29. A Grander View

You are not going to believe this one.

To start with, I wanted to give you a picture of the house next door, but I was hard-pressed to find one because it is so ugly.  I guess I was trying to ignore the fact that it was even there - this is the best I could do, a picture from before I even bought the place.  It was an old house turned apartment building - really seedy and catering to some really creepy clientele.  It was for sale using the same Realtor that handled my house.  Remember a few posts back, the nice yellow curtains I put up to cover the view?

Well, last night at about 6:30pm, the view dramatically improved.  No one was home, no one was hurt.  So I can gloat - I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood is - dare I say happy? - about the whole thing.  I happened to see this picture on the news before I went to bed last night and thought "hmm, wonder if  that house was anywhere near mine".  This morning I had a missed call from that very Realtor, (I was so pooped last night I didn't hear the phone ring) and I thought "Oh Crap."  It took about thirty minutes of local news surfing before I found it - but there it was, the Misty Shores apartment building going up in flames.  I got a hold of Marilyn and she gave me the whole story - bottom line she said my house was fine:  good thing I hadn't had the asbestos siding removed yet!  She said I might want to have the siding cleaned because of the soot but I couldn't care less, it's all coming off eventually anyway.  My jaw was on the floor. Thank God I didn't get that call last night or I wouldn't have gotten any sleep at all and would probably have rushed over there and spent the night with a bunch of sweaty dirty neighbors wringing their hands.  Slept through the whole thing.

And here's the kicker:  I had given my son Steven permission to stay in my house last night with a couple of his friends, in exchange for a couple of hours of work today.  Something came up and the sleepover was canceled at the last minute.

Here's an excerpt from a news article this morning, complete with a picture of a rescued dog getting oxygen (I love firemen):

A 77-year-old home, converted into a mini apartment complex, was extensively damaged by a fire Friday, authorities said.  No one was in the apartments, however, a dog was rescued from an apartment and was OK, authorities said.

The fire, reported at 6:38 p.m., appears to have started in a back staircase and spread to eaves and into the attic.  Firefighters fought the fire for more than 1 1/2 hours from a fire tower that spewed water on the roof of the building where flames shot out and creamy smoke rose skyward. Firefighters tried to enter the building when they arrived, but had to exit because the fire was already overhead.  Evidence at the scene indicates the fire was deliberately set and the State Fire Marshal's Office was called in to investigate.

It looks like I will have an empty lot next door, and once someone buys it, a nice single-family home built within all the City's lovely historic neighborhood requirements.  I'm going to go out tonight and celebrate - I am loving this project more every day!!

28. Hot Dog

Well what would you call it when it's 95 degrees out and then they tell you the heat index is 106?  What the heck does that mean?  Isn't 95 hot enough for ya?

Anyway, this is Roscoe being smart after his hose-shower.  He gets three or four a day and then lies in front of the fan.  I wouldn't want you to think any animals were harmed in the renovation of this house - he gets lots of treats and walks and chew bones... and he truly loves the hose.  Besides the fact that he would rather be glued to my side whether I was in the Antarctic or the surface of the sun, which it has felt like here in Florida for the last couple of weeks.  Rufus is enjoying the peace, quiet, and air conditioning at home.


Speaking of air conditioning, Joey from Broward Heat and Air came by to answer a few questions today and all you potential visitors will be glad to know that a good heat and air system is going to go into the house in a couple of weeks.  Currently there are no ducts into the upstairs where the bedrooms are, so we discussed having his installers put some in - added a little cost but well worth it.  They are going to put a second return (where the air is sucked back in to the system) upstairs as well, which will greatly increase the efficiency of the whole system.  Rob the Builder overheard the whole conversation and confirmed that this was absolutely the right thing to do - the return is even more important than the ducting itself up there.  I figured I'm putting enough into the whole system, I might as well do it right.  And I think it will function pretty well, once I get the windows overhauled and sealed up.  Frankly there will be plenty of time when the natural breeze will be enough, but man when you want it you want it... like today!

Rob started right in this morning on the kitchen ceiling.  Ken finished up the stairs outside, and worked on the supports in the basement.  This was our first peek into the second story - what exactly was up there?  A few things that needed fixing, but overall a sturdy house.  There will be a few 2x4s needed to make the ceiling nice and level - and R&K are going to build "beams" in the kitchen like the one in the foreground of this picture to match the rest of the downstairs.  It got really messy after this....

Here's Ken joining in the messy, sweaty, fun.  These guys are great - they just love what they do and do it well, when their customer just trusts them and let's them work away.  I always hope that people that work with or for me enjoy what they are doing - I think it adds to the light-hearted friendly spirit of the overall project  This is important to me.

Here's how it looked when we finished up today.  The guys hauled off a dump trailer full of crap - and I threw in the last of the junk I wanted to get rid of from the basement and house.

This is the view of the ceiling, after  they added a little depth to the joists, so the drywall we put up will actually be level!  The drape is hanging over a window to protect it from stuff dropping from the ceiling.

