Transformers are hip again now, right?

Hey, everyone. When I left home this morning, it was an apartment. When I go home this afternoon, it'll be a house. Neat trick.

Wednesday was the last coat of polyurethane. I think the floors are looking gorgeous. We heard a good thing to do when you're moving into a place that needs more work is to make one spot a haven. No matter what's going on in another part of the house, there's a spot where you can go at the end of the day and feel cozy. That sounds better than focusing on trivial things like, say, the kitchen, or the floor joists, or the roof. :-) The psychological impact of having a safe place to go seems to overcome the rest of the priority list, so I think we'll spend our first full day getting that bedroom ready, if at all possible. What day will be our first full day? I'm not really sure. This whole process is a little fuzzier than I expected. That's what makes it a romantic adventure!

Isa 43:18-19 - Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert.

More Weekend Media

I thought I'd put up some more pics from last weekend. I mentioned earlier that we had put up our mailbox:


This is me putting it together. The mailbox itself was larger than our mounting kit would accept, so I cut some spacers from some leftover treated plywood. It worked out pretty well. Also, we started fashioning our crawlspace door.


We later primed this piece, and it fits really nicely into the crawlspace opening. There was some preparation involved, and part of that was pulling insanely long vines.

Gotta run. Peace!

Shiny

Stain is nice, but it's kind of flat.

Polyurethane makes it shiny.

This makes Amy feel powerful.

Thanks for helping with the floors, Amy!

Annie's been laying down a coat of polyurethane every day this week; tomorrow will be the final coat. We'll let it cure while we go on a retreat this weekend, then move all of our stuff in out of the garage. We'll have to put feet on all of our furniture (how do you do that if the furniture is on wheels, I wonder...). Our notice to the apartment complex said we'd be out Friday, so we're moving some of the rest of our belongings out to the house, little by little. It feels kind of unreal that this weekend is finally coming up. This is where the rubber meets the road. We'll start living in the house on Monday. It's like Annie and I are really going out on our own, in a way that living in an apartment can't do for you. I feel rather grown up.

Gen 2:24 - Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Friday was Drywall Night

I said I'd post some pics from Friday's impromptu drywall party, so here you go.

First, I was in there with Annie and my dad, just putting up a little bit of drywall at a time.

Then, friends showed up and the drywall activity exploded! There was so much energy, everyone was a blur!

See Dad and Chris as they battle an off-plumb, out-of-square frame to emerge in drywall victory!

I didn't get any photos of the finished product, and now the room is full of our belongings. I hope you can wait a bit longer for pictures of that type.
Peace!
Ecc 4:9 - Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

Fridge

Did I mention that we made a major appliance purchase? I took the day off on Friday, and we had heard that an appliance retailer was having a clearance, so we bought this baby:

It was a floor model, and it works. Splendid!

Saturday Success Level?! One Million!!!

If God is teaching me anything right now, it is gratitude. Friday night, four of our friends (and my father) stormed our house; we stayed until midnight, and we got that drywall up in the garage room. The next day, all of them showed up again (with four other friends) to help us move all of our possessions out of our apartment and into the garage room. We did it in one trip, because we not only had my dad's pickup and a 17' U-Haul, but two other pickups and an SUV with a trailer. It was humbling. We have pictures from Friday night that we'll post tomorrow; I don't remember if we got any snapshots of Saturday. I just remember that nine other people sacrificed their Saturdays so we could get our stuff across town. I hope that we pour ourselves out for others when their need is as great.

Super thanks to Dad, Angela, Chris, Erica, Ivory, Mark, Matt B., Matt M., and Travis. You guys are the stuff of legend!

Eph 3:20-21 - Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

So, Floor Pics from Tuesday

I said these pictures were forthcoming, so here they are! We stained the floor late Tuesday night. The floor was already sanded, so the next step was to remove the leftover dust. See Hannah attack it with a shop-vac!

After dust is banished from the area, the stain is poured into a disposable foil pan and applied with a sponge mop, the head of which is wrapped in a nylon sock:

I forget where we got this idea, but it worked really well. Of course, the stain would have to be touched up and smoothed, as Martha and Annie demonstrate.


All in all, it was a fun job that didn't make us too light-headed. The fumes really hit when it's time to apply polyurethane, which we didn't get to do for three days because of one simple step: you're supposed to wipe up the stain as you go so it doesn't puddle up and take three days to dry. And while it's drying, you hope it doesn't get any dust in it.

Live and learn, I guess. Lots of excitement from this weekend, and I'll post more when I have time.

Gen 3:19 - In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.

Claim Shanty Mostly Moving Party!

Hey, Everyone! We'll be moving most of our stuff this Saturday, starting at 9:30. Meet us at our apartment, and we'll caravan out to the house together. Again, we'll feed everybody lunch.

Trucks are quite welcome.

