When we picked out flooring to finish the downstairs bathroom and library, we bought enough to also do the “den” – which is directly off of the dining room. It remained the last room with carpet in it, and it was grody. (Off-white berber, stained beyond redemption, etc)

First step was to clear out the room, which took a long time (bookcases, plural).

Oh, and when the baseboard came off, yet more evidence of wallpaper past. (Though I must admit that this is one of the least offensive ones we’ve found; the colors are more muted than the picture shows, and it is somewhat Arts and Crafts in nature)

Then Jason pulled up the carpet and padding. The original hardwood was stained a mahogany red. Restoring it was not an option, as the house fire meant there were sections that had been removed completely and replaced by plywood.

Then the teak started to go down:

Two hours in, and the room is about 1/3 done. This is where we really picked up speed as we got away from the wall and found our rhythm:

Just over four hours and we were to the closet:

Five hours finds all of the floor down except the final row that needed ripped down and hand nailed, blah blah

And the pile of boxes full of floor has finally disappeared out of the dining room!

What’s a cat gotta do to get some attention around here?

Next up in here: installing new baseboard, and repainting. Woo!

First up was the door to the bathroom. It is on a 6″ deep wall, due to the DWV pipe, so we couldn’t do a pre-hung door. Jason did an awesome job of building the frame, adding hinges to the door, etc.

Then it was a matter of choosing trim. After a great deal of discussion, we decided on painted trim (largely because we just couldn’t find stainable trim we liked, and not even pieces to do a multi-part trim). The baseboard profile:

The front door (which you pass to get into the library) had previously been given chintzy clamshell moldings, which we pulled out:

Then ran the same baseboard all the way into the landing (obviously not nailed in yet, here):

The trim around the door is the same profile, just lacking the the extra “height”:

Same trim went into the bathroom:

(See the washer/dryer hookups? Huzzah!)

There was a little bit of tricky cutting to allow for the underside of the stairs that cut through the bathroom, but it turned out pretty well:

(Next update: painting trim, adding remaining fixtures, and then – who knows – maybe even some furniture? Madness, I tell you!)

See, for example:

Or:

Or:

(I’ll admit to being completely fascinated by the scaffolding that enveloped our house slowly, like a giant steampunk spider. For a frame of reference, that’s a six foot ladder leaning in the final picture.)

Basically, they had to completely rip down everything that was there:

And found out that part of the problem was that the previous gutters/etc had just been loosely nailed to the original crown molding/trim:

It was a novelty to come home and find progress had been made while we were away. Fortunately, we left behind supervision to make sure they stayed on task:

And in the end, we have soffits with ventilation (gasp!), gutters that actually collect rainwater and funnel it appropriately (shock!), and downspouts that route the water away from the house (could it be?!). All it took was admitting we weren’t going to do it, and finding someone who would. Awesome.

This was the first year that we did much of a vegetable garden, beyond the basic “toss a couple of tomato plants in the ground” etc. I decided to test out several varieties to see what we liked for future years. We had early peas, lettuce (Black seeded simpson), radishes (Sparkler), and some early carrots (Chantenay) already.

Bloom of bean “Coco Rose de Prague” (meant to be eaten as flagiolle – fresh, shelled beans)

And one of the bean pods:

Aiguille Verte – basic green beans, really unimaginative naming. These are going to be very heavy producers.

We also have Haricot Dolique beans – yardlong, pole beans, already 6-7′ tall.

American Pickling Cucumbers – first one forming:

Juliet tomatoes

Onions started from seed, Copra and Red Wing

And then Jason installed the toilet, oh happy day!

The plumbing for the pedestal sink had been roughed in but stubbed off with screw-on caps (easier to push drywall over them). Once the walls were done, it was a matter of replacing the temporary caps with appropriate shut offs, etc. And putting on the escutcheons, a word that makes me laugh every time I hear it for no good reason whatsoever.

Followed by a brief sanity check that they were, in fact, at the proper height.

I love how marking the drill points/level lines/etc for hanging the sink basin make our plumbing happy face have eyebrows – pierced ones, even. Subversive sink!

Sink installed, faucet hooked up (though still waiting on a … something … related to the drain??)

And the distance shot showing the whole pedestal sink:

Last winter, we had a lot of ice and snow issues, and – as a result – our gutters took a beating.

A brief consulation amongst ourselves, and the realization that home owners insurance is meant for stuff like this, lead to a decision that it was worth hiring someone to deal with it. The house is tall – very tall.

