't go in w/o gagging. It's many VOCs so hopefully they'll all evaporate and float away soon.
Crazy miserable. And very very tired.
Crazy miserable. And very very tired.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
heating the neighboorhood
We got our first gas bill last week. The only thing we currently use gas for is the furnace. It was the most insane gas bill I have ever seen or heard of. It was big. Like really big. godzilla big.
Ever since we got it I have been looking at our external lathe and plaster walls in a much different light. All of them need to be demoed, and insulation added. So last night I was able to demo the wall surrounding the french doors, and I added insulation to that wall, and to the downstairs bathroom walls. I think I understand why people will demo a house down to the studs, as it would have meant a much smaller first gas bill, and less long term dust. And the wiring and plumbing would have been way easier for the GC.
next house I guess.
Ever since we got it I have been looking at our external lathe and plaster walls in a much different light. All of them need to be demoed, and insulation added. So last night I was able to demo the wall surrounding the french doors, and I added insulation to that wall, and to the downstairs bathroom walls. I think I understand why people will demo a house down to the studs, as it would have meant a much smaller first gas bill, and less long term dust. And the wiring and plumbing would have been way easier for the GC.
next house I guess.
Friday, January 19, 2007
2,000 lbs of porch
This past week 2,000 lbs of back porch went to the dump. We should have done a neighborhood lottery: Guess the weight of our porch! Win forty feet of broken clay sewer pipe! You haul!
The (late) porch was enclosed and had housed the washer and dryer. It had a strange rotting-fish smell that the dryer seemed to concentrate into our laundry, so we were happy to see it go. There was one day, though, where it was just half-gone, and it looked a lot like what it had originally been, an open porch, and it was actually quite lovely.
But to reach the basement door you had to limbo under the edge of the porch. So, it went. Maybe our fond memories of that one day of loveliness will inspire us to create another porch outside the new french doors off the mudroom-to-be.
Formerly known as the "refrigerator room," the mudroom is the space between the kitchen, dining room, and downstairs bathroom. Most of the linoleum has been removed; Matt has found a pretty nice hardwood floor underneath. French doors are in and look great. Some walls seem to be missing. We need to insulate and drywall the bathroom, put in a sink and toilet, and figure out what finish is needed on a wood floor in a bathroom.
Meanwhile our nice new water-saving washer and energy-saving dryer live in our tiny little square of basement, buried under tools and gear (ours and theirs). Laundry, we bring to my parents' house on the weekend, like the teenagers we are.
Audrey's room is mostly done. Walls are patched and painted a color called Raffia (a warm pale beige-green), floor washed, curtains half up. There's some touching up to do on the walls and the closet still needs painting. Can't quite figure out our ancient lath and plaster walls: the drywall screws we had around didn't quite stay in. Walls too crumbly. Maybe longer drywall screws? Please advise.
In one spot the just-painted old wallpaper peeled off, revealing the official seal of the U.S. Department of Wallpaper:
Matt rented the backhoe again and filled in the front yard section of trench; the rest, who knows. Maybe rain and wind and gravity will do the trick, over time. We wash our hands of it. Peh.
The (late) porch was enclosed and had housed the washer and dryer. It had a strange rotting-fish smell that the dryer seemed to concentrate into our laundry, so we were happy to see it go. There was one day, though, where it was just half-gone, and it looked a lot like what it had originally been, an open porch, and it was actually quite lovely.
But to reach the basement door you had to limbo under the edge of the porch. So, it went. Maybe our fond memories of that one day of loveliness will inspire us to create another porch outside the new french doors off the mudroom-to-be.
Formerly known as the "refrigerator room," the mudroom is the space between the kitchen, dining room, and downstairs bathroom. Most of the linoleum has been removed; Matt has found a pretty nice hardwood floor underneath. French doors are in and look great. Some walls seem to be missing. We need to insulate and drywall the bathroom, put in a sink and toilet, and figure out what finish is needed on a wood floor in a bathroom.
Meanwhile our nice new water-saving washer and energy-saving dryer live in our tiny little square of basement, buried under tools and gear (ours and theirs). Laundry, we bring to my parents' house on the weekend, like the teenagers we are.
Audrey's room is mostly done. Walls are patched and painted a color called Raffia (a warm pale beige-green), floor washed, curtains half up. There's some touching up to do on the walls and the closet still needs painting. Can't quite figure out our ancient lath and plaster walls: the drywall screws we had around didn't quite stay in. Walls too crumbly. Maybe longer drywall screws? Please advise.
In one spot the just-painted old wallpaper peeled off, revealing the official seal of the U.S. Department of Wallpaper:
Matt rented the backhoe again and filled in the front yard section of trench; the rest, who knows. Maybe rain and wind and gravity will do the trick, over time. We wash our hands of it. Peh.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
3 updates.
I stayed home from work yesterday and enjoyed some quality work time with the GC. Kwaku asked if Heather had gotten any gifts for MLK day. So most of the day I had visions of Dr. King in a Santa suit. He would have made a nice Santa, I think.
Kwaku and I finished off the re-piping of the sewer. It was mostly Kwaku, while I cheered him on, got him tools, and made fun of how dirty he got in the sewer pit. The final piece we took out was a 4" to 6" clay pipe that had a number of cracks and large roots going into it. This was another area that the city and most of the plumbers were hitting. It did look like a potted plant, beacuse in essence it was; clay pots, plant roots, plenty of "dirt". Ill try and get a picture of it some time this week.
Also they demoed the back porch (I took out a couple of windows and some drywall. The roof is still there along with the suport posts, and frankly, at some point in time, it was a truly beautiful little porch. Its a little sad to have to remove it now. I'm going to try and keep the good wood for building a ilttle shed in the back this summer.
Lastly, the drywall is hung and taped in the basement, and it looks totally awesome.
I'm thinking we should live there.
Kwaku and I finished off the re-piping of the sewer. It was mostly Kwaku, while I cheered him on, got him tools, and made fun of how dirty he got in the sewer pit. The final piece we took out was a 4" to 6" clay pipe that had a number of cracks and large roots going into it. This was another area that the city and most of the plumbers were hitting. It did look like a potted plant, beacuse in essence it was; clay pots, plant roots, plenty of "dirt". Ill try and get a picture of it some time this week.
Also they demoed the back porch (I took out a couple of windows and some drywall. The roof is still there along with the suport posts, and frankly, at some point in time, it was a truly beautiful little porch. Its a little sad to have to remove it now. I'm going to try and keep the good wood for building a ilttle shed in the back this summer.
Lastly, the drywall is hung and taped in the basement, and it looks totally awesome.
I'm thinking we should live there.
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