Luke & Britten

A Walk Through The Ruins

2010-01-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

While working on the kitchen demo we realized that life would be easier and cheaper if we could get the kitchen, laundry and master suite inspected at the same time. Otherwise we have to deal with the expense and inconvenience of three separate electrical inspections. So instead of moving forward on the kitchen we found ourselves tearing the rest of the house apart. Here was the laundry room as of Friday:

We already knew that the wall behind the washer was in bad shape. I painted it with Kilz last year but it was time to do something about this:

The sheetrock was moldy all the way through and collapsed as soon as we touched it.The insulation was also moldy and had to be replaced. We also discovered that the wall to the left was damaged and it too had to be stripped to the studs.
We also began the conversion of the "bonus room" on the end of the house. This was a garage when the house was finished in 1949 but from what we can determine it was converted into a spare room in the 70's. The discolored paint to the left was from the freestanding wood stove we removed upon moving in. The closet to the right contains the water heater, not ideal for our future master suite.

And here were are after two days of demo. The sheetrock on the ceiling was on the verge of falling and had to be screwed in before I could finish removing the walls.

We will be moving the water heater to the utility room and building a new master bath across the space once this kitchen is complete. After four long days of demolition we are finally ready to start rebuilding...stay tuned.

Kitchen Progress - Still Ugly But Less Crowded

2009-12-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

We've been putting our four day weekend to good use. Things started of a little slow when I had to go into work and do payroll but once I got back we really started to make some progress. This morning the dining room wall looked like this:

With the sheetrock off we could see the tongue and groove fir frame for the pocket door.

View from the kitchen into the dining room
And the same view by the end of the day

While Luke worked on that wall I started demo on the wall between the kitchen and laundry room. Photo as of this morning
And by afternoon
View into kitchen and dining room
This wall will stay in the same place, but we are moving the doorway so we will have a straight path through the kitchen and laundry room to the future master suite. Below you can see the original layout and our new floor plan with improved flow.
New kitchen layout

Kitchen Demo

2009-12-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

The highly-anticipated day has finally arrived. Our kitchen is no more. Below are a few photos from the first time we saw the house. It was usable, but the terrible layout made cooking difficult and the whole room was extremely dated.

Our layout had two small L-shaped counters. Only one counter had electrical outlets.

Did I mention that between looking at the house and closing the previous owner let their dog pee all over the floors? Apparently some of the pee ended up on the coils under the fridge. Every time the fan came on the smell would blow through the whole house. We replaced the fridge within a month to get rid of the smell. When we started demo last week, our new fridge found a temporary home in the living room and the range moved to the garage where we plugged it into the welder outlet. Everything else has to go away for good.

Luke started by ripping out the soffits

then removing cabinets

The brown stains around the middle of the room are the adhesive for the Formica backsplash. It will make stripping wallpaper more interesting.
And where was I during all the demo? Painting the living room walls. It's not as much fun but someone had to do it.
Dining Room

Living Room & Foyer - That's our new maple flooring acclimating to the house before installation.

Fireplace - It's still ugly but I have big plans.

We both have a four day weekend over New Year so we should be making a lot of progress on the kitchen. I'll post pictures as often as possible.

Off To A Good Start

2009-11-29T20:28:00.001-08:00

The interior work began this week. That's right, 75% of my house is officially under construction. We have been systematically stripping the house of all that is effete, stained carpets, sixty year old trim, painted brick fireplace and as always, wiring. Below are a few photos right before we starting opening the walls.