Some time between now and Wednesday, I'm going to try to finish the demo so that when Rob and Ken come back they can continue with the framing in of that doorway, and the drywall ceiling.  I'm also going to try to get John the plumber in there before R&K come back, to re-route the sink drain and supply lines.

27. Steps

I know I said I was tired last night but tonight -- well it's a good thing there's only one day left in the work week or I'd be done for.

Today Rob and Ken, my two favorite carpenters, started their work.  The first thing they were to start on was the stairs up to the back porch.  For one thing they were very rickety and soon-to-be dangerous.  For another thing, I wanted them turned around, so you didn't have to walk around to the side of the house to go up.  This is a picture of the stairs before they started.  The porch was also a little slanted down to the right as a result of one of the joist boards coming loose.

They got going right away, with wood that I had picked up at Home Depot the night before.  We did a little back and forth, deciding what was going to go where, and before lunchtime they were almost done!

This is Roscoe checking out the progress.

And voila!  This is the staircase just the way I wanted it - they moved the landing and the opening onto the porch, and to me it makes more sense this way - you can get out of your car with groceries and what-not and climb right up the stairs.  They needed a few more boards to finish the steps, but I already picked those up and will have them on site in the morning.

After all this, we went inside and discussed what was next.  They did a little "exploratory surgery" into the kitchen ceiling, to figure out why there was a little 'sway' to the second story.  It turns out that the sway had been there for a long time - and the previous renovations were done right on top of it.  So long story short is:  if I have them jack up the floor to it's appropriate level, we would lose a lot of tile and flooring work that had already been done - at a great expense.  We came up with a way to support the lowest level, so the sag wouldn't proceed any further, and fix the kitchen ceiling cosmetically, so you wouldn't really notice.  There will always be a little slope to the upstairs hallway - if you put a bowling ball in one room I think it would eventually make it around the landing and down the stairs all by itself.  But hey, the house is almost 100 years old - what do you want?  I don't want to rebuild the whole thing.  One of the things I appreciate about Rob and Ken is that they know how to do everything, but still want to know how I want it done.  Usually I yield if they really think something is important, but when they present a choice, the decision is mine.  And I trust that they wouldn't steer me wrong.

Tomorrow we will probably start right in on demo in the kitchen - the drywall, plaster and lath have to come off the walls and ceiling, because the previous renovators made a poopy mess of it, pardon my French.  Should be a fun and dirty day!!

26. De-Funked!!

I'm pretty exhausted so I'll be brief.  I didn't want to put off posting though, because Rob and Ken are coming tomorrow and some real work will begin... I should have lots to talk about tomorrow.

First thing I did today is finish that basement clean-out.  I hate to leave something half finished, plus we may need the space to store wood and tools starting tomorrow.  The garbage men came on Monday and took an enormous load away... so today I got the last few pieces of yucky furniture and cabinets out.  Also loaded up some wood in the truck for my fire pit and some more metal stuff for my scrappy friends.  There was a handicapped lavatory also - no idea why that was there - which I took to the Habitat for Humanity resale place on the way home.  The basement really seems big now that it's cleaned out - see the sink over in the corner?  It's an old three bay sink, maybe soapstone, with cool iron legs that you can't see.  I'm sure it's original to the house.

I gave Roscoe his first shower of the day and we moved inside.  In the dining room I hung up these curtains I actually found at the thrift store yesterday - it's hard to believe how perfectly they fit this window.  The curtain rod is made of pieces and parts I had at home. This is a nice window, but the building next door is kind of ugly, and has some leaky and precariously balanced AC units on that side.  The dining set you see was left at the house, so I'm using it for a work table and seating during the construction process.  I'll probably give it away at some point in the future.

I pulled out the stove and moved it into the sun porch by the front door - it's listed on CL and I hope to sell it.  No luck today on that.  I also moved a couple of cabinets out of the kitchen that weren't even fixed in place, to get ready for the demo that may start tomorrow.

Then we moved on to the upstairs.  I brought down the last of the gross furniture that was up there, and threw most of it on the trash pile.  One piece remains on the front porch though, since Roscoe thought it made a nice place to sit during lunch break.  I am not so brave, and sit in the green chair I brought from home.  A few more bags of trash came down, and then I swept and vacuumed.  I was making great progress until I lost my grip on the shop vac coming down the stairs and had to vacuum everything up again at the bottom.  Ran over the floors up there with a good Lysol mopping, and voila!  No more remnants of strange people and their cats (don't ask).

Balance Forward:  $292

$4  electric canopener
$6  four perfect yellow tab-top curtain panels
$5  towels (pink for the beach!)
$2  salad spinner
$2  shower curtain
$3  storage basket

Remainder:  $270

25. The Cleaning Lady Finally Came!

I went to Grandview today with a short list.  The main thing to get done was some cleaning inside the house - the funk was just grossing me out.  The floors were nasty and there were hairballs floating around from some animal - presumably the same one that tore up a couple of the window sills when it was left alone for too long.  Lots of dirt since the house had sat vacant for so long.

