plumbing is a pain in the a@@!

That is my favorite quote of the day...from my favorite professional plumber (aka Dad) when asked why I can't just put a toilet wherever I want...  I am learning a lot about vent pipes (and how do you get them from floor one up through the roof) and how big they should be and what type of pitch ones needs to properly let the good waste flow.

Oh yes and important question #2 - just how many floor joists can you cut through before the structure starts to sag?  I am counting at least seven - but do notice a definite pitch near the upstairs toilet suspiciously near where the pipes run through...

These are NOT from my house.  Gee don't I feel better now...

Miscellaney

Digital notepad...here you go...I just need to jot a few item down...

Vessel Sink from Vintage Tub - too cute.  No overflow though, will the kids flood the bathroom?  Can I put an antique cabinet below for vanity?

Cool outside light - illuminates house number by Pottery Barn:  Mayfair Sconce

Potential living room sconces from Home Depot:  Rustic Iron Wall Sconce

Corner Gas Fireplace Design...

Our one central chimney is small and being used for the furnace.  I think originally the front living room had a wood stove (there is a patched spot that could have been originally from a stove pipe), but no fireplace.

I do miss my former fireplace.  It provides a room with beauty, a display shelf and a place to hang the Christmas stockings...not to mention there is nothing like cozying up to a fire during those cold winter storms. Shall we sing...well the weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful...  You get the gist. 

To address these concerns I have talked the husband into getting a gas or pellet stove.  They have these great direct vent zero clearance stoves that put out a lot of heat and will assuage my fireplace longings.  We debated the gas/pellet pros and cons (I won't bore you with all that) and decided that we have enough to do around here we want the easiest option with zero (okay very little) maintenance.  Plus we have already used up our tax credit on windows so we wouldn't get the 30% discount on the pellet one..

Anyway, I have been busy trying to figure out where to stick it (I need an outside wall not next to the window we are putting back).  I am opting for the corner since I think it would give the most viewing area.  I also want it to look like it belongs there (no modern stoves).  So I have been looking into hearths and mantels and brink refractories, and door faces and styles.  Here are a few that I like:

I think I am leaning towards white...  I also like the rustic look of wood, but then I have to consider matching the wood trim on the furniture which is a little more on the formal side...

plaster vs. wallboard...

Who knew this could invoke quite a controversy!  Everyone I have talked to has a different opinion and I found quite a few heated discussions online about the difference...

Unfortunately most of our original plaster walls have been messed with.  The dining room has paneled boards up against the framing where the plaster and lath use to be.  We decided to gut the living room (there are only three walls since one wall was removed and replaced with a big metal beam) to see what was in there as it would give us a feel for the rest of the house.  It's a north facing room with two exterior walls so we knew we could beef up insulation while we were at it.

I think it was the right choice!  We were able to remove a lot of nest materials, stinky mouse poop, a mouse skeleton, and see that there was no insulation at all.  We also found out that way too many joists were cut up for plumbing and that we should enforce the structural integrity of quite a few of them.

So now we have to decide how we want to finish the walls and where the tv and new gas fireplace should go and where we want lighting switches and wall outlets and overhead and/or wall lighting...  Lots of decisions.  There is a plasterer in town that I am going to call for a price and see how it compares with the rest.  Overall, this is going to be an expensive room (second to the bathrooms and kitchen) but I am hoping that we will love it once it is done and we definitely will be spending a lot of time in the one warm room in an otherwise uninsulated house!

Here are some links for the plaster vs. wallboard discussions...very interesting!
http://reviews.houseinprogress.net/archives/000942.html
http://homefixated.com/2009/07/02/plaster-vs-drywall/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drywall
http://www.contractortalk.com/f49/plaster-vs-drywall-10879/index3/

More demo fun...

The demo crew...day one...let the sledgehammers rip and the fun begins...

How many men does it take to wrestle a Majestic stove out of the wall? Note - the stove outer metal has duct-taped seams and it did not extend past the first floor celing...

Nope we won't be putting this beauty back. It is sitting on my front lawn right now in case you want it.

A insulated heat pipe outside the uninsulated wall.

That is NOT snow folks...

A celing squirrel nest. So far no sign of squirrels although the cats were running around the house like nuts in the middle of the night chasing mice (I think it was mice...). No trace this morning - either they ate the evidence or they were not successful.

The mess part one....

The mess part deux...

Dave wrestles the ceiling. Dave wins!!!

Doesn't every old house have a railroad trestle instead of a load-bearing wall???

Scott wants to know - what exactly does one of these puppies weigh? And why is it only supported on the ends by 2x6's?

Now if that doesn't make you want to run right home and start ripping down walls, I don't know what will!!!

