We pulled down all of the r11 insulation in the kitchen, I would have rather been handling snakes. There were a couple sections of r19 that we left up, but 4 rolls later the kitchen is insulated. We used 2 cans of foam insulation in all the little crack and seams that we could see light coming in. Total time in the project is around 20 hours, we figure each hour we do ourselves is saving us $100.
The siding was directly installed on the studs, one of the biggest wtf moments so far. I would use wood boards vertically, then the horizontal siding. Using press board will work and it's cheaper, but I don't like it. I don't want to rebuild the entire house so we aren't messing with the siding anytime soon.
The electric needed some work, and we decided to leave this to the professionals. They are there right now installing some junction boxes and an outlet. We can install lights and replace things but we've never done junction boxes or added an outlet. Sometimes it's worth paying to have it done correctly when you aren't sure.
Unfortunately, if the plumber has to pull a permit to move the baseboard heater, the electrician needs a permit as well. This means all of the kitchen wiring and the panel will need to be replaced to current code. It also means we will have to add MORE outlets. That's right, new code means adding things that aren't necessary or wanted. I don't care if the breaker box is old and above the stove, it works and I don't need anyone coming into the house inspecting anything.
The work around is doing the drywall first, then the heater moved and then having the heater inspected.... then doing what we want with the electric. I don't think moving a baseboard heater unit will require a permit, but it depends on how much the city needs tax revenue. It's highly annoying to try and live right, debt free, prepared, etc. and still be over regulated by the government when you just want to upgrade your kitchen. We don't want a crap-built new house, we don't want an electrical outlet every 5 feet. I just want a new stove.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
It only hurts to breathe.
I forgot to take some motrin this morning, trying to gimp my way along until my chiropractor is in town on Monday. Everything I did hurt, but damned if that was going to stop me. It wouldn't have been my first brush with death (maybe my 6th, lost count), but since there aren't ribs poking into my lung or out of my chest I had to carry on.
I dropped 6 hours into the kitchen today. This included fixing the plumbing in the basement with new shutoff valves going to the kitchen sink (thank you inventor of sharkbite fittings!). The old ones were knob type, on galvanized pipe, and of course wouldn't work. I wanted to put more time in but need to get ready for the employee appreciation holiday dinner.... I'm somehow in charge of the entire evening and yet didn't help plan or put it together.
The old plumbing for the original kitchen is behind the newer looking 2x4 section. Always interesting what you find. We left the baseboard heater hooked up, I want that moved by professionals since the system is pressurized and I want it to work. It's going to be 22 degrees tomorrow and I didn't want the entire system down just in case there was an issue. The area showing subfloor will be built up to the same level as the tile (of course they don't make the tile we have) so there wont be any removing or adding of tile.
Fortunately only one spot lacked insulation. The old stuff will be pulled out (the really old stuff) and replaced. The windows will be foam sealed where applicable. I'm debating if we should put more insulation under the newer 2x4 section. I don't know if it will make a difference, but I'm sure it won't hurt anything. It depends on the price at home depot tomorrow.
The studs are so far apart, it's no wonder we had a hard time ever finding one to screw or drill into. I might add some cross braces in the large above counter level areas. The upper left is missing insulation, I tore it down to check the water damage. There are some boards with damage but since the roof is fine, and the boards are still sound, we won't worry about it (now that it doesn't leak).
The good thing is now that it's stripped we can move light fixtures around, add outlets, whatever we feel like doing. Since we won't start drywalling for a few days, we have some time to decide on anything else. I pulled 8 trash bags of drywall and all kinds of wood scraps out and into my wagon and into a pile in the garden area. I'm going to borrow a friends dump truck when we are done, it will be cheaper for one big load to the dump.
It was a great day of work, especially when the motrin kicked in. I think the shop vac worked harder than I did.
I dropped 6 hours into the kitchen today. This included fixing the plumbing in the basement with new shutoff valves going to the kitchen sink (thank you inventor of sharkbite fittings!). The old ones were knob type, on galvanized pipe, and of course wouldn't work. I wanted to put more time in but need to get ready for the employee appreciation holiday dinner.... I'm somehow in charge of the entire evening and yet didn't help plan or put it together.
