A Good Productive Day

We’ve had some pretty great weather over the last few days. I went skiing last Thursday and it was a really great day. Sunny, good snow, I could get used to that.

Today we did a pretty good job of cleaning up this free standing closet that we have had down in the basement for years. I’ve used it in the past to store my summer shorts during the winter and and winter shirts in the summer. Lately, it’s just taken up space.

Today, Susan and I went through the whole thing and put the clothes in boxes designated for Goodwill or our church Rummage Sale.

Then we were able to dismantle the thing and open up a whole bunch of space in the closet it was blocking.

As I said I the title, a good productive day.

No InterWeb

We have been without internet since noon on Friday. Every time I call CenturyLink, they just extend the time until it will be repaired.

The only thing that pisses me off about this whole thing is the realization of how addicted to the Internet I’ve become. It finally came back on this morning.

Ceiling Continuation

We got up another row of ceiling tiles today.

It’s looking pretty good.

We took a break in the process and Susan caulked the seams of what we put up. We’ve been having some problems with alignment and she wanted to be sure she could fix the visual incongruities with caulk.

I’m confident in saying that, “Yes, she can!”

The one tricky spot we had to deal with today involved the end of the run on the west wall. We have this little outcropping of wall to deal with and it made placing the last tile a little challenging.

As you can see, we met the challenge and overcame it.

We are thinking we are pretty awesome.

Boiler Update

We got the quote for the boiler installation today and whoa…it is not pretty.

We were thinking that because we already have the boiler, this would be a much less expensive proposition. We were wrong.

For some reason we had it in our heads that it would be somewhere around ten to fifteen thousand dollars to complete this project. 

We already have the quote to remove the old boiler. That’s $5,000.00.

To install the new one is $20,388.69.

So we’re looking at 25K to do this job.

Fortunately, we have the money in our 401k account. We need a meeting with our financial guy to see what kind of a dent this is going to do to us. I think we’re okay but Susan, being the more frugal of us two, is not very thrilled at the moment.

Boiler Replacement Prep

We managed to get another row of ceiling tiles in place yesterday. 

We had a problem with alignment in the area where that hump is. It took some doing, but we think we have it fixed as best we can. It will require some creative caulking to hide the problem and then only you and us will know it’s there.

I just had a couple of electricians in the house to look at the boiler to see what they had to do to accommodate our power needs for the new unit.

I told them that I had done a lot of the wiring in the house and they were not allowed to laugh at my work until they left. They didn’t seem too shocked by what they saw and they should have a quote to Zane at Element Air by tomorrow. Then we will know the total cost of this Boiler Replacement Project.

For another day, the snow continues to fall. It hasn’t been much of an accumulation so far today and I think it is going to turn to rain soon. It’s very wet coming down.

Phase II of Phase IV Begins

It is official...we are now working on the ceiling tiles in the kitchen.

Earlier today, we decided to get started by finding the center of the kitchen. Once that was accomplished, we snapped a chalk line and then decided we might as well start putting up tiles.

The first row we put up had no obstructions for us to deal with so it went pretty fast. We got the first row up in about 50 minutes. 

We got the second row up in about 35 minutes. We had one screw up with a mismeasurement on an end tile but we are hoping we can use it somewhere else.

With two rows under our belts, we called it a day. I expect we will be back at it tomorrow.  

Boiler Removal Quote

Today we were visited by Doug Geier of Affordable Asbestos Abatement. I took him down into the bowls of the house for a look at our gargantuan, asbestos encased boiler.

He was here only a brief time but came back with a quote in just a couple of hours.

To remove the old boiler will cost just short of $5,000.00. We were hoping we could keep this in the range ten grand, so that’s half the budget right there. I am hopeful that because we already have the boiler that we have saved some dinero there.

Finally! Snow

 For the third day in a row, I got up this morning and plowed the sidewalks and bywalks of the neighborhood. Mostly just the area around the house.

We have gone the whole winter without any appreciable snow and then, three days in February change everything. It’s a Winter Wonderland out there.

