Chimney Tuckpointing

What is this? Yes, I am still alive and believe it or not, I have been working on stuff and taking photos thinking all along I would be doing a blog post. See, here is proof. I finished the last section of wall in the living room before Christmas...or is my tree still up??? Maybe. No, the husband starts whining mid-January when it's still up. Party Pooper.

The main project I had done recently was the chimney. Water was coming in around the chimney and I just assumed it was the flashing and started calling roofers to see if they could check it out. I think I called 8? 9? roofers and ONE showed up. He came down from the roof and showed me this photo:

Yikes! I knew the joints in the chimney were bad but I didn't realize they were this bad. We figured this is were the water was coming in so then I had to start the process of who does tuckpointing? The roofer knew a guy so I thought he would come out and give me an estimate but the roofer just called me back and said his guy "did" chimneys for $600.  He "does" chimneys? what like takes a bag of cement and slathers it on? I moved on to a company who has done a lot of historic buildings around town and they gave me a $4800 estimate. What!? Next. I found another company who also works on historical buildings and also the owner lives a few blocks from here. They gave me a $1300 estimate which seemed like a happy medium to me. Maybe it's still expensive? I don't have any experience on masonry estimates. Also, I don't have too much of a choice of contractors who correctly work on old houses around here and I wanted my chimney to look nice!

Sorry, I'm not climbing on the roof just to get an "after" shot but you can see white blob areas on the brick where someone had previously gone up and just caulked missing joints.

I didn't like the fact they randomly showed up at my door early one morning. Possibly the disadvantage of him living close "oh, my guy got back into town late last night so we thought we would pop by and see if he could get started" BUT I am pleased they came right out as soon as it got warm enough and it is all done before the spring rains

Sandbox Time

I don't remember the last project my husband did, perhaps it was paint 3/4 of the house 5 years ago? Or maybe it was breaking the sink while trying to unclog it last weekend? Anyways, he is the first to admit he is not handy - which is fine with me because he lets me do whatever I want around here. When he said last weekend he was going to build a sandbox I was a little leery and figured I would have to figure out how to fix and finish it but it actually went rather smoothly.

We picked out some cedar wood. We actually found fence pickets which were the exact length we wanted (minus the 1/2" of picket at the top) and they were $4.97 a board.

I cut the top picket shape off  - neither I nor my husband trusted him to cut it straight.

The boards were sanded and then screwed together.

 We have a pretty square!

Come on dad! It needs more sand!

 

 While looking at other sandbox tutorials, I noticed most people put a board on the bottom. My dad just stuck this black garden cover stuff under my sandbox as a child and it held up a good 10+ years so I just went with that in our sandbox. Plus it is cheaper and way easier than measuring/attaching a bottom.

We'll be adding some corner benches for support but it's being used as-is for the moment.

 One thing I would recommend is leveling around the edges prior to filling with sand. Two of the corners were a little lower than the rest of the box so sand was threatening to escape. I did cram dirt under and level it that way but it would have been easier to do before! I also am not really crazy about the sand. Menard's, Wal Mart and Home Depot all had the same looking sand labeled "play sand" but it is really red and really pebbly. Menard's also had super fine sand for twice the price but I don't think that is really good to crawl around in either. The small child obviously doesn't care as it works just fine for sand castles!

 

Emerald green is trendy? Really?

This project happened before it got chilly out.

I was going to change out the ripped up weather stripping and decided first I had to fix Bernie's (the previous owner's dog) scratchings.

Real classy Bernie. Real classy.

I filled in Bernie's scratches with exterior wood filler and sanded - though it still looks rough in this photo. Then scraped and sanded the rest of the door.

I am a firm believer in limiting the amount of white objects in my life with everything from walls down to clothing due to a klutzy dropping and staining disorder. I am also a firm believer blatantly 1990's style decks and patio doors shouldn't be added to the dining room of a 1915 house but that is a different rant. Back to this post, that weekend was also free paint exchange day at the Eco Store so I decided to see if I could find a replacement for that awful flat (yes, flat) white paint. I browsed the exterior paint pile, brainstorming what would match a dark red trim color and found this green. Hmm, I read somewhere emerald green and brass were popular so I thought I would give it a whirl.