Living room

Living room looking North.
Living and dining rooms. The dining room wall was ripped apart from the bathroom remodel.
By the end of the day we had removed the rest of the sheetrock. Because of the mold in the sheetrock and insulation we stripped the wall to the studs for a fresh start. We also discovered the the "beam" we had always assumed was an integral structural member was just a cosmetic addition to cover a crack in the ceiling sheetrock.
The sheetrock under the windows was badly cracked and had some water damage. We ripped off the damaged portion and cut into the other walls to run the new wiring. This is the third room we've rewired this way and it no longer looks strange to me. In fact, I hardly notice it anymore.
And by Sunday we were ready to hang sheetrock. With my dad here to help everything was hung in just a few hours.
My mom enjoyed reading by the fire despite clouds of sheetrock dust filling the room.
We only added eight square feet in the foyer but it really makes a difference. It no longer seems so crowded and the living room feels a little more balanced.
Now for the fun part, mud and tape.

Show Them The Door

2009-11-27T19:25:00.001-08:00

Since moving in last year we've known that the front door needed some work. Think of every mistake you can make while installing a door, then add an incompetence factor of 2.5. It was comicly bad; crooked in all three dimensions and held in place primarily by friction. To make matters worse the foyer was too small; barely large enough for two people and almost impossible to maneuver furniture through.

In the picture below you can see that the front door is inset 18" from the front of the house.

Since we were replacing the door, we decided to move it forward to match the front of the house. After ripping up the parquet flooring and removing the door we were ready to start tearing off the siding. The temperature was only 40 degrees and the house was getting cold fast so we started a fire and burned the old siding. It made for a comfortable working temperature and will also save us dump fees.
While removing the siding I could not help noticing the beauty of the shiplap. Not only is it well fitted, the quality of the wood is very impressive. Most of the boards were clear grade that I would love to use for building furniture. Alas, there is not time for such diversions right now.
With the new wall framed in we could remove the old framing and nail in the shiplap.
And the new door is in.
It sits 1.5" off the floor. This gives us room for the slate floor in the foyer and the deck we will be building next spring. We will also be replacing the siding next spring. Until then the neighbors will get to see our lovely homewrap.

And here is the new, significantly-less-drafty foyer.
Of course there is still work to be done. Once the electrical is updated we will hang sheetrock and lay tile.

Main Bathroom Mini Make-Over

2009-11-11T10:36:00.003-08:00

You may remember that this summer we gutted our main bathroom and rebuilt it. And though I am pleased with the results there were a few little things that were just not quite right. First and foremost was the problem with the medicine cabinet. I found this on clearance at Lowes last year for $15.

There was a scratch in the paint which was no problem. I wanted to paint it white to match the trim. As you can see below, it is a surface mount instead of being recessed into the wall. When we installed it this did not seem like a problem but it soon caused problems with the lighting. It cast a heavy shadow over the sink making the area seem dark. It also blocked some of the light from the overhead vanity light bar.

Although I really did not want to cut holes in my brand new drywall something needed to be done. I cut the wall open and, as expected, found a stud in the way.

So I cut another hole in the dining room wall to get access to that stud. My new hole is the one on the right. The one on the left is from moving the shower stall it. We'll get around to fixing those...someday.

Once I had access to the back of the wall I moved the stud over and framed in a box for the new medicine cabinet. The finished product is not quite as fancy as the first version, but the lighting is much better and the sink is now longer in the shadows.

The other aspect of the bathroom that just did not work for me was the red shower curtain and rug. Don't get me wrong, I still love them but they are just too much for a small room.

A neutral colored shower curtain and sage bath mat just make the room feel a little more open and airy. All this has been done in the last two days while Luke is working out of town. I think he will be pleasantly surprised. Well, maybe not about the dining room wall, but the sheetrock was moldy anyway.

Before I mention one last thing, let me say that I am not a product representative and I do not profit in any way from this recommendation. For three years I worked for a whirlpool bathtub manufacturer. During this time I found the absolute best product for cleaning your tub.

Gel-gloss is a cleaning wax that will not scratch the surface of the tub like Comet or Ajax. You can find it at Lowes or Menards. Acrylic tubs scratch easily and abrasive cleaners put fine scratches in the finish, making the surface look dull and flat. Gel-gloss cleans the tub without scratching and also leaves a slight wax glaze that keeps dirt from accumulating as quickly. Since this wax can be slippery never use it on the bottom of the tub. Also, spend the extra dollar and get the spray wax instead of the liquid. It's much faster.
For any other information on maintaining your whirlpool bathtub just leave a comment and I will get back to you.