The good thing is now that it's stripped we can move light fixtures around, add outlets, whatever we feel like doing. Since we won't start drywalling for a few days, we have some time to decide on anything else. I pulled 8 trash bags of drywall and all kinds of wood scraps out and into my wagon and into a pile in the garden area. I'm going to borrow a friends dump truck when we are done, it will be cheaper for one big load to the dump.
It was a great day of work, especially when the motrin kicked in. I think the shop vac worked harder than I did.
Friday, December 7, 2012
6 Hours of kitchen work
I never realized I could pop a front rib out of place from bench pressing, but guess what I did...
It's like having a broken rib, it's hurts all the time but you have to breathe still. If SHTF I would have to continue on and just suck up the pain, so I did just that. We spent a total of 6 hours in the kitchen yesterday, here are the results so far:
You can see the baseboard heater behind the shop vac. The copper is routed in the cabinets, behind the stove and under the sink. We decided to move the heater entirely, this will give us another 3 feet of cabinet space and help heat the kitchen better. Since there is a crawlspace under that end of the floor, it's almost all wasted heat and I loathe heaters directly under windows. I don't understand the thinking of your heat going out the glass. When we redid the heating system 16 years ago we couldn't afford to change anything and had to use the original steam radiator holes to save money. This is why there isn't heat upstairs.
The original house sink drained right into the sewage line grease trap (that was located outside the window). You can see the large drain pipe that is still there for no reason. Once the sink is out tonight I'm going to saws-all the shit out of everything, hopefully by tomorrow morning everything will be out.
We put a couple holes in the drywall, as expected, pulling the tile off. The hole behind the fire extinguisher was my oops, but it showed me there isn't any insulation in the wall right there. WHAT! Yes, no insulation where the 2 additions meet, that will be fixed with some pink roll type once I cut the drywall out. I also discovered there isn't a turn off for the kitchen sink water, only the main line off and on lever. That will be fixed along with removing the final few feet of galvanized pipe (I think that's what it's made of).
So far we have an extra days worth of work, but so far it's not frustrating us. It does suck living out of boxes, not knowing where the spoons are, debating pouring milk into the cereal box instead of trying to get a bowl at 6am. We have saved about $500 in labor.
We went to a work related party last night, I busted some moves on the dance floor (in between gasping for air over my rib pain) and I was happy my pistol didn't fly out. I was jumping around like a white guy on the dance floor and it held just fine. It's good to be armed and goofy on the dance floor! I also photo-bombed my face in about 10 random photo's, sometimes I get to act like I'm 15 again and not get in trouble for it!
It's like having a broken rib, it's hurts all the time but you have to breathe still. If SHTF I would have to continue on and just suck up the pain, so I did just that. We spent a total of 6 hours in the kitchen yesterday, here are the results so far:
We put a couple holes in the drywall, as expected, pulling the tile off. The hole behind the fire extinguisher was my oops, but it showed me there isn't any insulation in the wall right there. WHAT! Yes, no insulation where the 2 additions meet, that will be fixed with some pink roll type once I cut the drywall out. I also discovered there isn't a turn off for the kitchen sink water, only the main line off and on lever. That will be fixed along with removing the final few feet of galvanized pipe (I think that's what it's made of).
So far we have an extra days worth of work, but so far it's not frustrating us. It does suck living out of boxes, not knowing where the spoons are, debating pouring milk into the cereal box instead of trying to get a bowl at 6am. We have saved about $500 in labor.
We went to a work related party last night, I busted some moves on the dance floor (in between gasping for air over my rib pain) and I was happy my pistol didn't fly out. I was jumping around like a white guy on the dance floor and it held just fine. It's good to be armed and goofy on the dance floor! I also photo-bombed my face in about 10 random photo's, sometimes I get to act like I'm 15 again and not get in trouble for it!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Before. and it's raining.