It is impossible to get a good photo with bright sunlight streaming directly onto the door so the color is a tad darker than it is in this photo and to me it just looks circa 1993. Possibly because the door is circa 1993?? The red is dark enough so it doesn't look Christmas-y (my other concern) but this color still doesn't really do it for me. Wasn't it termed Forest Green in the 90's? However, it does look 100 times better than the white, especially with Bernie's markings gone. So it will stick around for a while. At least until I find a different can of free paint to try out on it! I have also confirmed that no matter what that article told me and showed me photos of, anything I do in this color combination is just going to look 90's.

What Have I Been Up To Lately??

I wish I could say something exciting! But Nope! Same old, same old. Trying to keep up with normal household chores, a job, a two year old and after that is all taken care of I can accomplish bonus household projects.

I'm still working on the other wall (I swear I only get about 30 minutes a week in, maybe, so don't judge!) It's getting close. The plaster is done and I have been working on lightening the woodwork from it's flat, dark 1970's hue.

I got my obligatory fall patch of grass planted! My crabgrass patches are lessening.

I've been trying to organize the garage (another reason my interior is slow is my time is divided with outdoor projects at the moment)

I was happy to accomplish getting a cupboard hung up all by myself (I guess the husband contributed 3 minutes of hoisting it into position)

This was originally (well, 70's? original) in the bathroom. I pulled it out and being the hoarder I am, decided it would be useful in the garage. It has been sitting in the corner, on the floor of the garage for going on 3 years now?
Here is how I originally met this cupboard. Hanging awkwardly above the toilet, hiding my clothes chute door.

Now it is holding my garden supplies. I cut a board where the clothes chute opening was in the lower right section. Tin cans fit nicely and they are free so my tools are hanging out in those.
Please Note: the DDT sprayer is for decorative purposes only and it is empty. I found it in my grandparent's garage with the directions carefully wrapped around it so I'm not sure it ever was used.

I have a small back log of posts stuck in my head so I definitely need to work on getting them out and onto my blog!

Lighting Win

OK, I think I officially have 27 blog posts stuck in my brain from the past month but transferring them from my brain to the computer seems to be the tricky part. I'll start with my successful lighting story from last weekend and see what else I can do! There is a light outside on the porch but this has been the scene inside the porch since we moved in. I never think about the lack of a light until I am trying to match a pair of shoes for work at 5:45 am.

 

I also took an uninteresting light fixture from my parent's garage sale pile, probably 2 years ago, for this spot. It was a 10 min. project after all so when does one have time for those!?

(pile of uninteresting light parts)

 

Plus, when is a 10 minute project actually 10 minutes? I figured we would get up there and find the wires were dead requiring us to somehow fish a new set of wires through the ceiling. Also, this is not centered due to the bathroom addition so if we were going to put that effort in we might as well move the location. Miraculously the wires worked and it did take about 10 minutes. Well, a little longer because the fixture was freshened up with a little spray painting. And I think my dad had to run to the hardware store to get something probably just because what project is complete without an inconvenient trip to the hardware store?

 

No, I didn't check to see if my $5 shade from the last posting fit. I figured this was still too much in the outside elements and it would fade or (the more likely scenario) a guy would come through swinging a ladder and knock the shade across the porch.

Welcome back termites?

This is what I've been dealing with the past week.

Fresh termite debris! Ugh! Luckily I've only found fresh damage in the crappy plywood previous owners used to close in the porch. I also haven't caught site of any termites. I figured we weren't under warranty anymore since we had it treated right away when we moved in plus it was just someone our realtor set us up with. I got an estimate for almost $1000 and decided to dig deeper and find who we originally had do it - even if the termites did return. They told me I could "renew my warranty" through this year and they would inspect and treat the affected areas. mm, OK, that is way cheaper so I'll give them a second chance.

