Basement Closet: Before

Here are some before pictures on the other project Handyman Thomas is working on. I have no idea what happened here. This drywall was missing when I bought the house. My guess is that maybe there was mold. It does happen to be a spot where water can pool if nobody's paying attention. I'm kicking myself for not having done these projects with everything else when I first moved in. It's such a mess!

Stairway Facelift

I have a couple of weeks off in between jobs, so I decided to take some time to do some facelifts in the house. My house project budget is pretty well shot since I spent $9,000 putting a new roof on and re-grading along the side of the house that kept flooding last year. But I was tired of the ugly route all of my guests were taking from the main floor to the basement guest bedroom. So I hired a handyman to come put up drywall on the closet near the guest room entrance and to patch the drywall behind the paneling in the stairway that I planned to tear down.

I started tearing down the paneling on Tuesday. I realized after a few chunks were down that I was dealing with plaster walls, not drywall. And it was very crumbly stuff. Here are some of the before pictures.

And here are some mid-way pictures. All of the paneling is now down. You can see the big pockmarks everywhere there had been a finishing nail. It was such a mess. Handyman Thomas and I decided it didn't make a lot of sense to patch all these crumbly holes, so he decided to cover the whole deal with sheetrock.

In theory, covering the whole deal with sheetrock seemed like a good idea. The plaster was so crumbly, I didn't want to have to worry every time I walked through there that I might knock a chunk out. But when Handyman Thomas started hanging the sheetrock, he had a heck of a time finding studs to attach it to. Apparently the plaster was so thick his studfinder was rendered useless. So he decided to supplement his "wing and a prayer' drywall screws with "liquid nails" glue.

Things are looking okay so far, but I'm totally having nightmares that the plaster is going to crumble under the weight of the sheetrock that's basically held up by glue, and that the entire thing is going to collapse. Here's hoping it holds at least as long as we live here!

I want this to be my house.

New Headboard

I picked up this headboard for Abby's room for $5 at a garage sale earlier this summer. I couldn't have found a new one that I like more. What a steal! Good timing, too, since it's been the summer of houseguests!


June 19-22 - Addie O.
June 25-26 - Mom
June 27-28 - Ted S. and Nick M.
July 6-8 - Michelle B.
July 27-29 - Michelle B. again
August 7-9 - Abby C.
August 29-30 - Toni & Beth (fingers crossed!)

Ant Infestation

I had to go out and buy some ant poison, because I had a bit of an infestation. That poison must have tasted delicious, because after I put it out, I had about 250 times more ants than before. But in the end it does seem to have worked. However, as I type, I see a bug crawling across my t-shirt. Aunt Lola is not happy.

New Chair and Art

When I'm not making things for myself, I like to a) purchase someone else's handicraft, or b) get a great deal. Jenn's thriftiness came in handy last week. I'd been telling her how much I like her leather chair and ottoman, and she saw one on an online auction and called me immediately. Apparently, the auction was closing in 45 minutes and the top bid was only $120. Forty-five minutes later, I was the proud owner of a chair and ottoman I had only seen on the internet. Saturday morning she and I drove out to Spring Lake Park, a town I'd never even heard of, and picked up my $185 set (there was a last-minute bidding war--exciting!). I'm pretty happy with my thrifty purchase, although I wish it was more brown and less black, and I kinda wish it didn't smell like gasoline. I've been soliciting advice on that front, but since it's pleather, all the suggestions of Febreezing it don't really help. Any other suggestions welcome.

I'm also super excited about the new art hanging above the chair, which falls in the category of someone else's handicraft. I bought this lovely piece on from Erica at beeskneesstudio on etsy.com. It's my favorite website, where crafters sell their goods. I love having unique art that I know nobody can buy at Target.

And speaking of other crafters, I went to the Saint Paul Craftstravaganza today and got some great finds! More on those later. I'm gonna have to wash my hair if I'm going to model my new shirt!

Homework: Abby's room has a bed!

Dear Abby,

I bought a bed for your room. It's a queen size bed, in case you feel like really stretching out. I got it from this girl Marina, who I met last summer. She's now moving overseas, and selling everything she owns. I got the mattress, box spring, down comforter, bed skirt, and frame for $200. I don't think she lived in the U.S. for very long, so the bed is pretty newish. I also shampooed the carpet. There's an egress window for your safety. And if you look closely, you will see that The Boss is keeping watch in your absence. Did I mention it has its own bathroom? Come visit me, okay?