Unphotogenic Progress

2009-11-08T15:59:00.001-08:00

It’s been a while since I lasted posted. Truth be told we have actually been making progress, but nothing that is photogenic. Since Labor Day we have been focusing our attention on the landscaping. You may have seen pictures of our spare parking area turned rock garden. I mistakenly thought that after all the river rock was cleaned and moved that the rest of the work would be easily and quickly accomplished with the use of heavy machinery.

The first task was to till up the yard. This whole area was once an orchard so the yard should be soft, easily tillable soil right? After four years of this you think I would know better. Under 1” of soft dirt was alluvial soil hard-packed by sixty years of mistreatment. The yard was also full of hidden surprises: buried chucks on concrete from when the slab was first poured, a waterline that does not exist on any utility map, and old green poly lines that might have once been part of a primitive irrigation system. Originally we planned to take turns using the rototiller but it threw Luke around so much that we decided I was just to small to operate it without the day ending in tragedy.

I was given the prestigious job of removing the old planter and filling low spots in the yard. On a happier note we think we located the original water shutoff in the planter. It’s unusable but at least we know where it is.

With the yard finally tilled we rented a trencher. Of course it had been raining all week so we had to fight the mud all day but Luke was able to get the whole yard cut for the sprinkler system with only a minor disaster. While cutting close to the house he nicked the sewer line, which was buried at 20” instead of 3’-5’. Fortunately the bathroom at the other end of the house has a separate line, allowing us to have a functioning bathroom overnight. Since then we have been frantically running sprinkler lines and backfilling, but progress has been hampered by rain, injury, and the Vikings-Packers game. In just a few weeks the ground will freeze and we better have the sprinklers finished and the lawn seeded by then.

Hopefully all this effort will pay off and we will have a lawn next year. Only time will tell.

Rock Garden Finished

2009-10-18T21:41:00.005-07:00

After weekends full of moving and cleaning river rock the front easement is converted into a rock garden.

Before:
When we first moved in, before I took a hatchet to the giant weeds.

After:

We moved and cleaned twenty cubic yards of river rock but it turned out well. We have already received several compliments front the neighbors. It's a little bland now but in the spring I'll fill the planters with the brightest flowers I can find.

Added bonus, people have finally stopped driving through our yard! We were so fed up I was ready to lay tack strips for the next unlucky vehicle.

Another Find

2009-10-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting a night stand for nearly a year now, but as much as I would like one, I value the house too much to divert remodeling money for furniture. But this summer I happened upon a free nightstand on Craigslist. It was old and ugly, but it was also pine hidden under the paint and varnish.

I'm not sure what happened to the sides. They were discolored and badly gouged. It took a lot of sanding to find presentable wood.

I had to build new drawer fronts from clear pine. While I had the drawers pulled apart I replaced the bottoms with plywood and sanded down a cedar fence slat to make a new drawer backs. Once the smell of poly has worn off the drawers will have a nice cedar aroma.
I think it turned out well.

This project has also given me my first real taste of woodworking. Before this I had never used a dado blade or router table. I found that I like this immensely. There will likely be many more such projects in my future...and of course, more tools.

Shoveling River Rock or The Slow And Painful Demise Of My Shoulders

2009-10-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

One of the many head-scratching aspects of our house is the parking setup. The driveway is huge. We have room for 17 cars but apparently that was not enough for the previous owner. So he converted the front of the yard into additional parking spots. For months we puzzled over what to do with this 50'x23' space between the rest of the yard and the sidewalk. Because of the way the yard is laid out grass would not work unless we wanted to have two separate front lawns. Take a look at this photo and you will understand why.