We'll be packing and preparing Friday, so give us a call if you want to help with that. We really appreciate all the help so many of you have given us already, and we hope to see you again this Saturday.

STAIN

So, we stayed up real late Tuesday to stain the floor, and it still isn't dry enough for us to start with the polyurethane. This delay gives us more time to address other issues, though. Our mailbox is now up, and we are in the process of fashioning a door to the crawlspace. My wife and father (obviously, two different people) are loading up a large truck bed with demolition refuse, which we'll take to the dump.

We do have a bit of a quandary, though.
Premise 1:
Since we've stained the floor, and it'll probably finally be dry by tomorrow, it'll take four more days for the polyurethane to be dry enough to walk on.
Premise 2:
We have to be out of our apartment in eight days, leaving this Saturday as the last chance for a big Moving Party.
Premise 3:
The garage room is still a shambles, unless we can get the drywall up.
Problem:
Where will we be moving stuff to, since the floors will still be drying? The garage room is the only place, but it's not ready.
Solution:
Install the drywall in the garage tomorrow, then move all the big stuff in there Saturday, and we can move our lighter belongings at a later time.

I hope that made sense. Anyway, it looks like we'll still be able to move out when we need to, but wow. Pray for us.

Pro 16:9 - A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

Crazy Elite Midnight Ninja Force!

Tuesday nights, the Singles group at our church has a get-together which usually runs from 7pm to about 10:30pm. It's a fun time. Last night, Annie and I went to pick up our polyurethane (we had gotten the wrong kind) beforehand, intending to stain our floors afterward.

We managed to recruit a couple of people to help us: Martha and Hannah. Together, the four of us inaugurated the Crazy Elite Midnight Ninja Force, a highly sought-after squad of stealth do-it-yourselfers. We arrived at the Claim Shanty about 10:30pm, and those ladies stayed until after midnight prepping the floor and keeping us laughing. Annie and I did get the floor stained (pictures forthcoming), but we didn't leave the house until after 2am. I'm a little tired right now, I'm not gonna lie.

My dad comes in this evening, and Annie and I hope to get some polyurethane down.


Ecc 8:16-17 - When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover [it], yet he will not find [it]; moreover, though a wise [man] attempts to know [it], he will not be able to find [it].
Maybe this no sleep thing isn't really worth it...
Peace!

Floored!

Well, the floor is coming along nicely. Remember what it looked like after we tore up the carpet? (The pictures are below, if you don't.) We were left with some patches in the living room where there was no hardwood floor. So, we tore those out. Chris and Ivory came over Friday night to help.



Chris, being a stud, sacrificed the lower half of his body to bring the plywood patch over the furnace opening down from the floor level to the subfloor level.



Saturday was a wild party, as amazing friends prepped for sanding by taping wall orifices, pulling staples, and removing and placing wood slats.






The actual sanding was a gritty process. Thanks, guys!




However, the living room floor wasn't ready for a really long time. I estimate the time of this photo as 5am.



Talk about your homemaker!



Sanding down the floor has really been murderous on our schedule this week. We want to stain and lay down the polyurethane at least three days before we move in; and we still have the garage room to finish, not to mention some external stuff. But my dad will be here tomorrow: maybe we'll get done in time!

Also, this work hurts. Pounding wood into place for sixteen hours will cause your fingers to feel new and interesting pain. However, there's always somebody who has it worse:

2Cr 11:25 - Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
And that was just a part of his list. Peace!

The New Floor is In

Super Thanks to all who came and helped on Saturday: Martha, Isaac, Jenny, Chris, Ivory, Jason, and Mark. You guys all went beyond the call. The new hardwood floor is laid, and we're still working on sanding and finishing it, but it's looking pretty good so far. We were able to sand the bedrooms on Saturday, and part of the living room, so there's not too much left. Also, Jason did a great job mowing the Quarter Acre Wood.

Pictures from the Flooring Party coming soon...

More Floor Adventures

When you go to pull carpet up, it comes up pretty easily, really. Of course, there's padding underneath it, and that comes up pretty easily, too. But then there're these strips. They're like balsa wood and they have claws sticking out in every direction. These require skill, like my beloved displays here:


You gotta get a pry bar, a hammer, and all your gumption, and you gotta get after it. Annie managed to get all of that stuff up in the past few days. But is that the worst part? Maybe. See, the padding is kept down by an army of staples. These things are hard to pull up, mostly because they're so close to the floor itself. Annie has figured out a way to deal with that, too, which involves pliers and perhaps some other tools. I'll have to see it before I can explain it.

Also, though, we're cutting up the floor. We're using a borrowed circular saw (thanks, Phil!) and slicing up the plywood in the corner. I'll post pics later.

