Epilogue | Reveal | Pictures

It's kind of weird to type this, but as of last night (December 8th 2008 to be accurate) Christina and I slept in our third floor suite. Not only that, but the rooms are done* and life can move on to the other 3 months of projects waiting for us.

I won't use this post to rehash the months and months of events that have gone int creating our third floor suite**, that's what all of the links are for to the right. But I am going to post some pictures of the final product along with just a couple shots of what it was like back in late April when we started really getting down and dirty with this project. So right before the demo was done we had something like this on the right.

Which was promptly wrapped up to create one big space that had no more plaster walls, no dropped plaster ceilings, and no closet. Like the picture on the left.

So you get the point. These pics are from previous posts, but it's fun to look back at them from time to time to really remember what kind of rabbit hole we really decided to jump down.

I'm posting pictures of the finished spaces below without much commentary. I think over the past posts we've beat that horse so if you want to know what is what then by all means post a comment. Plus Christina LOVES COMMENTS! Again, sorry for the spotty lens...

Over the past 4 months we've had various paid "professionals" come and go along with me finding out that not only can I create software pretty well, but I think I prefer to create things with my hands even more. I have to say that being forced to learn on the fly various skill sets that you didn't know you could muster up was awesome and something that in the end I'm grateful for.

All of that reminds of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the great exchange between Cameron and the parking garage attendant:
>You guys got nothing to worry about, I'm a professional.
>A professional what?

Of course there's another side to that coin, and that would be that when I took over most of the work, it meant more money in tools, days off of work, material (cause you know you need to learn how to make that mitre cut at least twice) and sanity. We also quickly realized that while Christina's day job as "Senior Designer" means that she's great at thinking up cool looking ideas, someone in the conversation needs to be the practical person saying "yeah, but how to you expect that to work?".

Also, on at least 3 occasions, we really screwed up the order of things which we'll never do again I hope.

A partial list of dont's when doing something like this:

• Don't paint before the hardwoods are in. Just resist. That's why drop cloths were invented, and touching up paint will never happen.
• Don't assume that anyone knows what they are doing. This sounds both cynical and obvious, but whatever. Just because you pay a "professional" to do something doesn't mean it's not a clusterf*$k when they leave. It ALWAYS will be. Check on the work before they "professional" leaves the house, and be straight if it's not up to par. It's your money.
• Don't install plumbing fixtures before you're truly ready. We installed the tub before the window trim was done as well as the baseboards and getting those in was a nightmare.
• Don't freak out if something isn't installing like you might see on TOH or similar tv show. This is the real world, and you have to be crafty A LOT.
• Don't make a trip to the ER part of your project. That sucked.
  

The list of dos are obvious, but the big ones that I'm going to use for every project:

• If you have to hire out and you're blessed (like we are now with our cement guy) to have that ONE contractor that is great and knows people...go with the guys he knows. We've saved a ton of money, time, and aggravation after we started talking to Joe's various trade guys. All of them have been great.
• Use Angie's list or something similar for reference only. They tended to be pricey for what we were wanting, but they were a good baseline for prices on that higher end.
• Get yourself a decent workshop space that you don't care how much mess is created. We just don't have a lot of room being in a rowhouse, but when I did create my shop space it was a lifesaver.
• If you're completely gun shy about doing something yourself, then don't press the issue. It's OK to hire out. Like I was terrified to refinish the floor I laid down, and instead spent $400 on a pro and it was great. The peace of mind was worth the money without a doubt.
• Right tool, for the right job. Period, end of story. If you are needing to do something that requires some special tool, or have to nail in hundreds of feet of trim, rent of buy what you need. Done.

So yeah, that's really it pretty much. In all the process was ridiculous, stressful, and tiring. But I'd do it again any day of the week. The pay off was incredible and in the end we have a space that Christina designed and that is ours.

I couldn't sleep last night at all, but I wasn't sure if it was because of the "moment" or if it was due to our new bedroom feeling foreign and like a hotel room at first. I mean new surroundings, new bed...even new sheets and duvet cover. It was a lot to process.