Apparently the wishing for moisture thing worked. It was raining when I left the house this morning, reminding me of a cool spring morning. It wasn't a downpour, but in the winter even a little moisture is a big bonus to the yard. Hopefully the mountains are getting a lot, won't be able to tell until the clouds burn off around noon.
Perhaps this whole wishing thing works, but I'll just say it's the weather being unpredictable like always.
Here are two before pictures from last night in the kitchen.
The only things in the kitchen are pictured. Some dishes, protein powder, chicken TVP, etc. Yes, the empty booze bottle on the floor was puzzling to me as well.
We have to get the wallpaper backing down and just start to remove everything. The far upper left corner of the bottom picture has some water damage from this past spring, otherwise it's going to be fairly simple. The tile on the wall started popping off last night with no fuss, it's around 30 years old.
The original structure was a barn built around 1888. The first addition was added and extended the kitchen to the middle of the stove, as well as adding a bedroom downstairs. The second addition pushed the kitchen all the way out and made the downstairs bedroom twice as large with a bathroom and walk in closet. Whomever did the 2nd addition didn't dig the basement out, causing the house to droop a little in the back. The basement doesn't extend to the house edge in any spot, creating a droop in other spots. In the next 5 years or so we will need to spend about $50k to have the house jacked up and the basement redone (including dug deeper).
Everyone says old houses have character. I didn't realize character caused my ass to hurt. Perhaps it's the charm that's causing it.
Since I won't be cooking for a few weeks, have a picture of meatloaf.
I'll be cooking at the in-laws and our boss/friends house from time to time. But meatloaf with large onion chunks and (don't ask me why) bright red ketchup.
Perhaps this whole wishing thing works, but I'll just say it's the weather being unpredictable like always.
Here are two before pictures from last night in the kitchen.
We have to get the wallpaper backing down and just start to remove everything. The far upper left corner of the bottom picture has some water damage from this past spring, otherwise it's going to be fairly simple. The tile on the wall started popping off last night with no fuss, it's around 30 years old.
The original structure was a barn built around 1888. The first addition was added and extended the kitchen to the middle of the stove, as well as adding a bedroom downstairs. The second addition pushed the kitchen all the way out and made the downstairs bedroom twice as large with a bathroom and walk in closet. Whomever did the 2nd addition didn't dig the basement out, causing the house to droop a little in the back. The basement doesn't extend to the house edge in any spot, creating a droop in other spots. In the next 5 years or so we will need to spend about $50k to have the house jacked up and the basement redone (including dug deeper).
Everyone says old houses have character. I didn't realize character caused my ass to hurt. Perhaps it's the charm that's causing it.
Since I won't be cooking for a few weeks, have a picture of meatloaf.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Moisture please.
I don't know when winter officially started, or if it even has. I can't think of any moisture in the last 90+ days, it's going to be another drought type year ahead. It's December 5th and I will water the yard again today, tomorrow, Friday and probably Saturday. They are predicting highs in the 20's for Sunday, and if we are lucky some snow. I'm already starting to plan my garden based on using less water.
I can't remember ever watering the grass and tree's in December, it's usually Thanksgiving that signals the snow to come in. Sure, it's nice on the utility bill to keep the heat off during the day, but I worry about water tables, stream runoff and reservoir levels. I have to be selfish and think about my water sources. If the world doesn't end before we get the kitchen done, I'm going to add two 55 gallon water barrels to the supplies.
No moisture doesn't help my rain water collection in the spring and of course makes us very nervous about forest fires. The other day a vehicle went off a dirt road above the house and started a grass fire. Luckily it was out fast but the scanner was blowing up with panic from all of the departments. The plates were missing from the car but the idiot who drove it.. yes, get ready.... dropped his license as he fled the scene.
I watched Doomsday Preppers last night, they had another rich guy on there who thought he had better protection than he really did. He said there was only one way in, one way out. However the 'cliffside' on the back wasn't tall and the tree's growing right next to the house made an obvious approach angle. It seemed he was relying on power without a backup system to run it during a grid down scenario. I did like the .50 he was using, but the beowulf (alexander arms .50 beowulf)ammo isn't easy to find and I don't see it being much better than a .308. The recoil is nasty on a short barrel .50, how can you keep it on target for semi-rapid fire?