Homework: DIY carpeting

Tonight I laid the indoor/outdoor carpeting in the laundry room. The old floor was so uninviting. I think this is an improvement, and it covers more of the floor than a rug would. Plus this 6'x8' chunk cost me only $16.


I think if my current career doesn't work out, I have a future in carpetlaying!

The Housewarming

On Saturday night I had a "celebration of my new status as a homeowner" party. I didn't want to call it a housewarming party, because I didn't want friends to feel like they needed to bring a gift. Some did anyway, and they were lovely gifts! I now have a fully stocked wine rack, some crazy lovely smelling hand lotion, and more:

Some beautiful gardening tools from Kandace and Andrea

A fun garden stake from Linnea and Rob

Mums from Phil, and aloe and a plant whose name I can't remember (everlasting something) from the Roehl sisters (could have used that aloe earlier this week when I burned myself with a curling iron!)

A set of super-duper cute napkins made by the very crafty Jane

An adorable teapot from Kassie and CJ and a very hip picture frame from, I'm embarrassed to say, I can't remember! Whoever you are, please step forward!

And finally, a six pack of my favorite beverage, complete with a wet suit to keep those little guys at just the right temperature and humidity. From the thoughtful Angela and Andy.


Unfortunately, I was too busy having fun and giving proud tours to take any photos at the actual party. Thanks to everyone who came and helped celebrate! And extra big THANK YOU to everyone who has helped with the house so far, and to Jenn and Roya for helping clean and make food for the party. Oh, and especially Brynn, who called me Lorda all night and whenever I asked her for help with something, responded, "sure thing!"

Homework: the basement

This week I won the bench lottery at my place of employ. Orchestra Hall was replacing old lobby benches, and I got to take home one of the old, worn ones. I've been looking for a bench for my private entry, a.k.a. the basement door from the garage. This works beautifully. I moved the shelving unit that used to be under the stairs, to try to make something functional here. I also added a coat hook. It kind of works as a makeshift version of something like this, I think:


Of course, it would look a lot better if I would tidy up the workbench and get rid of some of the junk leftover from the rennovations. And if only I could do something about that floor. It's clearly been painted a couple of times, and now it just looks yucky. I think I'll wait and see in the spring if the basement gets wet, but it would be nice to maybe just carpet the whole thing. It would feel a lot nicer down there with an even-toned floor. Although I'm not sure how that would work in the laundry room area, where the floor is all sloped.


I had plans to cover up that ugly old linoleum this weekend. I went back to Home Depot to buy some more of the carpeting that we used on the stair landing, but unfortunately it only comes in strips three feet wide, and my area was four feet wide. I was ready to make due with 12 inches of ugly showing, when I found big chunks of indoor/outdoor carpeting for cheaper, and in 6' x 8' pieces. I haven't cut it to size or laid it out yet, but I have high hopes that it's going to make the laundry room a little less ugly. I don't seem to have the energy for evening work anymore, so that will probably be a next weekend project.


The other big thing I did this weekend is rent a carpet shampooer for the basement bedroom. I got an email on Thursday from a girl I know who is moving overseas and is selling all of her belongings, so I bought her mattress, box spring, bed frame, down comforter, and bedskirt for $200! With a real guest room in sight, I had a burning desire to clean the carpet in there. It looks better, but it still needs some spot treating on some stubborn stains. I'll post pictures when the carpet dries and I can put the furniture back in there. The room looks great with a bed in it!

Homework: Mom and Dad Back Again

Phew! Mom and Dad came this weekend and we accomplished SO MUCH! The addition of curtains and rugs really makes the place feel like a home. Here's what we did:

• Leveled and stacked the washer and dryer. When the gas guy came to install the gas dryer, it he suggested stacking them since the plumbing, gas, and dryer vent were all on the same wall. Then I could save the cost of extending one of those across the room. He's coming back on Saturday. I haven't done laundry since I moved in! Saturday will be a good day.

• Hung the stair banister.

• Fixed the light Chad broke in the guest room.

• Attempted to repair the dining room table and chairs. You may recall that I bought an antique mahogany set on Craigslist, and found out it was a little more flawed than I had thought. One of the legs was loose, which made the whole table tilt. Most of the chairs are a little wobbly, too. Dad and I used some wood glue and some super glue to try to remedy the situation. I don't think the chairs are all that better, but my main concern was the table. Right now it's still upside down on my floor. I'll have to post an update when I get someone to help me flip it over.

• Dad replaced outlets and switches in pretty much the whole house. Most of them were painted over or just really old looking. It's amazing what a difference new outlets and cover plates can make!

