Back after a long hiatus

Well, its been a while since I posted on this blog!

But, I have not forgotten you, dear 99unfinishedprojects!

In the last year, I've taken up sewing, and picked up a Singer sewing machine and a Singer serger.  I've made some various things including a skirt for Coffeegoddess, tag blankets for a new granddaughter Hailey, and a handful of aprons in different designs.

On the unfinished projects list goes two sets of baby blocks (for stacking, squeezing, and throwing).  Im making one for a coworker and one for Hailey.  I started these blocks maybe 6 months ago, and stalled, so onto the list of unfinished projects they go!

I also have fabric for skirts and dresses for Coffeegoddess, so those projects go on the list as well.

Now, the entire reason for the sewing machine was to do quilting, and I have fabric and have started a day-and-night quilt.  That project is stalled as I have a ton of other sewing projects that jumped in front of it, but soon very soon I'd like to return to the reason sewing came into the project list at all:  a quilt.

My brother and I enjoy spending a Saturday afternoon rummaging through craft stores, following that up by meeting at my house for a beer or two, while we work on projects.  He's mostly a cross-stitcher, so that's what we tend to do when we hang out on these Saturdays.  He's working a pretty large lighthouse piece, and is working vintage christmas ornament patterns as well.  I've been mostly working a moon fairy, or a cardinal piece for Coffeegoddess.  I'm adding those, and a couple of other cross-stitch projects to the unfinished list.

We have started remodeling the main house, so far limited to paint and molding trim work.  But, we have a kitchen and bathroom in sore need of updating.  Coffeegoddess has contracted for most of the windows to be replaced by e-star vinyl double pane windows, which really cuts down on the noise and seems to help with climate control as well.  There are 4 remaining windows to do, but progress there is stalled until I get the tile out of the window enclosures, so the new windows will not be installed over the tile.  That goes on the project list.

Okay that's probably adequate for now... in the next few days I'll take photos and make up the project entries for these new projects, and clean some old projects out that are either finished or abandoned.

My New Hobby

A few years ago (in 2011) my friend Greg gave me a Trek 7500 (http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2012/archive/trek/7500/), after he upgraded to a Cannondale.

I really like the Trek and I really appreciate my friend Greg giving it to me .  In  some ways though a free bike can be like a free dog. I took it up to Action Bikes and put about $450.00 into it, some for maintenance and some for gear like a sunlite rear bag on a rack.  About that same time, Coffeegoddess bought a Trike from Action Bikes.

Back in November 2011, I was working kinda close to the house, and I used it to commute to work about a dozen times, before taking a different job across town.  After that, the Trek didn't get much use, and Coffeegoddess kinda stopped riding her trike as well.  Which is all very sad and wasteful.

Last week, I found a book in the clearance bin at Half Price Books, on bicycle touring.  This edition was published in 1987, but the original copyright was back in the late 50s.  I love these old books, as much for what they say about how things used to be and can never be again, as for the cool ideas that still work today, but that no one pays any attention to because technology has changed how we see certain problems.

I got motivated, called Greg and suggested we do some riding.  A little research turned up a new system of trails the city is putting in along several of the creeks and greenbelts throughout the city.  We chose a park more or less between us, met up at 9AM Saturday, and clocked a little over 16 miles in 2 hours 12 minutes.  Not fast, but hey, not a couch either.

On Sunday, my legs did not seem sore or anything, so I went out again on the same trail by myself, and went 11 miles in 1 hour 27 minutes.  Maybe my legs didn't hurt, but they were sore, as I learned after riding up the first hill on the trail!

The Bathroom

Working on the bathroom

The bathroom had to be gutted to the studs and replaced.  In addition to obvious cosmetic problems, the sink does not fit into the vanity, the bathtub is missing handles (there were channel locks left by the previous owner for the valves), and all fixtures were grossly dirty.

What it used to be

Here's a shot of the sink, with the gap at the rear.

Above the sink, the medicine cabinet and light fixture sans cover.

Here, rust stains in the extremely dirty tub.  Note the missing handles and downspout.

Demolition

It all has to go! Here the tub is gone, along with all surrounding sheetrock.

Vanity gone, with surrounding sheetrock.  The toilet remains til last, for presumably obvious reasons.

Looking upward into the attic, all sheetrock removed.  this old light assembly will be replaced.

The Rebuild

Here, the new tub is in, we passed it through the wall from the 2nd bedroom.  No harm there since all sheetrock in this bedroom will be replaced as well.  It would not be possible to replace the tub without opening up the walls, as there is not enough space to rotate the tub with the sheetrock in place.  This is a very nice, very heavy, iron tub.

A plumber was hired to replace the water supply for the laundry room washer connections, and to install a new valve assembly for the tub.  They share a wall so thats pretty convenient really.