The kitchen is /12 empty, tonight the rest of it will be boxed up. Demo will start on Thursday so we are already ahead of schedule. Saturday will be redoing the baseboard copper piping, then drywall repair. The baseboard heater routing is top priority, I'm frail and get cold easily.
We think that 20% of the stuff we removed from the kitchen will get donated/tossed out when we move it back in. It's a perfect time to get rid of excess or never used items.
I can't remember ever watering the grass and tree's in December, it's usually Thanksgiving that signals the snow to come in. Sure, it's nice on the utility bill to keep the heat off during the day, but I worry about water tables, stream runoff and reservoir levels. I have to be selfish and think about my water sources. If the world doesn't end before we get the kitchen done, I'm going to add two 55 gallon water barrels to the supplies.
No moisture doesn't help my rain water collection in the spring and of course makes us very nervous about forest fires. The other day a vehicle went off a dirt road above the house and started a grass fire. Luckily it was out fast but the scanner was blowing up with panic from all of the departments. The plates were missing from the car but the idiot who drove it.. yes, get ready.... dropped his license as he fled the scene.
I watched Doomsday Preppers last night, they had another rich guy on there who thought he had better protection than he really did. He said there was only one way in, one way out. However the 'cliffside' on the back wasn't tall and the tree's growing right next to the house made an obvious approach angle. It seemed he was relying on power without a backup system to run it during a grid down scenario. I did like the .50 he was using, but the beowulf (alexander arms .50 beowulf)ammo isn't easy to find and I don't see it being much better than a .308. The recoil is nasty on a short barrel .50, how can you keep it on target for semi-rapid fire?
The kitchen is /12 empty, tonight the rest of it will be boxed up. Demo will start on Thursday so we are already ahead of schedule. Saturday will be redoing the baseboard copper piping, then drywall repair. The baseboard heater routing is top priority, I'm frail and get cold easily.
We think that 20% of the stuff we removed from the kitchen will get donated/tossed out when we move it back in. It's a perfect time to get rid of excess or never used items.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
New safe, go bucket and inventory check
Today was a full day and I was moving like a slug. I had a great gym session on Friday night, squats, deadlifts, leg presses and leg extensions. I piled on more weight than I have ever done and have made some amazing progress in 60 days. I had never done squats before, and didn't know how to do them so I'm happy to be hitting 225 pounds, same for deadlifts at 275. The downside to this is I'm in serious muscle recovery mode today, more so than yesterday.
Hard work can kill you and it can make you sore. However, if SHTF I would have to drive on and continue, so that's exactly what I did today. The cabinets were ordered for the kitchen remodel, they will be picked up Thursday. The issue we ran into is timing, the counter top will take 4 weeks to be built and installed once it's ordered. This means no kitchen during the whole time, since we won't have a sink. The stove will work so we can help cook the Christmas dinner, but all cleanup has to be done in the master bathroom, in the bathtub.
We might hold off and start the remodel after Christmas dinner. The deciding factor will be if we can get the new sink installed before the counter top measure, or does it need to be done when the counter top is installed. We are going for a large stainless divided sink, similar to what we have now but under counter. I have to ask around, I don't know the step order for that.
Go buckets go opened today and checked out. There was some food that is coming up on expiration so we swapped that out and sealed everything back up. The buckets are 3 home depot buckets that will carry us and the 2 dogs for 1 week, including hygiene and gas masks. These are the no notice evacuation buckets since we are in an area where a forest fire can rush down the mountain. We wanted everything in them checked and to make sure the water requirements written on each bucket was still accurate. We have a pull wagon we keep at the back door that can hold all the buckets and water for one trip to the vehicles. While one person does this, the other grabs the combat load out and dogs. Out of the house in under 10 minutes easy, including extra clothes if it's winter.