The end result...or what is life like living with no insulation or walls... Rory can tell you - it's cold!!!!

The Septic Is Done

It only took two months, but the new septic system and leaching field has been installed. The plumbing in the basement has been fixed (pitch and leaking) and tied in so we are good to go (literally) in our one bathroom...

The installer said it was done in the nick of time as the old cesspool pipe was packed full of juicy stuff that you just don't want backing up into your basement. Phew! We will have to wait to reseed until the spring and until then will be dealing with a big mud mess...starts to make you think about walkways and driveways...add that to the list!

Here is a lovely picture of the side yard and the trench you must cross to enter the house.

Farmhouse kitchen sinks

If this doesn't scream farmhouse at you I am not sure what will! Love the sink and the butcher block countertop and the wainscoting and the open shelves...

Going to add this one to my kitchen idea file. Don't worry I will take some nice and ugly before pictures for you. The kitchen really is quite horrid!

http://www.calfinder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/farmhouse-sinks-flowers.jpg

The Demo Begins...

We have officially demoed the living room. What better time than the first week of December to rip down ceilings and walls and cover *everything* with a fine film of dust ??!!

The nine new windows are arriving this weekend (finally) and should be installed next week. After two late nights of very nasty demo we are ready for them!

During the demolition we did not find any money or jewelery or newspaper clippings, but we did discover...

1. two huge squirrel nests - no creatures within but about a field's worth of grass/hay


2. lots of mice poop and one dessicated mouse


3. a huge metal I beam spanning the removed wall - think railroad trestle woo woo!


4. a horse hair plaster ceiling sandwich - horse hair plaster, strapping, and two layers of wallboard - yum!


5. two true friends that we can never hope to pay back...


6. clues as to the original layout - where the walls and doors were...

Curb Appeal...

Saw this house while in Plymouth, MA. It has a very similar exterior to ours - short end faces road, bumped out bay window with one window above.
It also had the brackets that have been removed from ours. Don't they look nice?! I also love the shutters and the curved piece above the window. I wonder if it's too late to get one of those...???!!!
I wish I took another picture of the full front...

Jenga anyone?!

So, one of our first projects is to replace the north-facing bow window on the front of the house. Just for fun we removed a piece of plywood to see what was under there and this is what we found...

Lots of crumbled bricks and Jenga! style supports which really are not holding up much of anything.

We really are not quite sure why this is still attached to the house and certainly will not be jumping on that floor!

Supporting beam...what supporting beam?!

We actually hired someone to come a pour new footers and replace the plywood with weather resistant materials that will not rot. He will have to trim out the new windows once those go in. It should look nice when it's done...now if we can just get him here before winter!

Shrubbery!

Before...

Note the large overgrown yews obscuring the window...

Now you see them...

...and now you don't!!!

We did plant a new hydrangea to the right of the door. I think we will have to wait for spring to plant the rest...and no! I have no idea why they did not side that one little piece to the left of the window!

Upgrading the thermostat...

Who would think you would have enough to blog about replacing a thermostat? Easy, right?!

Well, two days of no heat and after sneaking in a phone call to Dad... I at least realized that we didn't blow up the furnace (phew)...

Did a little Internet research and found someone else with a similar situation who had purchased a defective NEW thermostat. Decided to return that one to the store and try again. What do you know - the new one was defective and the next one installed very quickly!

Words of wisdom...

• Sometimes it really isn't you!


• There are only so many wires and so many slots




• 




• It really is okay to cross low voltage wires and start up the furnace - sparks aside!!

So we are back to having heat - and we can program the settings for energy savings and the town will refund us back $25 so it's win win all around.

The only downside is my husband's little temper tantrum where he took his frustration out on the poor wall - which is when I took over... Luckily it's small...just one more thing to fix I guess...

Kitchen Dreaming...

Don't you just love the arch over this kitchen? My current kitchen is just so horrible that I have tacked up images of kitchens that I like to the wall. This is one of them. I love the windows and the fixtures and of course the apron farm sink. Not sure about the white cabinets...with little kids white scares me. I have seen some very pretty green or blue ones.

Our kitchen renovation is many dollars and time away. We first have to deal with some basement structural supports, dampness, replacing the existing leaking bulkhead and jacking up and leveling the floor. The floor right now is a big mix of plywood, rock maple, some kind of oak and tile that juts out way too far from where a wood stove once was (the chimney crumbled so we won't be putting that back!). Then we need to deal with the ceiling (water damage and some horrible patch job) and moving the hot water heater out of the kitchen and into the basement where it belongs!