See all that wasted space? (Top left)

Not only is there a raised berm, there is also a concrete curb separating the yard from the former parking area. At last we decided to convert the space into a rock garden. But creating the rock garden will require a huge amount of work. The house is currently surrounded on three sides by river rock. Approximately 20 cubic yards of it.

The previous owners, not to mention the renters before them, did nothing to care for the rock. By the time we purchased the house last year the rock garden was full of dirt and leaves. On Labor Day Luke and I were finally ready to start moving rock, but first we had to come up with a system for cleaning out all the crap. After only one trail version we built the following cleaner:
We cut the center out of an old door and stapled in 1" x 1/2" fencing. As the rock rolls down the screen the dirt and leaves fall through the fencing leaving only clean rock in the wheelbarrow below. We are using the leftover dirt to level out low spots in the yard before we till it up and plant seed. It is a slow process that takes it's toll on the back and shoulders. But all the rock is finally moved. The yard is looking a little bare now. We still need to bring in some top soil to level everything out before we till and seed.

The Garage Is Finished

2009-09-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

After what seems like an eternity, the garage is finished. One year ago it looked like this:

I am pleased to report a few slight improvements since then.

Because this is only a one car garage we needed all the storage space we could get for our tools. The shelving and benches allow plenty of storage without sacrificing our precious floor space.

We both like to watch/listen to movies while working. We added computer speakers and a sub so we can hear over the noise of the tools. Overkill? Maybe. But it sure makes the garage a pleasant place to work.

Heater, A/C, cable and wi-fi are all hooked up. When we start our demo of the main part of the house this will make a nice little living area as well.

Garage Progress - Exterior Finished

2009-08-31T16:25:00.015-07:00

It's been nearly a year since we were granted our building permit and began the conversion of our carport into a finished garage. Since then we have managed to run into every kind of possible delay, back ordered supplies, code problems, health problems and Luke's unexpectedly busy work schedule. Despite all these complications the garage is finally finished. I will be posting interior pictures later; today's post is all about the exterior. Below is the slow evolution of our carport into a usable garage/shop.

August 2008. Our lovely carport the day we moved in. We learned from the neighbors that the previous owner had the carport built to cover some of the junk in the back yard. The city had received multiple complaints about his yard and ordered him to get rid of the junk or cover it. And so the carport was built. Judging from the design it was never intended to be converted into finished space.

September 2008

October 2008

March 2009

May 2009

Now

The accent colors look very purple in this light. It's actually burgundy.

Compared to the freshly painted garage the house looks shabbier than ever. New siding and paint to match the garage won't be happening until next spring. Until then the condition of the house will continue to serve as a theft-deterrent. Really, who would break into a house that looks like the owners are too poor to buy paint?

I think having a lawn would dress up the garage even more. In fact, landscaping is our next project.

A little closer

2008-08-15T14:01:00.011-07:00

I've finished stripping the bedroom! The total time invested came to twenty-two hours and it is even less attractive than when I began, but it is a good starting point. Actually it is working out well; the darker color of the drywall makes it easier for Luke and I to sleep during the day.
After mulling over a few different approaches, I decided that instead of finishing the rooms one at a time, I am going to strip wallpaper from all the rooms then do the primer, texture, paint thing. I also elected to forget about stripping the bathroom. I am planning to make so many changes in there that I might as well just replace the drywall and save myself a lot of time. So the next room to tackle is the dining room. The picture was taken last night, before I started making a mess.
The room looks pretty good in the above shot, but the photos don't capture just how blatently the wallpaper shows through the paint. Not only does this room have overlapping seams, it has been patched(badly) then had a second layer of wallpaper applied over the first. Here is the original wall paper. Fortunately these walls were painted before the wallpaper was applied so it came of much more quickly than the bedroom did.

The wall underneath the paper is pretty close in color to what I peeled off. There is a portion of the wall on the left that still has the original paper. Since we are planning to rip out that portion of the wall I don't want to go to the trouble of removing the paper. For now, I'll just live with it.

