Moving and Improving - Part 13 - We're new at this

Thus begins our first day on the job alone.

We were left with careful instructions on further plumbing and electricity and then left to our devices.

Some things that we were blissfully unaware of became readily apparent in the first few days of building. Such as...doors need door jambs. ahem...

Being in Portland, we had the Rebuilding Center as a resource, so we tried to take advantage of it while we were there, in one instance, knowing that we would later need a door, we proceeded to purchase the best one we could find that was re-use. We gave no though to these door jamb contraptions that we know now to be a necessary element.

We tried the hardware store, and were disenchanted. Upon delivering my parents to the airport, we took the opportunity of being in town to stop by the rebuilding center to see if we could remedy our error.

Success!

Of course, having been torn out of an old house it looked like someone had vomited all over it, so I gave it a good scraping and sanding and then we measured and Joe chiseled out the hinges and voila! A door.

We hung it just long enough to appreciate it and then took it down so it wouldn't be in our way as we finished the project.

Moving and Improving - Part 12 - Let there be light

The fluorescent lights that populate the garage were unable to be maintained for the mudroom, so we removed the one that we would have bisected with our walls and re-wired another.


Making a space for the light...Joe live from the attic:


Making holes and pulling through new wire for the lighting, and for power to the mudroom.





New Light (er...without power)

Moving and Improving - Part 11 - Bare bones room

In which we see that some framing has gone up, floor has been put down (fun with chalk lines!) and some holes in the side of the house have been patched.

The framing of the door side of the mudroom was the most challenging wall structure to build. We laid it out on the driveway and put it together very carefully.

Moving and Improving - Part 10 - Grit

After the adhesive had set overnight we felt ready to grout the bathroom. Again, the bathroom begin a high traffic area, we wanted to get it done.

We mixed the grout with a drill mixer, which is so heavy duty that I could only mix the beginnings of the bag before it tried to run away with the bucket.

So I donned my sexy knee pads and after a quick tile & grouting lesson from Jim, my mom and I grouted a very small space with quite a lot of grout.

After the first cleaning:

Moving and Improving - Part 9 - Yet another sign that we are getting old.

Joe and I have discussed the purchase of low flow/dual flush toilets more than once, but upon the tiling of the bathroom we realized that now was the time to purchase. Part of our holding off has been the fact that the current toilet works, why replace a functioning item?

Apparently tiling was the answer. We had already uninstalled the toilet that was in-residence...so what better time? My mom commented that we would likely have to order one, which really didn't fit our tiling time schedule. But crazy with ambition and my wild imagination in tow, Joe and I set out to a couple of local stores early one morning to see what we could see. My mom was absolutely right. Stores do not regularly stock such toilets.

However...the first store we went to was having a floor model sale (so cheaper...and right away). Done and done. We took the brand of toilet we had been after off their hands right then and there and made it back to tiling central within an hour. Of course, being the only people in the showroom at the hour, and feeling a bit sheepish, we did ask ourselves...do people sit on toilet seats to test them out before a purchase? In our case, the answer is a shy yes.

The only downside of this toilet was yet another trip to the store for a longer connector (to water supply) and a hairline crack which caused a small leak once and has since (after a wee bit of caulk) been dry. I imagine the next downside will be explaining the new-fangled flush action.
It's exciting because it means less water waste, a rebate from our county water service, etcetera. I called Michelle on an unrelated topic and mentioned our new purchase, together we concluded that our shared excitement over new toilets surely meant we were aging. (But gracefully, and carefully).

Our faithful toilet of 7 days, now demoted.












And the new bathroom, pre-grout.

Moving and Improving - Part 8 - I glued myself to...er...myself

After a tremendous amount of effort on the bathroom floor, we felt it was time to lay tile. This required the removal of the bathroom toilet and the first in the series of extra work we didn't know would be provided for us by the previous owners of the home.

Prior to tiling I dug out some paint from the supply left in the garage and gave the toilet area an update.