I brought up my stuff and set up shop.  I actually had some groceries with me - a bag of apples and peanut butter and jelly sandwich fixin's.  It's so nice to have a working refrigerator!!  I put that stuff in the fridge and got Roscoe his bone (really it's some giant smoky flavored meaty knuckle or hip joint).  That kept him happy - he spent a lot of time walking around with the thing in his mouth, trying to decide if there was any place to hide it.  He tried stuffing it behind the couch cushion but I wasn't having any of that. He finally resolved to hang out with it by his bed and give it a gnaw every now and then.  He is much more comfortable now that we have a fan.

I got cracking on some silverware that was left in the house - I scrubbed each piece and then let them soak in some bleach water for a while, just to satisfy my own germ-phobia.  Then I rinsed, dried and now I have a whole tray of sanitized usable stuff for PBJs etc.

Next victim was the fridge.  Honestly it's a really nice Whirlpool fridge.  The appliances were from 2005, but not used much because I think the house was vacant a lot.  There were still stickers inside that said "remove before using".  I still wiped the whole thing down - there was a small amount of something orange - Fanta? - gumming up a couple of shelves... but no more!  Here is the finished product:  Meager, but clean.  There is an ice maker that hums when you press the thingy, but I don't think the water is hooked up yet.  It will be when it goes into it's final position in the remodeled kitchen, thanks to my friend John the plumber (I couldn't make this stuff up).

Then I turned my attention to the downstairs bathroom.  This is the only room in the house that really got a renovation already.  The floors were done throughout the house, but this room got the full treatment.  Again, the stickers were still on the bathtub!  It had been used, but probably never cleaned, so it took some elbow grease to make it presentable.   Same with the sink and toilet, but thankfully someone thought to leave the charming old medicine cabinet like the one upstairs.  It's now clean and has a couple of rolls of TP, toothbrush and toothpaste in it.  I think this will be my bathroom, since guests upstairs will use that one.  It's actually amazing that I don't want to redecorate this  - phew!  Windows will need work, like the rest of them in the house - but one of them is actually functioning pretty well already.  I'll put in some cafe curtains so I don't have to wave to the neighbors when I get out of the shower.

Then I proceeded to sweep, vacuuming up the piles as I went, with my shop vac of course.  Then I got out the lysol and mopped my fool head off.  Did the whole downstairs, emptied the fireplace of ashy remnants and Febreezed the heck out of the couch that the other guy left behind.  I haven't shown you that one yet - it's actually pretty cool.  This is the kitchen as it is now - clean but it won't be like this for long.  Rob the builder is coming in on Thursday to start ripping things apart.  I'm selling the stove, since the new stove location will require one without the big control panel on the back.  You'll be in on every phase of the kitchen re-do, hang in there...

Aside from all this cleaning, I did a little thinking about a front gate while I ate my PBJ on the front porch with Roscoe, enjoying a spectacular - and yes:  almost cool - beachy-smelling breeze at 2:00pm.  I also squirted a little more Roundup where Duke missed a spot or two, or the weeds were especially rigorous.  The place is looking pretty good.

Saturday I did find a few things at yard sales, and also sold 10 boxes of leftover laminate flooring I found in the basement for $100 bucks!!

Balance forward:  $202

+$100  sale of laminate flooring
$3  belgian waffle maker
$2  misc. bakeware
$5  set of queen size Egyptian cotton sheets in just the right color!

Remainder:  $292

24. The Battle of the Boug

I feel a little bit bad about not taking more pictures yesterday, since I did get so much accomplished.  Or maybe that's why I got so much accomplished.  Anyway, I came up with a catchy title, don't you think?

This is my Boug.  Defined as:

any of several shrubs or vines of the genus Bougainvillea,  native to South America, having small flowers with showy, variously colored bracts, and often cultivated in warm regions.

Funny they fail to mention the murderous thorns on every inch of every branch.  Long sleeves or not, gloves, boots - doesn't matter:  I've had one of the spines stab me through the sole of my sneaker.  Anyone who knows anything about landscaping has told me to yank the thing out by the roots - with a truck and a chain.  Unfortunately, I want to keep it.

First of all I think it's been there long enough that it has a right to stay.  I also have a poetic vision:  A few carefully selected stalks lovingly strapped to the porch supporting post, allowed to grow up over the roof, and over the years becoming thick with age.  A beautiful parasol of vibrant pink blossoms, and a rain shower of magenta when they are through.  A place for birdies and butterflies to flit and roost, and a lacy veil behind which to enjoy my porch perch sans the watchful eyes of alleyway pedestrians.  And thorns be-damned, I'm not ready to give that up just yet. 

So I began yesterday carefully trimming, making neat piles that might not make my poor trash man bleed too much.  I was making great headway when Don came by - he's the one who is going to give me a quote on the fence work.  He is the one that suggested the truck pull - especially when we realized that the fence plan ran right through the center of a 6" wide stump at the base of the mass  pictured above.  I yielded at the moment, gave up my dream.  Moved on with fence plan 'A'.