• We gave the basement stairs a facelift. We originally intended to focus on the landing at the top, but ended up painting the whole staircase. We had to remove the cement board on the landing and build some baseboards to cover up the ugliness. We bought a strip of all-weather carpet from Home Depot and used double-stick carpet tape to hold it in place. Before we could paint the rest of the stairs, we had to pull a whole load of old carpet staples. It was a lot harder on the stairs than it was in either of the rooms where I removed carpet! And there were a ton more. I started counting, but after I reached 247 jillion, I just gave up.

• Re-hung the bathroom door in the basement that Sarah R. had varnished.

• Mom touched up the paint around the whole house, including covering up some ceiling smudges, did the secont coat in the guest room, and painted the guest room door and the support beam that I couldn't decide what to do with. With a thorough carpet cleaning and the addition of a bed, this room will be ready to go!

• I got tired of being indecisive about the heat registers in the dining room, and bought some spray paint. We painted them a bronze color.

• Best of all, I finally picked out rugs, curtains, and curtain rods for the living room and dining room, and those are all now in place. It makes such a huge difference.
  

There are too many photos to post, so you have to follow the story in pictures here.

My plants love it here.

Well, I may not feel 100% at home in the new house yet, but my plants are loving it here. My shamrock is so happy, it bloomed!



I got a call from my mom and dad last night. They realized their calendar is chock full of weekend activities from now until planting season, and when that comes, all bets are off. So this weekend is the last chance for them to come help out. Unfortunately, the guest room is no where near suitable for guests, but I like sleeping on my couch. Here's my wish list for the weekend:

□ Level and stack washer and dryer
□ Fix dining room table & chairs
□ Replace outlets
□ Check leak in washer hookup
□ Stair landing (I don't know what needs to be done, but it's ugly.)
□ Re-hang basement bathroom door
□ Weather stripping around front door
□ Paint baseboard in my BR closet
□ Paint guest BR door
□ Paint inner window trim in living room
□ Touch up paint throughout
□ Paint vent covers
□ Second coat of paint in basement bedroom
□ Install splash guard on tub
□ Seal grout in upstairs bathroom
□ Caulk basement sink
□ Caulk basement window
□ Finish thresholds
□ Shampoo guest room carpet

Whew, that makes me tired.
Time for an early bedtime for me.

Homework: I can park, and almost wash clothes

On Sunday I spent a long while trying to break up all the compacted snow on my driveway so I could get rid of the frozen-in-place compost bin that was preventing me from parking in my garage. With a little help from Jesse, the neighbor who's always walking his dog, I got the job done. He brought over a couple of hoes (hee hee) to break up the ice, and I we got a lot of it up. It was a long painful process. But the compost bin is now inside the garage while I consider whether I want to compost this summer and whether I want to use this cracked, beat up old bin. And I can finally get my car in there. It's a much tighter fit than I imagined. When I backed out this morning, I was really nervous that I was going to scrape against the retaining wall. So far no accidents.

Also this morning, the guys from ApplianceSmart delivered and "installed" my washer and dryer. I knew they wouldn't actually install my gas dryer, because it has to be done by a professional gas guy or something like that. But their installation of the washer left a bit to be desired.

First, they faced it in an awkward direction, so instead of having my W/D side by side, the washer faces the side of the dryer. When I asked if they could turn it, they told me I'd need a longer hose. Then, they couldn't figure out a way to affix the drain pipe to the sink, so they just left it and said I'd have to figure it out. They also let me know that I had a new plumbing leak that didn't exist before they showed up. They blamed it on the faucet not having been turned on in a while. Huh? And they didn't even plug the darn thing in! Lovely customer service. Check it out: they way they set it up, I can't even fit in the space where the washer is supposed to be able to open. Thanks ApplianceSmart. I think I might need to write a stern letter.

Homework: blinds and medicine cabinet

Yesterday was a productive day. Simon's Sarah offered to come over and help clean, so I put her to work on sweeping and mopping (which she did with immense talent and flair) while I finally got my roman blinds hung in the bedroom and dining room. Gotta head to IKEA today to buy one more $7 blind for the third window in the dining room. Oh, and I also ordered curtains for the big picture window in the dining room. I'll be anxiously awaiting their arrival all week!

Blinds are up in the bedroom!

And two out of four windows are now covered in the dining room.

I also spent some time yesterday getting a little crafty. I hadn't put anything in my medicine cabinet yet, because it looks so inhospitable.

