One Sixty: Playing with Putty

Playing with Putty

After I returned home late last Thursday night, and after Mike dropped the bomb that he'd be fixing the floor in his Dodge on Sunday, I scrapped any vague hopes of progress over last weekend.

But be that as it may, we still made a couple baby steps forward. On Sunday I began puttying all the nail holes... and managed to fill quite a few before Mikey woke up. (There are still quite a few more to go, but I'm hoping I can finish up this weekend.) Also, a plumber friend of ours came by to impart some of his infinite plumbing wisdom in regards to a basement bathroom. (I'm still trying to reel Mike in on this one - I'm shocked he didn't want to halt work on his floor to begin framing the thing out!)

All in due time, my friends.

And now look at this - it's Wednesday, end of day, and I don't have a clue and half what the next step is or how much it's going to cost or when it can be implemented. This weekend is starting to look left out too...

At least a dude is coming to purchase the Dodge on Sunday morning. Yes, when I wake up, one Dodge will be gone. Mike hopes to schedule some time off so he can rock and roll on Dodge #2. Stick that on the market, make some more money, and buy a 2500. That's the plan. Those 2500 4x4 diesel quad cabs don't come cheap though. 3500 dually's though? Dime a dozen these days. The automotive market is so ackbasswards right now.

We've got a dirt bike on craigslist too... hoping to dump for $300 - 1970 Yamaha DT-250. You know you want it!

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Blog Story

My now husband Mike and I purchased this quaint home back in spring of 2004 - our first home - and, being the handy folks we are, expected to have the entire thing renovated in about a year or so.

And here we still are... renovating away.

This house needed a complete overhaul. Its plaster walls were uninsulated, its attic floor covered in 2" of bat guano, its basement - dirt and snakes, its exterior - asbestos siding, and lead paint windows in every room. The electric had not been updated and light sockets hung bare from the ceiling. Plumbing featured cast iron radiators - and only one for the entire upstairs.

We began by gutting almost the entire house from top to bottom. (sans bathroom - we needed to pee) We rebuilt the entire upstairs, with a new floor (not new carpet or wood - the once unstable framing underneath) and turned 3 small rooms into two. We reinvented the downstairs by turning a closet into a hallway and eliminating interior exterior windows and doors from old half-assed additions.

New insulation, windows, electrical wiring (including phone and CAT-5 internet), plumbing and baseboards, and drywall were all added.

We purchased kitchen cabinets from a yard sale. (None existed previously.) Our families helped us replace and purchase new appliances including the once also missing washer & dryer.

Then we had the entire house lifted - straight into the air - dug out the dirt, and had a real basement foundation poured. We updated our oil tank and burner and created heating zones.

Outside, we took down trees and planted grass. We dug out an awkward hill to create a 2nd part to the driveway and used the rocks our house once sat on as a retaining wall. We electrified and repainted the garage.

And of course, we spent many an hour on finish work like paint, trim, closet doors, lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, curtain rods, dimmer switches, and many other things everyone else takes for granted. We are still working to complete all this final finishing, but happy to report that we are FINALLY nearing completion of all little things in all rooms!

In 2008 we began overhauling the exterior by creating a new french door entryway and building a farmer's porch and garage addition. We replaced our roof and then stripped off our siding and replaced with new clapboards. We then planted two new flowering trees and a maple in the front yard - our first major landscape purchases. I'm happy to report that here in 2011, the porch is nearing completion and the back yard is on the road to recovery with some new loam and grass. More plantings soon to come!

In 2012 we plan to attack the last MAJOR (emphasis on major) job in the house - the dreaded BATHROOM! We plan to first add a second bathroom in the basement. Then, demolish our current bathroom and rebuild it, adding a second bathroom on top for the upstairs.

And that pretty much brings you up to date. The battle continues day to day as we try and complete everything.

One Sixty

Playing with Putty

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