Tonight, Chris and Ivory are coming over to help. Fun! Tomorrow, we'll have a houseful again, and we need everybody to bring all the eye protection and brooms that they can. Also, sanding tools. We'll have some face masks on hand, to keep you from breathing dust. Peace!

1 Kings 6:30 - And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
(not that our house is the temple. sometimes parallels exist, though, even out of context.)

Help!

Hey, Friends!
We're having another workday! This Saturday morning, we'll be pulling staples out of the wood floor, filling them in, sanding everything down, and eating food together! Drywall may also be involved, for those who prefer it. This weekend's gathering has some advantages over last time, mainly because of the air: it is now conditioned. So please join us, and let us know you are coming by calling, emailing, or commenting here. Start time is 9am-ish. We hope to see you there!


What's missing from this picture? YOU.

Flooring!

Monday night, Jenny came over to help Annie and me with our house. The major task for the night: demolition! It was time to take up the carpet and cast it aside to reveal what secrets lay beneath! We picked up every scrap from the main portion of the house (there's still carpet in the garage) and saw this:




Amazing, huh? That's bona fide, 1.5" red oak wood flooring, circa 1953. We were excited, let me tell you. The carpet, however, did hide some dark knowledge about the floor's sketchy past.


What's that in the corner?!?! That's not red oak! That's...some sort of out-of-date kitchen flooring! How can this be? That wasn't all...


Check that out! Why did they even install a floor furnace in the first place, if they were just going to remove it and cover the whole with unsightly plywood? But the most revealing detail about this floor is right here:


Oh, noes! Is that a Wall?! Upon further contemplation, the three of us agreed that this was a major load-bearing wall that ran down the center of the original structure. The piers in the crawlspace all run along this line, and the ceiling also shows signs that a wall used to be here. The house used to have three tiny bedrooms, two of which survive, a tiny bathroom (still got that), and a tiny kitchen (now grown to about twice its original size). The central wall had been moved about two feet to the west, opening up the living room and causing our flooring problem.

So, what's our solution? We're thinking about replacing the old floor so it looks like the rest, with 1.5" red oak strips. We'll keep you posted on the progress, as always.
Annie says hello.

1 Cor 4:5 - Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.

Finally, I'll Post Concerning the Water Heater

I'm not assuming you're particularly interested in water heaters, but I've mentioned this more than once, so I must talk about it. First off, during inspections, the guy told us there was a "leak" on the cold line at the water heater. He informed us that we would just need to "tighten" a "valve." Here's what his report said:
(Click the pic to zoom in.)
Another cool fact revealed at that time was that the water heater was electric. Here's how it looked:
It's peeking around a corner...
There it is! Or rather, was.

So how do we know for sure that the water heater is electric? Because gas water heaters have vents. Check this out:

Note that the little chimney is not attached to anything. Hence, electric water heater. However, funny thing about pipes, they can sometimes corrode from inside. What seems like a minor leak may indeed be systemic collapse on an irredeemable scale. So we had it replaced. I gotta thank TMT Construction for their fine work on installing this baby:

And now we have hot water at the house. Air conditioning, too! Yay! Now we can work in comfort as we rip up those pesky carpet nailing strips. Toodle-oo.

Jer 2:13 - For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Amateurs!

We had a lot of help this weekend, and I need to say thanks to a lot of people. There were ten of us, in all, and we knocked out the majority of the painting. Insulation was installed, walls were demolished, floors were exposed, two panels of drywall were hung, and pizza was eaten. It was a good time, in spite of the fact that we don't have the air conditioner working yet.

Thanks go out to (in alphabetical order): Andrea, Angela, Erica, Ian, Jason, the two Matts, and Sarah. You guys were great sports about the heat.

Speaking of which, we are having an air conditioner guy come out tomorrow, so that should be working by this weekend. We'll need some more help Saturday for some drywall/floor finishing projects. Anybody interested?

Saturday Success

The Paint Party was awesome! No time to post right now, but I'll give a full account, Lord willing.

Professionals!

Sometimes, the learning curve is too steep and the stakes are too high. This is the case with me and the following items:
Plumbing.
Carpentry.
Grout.
These are things I don't know how to do, and the cost of doing them wrong is very high. That's when some professionals came in and saved the day.

BIG SHOUT-OUT TO TMT CONSTRUCTION.
These guys did an awesome job, and we'd highly recommend them if you're doing any remodeling. I understand they do residential and commercial.

Let me tell you a story about our bathroom. It used to look like this:





Note that the floor is sunken considerably around the sink. This is because it has taken water damage. After ripping out the subfloor, bracing the joists, and installing new subfloor, here's what it looked like:



Also, here's an in-progress shot of the window trim:



Perhaps you'd like to see the finished product?





Gorgeous, isn't it? They also helped us with our water heater problem; I know I said I'd mention it more today, but the details will have to wait until later. Peace!

Pro 22:29 - Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.