So I went to Paper Source, one of those stores like Michael's that makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. Such a variety of pretty things and things that spark creativity. I believe the paper I bought was called "Winter Berries." It works well with my brown walls and pink countertop. Anyway, I used it to line the walls of the medicine cabinet, and used some rubber non-sticky shelf liner to line the shelves. Now my stuff can rest comfortably in the medicine cabinet, and I'm one step closer to feeling at home.

Who has time for blogging?

Well, life got a little busy, so I wasn't able to keep up with the blogging for the last couple of weeks. I did make sure to chronicle the work and the move with photos, though. I'll let them tell the story: http://picasaweb.google.com/unlevelseas



Stay tuned... I actually have something semi-crafty I can post on the craft blog tomorrow.

Homework, 2/3

It snowed today. I guess I better get used to the disappointment of spending hours clearing the sidewalks, only to have them fill up again. At least I didn't have to chip away ice this time. And I was really worried that I might be too wimpy to shovel all that sidewalk that surrounds my corner lot, but it wasn't awful, and it didn't take more than 45 minutes.

But speaking of things that take a long time, yesterday I spent three more hours working on removing the carpet adhesive in the bedroom. I swear, I am going to cherish this floor. Today the Seantractor was finally able to start sanding it. He said it took him three hours, and he probably has three more hours to go on it. Luckily the new floor in the family room won't take as long, because it's brand new wood and there's nothing to sand off.


Accomplishments:

• Finished second pass over the bedroom floor with adhesive remover.
• Painted second side of basement door. Looks kinda crappy. It's definitely gonna need a second coat.
• Finished putting legs on the IKEA bench.

(unpaid) People Hours Invested: 3
To Date: 205

Trips to Hudson's Ace Hardware & Home Depot: 1

Tears: None.
Tears to Date: Twice.

bedroom floor, post-adhesive, pre-sanding

Homework, 2/2: Misery Loves Company

The adhesive removing continues. The Seantractor worked on it some this week. I spent eight hours yesterday on it. Here's basically how the day went:

1. Spread adhesive remover over an area.
2. Ran to Home Depot for two more jugs of adhesive remover.
3. Scraped adhesive up for a half hour, spread more on another area.
4. Ran to Chipotle to get lunch for myself and my helper, Sarah R.
5. Scraped adhesive up for a half hour, spread more on another area.
6. Went outside to work on breaking up the ice on the sidewalk for a half hour.
7. Scraped adhesive up for a half hour, spread more on another area.
8. More salting and breaking up ice outside. Met some neighbors: Patty, the block club leader, and her son Callum.
9. More scraping and spreading.
10. More sidewalk clearing.
11. More scraping and spreading.
12. Started putting the legs on the IKEA bench.
13. Finally had to go home because my lungs were hurting.
    

I still have a corner of the room to finish, and then probably need to go back a third time and spot check with the remover, especially around the edges and in the closet. I should do it today, because it's not fun to do it at night after work at all. Even though Sarah was in the basement working on staining the window trim, it was better knowing I had company.

Surprises:

• There's never enough adhesive remover. I think I've gone through four or five gallons of the stuff, and I'll probably still have to go buy another one to finish the job.
• I thought I'd only have to varnish the window trim in the basement bedroom, but it turns out the bathroom door and the trim around it are also unfinished.
  

Accomplishments:

• Sarah filled all the nail holes with putty, sanded, and started varnishing the basement window trim, bathroom door, and door frame.
• More progress on removing the carpet adhesive. Still not done, though.
• Lots of ice removed from sidewalks.

(unpaid) People Hours Invested: 14
To Date: 202

Trips to Hudson's Ace Hardware & Home Depot: 1
To Date: 14

Tears: None.
Tears to Date: Twice.

Progress:

This is the stuff that comes up. On day one it was more orange and looked like pumpkin guts. On the second pass, it started looking like slimy egg drop soup. Now it just looks gross.

Homework, 1/29: What was so bad about purple carpet?

Last night I had a little heart to heart with my mom. She said to quit driving myself crazy and just push back the move. Moms are smart. The landlord hasn't started showing the apartment yet, so unless he's rented it to someone sight unseen, I'm guessing he'd be okay with getting another week's rent out of me. I did email and call today, though, and didn't get a response. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because she's right. I'm driving myself crazy, and I don't need to be.

