Friday, March 30, 2007

... And up to my eyes (Part 3)

Fake brick around a fake fireplace. What are the odds this masterpiece will survive the renovation? Not good I'll bet. The mantle is actually real stone, but I'll still destroy it all as I take it apart. Even my son wants to take a hammer to it - he makes me proud.




The mechanicals in the basement all work, but some of the pieces are in need of updating. The sump pump is older than me and doesn't have a check-valve in the line so every time it pumps out water, about half of it comes right back into the crock! The water softener needs to be disconnected and cleaned out since the old salt has formed a salt-bridge inside keeping it from working properly. Since we moved in a month ago, we've probably run more water through it than it's seen in over a year. The water heater on the far left of the picture is past it's life expectancy, so I expect to be replacing it soon. Fine with me, as it'll be a good selling feature for the house when we move. When I replace the sump pump, I plan to add a battery backup pump as well. The sump runs enough that it makes me worry what would happen if/when the power goes out for any length of time.




The laundry tub (or what's left of it) works, but the faucet is shot, it's got some large rust spots, and one leg is rusted away. Not too safe considering it probably weighs a few hundred pounds and is made of concrete! I already have a replacement sink, faucet, and drain so it'll be replaced soon.




As our home inspector was going through the place, he couldn't help but laugh at this wiring job. That hard-wired connection goes to the stove. Not what I'd call a "safe" job as you can't unplug the stove. The wire also doesn't have much of a drip line to it, so if anybody spills anything which gets behind the stove, it could drip down the wire and into the rigged junction box. Obviously this was not done by a professional electrician or anybody in possession of a clue. We'll remove this joke and the new stove will be set up for gas.




Back to the main floor, we see some lovely architecture from the 60's. The same detail is found by the front door. Both areas will be torn out and modernized when I start renovating these areas.

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