I've also been trying to fix? the yard as it did not fair well with the drought last year. I've noticed the areas which suffered used to be under the shade of trees (which were most of the way gone when we got here).

All of my hard work and this is now what it looks like:

Well, the lighting makes it look better anyways. What you can't tell is that I leveled out the tree stump holes and there is grass seed. Maybe. I spread it, covered it with a little dirt and wet it down thinking it was going to rain in a few hours. It did eventually rain but I woke up to 30 mph winds prior to the rain. The next morning I saw birds pecking away. I guess we'll see. 

Weekend Productivity?

This weekend was not productive. In fact, I feel it is regressing more around here than progressing.

We had to clean out our relatively new (30 yr old) sewer line last summer and they didn't find any tree roots etc. so we were hoping it was a fluke and it just needed a good cleaning but nope, it's backing up again. We called the city hoping it was their 125 year old line but they claim nothing is wrong on their end so it has to be ours. Hopefully someone can come quick, unplug us and run a camera down to find the exact culprit of this situation. Also, hopefully this situation is not occurring under the driveway slab. 

The ants have swarmed the kitchen again. Didn't I have this problem the first summer here? Why yes I did but the ants fell for my traps and gradually died off. This year's crop seem indifferent to my traps despite their obvious attraction to the grape juice which mysteriously appears on my counters every morning.

The air conditioner exploded water all over the basement as it was extra humid on Saturday and something clogged up the hose. 

Last but not least, termites! Didn't we have the house treated for termites before we moved in? Yes, yes we did but my dad found a few on the garage. This was the front middle post which is by itself, the last section of the garage he was repairing and he hadn't seen any others anywhere else. We put some termite killer on it and are hoping that will take care of them and it's not a widespread problem...yet? We'll see about that. Since my dad fixed most of the trim on the garage this weekend hopefully it doesn't just get eaten up again!

 This was the damage done by previous termites and water.

It now looks like this. Yay! Nothing big or exciting but every little bit around here helps.

 Around the door frame is also fresh and new.

Saying Goodbye to the Hot Tub

I've never had the desire to own a hot tub but since this one came with the house I thought I would give it a try. After all, it might be fun to invite some friends over, do some grilling and have a hot tub party! But alas after 2 years I never even started planning a party which involved the poor little hot tub. The first step would have been to actually clean the hot tub but it still looks like this:

I've been thinking about putting it on craigslist for free just to get it out of here probably for the past year. But I have dealt with craigslist a few times.

I claimed a free shop vac which "worked just fine"...for half the living room.

I tried to buy an antique toilet which "had no cracks at all" after I asked at least 3 times specifically if it was cracked anywhere above the base. I drove to Fremont only to discover a huuuge crack all the way around and through to the inside of the bowl. Did they hope I was blind?

My place of work convinced me to post and be in charge of e-mails from several unused items they had around the office. This resulted in many e-mails involving sending money orders for above the asking price but no actual interested buyers.

I put it off and put it off but finally had enough of looking at that dirty hot tub every day and my dad was here to deal with the electrical so I decided to give it a go, expecting the worst. I received an e-mail within 20 minutes. I left them a message with my address and asked what time they might stop by but of course I never heard another word from them. I'm assuming they drove by, saw how gross it was (despite my warning and included photo) and kept on driving. E-mailer #2 seemed enthusiastic so I called and left a message, he returned my call within 5 mins and said he would definitely take it, sight unseen and mentioned he had removed and installed several hot tubs so he even sounded like he knew what he was doing. Score! He came yesterday, jacked it up and undid all of the electrical but his friend couldn't make it until today with the truck. He left his $150 jack under the hot tub as collateral and sure enough, a huger than expected truck pulled into our yard this afternoon.