We finally got our second gun safe delivered. It's been our fault in combination with it being locked in a warehouse that we don't have keys to. This second safe is for ammo and the seldom used rifles. The ammo will stay dry and moisture controlled and allow us to have more room in safe #1. The new safe is used but it was free once we paid for the heavy duty movers. It's in the middle of the basement until we figure out exactly where it should go. I think safe #1 needs to be unbolted and moved so we have room for them side by side and still be able to put a freezer where I want.
We also went over the inventory list and decided it's low on black beans and powdered milk. I can get and store the beans myself but the milk I need to order in. 25 year shelf life, 20 lb. bucket, 648 servings per bucket. I will get 3 buckets and add make 3 buckets of beans. We are adding more potatoes to storage while the holidays are here, 15lb.s of large Idaho's for $1.99, hard to pass up.
Meatloaf:
1.5lbs ground beef, 1 egg, 1 C bread crumbs (I prefer fine crushed), 1/2 white onion chopped. Mix, coat with ketchup (or BBQ sauce if you are a communist) and cook 1 hour @ 350 degrees.
93% lean ground beef works the best but I got the 85% on sale. Just pull the loaf out of the pan and let it drain on some paper towels and it's perfect.
I took a picture but my stupid technology won't email it for some reason. I'm 2 feet from the router, phone and computer.... maybe an emp hit my phone!
Hard work can kill you and it can make you sore. However, if SHTF I would have to drive on and continue, so that's exactly what I did today. The cabinets were ordered for the kitchen remodel, they will be picked up Thursday. The issue we ran into is timing, the counter top will take 4 weeks to be built and installed once it's ordered. This means no kitchen during the whole time, since we won't have a sink. The stove will work so we can help cook the Christmas dinner, but all cleanup has to be done in the master bathroom, in the bathtub.
We might hold off and start the remodel after Christmas dinner. The deciding factor will be if we can get the new sink installed before the counter top measure, or does it need to be done when the counter top is installed. We are going for a large stainless divided sink, similar to what we have now but under counter. I have to ask around, I don't know the step order for that.
Go buckets go opened today and checked out. There was some food that is coming up on expiration so we swapped that out and sealed everything back up. The buckets are 3 home depot buckets that will carry us and the 2 dogs for 1 week, including hygiene and gas masks. These are the no notice evacuation buckets since we are in an area where a forest fire can rush down the mountain. We wanted everything in them checked and to make sure the water requirements written on each bucket was still accurate. We have a pull wagon we keep at the back door that can hold all the buckets and water for one trip to the vehicles. While one person does this, the other grabs the combat load out and dogs. Out of the house in under 10 minutes easy, including extra clothes if it's winter.
We finally got our second gun safe delivered. It's been our fault in combination with it being locked in a warehouse that we don't have keys to. This second safe is for ammo and the seldom used rifles. The ammo will stay dry and moisture controlled and allow us to have more room in safe #1. The new safe is used but it was free once we paid for the heavy duty movers. It's in the middle of the basement until we figure out exactly where it should go. I think safe #1 needs to be unbolted and moved so we have room for them side by side and still be able to put a freezer where I want.
We also went over the inventory list and decided it's low on black beans and powdered milk. I can get and store the beans myself but the milk I need to order in. 25 year shelf life, 20 lb. bucket, 648 servings per bucket. I will get 3 buckets and add make 3 buckets of beans. We are adding more potatoes to storage while the holidays are here, 15lb.s of large Idaho's for $1.99, hard to pass up.
Meatloaf:
1.5lbs ground beef, 1 egg, 1 C bread crumbs (I prefer fine crushed), 1/2 white onion chopped. Mix, coat with ketchup (or BBQ sauce if you are a communist) and cook 1 hour @ 350 degrees.
93% lean ground beef works the best but I got the 85% on sale. Just pull the loaf out of the pan and let it drain on some paper towels and it's perfect.
I took a picture but my stupid technology won't email it for some reason. I'm 2 feet from the router, phone and computer.... maybe an emp hit my phone!
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Kitchen remodel.
We measure tomorrow, then it's demolish time.