I'll say that I'm ready for at least one weekend away from house work. But then again, I'm addicted to the stuff and at this point I' don't know what to do with my time that isn't either at the Depot or working on the house. Is there anything else left in life!?!

Now for the disclaimers:
* The tub is going to require a "professional" (great) to get the feet fixed so I can hook it back up to the plumbing. The banister is obviously missing spindles still, but that is part of the first floor/second floor renovation slated to be completed by March 2009**.

** I don't call this a "Master Suite" and I won't. I find that term hearkening back to the plantation slave era and I'm not into that. I don't get how and why that term was ever popularized, but it's a pretty crap term if you ask me.

*** That March 2009 date is hard because well...we're having a baby (girl supposedly) on or near April 6th. Yeah us! I tried to find an ultrasound picture to Photoshop with a little tool belt and hard hat, but what we have look like Rorschach tests instead. What can you do.

We have to thank the following friends for their help with this project: Niko, Jen, Graham, Andrea (and Logan!), Cat, Anna (the roman shades and duvet are awesome!) and everyone else who gave an opinion or encouragement. Seriously, it meant a lot to us and we owe you all big time.

So yeah, I guess now we start the next chapter of our house. That's the wrap up of the ongoing electrical chapter, with a hopeful tale of fresh drywall in 75% of the remaining spaces, and even the introduction of a new character to the plot.

It's about to get VERY interesting around here for sure. Cheers!!!

- Bryan

Friday Night Fun

So you know that you have reach a ripe old age, when it suddenly becomes not a only a good idea, but fun to stay in and put together furniture. This first image is just one of the bags necessary to create an heirloom quality dresser from IKEA. The first dresser took us about an hour and a half, which was a bit discouraging......but we plodded along, and did the second one in half that time. I joked with Bryan that if the economy continues to go south, I would hire him out to all the other poor suckers in the IKEA parking lot, and send him home to put together their furniture for a nominal fee. He was not keen on this idea, and the fact that we still had a bed to get together I decided not to poke the bear too much!

The bed actually isn't from IKEA, and it has 2 drawers for off season storage underneath, which is great. Between the 2 dressers, the bed, and 5 closets, I am going to have to go shopping in order to actually fill all the space. There are worse things I suppose.

(sorry for the spotty camera lens, we're having technical difficulties)

Sorry to the avid readers, but going back to Indy for T-Day did dampen our speed a bit on getting this place together. As you can see from this last picture we did get pretty close last weekend to moving up there. The mirror finally got on the wall, another purchase from June. I think it has been in every room of the house on its journey upstairs. It even went upstairs and then back down in the same day at least 1 time. Now it is in its final home, and we are close to making this room look not so much like a construction site an more like a livable room. We promise to not go so long next time!

Out with the Fire Meany!

It's me Christina! Bryan's hand isn't fighting the good fight that well, so I have a story to tell you ....

So for the last few weeks we have been battling random plumbers to get the heat actually on in this house. We had plans with 4 different guys to actually do the work. Started with 2 guys who seemed interested, then never returned phone calls (I was beginning to feel like a girl without a date to the prom). Then came the company who showed up twice, never to do what they said, and then to tell us the work we had done by our old plumber was wrong, and that we would have to pay for all of it to be ripped out and redone, at a super low price of $1400. Mind you it was 45 degrees outside for the high that day, and being a blonde woman at home alone, obviously I was going to get out my check book and pay him immediately. Needless to say, later that day I was on the phone with a 4th plumber, Kevin!

Kevin over last week and got here a bit late, as he has a day job and this was side work. He and another guy got the 2 new Runtal radiators installed on the third floor, with minor installation issues (like Bryan having to pry off the apron of a window for the radiator to fit) along the way. But still, they began to fill and bleed the system about 9:45pm which worked for us.

There is apparently a pressure reducing valve on the system, with an adjustable screw. Of course this comes loose, water sprays out, and all the water drains into the basement. Due to our previous experiences my response is, "At least it is the basement". So the guys takes off for the night before he collapses from starvation and exhaustion, and a bit defeated by the house. It was then 10:30 PM.