After that we need to address replacing the windows and the slider to the back yard, tearing off the faux brick, moving the plumbing, updating the electrical and buying some new fixtures and cabinets. I haven't figured out the overall design - sometimes it's good to live in a place for awhile first, but I know I want one of these:

I love the built in bench seating that would be great for a family of five (plus a few more). I can so see us eating and doing homework and even playing a game at this nice light-filled spot! Again, I am afraid of white and I need a table that will not get scratched and beat up too easily. I love the chairs - they come in other colors too...

Someday...

From there to here....

From This:

Just to gain perspective...here is where we lived - 1920s colonial in the city, 1/3 acre lot on busy street. Beautiful woodwork and fully updated kitchen!

1500 sq' feet, 3BR 1.5 BA





To This:old neglected farmhouse in the country on a 2.5 acre lot in a great small town with fantastic schools...

2000 sq foot 4BR 1BA

Need I say more? Do you feel hubby's pain?

Closet Squirrel!

It was a rather exciting start to my day...rummaging around in my closet for something to wear I heard a noise. I stopped to listen and heard it again.

Doing what every self-respecting wife would do I called on hubby to investigate while I removed myself to the hallway. What do you know, out jumped a little scruffy squirrel. He gave me quite a dirty look as he scampered across the room and under my bed.

At that point he disappeared. This is a bit more worrisome as he apparently has some sort of escape hatch and probably explains the nighttime wall noises...

I did some research on squirrels in the attic (and closet) and this is what I discovered from
http://www.batguys.com/images/back/squirrel.jpg

What type of Squirrels are in my attic?

Our area is home to 2 types of attic-dwelling squirrels- flying squirrels and gray squirrels. Both species will generate a considerable amount of noise in ceilings and walls. As a general rule of thumb, noises at night are usually from flying squirrels and noises during the day (or at dawn and dusk) is from gray squirrels.

How many Squirrels could possibly reside in my attic?

It is common for us to find 1-5 gray squirrels residing in an attic. In the spring when the juvenile gray squirrels become mobile we often see 5-8 squirrels in attics. Flying squirrels are found in much greater numbers. Most flying squirrel infestations we see have between 6-12 flying squirrels. However it is not uncommon for us to find upwards of 25 flying squirrels in an attic. In February of 2005 we removed 41 flying squirrels from an 1100 square foot attic in Medfield Ma.
I am getting a little bit worried now! Apparently we have to evict them all and then seal up all the holes. I might get a quote from the bat guys - I can see me and hubby being slowly driven insane trying to get them out (who knows how many are up there?!) and you should see all the potential access holes.

Antique Farmhouse 101

This is the story of a lovely farmhouse...the issues as we know them:

1. wet basement - moisture seeps in via old leaky bulkhead, via porch roof that is no longer there, via peaks and valleys. Furnace has a concrete moat (never a good sign)
2. critters abound - lots of holes in roofline which allow attic access to furry friends - lots of scratching in walls, especially in living room remuddling - yup I'll be getting to that
3. kitchen - ugh - patched ceiling, patched floors (flooring is hardwood, tile and plywood), hideous light fixtures - old school track lighting with florescent bar and art deco -
4. crap rooms - unfinished rooms - originally a porch built with scraps, workmanship amateurish think 3rd grader - live wires - bouncy floors - gaps in walls and roofing but a new roof!
5. ONE bathroom. Upstairs. Hot toilet (seriously, the tank water is hot and makes lots of condensation), salon sink with sprayer, no ventilation, awkward layout...need I go on. You could stop me at the word "one"
6. Living room "project" - must see to believe. I think this one deserves an entire post. Let's just point out the basics here... Hard wood floors cut up to make tile hearth (tile not secured and broken in more than one place). Plywood firebox?! Flue to nowhere with collapsible stovepipe that goes up to 2nd floor and stops. Load bearing supporting wall removed not sure if there is a beam...
7. Access to fourth bedroom is through another bedroom's closet and a "z" shape so you cannot get a boxspring or any other large furniture through.

I am going to stop now before I get depressed...to be continued...

Moving to the country...

This is the blog of a family of five who have sold their comfortable 1920s updated colonial in the city to move to a neglected antique farmhouse in the country. This is the story of a family and a house as they all adapt, change, modernize and accept the inevitable.

Let me just preference this with my husband did not want to move. At all. Ever. A third baby, lack of space, subpar schools, major road construction and Asian Long Horn Beetles managed to loosen his grip and force him into this life-changing situation. It hasn't been a smooth road. The move has been fraught with hurdles - a sluggish market, dropping home prices, tears, yelling, a mental breakdown and the assuming of a septic upgrade to name a few. Through negotiations, home inspections, appraisals, revised financing escrow holdbacks, delayed closings on both ends, and hell and high water we have made it in. Now we are there. Now the fun begins...