How often does my plan 'A' make it all the way through to fruition?  Ha!  During a wee-hours-of-the-morning musing session, I realized all I have to do is move the fence line 18" to the left.  It actually will fit better with the lay of the land - you can't see it but there's a little slope and a small retaining wall we would have had to work around.  I lose 18" of driveway.  Oh well.  The hard part will be breaking it to Don that I'm keeping his nemesis for the foreseeable future:  The Boug won The Battle.  I will finish the careful pruning when I return.

Aside from that, the really exciting news is that the power is on!  The meter box cover slid into place perfectly, and within 30 minutes of my phone call an FPL guy was on the scene to snap in a new meter.  I almost kissed him!  Then I went into the basement and flipped the breaker like Dr. Frankenstein:  "IT'S A-LIIIIVE!"  I was laughing and jumping around like an idiot.  I called Bobbie and I could barely contain myself.  You have to understand I've been doing hard labor in 90+ temps without a fan or refrigerator... though the breeze on the front porch was delightful.

I met with fence guy as I said, and the ADT guy came and turned the system on so the alarm is now active.  One other thing:  I had advertised on craigslist to sell a crate of leftover slate tile in the basement.  The only person that showed up was Al, with his little 7- or 8-year old daughter Besa.  These two were great.  The tile was so broken up I decided to give it to him for free.  He also loaded up two truckloads of busted up cabinets and other miscellaneous that I would have had to drag out to the trash pile and drove it all away!  Little Besa wanted to help so I gave her a broom and she worked away on a small area and got that all swept up.  So much work that I didn't have to do!  Plus they were a delight to chat with - he is also a handyman and renovator of older homes.  Thanks to them the right side of the basement is almost completely clean.  I left with another batch of metal for the scrappers happy and tired.  Sorry I didn't click a picture before I split.

 Here's a picture from the bridge over the inter-coastal waterway heading into town.  See the church way over on the right?  My house is right near that.  You can see the Ferris wheel and some other stuff on the boardwalk and the big hotels to the north.  Just a hint - I know I haven't divulged where the house is yet.

23. The Basement

Today was one of the good days.  I think I get the most excited when there is a lot to do - because I know at the end of the day I will be able to see some progress.

This is the list for today.  I already told you how much I love lists!  I have this spiral notebook with me everywhere I go.  I start an entry with "Next Trip" and the date at the top.  The main portion is a list of what I want to accomplish on that day.  Then there are three sub-lists:  "Prior To" which is phone calls etc. that I have to make before I go, "Buy" which is stuff I have to purchase and "Take" which is my final checklist to make sure I haven't forgotten to load everything up.  On the pages in between I make notes on each phone call I have to make, quantities I have to order or measurements, etc.  It is essential to keep this all in one place - it saves me a lot of brain space if I don't have to try to remember every little thing.  And I get more done because I'm not forgetting that particular tool I need to do item number 9.

I'm already working on the lists for two visits in the future - I plan them as things come up that I have to do on a particular day.

I did actually skip a couple of things today - you can see they are not crossed off.  I figured since I'm going back tomorrow, some of the items fit better with tomorrow's agenda.

This is a picture of Roscoe and our mobile office.  Cooler with lunch saves time and money.  Tools and cute box with all my files in it.  Safety leash so Roscoe doesn't venture too far after the kitty across the street.

I started out in front of the house - I'd like to do just a little sprucing up on each visit to make the place look more presentable (translation:  more lived in so maybe a certain transient will stop making his bed on my front porch).  I actually called the police and they told me to put their stuff in the trash.  Again I couldn't bring myself to throw someone's meager possessions away so I piled them neatly on a pallet near the trash.  Then I weeded out the 4' high lanky grass that has grown up around the row of bushes in front of the porch.  Well I weeded about half of it.  I gave each bush a good soaking, probably their first in a long time.  Then I dumped some miracle gro on each one - I figure if I'm going to keep them I might as well kick start them now.  What I learned:  When you have a house that faces east, it's better to do the front yard gardening in the afternoon - the morning was blazing but around 2:00pm it was nice and shady up there.  So tomorrow I might finish the weeding.  In the afternoon.  I also swept and hosed off the front porch - Roscoe had stayed on the porch where he would have shade, and when I was done I let him play in the hose.

During that time, Mike the ADT guy came and installed the control panel, contacts and smoke detector.  He'll come back when the power is on to do a final check and tell me how to use it.  Also a guy came to pick up some crappy cabinets I had listed on craigslist - free, but it was nice not to have to move them.

After a short break, we headed for the big job of the day:  The Basement!  This is the before picture of just the left side and yes folks, it is as bad as it looks.   Here was the goal:
1.  Make a throw-away pile next to the trash bins (which were finally delivered by the way).
2.  Make a pile of metal stuff for some friends of mine that like to "scrap" - collect a trailer load and take it to the metal recycling place for money.  They're not doing it for crack so I like giving it to them.
3.  Make a nice place to store the wood I brought from Home Depot.
4.  Load some leftover laminate flooring in the truck to take home and either use or list on CL.