Having the toilet taken out while we tiled was a small challenge in a one bathroom home. It limited our desire to remain hydrated (foolish), but, however, gave me an opportunity to discuss Thai squat toilets with my Mom.

I have never laid tile before. My Mom and I got a little over enthusiastic with the adhesive and used more than the fair share for this particular amount of real estate. We also completely missed the point of the trowel and did not realize this until it was too late.My Mom started and ended on the adhesive and I did all the in-between. She ambitiously took on the acquisition of a new skill and cut the all the bathroom tiles for the floor that Jim did not. We were fortunate to be able to borrow a tile cutter from Andy and Michelle- and more than once Jim commented on its 'life saving' capacity.

I also, after a few days of gloves, dust, grime and all things bathroom, just dug right in. I think I'm still picking adhesive out from under my nail beds.

Almost complete:

Moving and Improving - Part 7 - Bucket full of concrete

Again with the door. I know. As noted below, because we raised the floor the door had to go. We put it on a relocation plan though and as a result Joe got to bash out a space for it. It filled me with great joy though as the relocation spot was where the only crack in the foundation was noted on our inspection report.

We took out the window (and it was slated for relocation until we realized it would be destroyed in the removal process- in a choice between destroying the wall or the old crappy window, the wall was preserved- it's likely we'll be piecemeal replacing all the windows in the house anyway) and substituted the door.In the interim, my Mom and I, cloistered in the bathroom, lay the tile and grouted. By the end of it we had a load of grout left, so Jim and I turned this:

Into this:

Moving and Improving - Part 6 - Remove the Floor

While Joe and Jim were busy creating a floor, my Mom and I destroyed one. The initial stages were quite fun. It felt a little bit like being a kid, exploring the house in a destructive way (later it sucked).

Our inspection report recommended removing the bathroom vinyl. Shockingly, not due to its extreme ugliness, but rather because of the darkening spot beneath it where water from the shower had permeated.

I already possessed the inclination to rid the house of the 'ugly' bathroom floor so, tile was purchased and the vinyl removed (sounds simple, eh?).

Actually we removed a couple of layers. Because no matter how ugly the original vinyl is, it's still not as ugly as the vinyl it's covering. Sigh.

Original bathroom floor:











Tearing off the synthetic molding brought a sharp cry for spackle from my throat. As in, we're going to need more. What a piece of shit. It was otherwise very satisfying to rip off and came out in two large pieces.
The floor itself started to come off easily and then we realized why. It was on top of another. An older and more ghastly vinyl was adhered to the floor beneath it.
Those are my arms. They are screaming but you can't hear them. I have a giant raised lump on my left arm, the look of which has been likened to that of a depraved teenage boy. It made it a challenge to lift a drill the next day.
When we called it good, this is what it looked like. It seems that the floor was a bit of a hodgepodge.

Moving and Improving - Part 5 - Raise the Floor

So the trouble with the foundation of a house is the concrete. To mess about with things to create our mudroom we discovered that either a lot of drilling of concrete would have to happen, or we would have to create a new floor. New floor won out hands down.

Setting up the floor:Beginnings of effluent pipes -what you don't see is Joe in the "crawl space" (read drag yourself by the elbows on your belly area) beneath the house gluing sewer pipes together and attaching them to the existing system.
The problem with raising the floor is the door gets in the way. So we took it out. And by we, I mean Joe.

Moving and Improving - Part 4 - Not a moment to lose!

Within minutes...no seconds of being at the house Jim took stock of the project and began work. I took stock of the rumbles of bellies and made dinner. In the interim...

This is the beginning of the plumbing for the washer and for a utility sink.









I apologize to purists because no proper before shot was ever taken due to my negligence : )

The quasi-before shot of the mudroom location in the garage (pre-mudroom)

Moving and Improving - Part 3 - Supplies

One of the great annoyances of moving is all the crap you get in the mail immediately following a home purchase. However, this time, I was searching for those much coveted coupons for home improvement stores. Score.