They return on Tuesday to try again. Filling the system, bleeding radiators, then our pressure release valve decides to release; water sprays out, and all the water drains into the basement. The guys replace the valve, fill the system, bleed the radiators, and try to light the boiler. Alas, it won't fire.......the guys take off after a late night as neither of them know much about boiler controls. What can you do?

So Kevin promises to find someone who knows controls to come over, I think he was more upset that the heat wasn't on than me. The hitch: yesterday, we get home go down to the basement, and find all the water has drained out of the system; for those playing at home this is 3 full systems of water in the basement. Apparently the problem was that the pressure reducing value (that reduces water pressure from the street pressure of 60 psi to a "boiler friendly" 30 psi) was stuck on. I'm sure you're all saying "well what does that mean?" at this moment. Well I'll tell you: It means that the system doesn't know it's full and KEEPS TRYING TO FILL FOR HOURS AT 60 PSI. For those who aren't plumbers and who haven't lived through this, it means that you get water shooting out of a little valve deal. And it won't stop until your husband has Kevin on the phone and figures out how to shut the valve. Super.

So today, Kevin and a "control friend" show up, and replace what I think is the only remaining old piece of our boiler and promptly re-fill the system. They bled the radiators, and miraculously CREATED HEATED!!! It has only been 6 weeks since we tried to schedule the first guy...don't forget that. Only 6 weeks.

I am not sure if we need both a water idol and a fire idol at this point to bury in the backyard? I guess all this plays into the fact that we are about to go back to Indiana for T-Day, and the last few trips right before we left something water related has decided to crap out. First the water heater exploded, then the washing machine, and now the boiler has all new parts! We did replace the dishwasher, check out our first ever blog for the highlights, so we hope we're covered there.

So we are almost ready for our trip! As long as Bryan's hand is healed enough to drive.....

Which is a whole different (and expanding) story....

"I'm Back in the Saddle Again"

So it's officially been 1 week and 1 hour since I had my "incident" with the chop saw, and I'm 80% back in action. First, off many thanks for the nice messages and emails from family, friends, and stranger in the interwebs, it helped out immensely.

I won't rehash all of what Christina wrote last week. On a side note, when we got back from the ER she ran upstairs to document what happened before I even know what was going on. I mean she had her post started within 30 minutes of walking back in the door and helping me get situated. Part of me secretly thinks that her and the chop saw conspired to get more blog hits for 3 days. I wouldn't put it past her...but I digress.

So I cut my hand with the saw. I preformed the "wiggle your finger and pray hard they're there" thing in the car to the ER a couple times to myself as to not panic Christina any more than she was. 5 fingers to start with, and 5 in the end. The ER folks said I was FRIGGING (I'm trying to keep this post PG) lucky that I missed my thumb and forefinger tendons. They did tests before stitching me up to make sure that I had full movement. That was a huge relief as I'm a software development manager by day, and I need my fingers. That's 2 for 2 baby! Without posting any of the gory pictures I've been keeping I have one of where my cut was with a little (bad) photoshopping to illustrate where I did the damage.

The small line on the top is where I got my finger, and the one on the bottom is where I got my thumb knuckle. Think the start and end of the saw blade...without getting too graphic.

So that's that. I would say my hand is healing really well, but then I'd be pretending to be a doctor. So...I'll say that it doesn't hurt anymore, but the stitches are TIGHT since the cut was wide and really jagged. So I feel a "pulling" sensation when I make a fist or something equally stupid.

On Saturday I had the idea to work/finish the baseboards this weekend so that it was all out of my life for good. Needless to say I was a bit gun shy yesterday morning with the first few cuts, but I just went slow and really made safely the priority over "gittin' er done". Of course that's how it should be EACH AND EVERY TIME anyone uses any saw, but after so many times it's just white noise.

Anyway, I wrapped up the base caps yesterday and I bit today (I couldn't work more than a couple hours without a break since my hand would ache a bit). I took a couple pictures tonight of the baseboards just for a bit of reference. They ended up blurry for some reason, so I apologize. (note to the Boss: time for that new SLR right?!?!).