(I snuck in a picture from upstairs to avoid any awkwardness)

Whew, I feel I lucked out in this craigslist posting. I was fully expecting someone who had never thought of owning a hot tub until seeing my free ad would show up with a small car and try to bungee it to the top or something ridiculous! I'm sure this guy is going to refurbish it and make a bunch of money from it but that is fine with me. I'm glad our hot tub is going to find a new home and I hope it goes to someone who will enjoy it and actually give it the hot tub party it deserves!

Now I have a whole new, unevenly dirty deck area!

I have some flower pots to put against the fence and...and I don't know what else I can do! Anything pricey and eye catching is out of the question at the moment since it is somewhat visible from the alley. Otherwise cute patio furniture and an awning I saw at Lowe's last weekend come to mind.

Previous Weekend

As usual I realized I never posted last week's post I had in mind, probably because it is boring. However, I am excited about the progress.

 We got the custom made by dad storm windows in place. He got a bunch of grandpa's tools and wanted to test them out. Who was I to say no? Especially since it meant I could get rid of that plastic which has been gradually falling off.

 Gross plastic. This picture also makes the neighbors house look really close.

Much Better. Plus there are no random breezes coming through this window anymore! Four first floor windows down, eight to go plus 2 doors.

Now a little peek at the bathroom. We got the new toilet installed!

The Disadvantages of Being Cheap?

I've been half wanting a patio set. Our yard hasn't been nice enough for me to feel the immediate need for one because who wants to sit on a dirty deck and look at a pile of dirt and weeds? I figured I would wait for some fall clearance deals and sure enough we went to Lowe's and they had just what I wanted.

It had to be heavy so it wouldn't blow away and no glass because hail happens frequently here. Metal mesh should work perfectly!

I got what I wanted on super clearance so what is the problem with being cheap? When I first spotted the set there were two different sized tables so I had to go home and measure to see which would fit best. They had lots of each table so no problem. We went home, measured, came back, got the table and went to grab the chairs...Yep, someone had ravaged the chair selection. They had lots earlier but when we came back they only had three and this odd one which blends but doesn't match. I bought the three chairs and the oddball chair just because if I didn't I would never find that fourth matching chair. Unfortunately we only have one Lowe's but fortunately the Omaha Lowe's had plenty of chairs and also fortunately Mark's parents live close to one and they happened to be coming down the next day. They swung by to grab one for us before they came to town. It took a little extra work than if I had just forked up full price for a set in spring but I am happy with my decision. Now I'm hoping someone doesn't wander by and steal it before we get to enjoy it!

Labor Day Weekend

A few projects from last weekend:

One tedious and not so interesting project I have been working on is the foundation. Thankfully brick only makes up the first 3 feet of the house.

Quite a bit of the mortar has held up and looks sturdy, some places the previous owner made a sloppy attempt at repairing (foam caulk is involved in a few places) but in other spots:

Ack, you can see right through! and in fact I could see right outside in places in the basement. I did a daylight check after I was done stuffing fresh mortar into cracks and all looked dark.

I finished the front of the house along the bottom and have to finish building up some dirt. Hopefully the remaining wood pieces will disappear by the time our termite treatment wears away.

My dad has been on a broken window kick at their house so he took care of a few broken panes at our house. No complaints from me there!

and some wainscoting is up in the bathroom! Very slowly but surely it is getting done!

"New" Porch Door

On to the previous week's project.This was the front screen door which was the first thing to greet a visitor or what people could see when they walked or drove past. It opens into the screened in porch where the real front door is but as you can see from the photos it is crooked, dented and shiny aluminum.This is from inside the porch. I swear I had outdoor views but I don't know where they went and I'm too lazy to take another one right now.

 

 

 This is my "new" $30 door from the salvage store.  

I am looking forward to not having snow blow through the bottom, being able to lock it, not having the bottom panel snapping back and forth in the wind and the list could go on but I'll stop now. 

The door basically was the correct size. A little short, as seen by the new boards on the top and it was about 1/4" too wide so a little shaving was necessary.

Painting!

