MOVE IN

Ready or not, it was go time. The move went smooth, aside from the usual aches and pains. At least we didn't have to take anything upstairs, there wasn't much of an upstairs.

The first floor had finished floors and primed walls, but there were still gaping holes in some drywall sections and portions of the house were still without electricity. Thankfully the sewer line had been run and we had running water. It was only the beginning of November, so the furnace was not actually on yet, but it was installed. There was still no insulation in the attic, so the race was on to complete the ceilings, so it could be blown in.

My wife's project, bless her soul, was to remove all of the cabinet doors, fill all of the holes, sand and paint, and reassemble the entire thing. Lets just say it was not done yet, but at least the insides had been primed and painted, so we could place our dishes and food in there.

So there we are in an incomplete house making it work as best as we could. My wife, son, and I all shared a bed in what was supposed to be the dining room. My mother-in-law, father-in-law, and niece all shared what was supposed to be the parlor. Far from convenient, far from private, far from ideal, but we made it work.

As the month rolled on and the weather declined, the insulation got blown in. The wind howled in through door seams, window seams, cracks in the brick, chimneys, and under insulated areas. It was, by far, not energy efficient. Spray foam, caulking, blankets, towels, tape, etc were utilized to reduce as much draft as possible. The gas company was loving it.

I told my wife that I wanted that type of Christmas morning where the kids come down the stairs, turn the corner, and get that WOW! That gave us nearly a month to finish 2 bedrooms and get the furniture moved upstairs.

The front bedroom seemed the obvious choice to finish first. It needed the least work and was to be our bedroom. Portions of the plaster had crumbled, the crown molding needed to be reattached and everything primed and painted. Everything went smoothly and we finished the room with plenty of time to spare.

The back bedroom had many of the same issues, perhaps a little more plaster work needed to be done. The closets also needed a ceilings, which I lowered from 10 feet to 8, the rest wouldn't have been accessible anyhow. I also had to build a chase in one of the closets to hide the wiring and plumbing that was brought up to the second floor.

Perhaps the biggest challenge in the back room was the painting. My wife and I wanted some classic ad sophisticates, not just a solid color. We decided to stripe the back wall with green on green, flat and satin, paint. First I painted all of the walls with a satin paint and let it dry for several days. Next I determined the pattern of the stripes, drew them on the walls, and taped them using the delicate surface, blue tape.

Here's a trick I learned from watching all of those home improvement shows. I picked up a bottle of Acrylic Gel Medium at the local arts and crafts store. I used this to paint over all of the tape seams to eliminate the potential for paint to bleed under the tape. After the medium dried, I painted over the entire wall with the flat green paint (the same color). I let the paint set up for a couple hours and then removed the tape. The effect was awesome. It can be a subtle striping in some light and bold in others. It was perfect and there is where the problem stemmed from. My wife liked it so much, she wanted the whole room done. UGH! WEll, it turned out great.

Since we now had 2 bedrooms ready to go, I concentrated efforts elsewhere for a while. We were a bit annoyed with the laundromat, so a laundry room was a logical next venture.

Prior to move-in still.

When the new roofers arrived on the site, things started moving along. The flat roof was framed into a peak to avoid potential leaks from the flat roof, which was already evident. The whole thing was constructed and sheathed within a week, which meant, no more worrying about water intrusion, which was taking place heavily in the time between crews.

The new electrician arrived about half way through the bathroom remodel and I was happy to hear he agreed that the other guy was taking short cuts and that it would be fixed. He began by relocating the service panel to a much better location, one that met code. From there, all of the wire had to be pulled to the second floor through an existing chase and up to the attic and over to the rooms. It made it much easier with all of the ceilings opened. If I failed to mention it, the entire original structure (minus the addition) is brick. That means there are no walls to pull the wires through. Most of the second floor outlets had to be dropped through wire channels.

Since we were on a septic system and we really didn't know what condition in was in, we decided to fork over the money to tap into the city sewer system. After receiving 2 quotes of $12,000 and $14,000 to trench, lay 200 feet of sewer line, and crush the old tank, I found a small company in the outskirts of Central Ohio that was much more reasonable. I am always a little concerned with going to the cheapest guy, but he seemed like a good guy and he knew what he was talking about. Given that it was going to cost us an additional $6000 paid to the city just for the tap, it was a no-brainer to go with the least expensive excavator.

Brad, the excavator, scheduled to come out at 7:30 AM one week day. Now I have had enough experience with contractors to know better. I was delightfully surprised when Brad arrived, with back hoe in tow, promptly at 7:30. Good sign. He was ready to work and I had to be on my way to work as well. He guessed he'd be done with work by the end of the day.