I haven’t heard the official report for how much snow we’ve gotten. My own personal report is…

…about six inches.That’s 14 1/2 centimeters to you Canadians.

As far as the forecast goes, it looks like we may have another snowfall on Saturday but I don’t know how much.

Alls I know is I gots the big red machine out thar and she’s ready for snow!

Ceiling Tile Update

We are getting pretty close to embarking on Phase Two of Phase Four of our kitchen remodel.

To update, Phase One was getting the old linoleum floor cut up and hauled away. Phase Two involved the excavation and general destruction of the old kitchen followed by prepping the walls, floors and wiring for the new kitchen. Phase Three concerned the installation of the new cabinets and flooring. And good ol’ Phase Four consists of the placement of the ceiling tile.

As you know by reading the most recent posts, we have finished Phase One of Phase Four, the pantry area. That was our test area to work out the bugs of installing these things and see if we were up to the job. The pantry is just a paltry 56 square feet, which made it pretty easy to work on. The kitchen, Phase Two of Phase Four, is over 400 square feet and it has many more challenges to contend with. There are six lights that have to be dealt with and a couple of jags in the wall.

We have spent the last couple of days painting the remaining tiles. I think we will have that wrapped up by this weekend.

I still have a couple of things to do to prep the ceiling…the main thing being filling in this 12x12 hole that we’ve had for about 18 years. It’s  been a small eyesore but was essential access for running wire for the additional lights over the island. I need to get a small piece of 3/8” dry wall which, of course I don’t have. One eighth, I’ve got a whole sheet. Half inch, got it! That’s how these things work.

Another Major Project - the Boiler

Today marks the very beginning stages of a major project for the enhancement of this house.

We have been talking for a few years now about replacing our very old  boiler. It may be original to the house which puts it over 100 years old.

A couple of years ago, our friend Mark came across a Rheem Boiler that will hang on the wall. It became available through the Plumbing Supply company he worked for. This unit had been special ordered, canceled, and sat on their shelf for a year before they decided to throw it away. Mark was able to snag it and gave it to us. I assume we are savings a couple thousand right off the bat. 

You will note a slight dent in the front of the boiler which is why they were going to throw it away.

One issue was that we had no idea if this boiler unit was compatible with our house. As I said, it has been sitting in our basement for at least two years while we have debated over proceeding with this project.

Today, we had Zane and Isaiah from Element Air come by to give us a bid on replacing the boiler. 

They looked over the new unit and thought that it was sufficient for the house.

They took lots of pictures and had a good look around to check out the project.

One thing that has to happen is removing the old, asbestos encrusted boiler. Zane said he will be contacting a guy for that aspect of the job.

The advantages of moving forward with this project are multifold. First we are replacing a very old boiler with a newer, more efficient model. The new unit hangs on the wall which will open up a lot of square footage when the old boiler is gone.

Best of all, the new unit will also provide our hot water. It is one of those instant-on hot water units as well as a boiler to heat the house. 

We will be eliminating TWO hot water heaters that are well over 20 years old. I think the savings compared to what we are paying to heat this place now will more than pay for itself in a very short time. Plus, we will be gaining a little more square footage where the hot water tanks used to be.

We are not planning on moving forward with this project until May…maybe even the first of June. In the meantime, we are waiting to hear from Zane and from the Asbestos Abatement Guy.

First Big Snowfall

We went to bed last night as the snow was starting to fall. I got up during the night around three and it was still coming down. It was clear we were going to get some coverage.

This was the first opportunity I’ve had this winter to use my re-built snowblower. It worked great. It really turns on a dime now…much more easily than before the re-build.

It was only a couple of inches of snow so it went quickly and easily. That was good because I’m to the point where this job is becoming harder and harder for me.

Everything is cleaned off and safe for walkers around the park.

One of the really amazing things I need to comment on is the lack of any appreciable snowfall this year. Here it is, February and I have pulled out the snowblower for the first time. Fortunately, the mountains have lots of snow which makes us skiers happy. As for us elderly and in-firmed snowblowers, keep the snow in the mountains.