After conceiving our project with Jim, he wrote us a supply list (and then explained it to me). We tried to purchase everything we could foresee needing on the same 10% off coupon. Armed with gift cards and an incredibly patient Blake, we made the rounds - literally. Aisle by aisle. Three carts (and many hours) later we rented a truck and raced to load and unload in the 70 minutes I purchased. The spoils:
By the way, sheet rock is fucking heavy. Ask Blake.

Moving and Improving - Part 2 - Everything I needed to know...

Before I dig into the nitty gritty of the projects that have consumed the last 10 days it is important to note that I have an extremely wild imagination. In walking around our house during the inspection Joe and I noted where some changes could be made to make the house suit us better.

For instance, our house has a ginormous garage and no pantry space. We are a food making people, not so much of the monster truck driving sort. So why not move the washer and dryer out of the closet which abuts the kitchen (thus creating a pantry) and into the garage. And hey, while we're at it, lets build a room around them and make a space for the cats and for bike gear and coming into the house out of the weather (a la mudroom...I am excessively fond of a mudroom).

Plumbing? Electrical? The? What?

These things did not concern me. I know enough to know that I don't know how any of these things would come to pass.

Enter parental units. They have done it all before.

I have seriously deluded myself if I think I am independent of my parents, I relied on their experience and knowledge to make my imagination come to life on this project and without the gracious giving of their vacation time, their careful instruction and four hands we would probably still be looking for the right book, web page, or internet video to guide us on our way. (Meaning there would be more boxes unpacked in the house and a lot less mudroom in the garage).oh yeah and another thing they taught us. two words. Knee Pads.

Moving and Improving - Part 1 - Our House (is a very very very fine house...)

We've been in our new house now just over two weeks. Emphasis on the our and not on the new. As in, it's new for us, but was built before we were born. It's an important distinction if you're standing in the laundry closet and wondering why the wallpaper is so loud.

We moved all the boxes in and removed the essentials and then due to the gracious offer of help with some projects we had in mind, immediately forgot about the whole moving in thing and began deconstructing parts of the house with the help of some of my parents while they were in town.

What follows (er...above) is my attempt to go heavy on photo story telling and light on the details.

So...

I know I should have chronicled it day by day, but after 14 hours of house work it was low on the list of priorities, falling somewhere between sleep (precious sleep) and hanging pictures (still not done).

Before you ask...

YES, I've started to pack.

But just barely. We've been busy in the garden, on our bikes, drinking good beer and hanging around town.

The garden has surpassed my predictions and produced more peas and beans than we could possibly ever eat:
We hit the bridge pedal again this year with Laurel at our side and had a marvelous time. The greatest highlight once again being the Marquam bridge...and this year we had opportunity to ride it twice. A close runner up, however, was the new route that opened the whole of southbound 405 from the Freemont bridge to the Marquam.

Laurel snapped a shot of the Freemont overrun with bicyclists and said that she was going to to call it "the future"....brilliant. I had remarked about how fabulous it would be if this same route was opened up for the daily commute. What a blast eh?

We had a nice day for it, warm enough for short sleeves and little wind. And oh my goodness, the crappy little ice cream bars they give you at the end are most delicious after crossing the finish line...

-Ride Stats-
Pedal Mileage: 48
Average MPH: 12

Max MPH: 32

A couple weeks prior, we took in the OBF and sampled some excellent beers. I must say that the Saturday crowd wears on my nerves and I will make every effort to try to go on Thursday to try the beers at the top of my list. This was our method this year, we had a few tastes after work on Thursday night and then went for round two on Saturday morning with the out of town people. After a few hours of swimming through people I was spent. That said, I did get to just about everything on my short list either by my cup or a sip off another.
Favorites this year:

-New Holland's Oak Aged Ale, Dragon's Milk
-Lagunitas Imperial IPA, Hop Stoopid
-Green Flash Red Ale, Hop Head Red

...ah beer.

...ah Portland.