The base caps proved to be hard to cope for me. I think with the limited range of motion I have in my left hand right now and my utter lack of patience this weekend, it just didn't work out. So I reasoned that since there are only approx 5 inside corners that aren't in a closet, and the real work are the 14 some outside corners...that I'd just miter the base caps and pray for the best. Well Jeebus was listening to my sinful self because the insides worked out perfectly for the most part. The two that have small gaps were fixed when I caulked the baseboards today. VIOLA! The picture on the right shows a span of baseboard with the base cap and the caulk applied to hide the curvy walls. I'll touch up the wall paint after the trim is all painted. In like 2 years I'm sure.

The picture on the right shows one of my lingering buckets of joint compound. I actually used that today to fill in some unsightly gaps in the window trim. It's really hard to explain, but rest assured that none of it was my doing. It was a combination of how the ex-contractor installed "the box" for each window and that the Boss wanted the curved part of the window trim to be flush with the bowed edge of the boxes (thanks to the install...meh).

Well that means there's a gap. My solution: lightweight joint compound. The pictures below show the windows with the first coat joint compound applied just a bit ago. I'll sand them tomorrow after work and apply the second coat. Hopefully it all looks seemless, but who knows.

I have no clue why that last pic on the right (two windows) has "spots" on the walls. Part of me wants to race up there to see if they are in fact mysteriously on the walls or not. The other part of me says "why on EARTH does it matter at this point, plus you have chips and french onion dip". I think the second part of has the sound reasoning at this moment.

I guess that's it for now. Christina is at a baby shower far away, so I'm settling in to watch the Colts play tonight. So if you're the church going type, light a candle for them. They need it. Oh, also I celebrated the Phillies being WORLD F*#KING CHAMPIONS (my homage to Chase "I'm druuuuunk at the parade" Utley) for a few days last week which was great. I missed the parade because of you know...having a job...but since we live a block off of the parade route, the party was all night Friday.

Good stuff. Thanks again to everyone for the messages last week.

- Bryan

The Fire Meany says: "DIY"

So we have been progressing on the house, but why is it so difficult to actually find someone, other than my now handy husband/contractor, to do any actual work? Particularly with plumbers, what is so difficult to do?

Let me back up a little bit. In May, on the hottest day of the summer, we started our new construction project giddy with delight at the daily work of our contractor. Slowly this fell apart, and we started to see some flaws in the general work quality and accuracy, which ultimate led to him walking off the job. Fine. Great.

Now the coldest day of the year rolls around, and we still don't have heat. 2 new radiators were to be installed as part of the plumbers contract. They have been floating around the house since June waiting for their new home. Tried to get 2 different guys out over the last 2 weeks to no avail. Bryan stayed home on Friday waiting for guy #3 only to have a guy show up and say, "I was just here to fix a leak, I can't do an install". Great. Today I come home at noon to wait for the same company to come again and do the install. Too bad they weren't actually planning to install the radiators, but just to look around and estimate. Great. Now in addition to no heat, he tells me that we have 1/2" rough in work tied into the 3/4" system, which won't get enough water to the 3rd floor to properly heat. Also, Bryan looked at the install sheet for the radiators, and they in fact REQUIRE the 3/4" supply. Great.

What part of this wasn't clear to the first plumber, who we paid specifically for this work? Was the store out of 3/4" copper that day? Did they just not want to spend the extra money? What would possibly make that seem like a good idea?

With any luck, a friend from work will save the day with his relatives who are plumbers, but if not I might just try to conjure the Fire Meany to live in the living room until Spring. I think that would be easier than finding a plumber to show up, do what you expect, and not have thoroughly empty pockets at the end. Great.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

First off your friendly blogger has been sidelined due to a run-in with a not so friendly chop saw, so you are stuck with me at least for a bit. NOTE TO PARENTS: We are back from the ER with all the appropriate fingers, tendons, and critical parts; just minus a little blood. Actually all the people that saw Bryan said that he was quite lucky and should be just fine in 7-10 days when the 8 stitches come out. Now for the gory details.....