Well, since we were hiring someone to do the gutters, maybe we should just have them take care of the soffits, too. A previous owner just used vinyl siding, installed lengthwise (hack, spit). This means no ventilation, no dimensional stability, no squirrel-deterrant powers, etc. So when the gutters went, part of the soffits did as well. (Which you can see in the above picture)

Seems reasonable so far.

Well, if we’re having them do the gutters and soffits, maybe we should have them look at the flat roof that’s off the back bedroom – it’s leaking a bit, and we know it needs re-water proofed, etc.

No problem, they quote it. But in the process, the guy mentions that a big part of the problem is that there’s a door leading out to the flat roof(with attendant threshold, etc).

(It’s the upper red blob, in this very old picture)

We don’t ever use that door, so Jason calls in our expert reinforcements (my stepdad Joel) to DIY remove the door and patch everything up properly before the gutter guys start work. They get the door out, and find that the whole structure underneath is, well, let’s just say “soggy and grody”.

They basically had to demo the whole thing:

And at the point you’re fixing rafters and putting down new decking, you may as well add a little slope so the water drains properly. In fact, why not do a full 3:12 shed roof, since the flat roof never got used as a porch, and you’re removing the door to it anyway.

Oh, and half of the kitchen is under that “porch” (the other half is under a bedroom), and whaddya know, there’s no insulation in the kitchen ceiling (aka “exterior wall”). May as well take care of that while you’ve got it all open.

Unfortunately, in the process of carrying out all the supplies to do that, well, Jason missed a step. Which meant he put his foot through the kitchen ceiling:

(For those of you keeping count at home, I think that makes 3? 4? projects that were contributed to in this fashion)

To summarize, the original objective:
-repair fallen gutters

The project list as of today:
-repair fallen gutters
-replace soffits
-remove 2nd story backporch door (then insulate and patch wall where it was)
-insulate kitchen ceiling
-add shed roof over back porch
-re-side sections of house that adjoin former door and new shed roof
-patch kitchen ceiling drywall
-paint kitchen ceiling

… and the gutter guys are just starting their work – who knows what else this may escalate into? Ahh, the joys of old houses!

Further bulletins as events warrant!

Recent accomplishments:
- flooring is all finished, including those final couple of courses that proved to be most annoying to install
- light fixtures have been installed in the library, though there’s still some uncertainty about the shade for the pendant light
- curtains for the library hung, though they really need taken down and pressed, shhh
- whole host of other supplies for “finishing” have been purchased

Still be be accomplished before we’re functional:
- sanding the drywall in the bathroom (UGGHHH), priming, and painting in there
- reinstalling the toilet, installing the new sink
- picking out trim, staining/painting it, installing it, including a door on the bathroom

And eventually:
- designing/installing the built-ins for the library
- moving the washer/dryer to the bathroom
- finding and installing a bathtub
- ceiling patching, adding fake tin ceiling to the bathroom (most likely)

The recent purchases have been pretty varied. We’re definitely moving into the more “decorating” phase of things.
- rug for the library

- soap dispenser for the bathroom

- towel ring and toilet paper holder

- couple of hand towels to get by until I decide on a final color scheme

- bath sink faucet (finally just picked one and said “good enough”)

- mirror for the bathroom

- printed a couple of 8×10 photos from our 5 year anniversary trip of an awesome sunrise that should go nicely in the bathroom (thanks to all the blue/grey/silver/white/etc). Probably this one at least:

What better way to spend the final weekend of my twenties than putting down floor? Some helpful hints (heh).

Always follow all safety instructions; no nailing your partner’s head.

Do not be intimidated by the 2″ staples despite the fact that they are almost as big as your palm:

Accept the fact that you’ll take over whatever is the nearest room for mixing boxes, even if that’s your living room (what, you don’t decorate this way?):

The starting row is one of the hardest, in no small part because this is the real test of how well it coordinates with the existing flooring.

Plan ahead if you’re doing multiple rooms so the flooring will run smoothly between them.

Be grateful when you get far enough out from the wall that you can use the pneumatic nailer (which is also therapeutic since you have to whack it with a mallet).

Admire the finished product!

…oh, and plan to take a couple of painkillers, unless you routinely get up and down from the floor hundreds of times per day.

Two rooms, about 160 sqft, not too shabby for 7 hours of work. (There are still finishing courses to be done, but they have to be put in by hand.)

Marvin and I made the new curtains for the library. One of us was more help than the other, let’s just leave it at that, ok?

The drywall patches got sanded, primer where necessary, and the whole thing got two coats of paint.

It’s a little more raspberry-y than we originally hoped for, but it has since darkened as it cures, and the flooring helped a lot (but that’s another post!). The curtains will look pretty good with it.