I thought we were making progress on the painting. After all, the neighbor's house behind us looks worse than ours and...wait, what the!? He hired painters so now his house is all shiny and new in less than a week? Drat!
A full back view of our house, hideous deck rails and all. We successfully recruited some help so the progress did improve over the weekend. Nicolette is scraping the kitchen windows.

Ryan Scraping the trim above the side door.

Rollers are amazing! As long as you don't mind paint splatters and outdoors I don't mind paint splatters. The afternoon sun was too hot (yes, 90 mid-October? What is with that?) so we moved up front.

Mark using the roller with the extender up front. The extension thing is also amazing as Mark can pretty much paint all of the house standing on the ground. Too bad the edging and trim still need a ladder.

The Jungle

Oops. I forgot to post my very unexciting tree/shrub removal post so here it is.

This is the side of the house I never see. Our poor neighbor, on the other hand, does from his kitchen window. A while back I looked at the side of the house and realized Mark had not been moving over here. When asked about this he said "I thought it looked cool, like our own little jungle garden area." OK? Yes, I'm sure our neighbor feels the same way.

So here is our little jungle garden. Mostly trees at this point since I have been more closely monitoring the mowing.

Tada! The trees are gone leaving the bridal veils which also got trimmed back so hopefully they come back next year.

A Little Late for Exterior Painting?

I really don't think we are going to get the exterior of the house painted this fall as it already has been getting chilly but the boys are determined it will be done. And when I say determined, I mean they are maybe putting in 2 hours a week of work and still insisting it will get done. OK, whatever. I will start painting when it gets to the lower half but I have some minor vertigo on the tall ladder. I can climb the ladder but I will be tightly gripping it with both hands by the time I get up 10 feet so I'm not much help. Why did I buy a 2 story house which needed painted then? I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time!


Some of the paint colors we tried. I do like the top blue. Though I started looking at other houses painted blue and realized they had faded. If we paint the stucco right, we shouldn't have to do anything to it for a long time so a dark color is not a good idea. Plus, not that I am a purist when it comes to paint (it's only paint and can be easily changed is my theory) but while researching Craftsman paint colors it doesn't seem they painted the exterior of their houses blue at the time - slate gray was the closest I could find. Anyways, I was afraid the blue would look silly and then silly and faded in 2 years so I think our final choice is Chocolate Swirl with Raffia Cream. The whole combination makes me hungry just thinking about it.

I am embarrassed to show the purple splotch up there! It was red/brown/deep plum on the sample but it is very purple on the wall and even more purple-y in this photo. Our brown is on the end and the middle off-white is what we picked for the stucco. I still like the dark red too but I'm afraid it will clash with our oddly colored brown/blue bricks. The brown might too for that matter. Mark says my brown choice looks 70's but it must fit with my overall retro vision for the house so he is OK with it.

I have an overall retro vision for our house? Hmm, he's probably right and I subconsciously chose these colors with that in mind. I was hoping for something a little more retro than 70's. I can't say I have the urge to panel anything though I have to admit a lot of orphaned owls have been finding their way onto our walls.

A Federal Offense

Yep, someone stole our mailbox. Or it is in our bushes somewhere but as far as I can tell it is gone. The sad, rotten post it was precariously balanced on remains but the mailbox is nowhere to be seen. I'm guessing someone stumbled by drunkenly and thought it would be "cute" to run off with it, probably discarding it a few blocks away. It was hideous and was embellished with someone's name other than our own so no big loss though it did happen right before we left town for the weekend so our mail lady had nowhere to deposit our mail on Saturday.

As soon as I discovered it missing I was excited as it gave me an excuse to replace the thing since I was afraid it would fall over every time I opened it and a family of ants had also taken up residency in it this summer. I immediately pictured getting something like this to replace it:

Something classy with some craftsman flair though at $179 it will have to wait until I win the lottery or find one at a garage sale. I will probably never be able to justify spending this much money for something I never really look at which is (obviously) sitting in plain sight for someone to steal.

Alas a $16 Menards special will hold our mail for now.