Pantry Conclusion?

The Pantry is now completely tiled and all the seams have been caulked.

We are very pleased with the results. I was hoping this would finish the project but I think I’m going to be made to put up crown molding around the perimeter.

Well, we almost done.

Ceiling Tile - Day Three

We did not work on the ceiling yesterday because it was a ski day for me. I have my priorities!

But jumped on it today and made great progress. An added bonus is that we are still married.

Here are the pictorial results.

We have just the corners to put up and the pantry will be almost finished. We have decided that a small crown molding around the perimeter would look nicer than the sort of rough exposed edge that we have now.

Please also notice that all the bulbs in the light are working. Susan fixed it by simply putting different bulbs in the fixture. Don't asl me why that worked. I don't care. 

Ceiling Tile - Day Two

We are really going to get going today.

The light is back together and ready to be hung after we place the first row of tiles. 

The spot where the light is wired is almost the center of the room. Close enough that we have decided to place the first tile dead center on the light.

We made a template out of a piece of poster board we bought to properly locate the hole before we ruined a tile. It went perfectly.

We placed several dabs of glue on the back of the tile, placed the edge of the tile on the line we snapped to find center, and we were off. 

Once you get going, it goes quite quickly.

We finished the first row and decided that was enough for the day. We really wanted to get the light back up.

Hanging the light turned out to be quite an ordeal. The problem was that the light is kind of heavy and cumbersome, we are old, and it's a tight spot that is eleven feet from the floor. It took a while, and there was a LOT of grunting, moaning, and heavy breathing but we got it up, we got it wired and it mostly worked.

We have this light on a motion sensor so whenever we walk into the pantry, the light comes on for about 30 seconds. If no other motion is detected, it goes out. Sometimes, if you're looking for something for a while, you have to wave your arms every 30 seconds to reactivate the light. Also, if we just walk by the pantry on the way to the kitchen sink, it turns on.

For some reason, one of the bulbs works like it should. It comes on when the motion is detected. One of the bulbs stays on all the time. The third bulb does not come on at all.

I don't know what's going on but I will work on it later.   

Kitchen Remodel - Phase Four

Today we are starting on the final phase of the kitchen remodel...putting up the ceiling tile.

For the past several weeks, we have been preparing the styrofoam ceiling tiles we purchased well over a year ago. They have been sprayed with a fire retardant and now we have been painting them an out-of-the-can flat white. We added a fire retardant agent to the paint as well.

One of the things we discovered is that Susan doesn't like the flat paint. She would prefer a semi gloss. 

So we are repainting the 75 or so tiles we have already painted with the new semi gloss paint. In order to keep the look consistent, and to have the tiles treated with the fire retardant stuff, we will paint everything remaining twice. Once with flat, once with semi gloss. It's a major time consuming pain in the ass,  but I must admit the semi gloss looks better. Besides, we're retired. We have the time.

We decided to start in the pantry because it's a small area and seems like a good spot to learn from our mistakes. The first order of business was to take down the light.

Upon trying to loosen the ring that holds the cover plate in place, I broke the chain that holds the light. Fortunately, I was able to get replacement parts at Revival Lighting. We use them a lot for our lighting needs. 

Anyway, the light is down and we are ready to begin. But not today!      

Piano Repair Checkup

Today we got to go over to the “All Things Piano” warehouse and see the progress they are making on the piano. After seeing it, I’m really excited to get it back.

Here are some pictures.

There is the repaired sound board. If you look closely, you can see the pieces of spruce that have been slid in to repair the cracks. They are a slightly lighter color than the sound board.

That’s the new decal that goes on the sound board. They give it a day to cure before peeling off the backing paper.

That is the harp after it has been gilded. That’s going to look fantastic. That little addition added $600.00 to the cost of this project.

The next step after putting it back together is to restring it. I asked them to call me when that’s is going on so I can get some more pictures.

They think they will be done in a couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to getting it back. Did I mention that?