I Love the Smell of Expanding Foam in the Morning

Before I can start on the kitchen floor, I need to finish a few smaller projects. First on the list was to replace the back door. The one on the house when we bought it was as weather checked and crappy as the front door, so it had to go. With the new door in place we'll be able to tile right up to the thresh hold. We weren't sure if we wanted to add a storm door for the back door or not, so we found a middle ground for now. The door we purchased has a window which can be opened. Yeah, a window in the door is not the most secure way to go, but it's a nice neighborhood and if somebody wants to break in, they'll get in one way or another. That's why I have insurance - to protect my Picasso and Rembrandt collection. As I removed the old door, I found there was very little insulation in the door frame, which explains why I felt drafts in the winter around the door. The new frame got a can of expanding foam in all open spaces, so I expect the problem to be gone.





I've also been spending some quality time outside with the overgrown landscape. I honestly don't think anything has been pruned out there for at least 10 years. I cut down a couple of scrawny trees which went to seed next to the foundation. They weren't big enough to cause any damage, but they were about to touch the gutters, so I know they've been there a while. The evergreen bushes were about twice the size that they should have been allowed to grow, so I cut out a lot of the lower growth to expose the roots. They look much better now, in my opinion. By the patio, I had an evergreen which was so heavily overgrown that the best thing for it was just to remove the whole thing.

Our plan for the landscaping has changed a bit now. We're going to wait until next Spring to do any real major work outside so we can do all the landscaping in one shot (when we have money). The interior renovations are going to take every penny we have right now, and I've got enough on my plate without worrying about the landscape too much.

The Lawn Won't Know What Hit It

At our previous house, the lot was just under 1/4 acre. Subtract the footprint of the house, a LOT of planting beds, the driveway and the sidewalk, and I ended up with a pretty manageable size lawn. For the 8 years we were there, I did the lawn with a standard push mower. No need for a self-propelled, and I was able to finish the whole thing in about 30 minutes if I didn't let it go too long between cuttings. Our new place is 1/2 acre, and has no sidewalk or planting beds to take up space. Just a LOT of grass in need of fertilizer and attention to make it thick and green. My original plan was to just mow it with the push mower, and as money becomes available in the future look for a deal on a used riding mower. Just days away from the first mow of the season, I found myself taking a detour on the way to work due to work being done on a bridge. As luck would have it, somebody had a rider sitting out front for sale. It's a Sabre by John Deere - originally sold by Home Depot in the late '90s. It runs fine and is in good shape, so it now resides in my garage waiting for action. 12 hp and a 38" cutting width. It'll cut almost twice the width of my push mower and will mow at a speed about 50% faster than I would go on foot. By my calculations that should more than cut my mowing time in half leaving me that much more time to work on the house. Yay.

Oh yeah, the rider has headlights so now I can mow at night!

I've Got Priorities

Multiple choice:

You have a half-hour to kill before anybody gets home - what do you do?

A. Take a nap
B. Eat a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies
C. Surf for Asian midget p0rn
D. Destroy ugly 60's architecture

Answer: D. I've already got C taken care of and I'm out of Girl Scout cookies. "A" was a trick to weed out the weak.

Before, I had the remains of the half-wall between the kitchen and living room:




After, I've got ugly carpet, linoleum, and some patching to do before I start the floor tile. I think the dog is starting to get used to the noise and dust (finally) :



I had hoped to remove enough of the wall to make the bottom half even with the top half, but there is an electrical out let very close to what is now the corner of the wall, so I'll end up bumping out the top portion of the wall about 1/2" to match the lower half. Either way I've got patching to do, but it's all worth it. If you've ever watched those home flipping shows and were amazed at how much larger a room looks when a wall is removed, that's what we're experiencing right now. Even though it wasn't a "full" wall to begin with, it really feels larger in these rooms now.

