tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147105792009-09-26T11:07:18.340-04:00This poor house, built in 1910, has seen better days. We purchased this house with "potential" in July, 2005.Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-60089695722432741142007-10-12T11:42:00.000-04:002007-10-12T11:43:22.702-04:00

The work continues on the new door has been installed and the bathroom is finally nearly complete

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1156820298457495262006-08-28T22:55:00.000-04:002007-01-19T22:08:04.403-05:00

The This Old House Drinking Game Originally found at http://www.fred.net/turtle/souse.shtml (no longer active) Take a drink if: Steve offers to help A new contractor is introduced The homeowner says anything about their budget Norm taps his safety glasses and reminds us how important they are A new technology is displayed or discussed Anyone visits a manufacturer's plant

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1137814609994925922006-01-20T22:29:00.000-05:002006-01-22T03:55:51.216-05:00

The furnace runs full tilt, not sure if it's a thermostat issue or what. The gas had been shut off right after we closed in July, and trying to be frugal, the significant other decided to deal with it later. After proving he was the owner, the gas was finally turned back on. Hot water, yippee! We actually spent New Year's Eve in the house, and I woke at 3 am in a tropical heatwave.The furnace

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1134507309411764542005-12-13T15:21:00.000-05:002005-12-13T16:08:12.593-05:00

I haven't been to the Dirty House in quite a few weeks given the bathroom situation and my aversion to gas station restrooms, but Joe has been hard at work and it's getting close to completion. After removing most of the walls, plumbing and all of the subfloor, the tile is finally complete. The wood paneling is up and waiting to be stained. The toliet flushes-yippee! The tub has it's new home

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1129425781510907192005-10-15T20:21:00.000-04:002005-10-15T23:03:41.663-04:00

It started innocently enough....I asked that we replace the toliet and the sink before we moved in. I wasn't asking for an ENTIRE new bathroom, I was okay with the awful vinyl tile for now...I spent 8 hours removing the wallpaper from the 80s (1980s) a few weeks ago, and then discovered that there was "some" water damage behind the toliet. This is what I saw today when I walked into the living

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1128827930533687572005-10-08T22:35:00.000-04:002006-02-11T13:05:06.206-05:00

The stairs after removing the carpet....And the stairs now...all broken treads replaced and finished! This portion of the stairs cost $35 for maple wood with some polyurethene finish.

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1128824490863681672005-10-08T21:35:00.000-04:002005-10-08T22:21:30.873-04:00

The bathroom project has begun. The old, scary toliet is now sitting on the tree lawn. Classy.The smell in the bathroom is unbelievable, the tiles and subfloor are soaked with urine. We figured it had been soaked up into the drywall as well, so that's gone now, too.Of course none of the bathroom fixtures have shut off valves, so he had to turn off the main water line. That still didn't stop the

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1126409425989221502005-09-10T23:08:00.000-04:002005-09-10T23:30:25.996-04:00

We have stairs! Okay, we have exactly 3 stairs that don't scare me, but the rest are on the way this week. As these were covered with carpet upon purchase, we had no idea that nearly every one was cracked beneath. And yes, the nasty plywood at the top is now gone, in previous post.Ugly ceiling fan in kitchen=goneUgly light fixture at the top of the stairs=goneMost of the rooms don't have

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1126405166691091392005-09-10T21:13:00.000-04:002005-09-13T22:19:33.816-04:00

Today Joe decided to find out what was really under the nasty plywood boards at the top of the stairs. I was convinced it would be a disaster. Joe's theorry was that a previous owner from long ago just wanted to raise the floor, my theory was giant hole. Optimism won this battle. Compared to the finished floor in the bedroom, it does look bad, but it will be no match for Joe's now expert floor

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1126052160128920752005-09-06T20:02:00.000-04:002005-09-06T20:37:35.306-04:00

My paint stripping project is coming along on the built in pantry. I have finished the drawers (right) and removed the paint from the bin pulls.I am still working on removing the wallpaper in the bathroom. Thankfully, wallpaper wasn't covering most of the walls. There is some ancient wallpaper in the 2 existing closets, but this has to be even less fun than cleaning....Above is the nearly

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1125443121585560242005-08-30T19:02:00.000-04:002005-09-01T21:27:11.936-04:00

By some sort of statistical magic, Cleveland is no longer the poorest large city in the US-sorry Detroit! We're number 12!! How a city goes from 1 to 12 in one year is beyond me, but I'll take it. Maybe the folks in the city will realize that casinos don't help a city do better (sorry Detroit...)