Here's another little surprise I discovered while working on the dining room wall...mold. The bathroom sink must have been or still is leaking. So here's a new project for me. I'll have to tear it out and replace that section before we start putting the house back together.

Halfway - Sort of

2008-08-13T11:16:00.006-07:00

I'm halfway there. After ten hours of work, our bedroom has half the wallpaper stripped down to the wallboard. It's not a fun task; the paint and the wallpaper have to be stripped separately. The paint doesn't take long to soften and lift off, but sixty year old wallpaper is another story. I am trying to finish the rest of the bedroom tonight. I keep telling myself that I'm halfway there, that I am almost done...with the bedroom at least. I still have four more rooms to finish but it's easier to stay motivated if I don't think about that. Anyway, here are the latest pictures of the progress. Obviously the room is not getting any better looking, but things have to get worse before they get better.

Hot and Steamy Nights

2008-08-12T11:34:00.007-07:00

It's midnight and I am just getting started on a new project. No my insomnia has not returned. I am trying to change my schedule. Luke is working nights for the next few weeks and I am switching to his schedule so we can have more time together. I have to admit it is kind of difficult. Sleeping from five to noon has proved difficult and I have trouble sleeping past ten-thirty. At ten pm I start to hit a wall and really want to nap, but am afraid if I try then I might sleep until morning. Caffeine would probably ease the transition, but I am trying to cut back so instead I take my dogs for a walk.
But back to my new project. At midnight after the walk was over and the dogs were tired and ready to sneak onto the furniture for the night, I decided to find a project that wouldn't make a lot of noise. So I dug out my little steam cleaner and started on the walls. After several attempts I found a working outlet and got it heated up. I love my little steam cleaner, but it was not meant for removing wallpaper. The wand is five inches wide so it takes a very long time to soften sections of the wall. But I went for it anyway. Despite the fans in the room, it is hot, sweaty work. The steam is scalding hot so you have to wear long sleeves and gloves no matter how warm the room already is. But it works and peeled away sixty years of old paint to reveal this wallpaper underneath.

Unfortunately the drywall underneath was not primed before the wall paper was applied. After reading many articles on the best way to attack this problem I have a few options. I have to admit that I am not enthusiastic about this process. Two bedrooms, the kitchen, dining room and a bathroom all have to be stripped. But it will be worth it to not see overlapping layers of wallpaper through layers of paint. I will keep you posted as I discover other lovely patterns hidden under the paint.

Dirty Work

2008-08-25T02:52:00.009-07:00

It's been a great weekend for getting things done, but not so much for staying clean. We started our fencing project shortly after moving in. The cedar fence around the property was, like everything else about this house, in rough shape. We dug up and replaced rotted fence posts, fixed collapsed sections and nailed in missing slats. And then we stopped. For two weeks. It's been hot here and with Luke's schedule of working nights we would have to be working during the hottest part of the afternoon. But last weekend the temperature dropped into the eighties and we went to town. We built the new gates and fired up the pressure washer. If you've never tried it, pressure washing old fencing is a messy job. You are barraged by water, bits of wood and lots of dirt. But in the end it make a huge difference. Here is how the fence appeared the day we moved in. The past owners lived here three years without doing anything to preserve the wood and it looks like the people before them did not really care either. The cedar really needs some attention if we want it to last.

Below you can see where we have pressure washed. The fencing on the right is still wet and will be a lighter shade when dry. The odd colored slats on the left are new; we ended up replacing about 100 of these.

The fence below has been washed and given a few days to dry out before staining. Don't you just love the grass? Oh wait, there isn't any. I've priced sod, but we'll have to wait and see.

When I selected the stain I was trying to keep the color close to the natural hue of the cedar. But the "cedar toned" stain definitely has more of a redwood tint. I'm sure it will fade over time and maybe mellow out to something a little closer to what I envisioned.
We are not quite done with fencing. Once the garage is constructed we will have to put in another 30 foot section to close in the dog pen. But the bulk of the work it done and the cost was considerably less than building a new fence.