The new stove has been decided on and is going to be awesome, here is a link to it. With some gift cards we have been hoarding, we will end up getting it for half price. It has a downdraft as an added bonus! The dual ovens will be really handy, the small over will be used 90% of the time and will save a bit on the electric bill.
You can get the options of dehydrator and bread proofer but I like my bread to rise in a bowl, like the olden days. Some of the reviews on it make me chuckle how much people rely on some things:
'the timer needs to be louder'
'pizza setting doesn't work right'
'everything must be manually set
'have to clean the glasstop each time to keep it clean'
I have manual timers, can set a temperature and check on food, clean a stove, etc. Sometimes technology is too much of a crutch.
More exciting new is we are going to redo the cabinets, sink and counter top. I helped build my house growing up, and while I'm not making new cabinets, we are going to do everything on our own until it's time for the counter to be installed. There will be a lot of work to be done, we are hoping 2 weeks from start to counter top order. Since we have very little time in the evenings, it's going to be a little bit here and a little bit there. It will save us about $3k in labor and of course it's a nice feeling to do it yourself.
We will gain about 4 feet (length) of cabinet space, that will be perfect for storing the mason jars and such. We contemplated a large cabinet where most of the dishes are but I prefer the deep shelves instead of opening a cabinet door when I need a plate or bowl. This and the silverware drawer are the most used so convenience over looks.
My cereal was empty this morning so I went into storage and grabbed some more. I noticed I have a lot of stuff that is expiring soon in the cereal bins. I'm not eating as much as during the summer, I don't need the massive calorie and carb load when I'm not running. I set aside what we will eat before the end of the year and dropped 14 boxes off to the Mormon neighbors. I think it was 14 anyhow, it will probably last them 2 weeks with 4 kids. I'm eating cereal that expired in July, it's fine, but I don't want things getting stale and being tosses when I can donate it to someone.
I resisted buying cereal at the grocery store tonight, it was even on sale. I picked up a couple of items for storage that were on the list and some fruits and veggies for the week.
The new stove has been decided on and is going to be awesome, here is a link to it. With some gift cards we have been hoarding, we will end up getting it for half price. It has a downdraft as an added bonus! The dual ovens will be really handy, the small over will be used 90% of the time and will save a bit on the electric bill.
You can get the options of dehydrator and bread proofer but I like my bread to rise in a bowl, like the olden days. Some of the reviews on it make me chuckle how much people rely on some things:
'the timer needs to be louder'
'pizza setting doesn't work right'
'everything must be manually set
'have to clean the glasstop each time to keep it clean'
I have manual timers, can set a temperature and check on food, clean a stove, etc. Sometimes technology is too much of a crutch.
More exciting new is we are going to redo the cabinets, sink and counter top. I helped build my house growing up, and while I'm not making new cabinets, we are going to do everything on our own until it's time for the counter to be installed. There will be a lot of work to be done, we are hoping 2 weeks from start to counter top order. Since we have very little time in the evenings, it's going to be a little bit here and a little bit there. It will save us about $3k in labor and of course it's a nice feeling to do it yourself.
We will gain about 4 feet (length) of cabinet space, that will be perfect for storing the mason jars and such. We contemplated a large cabinet where most of the dishes are but I prefer the deep shelves instead of opening a cabinet door when I need a plate or bowl. This and the silverware drawer are the most used so convenience over looks.
My cereal was empty this morning so I went into storage and grabbed some more. I noticed I have a lot of stuff that is expiring soon in the cereal bins. I'm not eating as much as during the summer, I don't need the massive calorie and carb load when I'm not running. I set aside what we will eat before the end of the year and dropped 14 boxes off to the Mormon neighbors. I think it was 14 anyhow, it will probably last them 2 weeks with 4 kids. I'm eating cereal that expired in July, it's fine, but I don't want things getting stale and being tosses when I can donate it to someone.
I resisted buying cereal at the grocery store tonight, it was even on sale. I picked up a couple of items for storage that were on the list and some fruits and veggies for the week.
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