December 03, 2010

Oh Crap, or crapper as the case may be

EEEEEEK! it's December third and we are moving into the big house in twenty nine days.
Yes it's true... come hell or high water we have to stop paying double for everything. So move in we shall. Think of it as camping, with running water. We have twenty nine days to get the gas sealed and up and running, both heating systems finished and blowing, the kitchen painted and plastered, our stove delivered and installed, kitchen counter tops, a temporary refrigerator, please Santa a dishwasher for Christmas, and tile and trim out the master bathroom. Our walls will not be finished, our windows will not function without something to prop them open, our floors will not be sealed and will remain covered in paper.... but live there we will.

One Moment Please...


My apologies for that. I was so overwhelmed by what I just wrote that I had to go have a sit down. If it were not 1:30 in the afternoon I would say it is cocktail time. WAIT... it's 5 pm somewhere...


One Moment Please...



Ahhh, nice icy cold vodka and tonic with a crisp slice of lime, ahhh, now I am more calm.

Hmmm, power tools and vodka, what a way to live!

Now back to "oh crap". Please meet the newest addition to 227 North street...

The Head, John, Crapper, Can, Porcelain princess, Commode, Loo, Potty, Privy, Stool, or if you insist, the Toilet. The first clean and sanitary piece of plumbing this house has seen in oh so many years, now graces the powder room and awaits your needs.


With a savvy eye toward detail you may also notice something else of note in the picture above, Yes there is a sink, Whoooo Hoooo!, but that is not what I am referring to... look closer... closer... closer...
A door! A working interior door with a door knob, lock, and everything! The first of twenty three interior doors has been hung and made operational. It is not finished but it works. The paint on the doors is being removed with an electric planer connected to a vacuum with a HEPA filter. I can remove all of the layers of ancient paint on the flat surfaces with the planer and a careful hand. The panels will have to be done with chemical stripper, but the planing gets half of the job of door stripping done fairly rapidly with minimal if no damage to the wood below. How I long for the days of guys with big vats of mysterious chemicals. The guys who would take your old doors away, work their magic, and return them to you all pretty, smooth, and clean, ready for new paint.

Stupid drassa, frassin, State of California! 




Phillip is slowly and painfully stripping the panels of the first of twenty three interior doors.

In Preparation for plaster we have begun the trim out of the rooms we are to move into. door and window casing will be followed by molding, and baseboards with a molding cap. The following pictures show window and door jambs and casings.


A shot down the gallery, and the pantry door in the breakfast room.
 
 One set of windows in the Breakfast room.

The triple window in the kitchen.

Now that my nerves are smoothed out by my new best friend... mister Vodka, we will move forward to that horrifying day, January first... moving day, as quick as we can. Think of us, sleep for us, and most of all, if you do see Santa, tell him the boys really, and I mean really! need a dishwasher for Christmas.

Santa Baby, slip a dishwasher under the tree, for me... been a good boy all year, Santa Baby...


PS... if you are saying to yourself, they don't have to have a dishwasher... they can get by without a dishwasher... We have been living without a dish washer for a year and a half, washing dishes by hand every day, and these two boys have had it! No more dish pan hands please!

5 comments:

  1. Paper plates my friend. Paper plates. It ain't pretty, it's probably not ecologically sound, but it does alleviate the need for a dishwasher, at least to a certain extent.

    I wish you well in this move. Sounds like fun, albeit a boatload of work.

    Mike.

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  2. Wow- great progress since we saw in July guys! I just took at sledgehammer to our bathroom and we cant get it done in time for our annual Christmas party so we had to cancel it! Argh!!

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  3. Wow! How totally exciting! I keep checking back on here, just silently - sorry! I want to wait to visit you guys until you get your kitchen countertops in! :-) It looks like things may not be happening with our place....after all that....land use issues keep coming up! We think it is the message that we are not supposed to go this route as sad as it is. :-(

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  4. Cool, there are lot of improvement since I drop by here last september. Good job. Hope to see more of your updates.

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  5. I am seriously impressed with all of the work that you get accomplished.

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