To anyone considering a similar project, there are two things you should know. 1. It's not hard. Digging post holes is not my idea of fun, but this is not rocket science. 2. Invest in a spray gun for your stain. I spent two hours staining a sixteen foot section of fencing (the neighbors have a nice cream colored garage and I did not want to get overspray on it). The remaining 350 linear feet took me three hours with my sprayer. If you don't want to invest in a sprayer of your own, rent one. Or you can spend your entire three day weekend doing it the hard way. It's your choice.

Easy Weekend Projects

2008-10-25T19:20:00.015-07:00

It's been a beautiful weekend here in Washington and Luke and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather to work on a small project. We have had two sheds in the back yard since we moved in, a new vinyl shed and an older metal building. Both units are less than half full so we really do not need the space, especially after we finish the garage. We're planning to sell the vinyl shed, but before we could do that the metal one needed some repair.

Sections of the floor had rotted through and collapsed between the joists. Because so much of the plywood was compromised, we decided to rebuild the entire base.

The first step was to removed the shed. We simply pulled all the nails attaching it to the base, lifted it off and carried it out into the yard without having to waste a lot of time with disassembling the whole shed.After ripping off all the plywood we decided to replace the floor joists as well, keeping only the outer frame. Once the new joists were in we coated the entire base with wood stain to prevent rot. We used a gray solid-color stain simply because it was on clearance. If you are doing a similar project, feel free to use whatever color you like. New plywood was also stained before nailing it onto the base.
We screwed the bottom of the shed walls to the base to keep the wind from blowing it away. To prevent moisture from getting between the bottom of the shed walls and the wood base we used a foam sill-seal leftover from the garage. We also used great stuff inside the shed to seal cracks and gaps in the metal.
While it may seem like overkill for a simple storage shed, I decided to give the floor a coat of paint to seal the base a little better and improve the overall look.

The final step was to paint the shelves and move them back into the shed.
The exterior will be repainted next summer when we do the rest of the house. While this was not the project Luke and I had planned to work on this afternoon, we agree that this was a nice break from working on the garage. The sense of accomplishment from finishing a project will help us stay motivated as we return to larger tasks.

Because I haven't posted in a while...

2008-12-10T17:55:00.008-08:00

Sorry folks, but I really don't have much to show. The truth is, we have not been doing much remodeling. Between traveling and being sick we have not been motivated to get outside and work. But last weekend our shingles finally arrived and we rushed to get the roof on the garage. It's getting a little cold for this kind of work. It was about twenty degrees when we started at nine am. Dressing in layers helps, but wearing five shirts and two pairs of pants can be a little bulky and awkward.
Here is how it looked when we started. The tar paper was already on so Luke installed the drip edge and we were ready to go. Below you can see the starter strip is on and we are ready to start with the architectural shingles.

Luke had the worst part of the job, hauling the bundles of shingles up the ladder. When we do the house we might just pay for rooftop delivery.

It took about seven hours total to get the roof installed. But it looks so much better than the metal roof we had before and the new overhangs will protect the garage. The garage roof does not match the house, but the house roof has been patched with three different colors and will be replaced in the spring. For now, we'll just live with the mismatch.

We won't put the siding on until the spring; instead we will focus on getting the interior finished.

Sheathed

2008-10-10T12:05:00.009-07:00

Despite the cool weather we have been experiencing this week, progress on the garage is coming along nicely. This is my first week back to work so most of our progress on the garage has to take place in the evening. On Monday we framed in the last wall. Tuesday was a mandatory day off because Simpsons Season 11 was released on dvd and my whole day was spent cleaning the house while watching every episode. Wednesday and Thursday were spent nailing in the hurricane straps and hanging sheeting. Most of Saturday was spent shopping for supplies instead of actually getting any work done, but we have almost everything we need to complete the garage. Obviously there is a lot of work left to be done, and what we have now is certainly not the most attractive stage, but at least we are making progress.