I managed to do all that... for half the basement.  Tomorrow I'm going back to finish the right side.  I hope.  Check out the finished product!  This is more of an Amy-style basement.

I actually finished at around 1:30 and was ready for a lunch break when the guy came to talk to me about my AC "situation".  The furnace is crap, and the AC unit, which is not a heat pump and too small for the house, is also crap.  When the thieves moved it they broke both copper valves and the compressor is rattling around inside.  It could be fixed, but is it worth it?  Nobody would put a warranty on it.  So... here's what I think I'm going to do.  If I get a Rheem heat pump (exterior) and air handler (interior) they are throwing in a free water heater right now because Rheem is giving them away.  My water heater is pretty old and doesn't look that hot anyway (haha).   They will rebuild the housing under the house, which would need to be done with a new furnace anyway.  No gas, no carbon monoxide.  And ... drum roll please...  I'll be eligible for a $1500 tax rebate.  With that included the cost of all this is around $4500 - I don't think I could do much better than that, and I'm all set with a warranty on everything for 10 years!!!  I could live without heat and air, ok, but I don't think my guests should have to so I'm going to do it.

I'm achy and tired but happy.  Ready to go at it again tomorrow, and take the weekend off!!

22. New Front Porch Plan

Great news:  Dave came back with a price from his supplier of $3.61 per lineal foot.  This is cypress that has been milled to exactly match what is on the house.  I need about 125 lf to complete the porch project, but I'm ordering 300 lf to get a price break - smaller quantities are $4.94per lf.  So I'm spending a little more right now, but it's a savings of around $400 overall - and I'm sure I will use the siding at some point in this adventure.  I placed the order today, and it should be ready in about a week, plenty of time to have it on site when Rob starts the front door project.

Speaking of the front door project.  I've been doing a little daydreaming (a natural state for me) about how to do that front porch.  This is how it looks right now.  I've already told you that the door on the right side is going to be removed, and the plan was just to close up the opening with that super-cypress-siding I'm purchasing.  But then I started thinking about moving the light fixture, and the big blank wall... what about finding a small stained glass window to put there?  Duke suggested a porthole, since my daughter just found an authentic old brass porthole at a thrift store... imagine throwing it open and saying "WHO GOES THERE?".   Eventually the "aha" moment came and I decided to cut the door in half, so I can use the window part, wibbly glass and all, in the new wall.  I will make a design and paint it with stained glass paints.   Won't that be a fun project?  Below is the lamely-photoshopped hypothesis of how it will look.  Just for planning - come on, quit laughing.

That will allow room inside for the couch against that wall - directly across from the fireplace.  I haven't shown you any pictures of the inside yet - you must be dying!  I have to save something to keep you interested, don't I?  And you can share the sensation with me that things are moving like molasses... when are we going to get past the front door!?

OK - I'll throw you a bone.  This is the fireplace.  Apparently someone thought it would be a good idea to cover the existing brick with slate tile.  This is going to be chipped off, and I am going to do my best to restore the brick - it will probably end up being painted but that's ok.  So stay tuned folks and one day you will get to see THAT fascinating process.

21. Margarita!!

Started off the day with a visit to Dave at Superior.   I know you're probably tired of hearing about my siding drama, but it's not clear cut, and the decision I make will affect the look of the house AND the financial bottom line.  Right now I'm concentrating on the front porch area, because the rest of the siding on the house is covered with asbestos shingles and I'm not ready to tackle that problem (don't worry - I will hire a contractor for that job).  I don't know the condition of the wood underneath the asbestos so if it is 100% shit I will have to buy about 5,000 lineal feet of the wood.  So you can see that one or two dollars per foot can make a huge difference.

On the other hand, I don't want the house to look like I just added the siding in 2010.  I'd like it to look as close to the original as possible.

The best option for looks is to have the lumber milled to match the original.  I have a price for this of $5.50/lf.  Another option is to use novelty siding, one of the two profiles shown in the picture.  My board is at the top so you can compare the shape.  The first profile is too square, in my opinion - and I see a lot of people use this to repair older homes.  The second profile is better, but still missing a little "hump".  I can get this for $3.00/lf.  This will save me about $300 right now but if I end up needing a large quantity on the rest of the house, I'll save a bundle.  If it doesn't butt right up to the existing, I might get away with replacing certain areas and not others.

Dave and I discussed these options, and then he had a brainstorm - he knows someone who works at another milling operation, that specializes in siding and trim - and might be able to mill my custom profile, in cypress, for somewhere between the two price points mentioned above.  I thought that was nice of him, considering his company wouldn't be making any money on the deal.  Maybe I'll take him to lunch or something.  He will call me when he knows if it can be done.

Aside from that meeting, I called and made an appointment with a company who will check out the furnace and give me a quote on replacing it if necessary.  I did not like the look of the existing furnace, and to have something under a wooden house, connected to gas, with a flame in it...  well, you get my drift.  I think it's worth a little investment there.