I took last night off and fell asleep on my couch at 7:30. Today I got a call from the Seantractor saying the carpet adhesive on the floor in the bedroom would gum up the sander too much, so I'd need to remove it before he can refinish the floor. And he finished laying the wood in the family room, so tomorrow could be the day he rents the sander, if I can get the adhesive up.

I was not aware that removing carpet adhesive is basically the worst job ever. After work I went to Hudson's to pick up some adhesive remover, and got what I'm sure was some very sound advice from the 15-year old girl working there. I went to the house, read the directions, and got started. Directions say, pour in metal container, spread on surface with a brush, brush in only one direction or too many vapors will be released, apply only to a 3' x 3' area at a time or too many toxic vapors will be released (not only causing user to die, but also becoming extremely flammable), let sit for 10-30 minutes, and scrape off.

Things I learned from a little trial and error and a visit from the Seantractor: (1) you can't just paint on a thin coat of this stuff. You have to dump it on the floor and let it sit in puddles at least a quarter inch thick if you want anything to happen at all. (2) even if you didn't even realize that a tiny speck of the stuff got on your skin somehow, you will feel it within seconds and it will burn like the fire of a thousand chemical suns. (3) This stuff is known to cause cancer (learned that from the can). I had to make a second run to Hudson's after realizing I needed some serious glovage, and that my little quart of the stuff wasn't even enough to do the closet floor. Found out later that a gallon of it wasn't enough either, but by that point Hudson's and Home Depot were both closed, so I just finished out the gallon and called it a night.

Things I'm going to lose sleep about tonight:

1. Cancer.
   
2. The house bursting into flames from the fumes. I left a window cracked just in case. Which leads me to:
   
3. The heating bill.
   
4. Some sort of catastrophic chemical reaction of adhesive remover when it is subjected to extreme temperatures. I put the two empty cans and the garbage bag full of remover-soaked gunk from the floor outside before I left (see #2). I hope nothing bad will happen, like a catastrophic chemical reaction, or the spread of cancer throughout the neighborhood (see #1).
   
   Oh, speaking of the neighborhood: as I was arriving at the house after work, I saw a kid get off the school bus and walk past my house. After yesterday's high 40 degree temperatures, and today's arctic blast, there's a nice sheet of ice covering my sidewalk. The kid fell down, and then fell down again about four more times trying to get up. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do in this situation. I covered it with lots of salt. So I guess that leads me to:
   
5. Getting sued.

Accomplishments:

• Painted one side of the basement door.
• Kinda removed almost half of the carpet adhesive in the bedroom.
  

People Hours Invested: 5
To Date: 188

Trips to Hudson's Ace Hardware & Home Depot: 13

Tears: None, but lots of cursing. (oh, unless you count crying in the bathroom at work because I'm so tired I just want to go home. Then we're talking more like 3 or 4).
Tears to Date: Twice.

Before:

During:

This stuff is so evil, it eats its own home.

But the good news is, all the flooring is now laid in the family room.

Homework, 1/26 through 1/27

After two days of work, the contractor still only has half of the floor laid. I'm getting nervous that it's not going to be installed, sanded, and finished in time for the move next weekend. That is going to make things a lot harder.

Alissa and Mike were here to help this weekend. We mostly painted. Alissa really wanted to paint the window trim in the kitchen, so I ran to Hudson's to pick up some white paint. She worked on that while Mike and I painted in the basement and Reagan worked on a poop and a nap. I'm glad she was so gung ho about it, because it looks a hundred times better. Kara and Roya stopped by for a little baby therapy and helped for a little bit.

Today I painted more trim, and maybe got myself in a little deeper than I planned. I removed the basement door so I could get at the trim better, but as I was painting I realized I would probably need to repaint the door so it would match the trim. I didn't have the heart to do it, though, because I'm sick of painting! Plus, it will probably get dinged 25 times during the move. Might just have to move it to the basement and finish it afterwards.


Accomplishments:

• Painted second coat in family room.
• Touched up dining room.
• Painted basement bedroom.
• Painted window and doorway trim in kitchen.
• Painted window trim in upstairs bathroom.
• Started putting together IKEA bench. Still need to put legs on.
• Removed contact paper from linen closet and bathroom vanity shelves.
• Scrubbed duct tape residue with WD40 in kitchen.
  

People Hours Invested: 20
To Date: 183

Trips to Hudson's Ace Hardware & Home Depot: 11

Tears: None.
Tears to Date: Twice.

Freshly painted living room, with half a floor.

Newly painted walls and door trim in the kitchen.

Newly painted walls and window trim in the upstairs bathroom.

Newly painted guest room.

More photos here.