Beginning Stages

2008-10-04T10:40:00.007-07:00

Work on the garage has not gone exactly as planned. After finally getting our building permit last month I had hoped that progress would leap forward. However we have too many other things going on; trips to Montana, lazy anniversary weekends, etc. But this weekend despite the rain we actually did some work. Framing is one of the frustrating parts of construction, for me at least. The walls are 9' high and 2x6 construction which, while they will be sturdy and well insulated, makes them heavy and awkward to put up. It's one of those projects I just can't do by myself. But once the framing is done, I will be working on my own again. Below is a photo taken a few weeks after we moved into the house. The previous owners had this pole barn built a few years ago. While it is smaller than we prefer, it still has the makings of a nice little one car garage. The most challenging part of framing in the garage has been attaching the framing to the concrete. We have tried several different methods none of which worked. So we had to wait another week while the special order bolts arrived. Between sleeping in and stopping for lunch we only spent about five hours on this today but it is coming together nicely.I am going to love all the windows over the work bench!

Garage Windows Are In

2008-12-20T18:47:00.013-08:00

Now that we are able to stay tolerably warm Luke and I are much more motivated to work on the garage. For the past two days we have been working on getting our windows installed. Neither of our windows are new. We pulled the smaller one out of our garage in South Dakota. It had been installed without being nailed or screwed in place. Whoever had installed it had used expanding foam insulation ("Great Stuff") too keep it from falling out of the wall. We removed it before it could fall on anyone and raise our homeowners premiums. Be we couldn't bear to throw out a perfectly good window so it followed us to Washington.

The large window (below) was a special order at Lowes that someone had tried to install but later returned. Both windows are designed to replace existing windows and required a little more work to install in new construction. Typically there is a flange all the way around the window allowing us to nail it to the framing of the garage. Because these windows lack that flange, we had to build a frame to keep them in place.

The frames are just 1x6 pieces of pine. We caulked between the lumber and windows to prevent drafts and then screwed the lumber to the window.

By Saturday night we were ready to begin installing the windows in the walls. But it was already dark outside and cold so we decided to wait until Sunday afternoon.

And finally the windows are in. We will be building a workbench under the large window with can lights overhead. All that natural light will be a huge change from our cave-like garage in Rapid City.
With the windows in we could install the exterior trim and spray great stuff to seal up the gaps. Even though we have not insulated yet, the garage retains much more heat than when we just had home wrap on the windows.

As usual half the productive day was spent tripping over the dogs. They insist on inspecting every change and also act as safely officers, attempting to pull me off ladders before I could fall off and hurt myself. "Protecting" their people is hard work and by the end of the day, they were a tired as we were.

Garage Door Is In

2008-12-14T20:37:00.000-08:00

We moved a little closer to having a real garage today. After returning from church, we started installing the overhead garage door. Luke has done a few of these before so his experience saved us a lot of time. We were disappointed at how little insulation is in the new garage door but if it becomes a problem we can add more later. Here is Luke screwing the panels together.

It's cold outside today, only ten degrees, so out come the coveralls again.

After two hours we had all four panels in so we could fire up the heater. We installed the upper tracks for the door but still have to install supports to handle the weight of the garage door. We had to knock off early so Luke could play basketball.

With the overhead door installed and the windows at least covered by home wrap we can use the diesel heater to keep the garage warm until we get it wired for the electric heater. If it were not for this little diesel miracle I would probably give up on the garage until next spring.

Now that we have heat hopefully we will start doing a little more work in the evenings. I am hoping to have the garage door finished and the windows installed by the end of the week.