This is an almost new weed eater I picked up for free a couple of weeks ago on Craigslist.  The guy said there was some problem with the head and he didn't want to bother to work on it so he went and bought another one.  Some people, huh?  I didn't post about it because I figured it would take some fixing and didn't want to brag.  But I fired it up yesterday, and just can't seem to see what the problem is.... ate some weeds and it worked like new, better than the one I already have!  I hate the heads that use the string all wound up, I prefer the kind that uses 6" pieces that you insert individually, so I spent $24 on one of these heads at HD.  This will be Grandview's first piece of lawn maintenance equipment.

Then I headed out to the thrift stores, where I hit the mother lode.  Well, that might be an exaggeration, but take a look:

I picked up a metal detector for $9, which will be fun to have at the beach.  The first place I'm going to use it though is under and around the house - the place has been there for almost 100 years, surely somebody dropped a goody or two along the way.  I used one once before - paid $100 and never found the piece of jewelery I lost in a field.  After digging up a bag full of soda cans I put the thing back in the box and returned it to the store.  Hopefully I have more interesting results with this one.  It works - even has a good battery in it!
 

Next to that you can see a beach umbrella.  I already have one, but hey, it's a beach house, right?  I'm already devising a way to zip-tie it to my wheelbarrow so I can have a bit of shade when I'm weeding out there.  On the right is folding step-stool-ladder thingy.  I have one of these at my house and they are invaluable when painting, changing light bulbs or when short friends need to get something from the top of the fridge.

Found my coffee pot, a paper towel dispenser and some glass canisters for coffee and sugar.  I'll have splenda available but I never touch the stuff myself.  I had been looking for a set of plates - hard to find a full set with no chippies.  This one is a set of four - I'll probably add to that when I see something else I like.  One cool 50's style serving bowl.  Four hand blown blue-rimmed margarita glasses.  note to self:  look for a nice blender.  Also picked up some more towels - pink ones for the beach and some others.  A couple of other misc. items - it was all a great score.









Including the awesome fluffy hotel-style bathrobe pictured below I spent $37 on everything.

Balance forward:  $263

$24  weed eater replacement head
$37  mother lode of misc

Remainder:  $202

20. Yard Work

Haven't posted in four days!!  I have a few updates, but not a lot of new pictures - so here's a generic shot from the front for all you looky-lou's.

Since I was having no luck finding a power meter box replacement cover, on Friday I ordered a whole new box I found on the internet for $70.  I'll simply pop off the cover and place it on mine.  No electrician required.  It should be here on Tuesday, and I'll install it on Wednesday.  I'm hoping FPL won't dally too long getting the power turned on... because Mike the ADT installer is coming on Thurs.  He did say even if the power was off he would put the system in anyway, and come back when the power gets turned on to check everything.

I met with Dave at Superior Trim and Door.  I took my siding sample to him, and discussed having some made to match. I need 160 lf because I'm going all the way to the window rather than have a big seam in the middle, shown by the pink square in the picture.  Turns out that on top of the "blade charge" of $125 the boards would cost me $5.50 per lineal foot which would amount to $880 just for the wood to close up the door on the porch.  Not liking that too much.  Dave gave me a tour of the facility, and explained the process, showing me all the cool wood-shaping machines.  I asked him if I could come when they were doing it and take pictures for the blog and he said he thought that was a great idea.  But don't you get too excited because it may not happen that way.  After I left him, he called and said he had another idea - he had a book of "novelty siding" profiles that were available from a manufacturer and he found one that almost identically matched my piece - and the total would be more like $600.  I liked the sound of that, so I'm going to go in Monday to place that order, so it doesn't look like I'm going to be blogging about any wood-planing machinery just yet.

The City called me and told me the permit for the front door and garage door was approved.  I also received my survey in the mail, so when I go in to pick up the door permit I can make my fence permit application at the same time.

My landscape-artist friend Duke came to the house with me on Saturday, to check it out and help me with a couple of things.  We found somebody's luggage on the front porch!  I'm not letting this kind of thing bother me - nothing was damaged, and I'm sure as people see more activity at the place the situation will improve.  I weed-whacked the front and side lawn, and he took his Round-Up sprayer and hit all the weedy fence lines and everywhere else something needed to die.  Gardening is almost a compulsion for me - it's very hard to wait to work on the garden at Grandview.  It's just silly to do anything out there besides some cleanup and maintenance until the big work is done on the house.  Duke also helped me move some furniture around upstairs and do a rough sweep-up of one bedroom, the first one I will be fixing up for habitation.  We also cleaned out a sliver of space in the basement, and slid in the pre-hung exterior door I had purchased from the surplus place.  By the way this kind of item is going on a running renovation expense list I am keeping - separate from the furnishing allowance I have at the bottom of each post.