Let There (Eventually) be Light

I'm not planning on re-roofing the house for a month or two, but I found these light tubes on sale at Menards for $10.00 off, so I figured I'd save money and get them now. Well, I actually only got one since that's all they had, but I'm going back before the sale ends to get the second tube. I'm planning to put one in the bathroom and one in the hallway. Neither area has any natural light, and the hallway seems especially dark unless we turn on a light - even during the day. I got the 10" tubes, although they also sell 14" tubes. I think the larger size would be overkill for the limited space I'm trying to light.




I also had to make a run back to the tile store today. I noticed late last night that I was missing a box of 8" tiles. When we were (over)loading the van, we put one box off to the side because it was open and there was a shattered tile inside. The intent was to go through it to make sure it was only one tile, but in my haste to drive a low-rider van, I forgot about it. Only one tile was broken, and I was refunded the cost of that tile. While at the store, I decided to pick up a pair of corner shelves for the shower. I don't know if I'll use both or only one, but either way it should help keep us from having the shampoo bottles all over the lip of the tub.




I also got a chance to review the instructions for the heat mat and thermostat. It doesn't look like it'll be difficult to do, although I'm not sure yet if I'll need to run another power line to the bathroom to run it or not. The current service panel is pretty much tapped out and should be replaced, something else to add to the long list of projects! I like the blaze-orange color of the mat - reminds me of road construction barriers. I guess I'm easy to amuse.




While we were out picking up stuff for the house, I grabbed 160 pounds of Milorganite (high-nitrogen fertilizer) and a big bag of Scotts weed preventing fertilizer. The Milorganite is basically recycled waste from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Not a tasty thing to think about loading into your car, but I like to think there's a little bit of each of us in every bag.

Crush!

20 boxes of 10 pieces, 12" travertine.
9 boxes of 24 pieces, 8" travertine.
2 boxes of 10 sheets (6 pieces x 6 pieces), 2" travertine.
200 pounds of thinset.
75 pounds of sanded grout.
2 gallons of grout admixture.
1 3'x5' heating mat and thermostat.

All in one Dodge Grand Caravan with a 230 pound driver, four bucket seats, and one bench seat.

How much did it weigh? A lot. I'm guessing there was easily over 2,000 pounds of tile and mix.

Before:



After:



It may not look that bad, but that's low enough to drag the exhaust tip upon exiting the parking lot - lower than I've ever had it ride. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I easily exceeded the gross vehicle weight. In fact, I know I had very little suspension travel left (if any) in the back end. Luckily it isn't a long drive from the tile shop to my home. The steering sure felt light though! :)

Getting Ready for Christmas!

Seriously now, this weather is just plain weird. Two weeks ago the weather was great. The kids were able to play in their shorts, the ground was drying out and firming up, life was good.




Today we get this crap. It's my fault for continuing to live in this state, but my wife wouldn't let me leave. We probably got 5" of heavy packed snow and are expecting more. Luckily, the ground is still warm and it won't last. Heck, I'm not even going to shovel or break out the snowblower. I'll just wait it out. With my luck, we'll get a hard-freeze over the next day or two and my driveway will become an icy, rutted, mess. If that happens, feel free to point and laugh.

Ramen Noodles are my Future

Damn, travertine tile gets real expensive when you buy enough for a kitchen/dining room, bathroom, and entry way all at the same time! I guess I know what I'm going to be doing for the next year.

The plan is to do the full bathroom floor and entry floor in the same way we did the half-bath - 2 rows of 2" tile around the perimeter and 8" turned 45 degrees on the inside. The same 8" tile will be run straight up the shower walls, with an accent row of the 2" tiles worked in somehow to keep it interesting. The kitchen & dining areas will be 12" tile run across the whole area, approx 200 square feet.

This is what I put in for the half bath, which convinced us to go with it in the other rooms (shown here before I painted the walls - not bad for my first attempt at travertine if I do say so myself!) :




Eventually (if we have money left over) we'll go with some granite tile for the counter tops in the kitchen and bathroom. Unless we save money somewhere along the line, plywood is more likely in our future!