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1124580308976995742005-08-20T18:21:00.000-04:002005-08-20T19:25:08.983-04:00

I bought "The Money Pit' (Tom Hanks, Shelley Long) shortly after I bought my first house, a seemingly benign townhouse. After everything that could have broke did, and every varmit that could have snuck in did, I needed a good laugh. Then I happened to watch "Life as a House" (Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas) a few years ago, about an architect who decides to renovate his rundown beach house

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1124511250126741142005-08-20T00:07:00.000-04:002005-08-20T00:14:10.126-04:00

I finally summoned the courage to clean the bathroom. I bought some sort of wand like sponge thing to assist with the procedure-how else does one clean underneath a clawfoot tub? I swept and swept, then I used the bleach and water mixture, twice. And I didn't rinse, I don't care, maybe the awful vinyl tiles will just disinegrate beneath the layer of chemicals. I even wiped down the toliet that

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123904429836407872005-08-12T23:35:00.000-04:002005-08-13T00:22:53.233-04:00

This stuff is the absolute best! I was using regular 409 to clean, but Joe picked this up and it worked miraculously. I cleaned for another 5 hours today and I'm completely exhausted now. It's so hot!The walls of the basement stairs were absolutely disgusting because the stairs are so steep, one must put his or her hands on the walls to keep steady on the way down.I thought that the walls were

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123902636372110152005-08-12T22:54:00.000-04:002005-08-13T00:25:16.463-04:00

I decided to take a break from the cleaning and wander through the woods to pick up trash, and I found this improvised "planter" made of concrete blocks. I also found some old stone steps down the hillside and parts of an artificial Christmas tree. Didn't these people understand that fake trees don't belong in the woods???A few of the tires in the woods...I think there are about 20 of them out

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123817758630584702005-08-11T23:26:00.000-04:002005-08-11T23:35:58.636-04:00

3 hours today cleaning, washed all of the windows inside, at least downstairs, then I ran out of window cleaner....Swept the front "porch", found an empty drink container tipped over the edge of the window behind the lovely wardrobe. Moved the wardrobe because it was blocking the window, then realized that the porch has such a tilt that the doors won't stay closed if it's not on a side wall...

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123514512284556032005-08-08T11:15:00.000-04:002005-08-08T11:29:44.716-04:00

I highly recommend the pet drinking fountain, hours of amusement for all!This is the first photo I've gotten of all 5 in the same place. It involved catnip. Today is also my last day of freedom as I start working tomorrow-yippee!!!I won't have as much time to sit around watching the cats all day and taking photos.

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123513895920029062005-08-08T10:56:00.000-04:002005-08-08T11:14:26.290-04:00

The living and dining room floors are finished!! Remember what these looked like before? Absolutely amazing! Joe is so happy with the results, he's going to stick with it and finish the library room next, maybe even upstairs. He's decided to move onto painting for some variation in the routine...now onto the fun of choosing paint colors! So far, strike one on the yellow. We were hoping for more

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123512933828911142005-08-08T10:31:00.000-04:002005-08-08T10:55:33.840-04:00

I decided I couldn't tolerate the bathroom situation, so since the Home Depot is running 6 months no interest, no payments, I bought the toliet and new pedestal sink. Buying the toliet was more complicated than I thought, how many options in white can there be??? I figured we didn't need a $200 model, but I thought the $45 option was probably a bad idea, I mean, it is important that it works!We

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123510387331190022005-08-08T09:18:00.000-04:002005-08-08T10:28:05.733-04:00

Wow, choosing kitchen cabinets is amazingly complex. We went to the 2 major home improvement chains about 5 times in the past week. I think this is what we ended up with. Trying to finance these projects and figure out what we want to live with FOREVER is definitely a challenge. I know we ordered this style and the color is close. The cabinets won't be ready until mid-September, however, so I

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123179683337977602005-08-04T14:19:00.000-04:002005-08-08T11:55:07.923-04:00

I can't believe it's been a week since I've posted anything, where is the time going??I put the house photos first so that those who don't like cheese or cats can stop when they reach that point. Enjoy;)

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123179518354016812005-08-04T14:18:00.000-04:002005-08-04T14:18:38.360-04:00

The "before and after" of Joe's floor project. It's taken him dozens of hours to scrape the old brown paint off the floors. The paint is so thick that one of those big sanders won't work. He wanted to give up and put carpets down in the remaining room, but I think I've talked him into finishing that one as well. The color of the natural wood is so nice so it'll be this way when it's finished. 

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123179370360369422005-08-04T14:16:00.000-04:002005-08-04T14:16:10.360-04:00

The side window in the dining room was more of a challenge to do cheaply. I didn't want to put anymore holes in the woodwork around the window, so I tried to put the hardware into the wall around the window but I put them each about an inch too far over so the rod barely expands enough to reach both of the things that hold it up. Oh well, it's still better than the blue and yellow flower

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123179233916745272005-08-04T14:13:00.000-04:002005-08-04T14:13:53.920-04:00

I put up some very cheap curtains over the patio door and was able to pitch the awful vertical blinds that fell on my head the first time I opened the door. They had random stuff smeared all of them, too. Under $15 for the curtains, rod and tie back on the side. And they don't fall down!!! 

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14710579.post-1123179110589758482005-08-04T14:11:00.000-04:002005-08-04T14:11:50.593-04:00

Joe is starting to put on the finish today in these two areas-living room and dining room. 

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09669924686524317194noreply@blogger.com0