While we were there, Rob the Builder popped over for a reconnaissance mission.  I walked around with him and showed him the areas of work I would like him to concentrate on first, and we made up a list of materials for me to have on hand when he starts - looks like the Monday after next.  I don't want he or his brother wasting time running back and forth to Home Depot so I'll be doing all the go-fering.   We talked about the front door and the back deck, but where he's going to start is in the kitchen.  I finally figured out how I want the kitchen laid out and I had my drawing ready to show him.  Of course I'm not doing the whole remodel now, but since he has to put in a load-bearing beam across an opening in there, I needed to have the kitchen plan solidified because once he's done, the main walls aren't changing.  I'll do a post on the kitchen plan, with specific photos, later on.

I also made up a little first-aid kit to keep at the house.  Just in case anyone gets a boo-boo or bug bite.

Balance forward:  $283

$20  first aid kit

Remainder:  $263

19. Surprise, Surprise!

When I was at the house the last time I should have gone into the basement and turned on the main breaker.  If I had, I would have realized that FPL never turned on the power.  "Why?" you might ask.  Well, it seems that when my AC unit was being a-pilfered, they also got the cover of the power meter box.  I guess ten or twenty of these and you have enough scrap for a  little crack.  The power company had removed the meter entirely - the  box was there but no cover, and I vaguely remember Jake pointing it out, but I assumed that when the FPL guy came out over a week ago and there was no meter, he'd either replace it and bill me, or GIVE ME A FREAKING CALL!!

I called FPL.  They told me they won't replace the meter until I have an electrician install a box cover.  A piece of metal that hangs from the top lip of the box and clips to the bottom.  I have to hire an electrician to install it.  Ha!!  This is where it really comes in handy to have the friends that I do.  I called Bobbie, who is a master at figuring out how to get something done... just sit back and let 'er go.  She and Jake had an electrical contracting business for years.  She made a couple of calls, I'll have my box lid and I will put the dang thing on myself.  Then it's a matter of how long it will take FPL to get out there with a new meter... and Rob the builder is supposed to start on stuff on Monday.  Won't happen if we can't plug in a power saw.  And a fan.

Oh, and I called ADT who was supposed to do the install this afternoon.  No go without power.  The guy showed up at 11am though - and we did a walk around and talked.  Nice guy - Mike.  He rescheduled with me for Thursday - a long way away but he didn't want to risk the power being off again. 

I really could have used a fan today.  Yes, yes, nice beach breeze blowing through and it wasn't bad for me - but I had both Rufus and Roscoe with me.  Poor things almost melted.  Lots of water though - and we got out of there around noon.  Here's what we got done:

1.  Listed those ugly couches (my apologies to any of you who have couches like this - just not my style) and sold them for $40.  A nice young couple came to get them and I threw in a lamp I didn't want as well.  And either the guy had a hole in his pocket or the couch was leaking money - there was a dollar or two in change on the floor after they left.

2.  Changed two deadbolts.  This door is not actually the one I will be keeping, but it was the one with the lock that everyone and their mother had a key to.  I'll move it to the other door when we do the front door work.  The other deadbolt I put on the back door.  I think that's primarily the door I will be going in and out of.  Since I park in the back, it's easier to come up those stairs to the porch than walk all the way around to the front.

3.  Cleaned the kitchen sink!  Well sort of.  It's a strange material - something no one should ever make a kitchen sink out of.  Maybe it was cool when it was new, probably supposed to look like stone or some such.  But over time it's gotten rough, and it's got water spots on it that I can't seem to get out.  I don't plan to keep this one, but it's fine for now.  Nice to see some cleaning products scattered about, isn't it?  Also cleaned two counters.  If I had had a couple of fans and some music I think I would have cleaned the whole house.  It was fun.

4.  Visited City Hall to apply for my permits.  It was surprisingly simple.  They notarized my signature right there, no charge.  I met Ron the Plans Examiner, who I believe I mentioned in a previous post.  Nice guy - we went through all the drawings and forms that I had filled out.  He made it simple and we put both the front door and garage door on one application.  He will call after he looks it all over to let me know when we can start work.  I was only in there for ten minutes!!  Of course I was worried because it was the first time leaving the puppies alone at the house.  That's why I decided to bring Rufus with us today - to keep Roscoe company when I left.  When I got back to the house, there they were - wagging their tails at the door.  I could see the huge puddle of slobber on the floor where Roscoe must have spent the whole time panting of course.

5.  These three photos show where I pried the window trim off the front porch, in order to bring home a piece of the original siding.  I got to see the innards of the window system - I guess you call it a sash pulley or counterweight system.  Once I saw how it was done inside the window, I realized how simple it really is.  That big iron piece in the third picture gives you some leverage and supposedly makes the window easier to open - I guess that's the case if they don't have 1/4 inch of paint on them.  I am looking forward to refinishing the windows and restoring all of the sash-pulley thingies!

