Quick update, nothing much to report

We're still here, still moving forward at a slow pace.  We spend a few hours once a week on home improvement - it's about all I can stand at this point.  That {fill in the expletive} mirror is causing so many problems!  I'll tell you more later and post some pictures once it's up.  It's very frustrating and unfun. 

A dreadful trip but we got bargains

Today we went to Ikea to pick up some materials for our next projects.  We've lived in this house for 7 years, and in that time I haven't had a full-length mirror.  Fortunately, I rarely dress up so it hasn't been much of a problem but it would be nice to have!  You might be asking why I didn't just go out and get one and the answer is that C is 6'4" and most regular-sized mirrors are not big enough for him to use unless he is so far away that you can't see yourself well.  Add to that that I'm 5'3" so it is hard to position a mirror in a way that we can both see our entire bodies. 

We also wanted to get a cabinet door from their kitchen section to cover the wiring access opening in the hallway.  There was originally a heater under the house with vents (the only 2 in the entire house) in the hallway.  We removed the whole thing since it no longer worked and was 50+ years old and replaced it with a modern, fuel efficient natural gas heater which is in our attic.  The old heater had a flue to vent the gasses out of an opening in the roof, and fortuitously the flue was placed in the center of the house where we could use it to run wiring.  All the wiring in the house (phone, internet, cable, speaker, etc) runs through this flue and connects on a central board and then goes out where it is needed. 

We had an opening put in the drywall so we could access the wiring and it still sits open (about 1.5' by 2.5') in our hallway.  To keep the heat in and critters out, we have it stuffed with towels right now - classy, I know :). 

One our way to Ikea, there was terrible traffic in the opposite direction for tens of miles.  We debated most of the way there whether we should cancel our trip and return home on surface streets (the freeway was at a standstill for miles).  We decided to go because we figured it would be several hours before we were trying to get home and the freeway had a good chance of being reopened.  We'd also be returning later in the day which meant the morning rush hour had more of a chance to subside. 

We got there and since I've been there at least 50 times in the course of our remodel, I know the hidden shortcuts.  We got right to the kitchen department first.  We found only one door we both liked and that met our needs.  When we went to buy it, the sales rep told us it was no longer made and that the only one available was the floor model.  In a rare stroke of luck for a house project, the floor model was the size we needed.  We took it and the hinges, and together they would have been $51 and we only paid $10!

We also found a huge mirror for $130.  The only mirrors of comparable size I found were priced in the $500 range - seriously!  We ended up buying a floor model in the "as-is" section for $80.  Score! 

We made it back fine, but the Prius almost wasn't up to the job!  We've hauled so much in that car that I'm always surprised when something doesn't fit.  We had no box for the mirror, which is good because we would have had to unbox it anyway.  The only way to fit it in the car was to move both front seats all the way up, and remove a canvas dog barrier for a fraction of an extra inch.  I had to drive because C could barely fit in the car.  Even I was cramped!  Fortunately, the traffic had cleared and it was a normal ride home. 

Our next few projects are getting these two items installed. 

An unusual home improvement project this week

This week's home improvement project came about because C has been having some pain because his desk set up is so bad.  We've had folding tables in the office for the last 6 years, and just haven't gotten to fix up that room yet.  They are really bad for him to work on and spending all those hours at the desk was injuring him. 

On Wednesday, we did an arduous shopping trip to one main furniture store and then hit 6 others in the area to find an adjustable-height, sit/stand desk.  We found what we needed and decided to pay to have it delivered and assembled which turned out to be a great idea.  It was really heavy and took a long time to put together.  The delivery guy earned his money and we were happy.  The short story is that the desk was set up and ready to use that day.  It's been working out great, and I'm excited to upgrade to one as soon as we can make some changes in our work spaces.  Right now, I work off the kitchen table and we don't have any other space for a new desk for me so it will have to wait until we do some big changes like adding space or building a new garage with space on top of it. 

Here is a shot of his new desk.  It's motorized and moves up and down with the push of a button.

Done with wiring holes!

Today there was just one task to do - finish the wiring holes under the entertainment center in the living room.  We left this undone for the last two weeks, so today we really wanted to finish it.

It only took a little bit of time to get the last plate on the wall, and in the end I was glad it cracked and I had to redo it.  It looked terrible with the inserts being crooked and not flush. 

Here's the final product:

With that, we are done the wiring holes!  Every jack has a plate on it.  This one is crossed off the list!  Gotta savor the little victories :).

Wiring holes, part 2

Thursdays are our designated day to work on house stuff.  We always try to move something ahead on that day.  On Thursday April 4th, we started the spot by the TV equipment in the living room.

