Adventures in Remuddling

That’s what Julio, our Boston Home Center instructor, said during Painting class.

Julio’s house was clad in vinyl when he bought it. I was interested to hear what he had to say about vinyl siding maintenance. Each year, he fills a bucket of water with a drop of detergent and some tsp (tri-sodium-phosphate) and wipes down the grim from his siding. I noticed our back porch was looking quite grimy.

Continue reading ““Vinyl is final”” »

Back in late April, Tig was shocked (yes, shocked) to discover that our street did not have DSL. Verizon did not put a line in our neighborhood. With copper prices through the roof, it doesn’t look like they will anytime soon. That night, I watched Tig go through the seven stages of DSL grief.

(1) Shock or Disbelief : Every half hour, he would say to me “I can’t believe they don’t have DSL.” For hours.

Continue reading “The Seven Stages of DSL Grief” »

It seems we have setback after setback.

We had planned on finishing the bath tub and shower this weekend so we can finally shower again on Sunday. To say the least, we did not make that goal. I had noticed earlier, that the shower/tub faucet only had hot water and not cold. So I test it out, turning on/off the lines, etc without success. I was dismayed, Serena was upset. No shower this past weekend.

Maybe I should have tested the valve before installation, and before all the walls, cement board, and tile went up. Doh!

Continue reading “Shower Setback” »

Actually, Caribbean Blue. Color by Behr.

No more greenboard, and only 1 more coat of paint left. Then the fixtures go in. The toilet, pedestal sink, mirror/medicine cabinet, glass shelf, towel bars, shower curtain rod, and maybe, if I’m ambitious, the radiator. But I’m in no rush to put the radiator in during the summer.

This weekend was the big push to get our bathroom to 90% done before we have company - my parents are visiting for July 4th weekend and we needed a working bathroom, fast! Our primitive makeshift bathroom upstairs would not do. I took Friday off to go on a MassEnergy cruise to see the Hull wind turbine. By the time we got home, the sky had darkened and was thundering. That was our sign to get to work.

First Tig removed the toilet from our unit. Then he decided he needed more parts. Off to Home Depot he went, while I primed the ceiling of our guest bedroom. I got a coat of Kilz (latex stainblocking primer) in before he came back around 6pm. Here was our bathroom before:

Continue reading “Bathroom No. 1 - Putting on the toilet” »

Last night, before wrapping up for the night, we discuss the next day. The pedestal sink is next. “That’s going to be hard,” I say. How do I know that? Because I saw the Pedestal Sink Installation Instructions on This Old House website.

“I don’t think so,” Tig says. “It should be easier than the toilet.” I don’t believe him and say so.

This morning (Saturday), after breakfast, Tig goes downstairs to get ready. I procrastinate a little, but eventually get down there in time to be his helper. We start at 9:30am. The first step is getting in the water shutoff valves. We decided to go a little classier and cover all the copper and PVC pipe with chrome. It’s good practice for our own bathroom. Tig soddering.

We tested the valves to make sure they worked. Then we dry fitted the drain pipe.

Continue reading “Bathroom No. 1 - 90% done!” »

This is Tig today. He’s putting in a hook for the tenant’s bathroom. He’s reaching for the drill gun on the other side of the bathroom floor, but he can’t reach…

.

I stand there. Do I help? Of course. After I take a picture of him.

Actually electricity. But to me, it’s POWER (ha, ha, ha).

We haven’t been posting recently because I’ve been slowly upgrading electrical circuits and outlets: switching out some old wiring and devices for new ones (sometimes just swapping and putting the cheaper ones into the rental unit).

I came across this ancient three way switch (above - left).

Continue reading “Power (insert evil laugh here)” »

I find it a little scary when my dad’s right. But I do give him credit for some helpful home remodeling and landscaping information .

About a month ago, when he visited, we asked they whack some weeds, especially the ones growing by the back fence. They’re just a bunch of overgrown vegetation, or so we thought. But my dad said he did not want to, because he thought they were flowers.

Flowers, yeah right.

Continue reading “Scary” »

Do you remember a time when utility bills were: heat (also for cooking), electricity, hot water and phone?

Now it has expanded to: heat, cooking, electricity, hot water, land line, cell phone (one for each family member), DSL or cable for internet, cable for TV (if you don’t have internet cable), Tivo, Sirius radio and anything else that Tig and I have not yet caught onto. The number of bills to pay have mushroomed. Although the inconvenience is offset by the ease of internet banking, it still doesn’t help with cash flow.

We decided cut the land line in our home phone. We’ll see how it goes.