Hampered by the snow

2008-12-13T20:49:00.001-08:00

We really did have grand plans for the this weekends, but the weather just isn't cooperating. It's been snowing since yesterday morning so we have to settle for projects that can be done inside. That being said, we did have to complete digging our trench first. Because the pole building was never intended to be heated, the concrete slab was not insulated. Without insulation, heating the garage could cause the concrete to heave over time. So we had to dig a trench along three sides of the slab and put in sixteen inches of insulation. It's not fun work in the snow but it had to be done before the ground could freeze. So we bundled up.
These are the Carhartt coveralls my dad wore when he worked as a general aviation mechanic. He has since outgrown them and passed them on to me when I started college. Despite being nearly thirty years old they are very warm, though not flattering.
Unfortunately, this is how I usually look when I am remodeling. I will wear the same set of old clothes all weekend and when it's this cold outside, I wear five layers of them. The layers also come in handy when the dogs want to play rough.
So we are now finished with insulating the slab. Tomorrow we will try to get the garage door installed. Hopefully I will have progress photos posted tomorrow night.

Bigger Weekend Projects

2008-11-16T11:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a month since we spent a whole day working on the garage. Sure we've put in a few hours here and there, but that has not made much of a dent in the amount of work yet to be completed. We are really going to have to shift into high gear to meet our goal of being finished by the first of the year. It's not that we have not wanted to work on the garage, but there have been two major setbacks: roofing and rain. It has been raining every day for the last two weeks turning our back yard to mud and killing any motivation to go work outside.
The roof is our other major problem right now. During our framing inspection last month our inspector pointed out that our metal roof was attached directly to the rafters without any sheathing underneath.

While this might not be a problem in an unheated garage, it someone wanted to keep the garage heated later on it could cause condensation and ruin the insulation and sheetrock that we will be installing. So rather than risk this becoming an issue when we go to sell the house we have decided to rip off the roof.
We had to sit on top of the metal roof to unscrew it. I am not fond of heights and really did not enjoy working on a slippery surface. While working near the edge I hoped that clenching my butt cheeks around a protruding screw head would be enough to keep me from falling. The shot below is what the roof looked like once the metal was removed.

Because this started as pole building, there were no overhangs to protect the garage. As you can see, the edge of the roof only protrudes past the walls by an inch or two.

We added rafter tails like these all the way around the garage to give it an eighteen inch overhang. The framing on the roof was never intended to have overhangs, so we had to make a lot of modifications to add them. Framing these in took nearly a full day.

Once the rafter tails were installed we added the facia to tie them all together before laying the sheathing.

While sheathing is not all that heavy, it is not light either. Each 4x8 sheet had to be carried from the carport to the back yard. For lack of a better system, I would lift them as high above the edge of the roof as I could then Luke would grab them from the roof and drag them the rest of the way up. Since the roof is fairly small, we only had two full sheet per side; everything else had to be cut. Unfortunately it was too dark to take any pictures by the time we finished tonight. With all the sheathing nailed down we were able to lay the tar paper. Our shingles will not arrive for a few more weeks, but this should last until then. When we re-roof the house next year everything will match and bring a little more continuity to the property.

As Exciting As Tapioca Pudding

2009-01-25T18:24:00.009-08:00

I finally started setting up the guest room today. My parents will be here in a month; I thought they might appreciate not having to sleep on the living room floor (just kidding mom and dad...I would give up my bed). During one of the many moves we made last year we managed to lose the hardware for the guest bed. So after trying several different methods to secure the slats to the rails, I got fed up and used cable ties. It's not a long term solution but maybe the correct clamps will turn up later. But now that the bed is finally together I realize just how bland the room is. Luke won't let me start stripping the wall paper yet so I will have to live with this for months...it's better than sleeping on the floor, but it's won't win any beauty awards.
This room will eventually be the office. Since we no longer have spare dressers, we are using file cabinets and organizer bins for nightstands. Ugly? Oh my yes, but it gets the job done without having to spend our remodeling cash on furniture.

This is why I really need to do something about the walls. I've color coded the flaws for your convenience:
Red - Cracked drywall. What kind of idiot puts seams at every window and door?
Blue - Bubbles in the wallpaper that have been painted over.
Yellow - Huge overlaps in the wallpaper. The overlaps range from 1/4" - 1".