Here's what we started with:

We got most of it done, but the last plate was really tricky.  They are tricky under the best of circumstances - the plates are pretty small and square whereas the walls are not flat, level, plumb or square.  The holes are shaped in an add array of shapes.  The last plate was a triple plate and each of the three spots holds two speaker wires (it's not visible in the picture above - it's to the right).  

The three inserts that hold the speaker wires don't attach to anything, so while trying to fit a flat plate onto a non-flat wall, manage 6 separate screws and keep it all from cracking you have to try to keep the inserts flush with the plate.  I got the whole shebang mostly attached and then cracked the plate on the last screw by using a drill to drive it.  I lost control and the drill drove it too far too fast.  Ugh. 

Here's the plate that got messed up on the right:

I went out the following Wednesday (4/10) to get  replacement plate so we could work on Thursday.  When Thursday rolled around however, my computer was broken and C spent 5 hours working on it.  We got nothing done on the house that week and I was out of town the next week, so this waited until I got back. 

I'll be so glad when this is done and I can get onto the next projects

Wiring holes in wall

One of the long-standing things I hate about this house is the holes in the walls.  Nobody should have holes in the walls after 7+ years!  We got to a complete, frustrating standstill on the back patio area and decided to skip to another project for now.  We are working on the holes in the walls from the wiring.  We have a few electrical sockets that don't have plates, some blank holes in the wall for goodness-knows-what, and some uncovered low-voltage jacks (phone, internet, etc).  The last few weeks we've been working on these wiring holes.  After this, there is only one more hole we need to fix which will be done soon.

Here's today's work:

This is a before shot of the holes in the wall.  This is in our den, one of the two TV areas in the house.

Here is the same spot with the plates attached.  It's a small change, but it feels so much better to have all these little spots taken care of.  Now of course the wires need to be taken care of, but one step at a time!  We eventually want to run these wires in the walls.

This plate was a bear to put on!  I kept thinking that the wall was messed up as a result of all the terrible work we had done, but in this case it was actually the plate that was messed up.  You can see how curved it is!  This will be replaced someday, but for now we work on what's most annoying and this has a long way to go.

Bathroom before and after

Since November, the bathroom has been pretty much done and I've wanted to get this post up.  It's pretty late, but here goes.  All we have left is put some artwork up and some small accessories like a face mirror for the wall, but as of now we pick the most annoying things to work on so these are low priority.

Here are the pictures:

BEFORE: This is a view from the bathroom door.  The white and aqua quilt on the wall covers a window.

BEFORE: This is the front right corner with the toilet in it.  The wet wall separates the toilet from the tub which is in the back left corner.

AFTER: Here is the same corner, which now has the sink in it.  We wanted a double vanity, but there was just no way to fit it given that we also wanted a big tub and a heated towel bar.  Something has to go in an 8 x 8 bathroom from the 1950's!

BEFORE: This is the tub, which is in the back left corner.  From this angle, the door would be on your left and the window on your right.

AFTER; The tub is still in the back left corner, but now it runs along the back wall instead of along the left wall.  The heated towel bar is visible next to the tub and it's protected from water by the frosted glass panel.  The panel also hides the tub spout, shower curtain and shower controls which makes the room look very clean and minimalist which is how I like it!  The shower curtain is clear, and when you shower it feels really spacious because the tub is large and the curtain is clear.  The vertical post is a commercial-quality handicapped grab bar that we had custom made.  The stepover into the tub is both high and wide and we wanted to make it as safe as possible.  It's also in just the right spot so it's really clear you are supposed to grab the post and not the glass, tub spout, etc.  I'm really pleased with how this came out.  It was an absolute bear to figure out and get done, but it did come out really nice.

AFTER: This is what the shower looks like from the inside.  

BEFORE: This is the middle and front corner of the right side of the bathroom.  The door is on your right and the window is on your left.  The storage closet is in the front right corner of the bathroom.

 AFTER: This is the same spot, but looking more toward the floor.  The toilet is where the sink visible in the picture above was, and we replaced the existing closet with a smaller one.

BEFORE: This is the back right corner of the bathroom.

AFTER: This is the back right corner of the bathroom.  We relocated the window more toward the corner.  It was originally where the wall niche is now.  To use up the space below the window, we put in a tiled block that has a towel cubbie and a drawer in it. You can see the towels sticking out in the photo above of the toilet.  This is one of the few things our worst contractor did well.  This was his idea and it both works well and looks sharp.  

Finally, this is a shot of the floor.  The tile is fine, but it isn't what I wanted.  The store made a huge screw up and it was a big hassle to get it fixed.  I ended up taking the tile they erroneously got for me even though I don't love it.  

There you have it!  Overall, we're happy with the bathroom.