Balance Forward:  $241

+$42 sale of couch and change that fell out of it

Remainder:  $283 

18. One Man's Trash Can

Hit the thrifties today, picked up a couple of cool items.  This chair, I'll call it a library chair, is in absolutely perfect shape, with just the right amount of wear to give it character.  I love chairs, if I haven't mentioned this already.  To me they are the height of functional art.  So many ways to arrange a seat, legs and back - the possibilities are  unlimited.  And who can imagine a life without a chair?  They have become an absolute cornerstone of human existence, at least until we evolve so far we no longer have butts (if you believe that sort of thing).  I plan to match this one with some sort of desk at Grandview - who knows what that will be or when it will turn up!


I also found a great kitchen trash can.  With a couple of dogs, it's necessary to have a lidded trash, or keep it under the sink.  This is a pretty nice one - has the liner that holds the bag so you don't have to see that part.  I haven't cleaned it up yet - it's a little spotty after getting rinsed out.

I began writing up the permit applications today for submission tomorrow, for the front door and garage door work.  As I was going through the requirements for the garage door replacement, I saw that they were asking for specs on the door that I would be installing there.  So I had to go to the surplus place where I purchased the door, and they said they don't have specs on any of their stuff.  He was ready to refund my money, but I asked him to take the screw out and open the door so I could look for a sticker inside the jamb - they were skeptical but there it was.  Why am I telling them how to do their job?  Anyhoo, looking very smart I asked them if it was ok to wait until after I got the permit to pick up the door, since I had to make sure the city would approve a door with these specifications.  They were fine with that and when I returned home I downloaded a spec sheet to include with the application.  Two copies each of two drawings, the site plan and photos with description of work later, I had everything in a folder to take to Jake for his final suggestions.  I'm headed over there for a happy hour meeting with him and Bobbie as soon as I finish this.

I also went to Superior and picked up my three deadbolts that had been re-keyed.  I saw the original Dave that I had met weeks ago, had a nice conversation, and told him I would be back next week with a piece of wood for him to copy.  He said he couldn't think of any reason why he wouldn't be able to make it perfectly.

Then on to HD for a couple of "No Tresspassing" signs and a mailbox and I'm back home.  After my meeting with J & B (that's Jake and Bobbie from now on) I'll get all packed up so I can leave early in the morning.


Balance forward:  $252

$7  library chair
$4  trash can

Remainder:  $241

17. Hiccup

I lied.  Well, not really - more a case of jumping the gun.  I shouldn't have promised you that I was starting a real project on Wednesday.  Let me explain.

I started out this morning at Superior Trim and Door.  Met a very nice man named Justin who walked me through the factory.  I love that kind of thing - big machines, turning slabs of wood into molding and trim.  Men building door jambs and driving forklifts.  (Sorry Judy, nobody was wearing hard hats!)  I brought the three deadbolts I had bought over the weekend in so they could re-key them, and we were walking to a little office in the corner.  Inside was a man named Dave, surrounded by paperwork and locks and keys of all kinds.  I felt like I was behind the curtain with The Great Oz - too bad I didn't have my camera.

Dave was very nice and looked the locks over - he said he remembered when they put these out for sale he noticed that a piece was loose and told me he would give all three the once-over and re-key them all alike, so I would only need one key.  I left him with the locks and my phone number.  As I walked out with Justin, I asked him about the garage door - my problem was that the door opening was 80" high, but I was buying a door with a jamb already made that was 80 3/4" tall.  I told him I planned to take the top piece of the jamb off so the whole thing would fit and he said that would be fine but I would need a piece of casement molding which he would give me for $1 when I picked up the deadbolts tomorrow.

Then I went to the Surplus place and bought the actual door, which I will pick up tomorrow.  I decided on a $114 6-panel door instead of the plain one for $109.  I am going to make the whole thing a little nicer than I had originally thought, after looking at some custom garage doors in a brochure that Bobbie had given me months ago.  I'm going to do something like this, except painted, and not curved at the top of course.  You'll see, I can't really explain it all right now.

Then I returned home and started drawing a sketch of the work to be done, so I would know how much lumber to take with me on Wednesday.  As I did this, I had a little thought in the back of my head that I might need a permit to do this.  For some reason I was thinking since it's at the back of the house I wouldn't need one.  Being the conscientious citizen that I am, I called the City Building Department who confirmed my suspicion.  I don't want have to look over my shoulder, and I would much rather the City and neighborhood on my side, so I'm postponing the work until I have a permit in hand.  I will make the application on Wednesday.  I won't be able to do the fence app because it doesn't look like I will have my survey until next week.  *deep breath*

It's ok - I'm not in any big hurry.  It's wonderful to be able to pace myself and enjoy the project - I forget that sometimes.

Now for the good news,  Visited St. Vincent's thrift store today and what do you know?  There were two light fixtures, new in the boxes - that almost exactly match this super-cool fixture that is on the porch at Grandview!!  All that's missing is a little rust.  One of them is a chandelier that I will use in the foyer.  One will go over the bar that I will build when I remodel the kitchen.  And I got them for $10 each!!  I know I can hardly believe it myself.  See below!

Balance forward:  $272

$20  two awesome light fixtures

Remainder:  $252