I was downstairs poking around on Angie's List just about to put a nasty rating up for a our long gone contractor when I hear Bryan running down the stairs and he yells, "Its time to go, get the keys!" Immediately realizing what this means and in a bit of a panic I grab the important things: car keys, Bryan's wallet with his insurance card and manage to get flip-flops instead of slippers on my feet just as he meets me at the bottom of the 2 flights of stairs he has come down. Off we go! At least I was somewhat clean and dressed, which is negotiable on a sunday afternoon.....

In the car he begins to explain that he didn't chop his hand off, but instead had just finished a cut with the chop saw and as the blade was beginning to slow down he reached to move the moulding cap a bit to early and scraped his hand across the still slightly spinning blade. Now another NOTE FOR PARENTS: He can move all his fingers with no tendon damage, and nothing was cut off. He did manage to turn the web between his thumb and first finger a bit closer to hamburger, but the doctor was able to stitch it up nicely.

Now Bryan has a recent tetanus shot, eventually a scar to show his hard work, and a healthy fear of all moving metal saw blades. This last picture shows the beginnings of the base cap mouldings that he was working on before "the incident", everyone should comment on how great they look, and how impressive it is that he has actually now shed blood for the project. I think he wins on the blood and sweat portions of this game, and I still win on the tears portion.

A pocket door and baseboards. It's getting serious around here!

Hello interwebs people. LOLZ. So Friday and Saturday were both baseboard 101 for me. After reading another Tom "my Lord and Savior" Silva step by step baseboard install, I felt sufficiently ready for the task. Plus there's no way that it was going to be more difficult that the window sill and the window trim. I opted to not go crazy with biscuit joints and all of that highfalutin' stuff that Tom recommends since I have not used a biscuit joiner since the 8th grade and I'm lazy.

In designing the third floor space, I'm convinced that my wife went with the designed part of her brain, and not the practical construction side. Because a sqaure(ish) room is perfect for a first time baseboard installer. Not the mish-mash of closets and intertwining walls. Because, damn....there were TONS of cuts needed. (The design part won out, because the whole house had 2 legitimate closets in 11 rooms prior to the renovation, I admit adding 5 closets in 2 rooms might be a bit lopsided the other way, but you can never have too many closets right? - C)

Anyway, I've added a couple of shots of the baseboards that the boss took. Note that the artsy picture that has my knee pads (EVERYONE needs knee pads when doing baseboards, hardwood install, and tile...PERIOD) I had just placed the two pieces together. So that unsightly gap in the joint isn't really there. I just think that needs to be said for the record.

Really the hard part of the baseboards ended up being the outer mitered joints...obviously. Most of them weren't perfect 45 degrees which is normal. But it's just the shaving off material and trying over and over gets old.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll be adding the base cap to the top of what I've done so far. Honestly, I think that since the main pieces were added and the base cap follows that...it can't be too bad right? I think I totally jinxed everything just with that thought.

I also trimmed out the pocket door frame today and hung the door. The trimming part is about 95% complete with just the "jam" (a ripped 1x8) opposite of the door opening to nail in. Not a big deal. I'll end up priming and painting all of the new door trim when I do the same for the windows and baseboards.

The door has been in our living room SINCE MAY as we had a great thought of using a glass paneled door as our pocket door. It's a full sized door which proved to be a slight issue when actually installing the darn thing. I ended up enlisting the help of the boss and ripping the bottom of the door on the table saw. That made the height perfect, and then just pryed off a 3/8th inch piece added to the side for whatever reason. Totally worked.

I've gotten the thing mounted and now I have to figure out how to get the door to stop swaying back and forth. Of course I have no faith in what our former contractor did, and I can't find the installation instructions to save my life. So it looks like it'll be trial and error. Gee, imagine that.

Funny thing I finally noticed tonight. In the picture above with the door closed, you see three switches next to it in the bedroom. Those are actually the lights for the bathroom...in the bed room space. When I realized this I asked the boss and of course she knew it would be like that. Now, I'm not worried about it, but it's funny that I didn't really think of something like that between the two spaces until there was a door there. Not the wood to tile transition, the door frame...nothing else. Anyway, I found it interesting that I JUST NOW noticed it.

So I guess that's it for today. Not too bad for like 10 hours of work.