All sheetrock has been replaced, the new ceramic tile floor is in, and the first row of ceramic surround for the tub is in.

the remaining tub surround is in, with a nice decorative border near the top.

detail of the corner cuts for the surround border.

A better shot of the ceramic floor

Here, fixtures are in, the downspout still needs to be added to the tub, but most everything is back in working order including a new toilet, and new vanity and sink. It is starting to look phenomenal!

Who Went Camping at South Llano River State Park

So this last weekend, the extended family and I went camping at South Llano River State Park.  It was pretty cold in the mornings, down to 36 on Saturday morning and 42 or so on Sunday morning, but the days warmed up very quickly.

I got reservations for 4 sites back in March.

Coffeegoddess had to work Friday, but I took the day off so I could get to the campground early and claim our 4 spots. I arrived at the campsite around 3:00, thinking that would be early enough. I was horrified to find there were only my 4 sites remaining unoccupied in the park! They were all adjacent though, near the front of the park.  In fact, if I had arrived earlier I might very well have chosen these 4 spots anyway.  Nearly perfect for our group.

After checking in and claiming my spots, I set up my camp, having a tent behind the picnik table pavilion, and an easy up where we can eat/hang out without the annoyance of insects.



Kitchen area.  The table has a nice extension running past the seating boards, presumably intended for handicapped access.  But, it makes a great location for the camp stoves.

Coffeegoddess and Corey arrived around 6 PM

 

 

 

My brother and his family arrived around 7:00 pm, with a guest.  Their site did not have a pavilion over the table, but they too brought a screened shelter, which they put over the table.

 

 

 

 

Children arranging the tent to their liking

 

 

Mike, Audrey, Alyssa and Santa arrived Saturday morning.

 

 

What a good dog.

 

 

 

Coffeegoddess and I wandered around the park on Saturday and Sunday.  Sometimes we rested lol.

 

By the river

 

 

 At the Scenic Overlook

 

A good time was had by all.

 

 



Jack's House - Karen's Wall

The neighbor on one side of Jack's house is Karen, so I call this first wall Karen's wall.

First we pulled some material off the wall to assess what would need doing.  Here's some very rotten siding peeled off the base of the wall.  With the tar paper lifted, we can see what we are looking at there.  The sill plate is very soft.  The underlying insulation has been affected by insects and the sill plate shows some damage from insects as well.

All the siding will be replaced, so no use delaying.  Here is the wall with siding removed below the double top plate.  The sliding glass door has also been removed, and the broken window will be taken out shortly.

toward the front of the house, the corner window is out, and all the insulation has been removed.  The siding you see here is simply a temporary measure to close up the house at the end of each work day.

Closeup shots of the studs at the left and right of the sliding glass door.  Note the rot is so bad, the studs don't actually go to the concrete.  the sill plate is essentially missing here.

From a little further away, this shows the termite trails running up the studs on the right side of the doorway.

More of the same.

No way to do all this in one day, so here we are at the end of a workday, with the temporary siding applied to the wall.  This is the cheap hardy siding that comes in 4x8 sheets.  I think it was around $11.00 a sheet or something like that, but has really helped.

From the inside of the house.  Jack has started removing sheetrock in the front corner, as we will need to replace the sill plate, and reframe that window to fix damage.

Heading to the back of the wall, where one of the bedrooms is located, the broken window is gone, all the sheetrock and insulation is out.  There's a picture missing of the studs below this window.  I will need to find it.

Here, the new sill plate is going in.  We used a pair of 4x4s to drive up the double top plate about 1/4 inch, allowing the sill plate to be cut out without removing the wall studs.  In this first photo, the old sill plate is actually gone, the replacement treated 2x4 is still loose on the foundation ready to go in.

Here, the sill plate installed.

4" molly bolts hold the sill plate to the concrete.  

Hitting a sill plate with a sledgehammer to remove it, while the old mollys are still attached, is a bad idea :-)  Here some concrete was patched up.

On this wall, both windows and the door opening will all need to be reframed to fix damaged wood.  The house inspector suggested we paint the studs at the door opening, to give them a little extra protection should moisture make it behind the door frame.

The window opening, reframed, at the front of the wall.

The door opening reframed.

And, a shot of the whole wall.  All the bright wood is new.  The orange-ish wood is original.  On this wall, there were no real problems with the double top plate, and only a couple of studs other than windows and doors were damaged.  Not too bad, really.

After reframing, we applied an R4 Exterior Sheating by Owens Corning, called Foamular.  Its a moisture and  air barrier, but will also provide a little insulation, and improve the noise rejection properties of the house as well.  Once the wall is sheathed, tape all seams, and cut out openings for doors and windows. (and attic gable vents, which we will do later)

A shot from inside, showing the back side of the foamular.  

Once the foamular is on, apply tyvec house wrap.  Its sort of a belt-and-suspenders thing, but we really do not want moisture to come into the house.

Rinse and repeat for 3 other walls!