I got a call at work a few hours later. Brad said the tap that was supposed to be in our back yard wasn't there, the drawings from the county were wrong. He went on to say that he already called the county and told me what our options were. I was delighted that he had taken the initiative to address the county with the problem. The first option would be to tear through the neighbors yard because there was a right-of-way. This would mean destroying the neighbors lawn and sprinkler system. Brad was not comfortable with this and nor was I. The second, more promising option, was to dig down to the bottom of the manhole and tap in there. While it would keep us in good graces with the neighbors, it meant Brad had to dig to the bottom and then I had to get a concrete boring company to come bore a hole and set the boot.

I gave Brad the go ahead on option 2. He dug, I called a concrete boring company. I got the boring company to come out in an hour. The hole was dug and the the guys got there to drill. They requested Brad bench back the dirt, but with little room to work, that was impossible. Brad made some calls and hopped in his truck to get a frame to drop in the hole for safety from collapse. When he returned, he dropped it in and started pumping the water out of the hole because the drilling company would be back soon. The pump broke. Brad called and told me the situation. He said he would have to finish in the morning.

First thing the next morning, Brad was back, with his pump working. He said he was up late into the night fixing it (not whining about it). The drilling company came out, the pipe was laid, the inspection was complete (with compliments from the inspector) and Brad was on his way.

I tell the whole story because it is so rare to get that high quality service, especially at 1/3 the price of the competitors. I will give props to Blacksten Excavating in Utica, OH. The company agreed to complete the job, and no matter the obstacles, they did just that, unlike the roofers and the electrician.

We weren't sure yet how to handle the furnace situation. We knew the second story furnace was not in any shape to be utilized safely, so replacing it was inevitable. After talking to our electrician, we found out that his father-in-law did HVAC. We had him come out and give us a quote. We needed all new ductwork on the second floor, ductwork repaired on the first, a new second story furnace, a new hot water tank, and for shits and giggles we had him quote us on two central air units as well. The whole thing cost only a little more than what we had budgeted, so we went for it all. Afterall, none of the windows have screens, so summer could get brutal.

The three HVAC guys were retired police officers who did this for a little extra income. They really worked at their own pace and they were quite chatty, but they did finally get it done.

I was finishing up the bathroom by now and since most of the electric upstairs was done, I was able to address the ceilings. Something I had noticed as I was tearing the ceilings out was that several of the ceiling joists had twisted and sagged. The front bedroom was the first and least sagging. We were able to hang all of the drywall without any additional framing. When we moved to the back bedroom, the story was a little different. The difference between the highest and lowest joist was near 3". I decided to reframe the ceiling a few inches below the old one in order to level it. It worked out great and we continued the same process on the other rooms.

In late September, we had some unwanted visitors come into the home and take things that didn't belong to them. I was sick to my stomach as I lost a circ saw, lawnmower, brand new Echo weedwhacker, brand new power washer, tons of yard tools, a compressor, and a few other things. I was grateful that they didn't take the 2 Little Giant ladders, my compound miter saw, or the thousands of dollars in bathroom fixtures. At the height of copper theft, they did not take 3 new spools of wire. So while it was a setback, it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

We tightened up our security and made a huge effort to finish up faster. Then we found out we were going to lose our month-to-month apt in 30 days. So much to do, so little time. We were able to squeeze a couple extra days out of the Apt Management, but our departure date had to be before November 10th. GAME ON.

Immediately we started planning the living situation. We figured the easiest way to work was one floor at a time, so we decided we would make the living area the first floor only, except for the bathroom. There was still a ton to be done before we moved in.

With the ceilings complete and the weather turning cold, we had to have the attic insulated. I decided that the cost difference in having someone do it was negligible and time was at a minimum, so we outsourced it. We had bigger fish to fry. The walls were still dirty, the floors were covered in the waxy paint and all kinds of dirt from the renovation.

My wife, bless her family, decided to have her sister and cousins come over for a painting party because we had to coat every wall with a primer to seal any potential lead paint. Paint, wine, socializing. It was quite amusing. It was conversation first, paint second. They worked in herds. They would paint whatever happened to be next to them and the person they wanted to talk to. It was random at best, but we got it done eventually.

With one week until the move-in, we had to get the floors finished. We rented two drum sanders (none of us have ever used them) and 2 edgers. My wife's cousin and brother-in-law helped me sand the warped, cupped, damaged floors down to the bare wood. It took a lot of paper, many passes, and 2 whole days to get it all sanded. We spent the next 3 days staining and sealing. That gave us exactly 72 hours for the urethane to dry. That is the minimum for placing furniture on it. Whew. They are no perfect, but they were done on time and they have the character you would expect from 150 year old floors.

Introduction Continued

While I was inside dropping ceilings, the old slate roof was being ripped off, the first floor bath was being ripped out and reframed and the electric was being updated.

The first day the contractor arrived, the first floor bath was gutted and it really felt like we were making change at that point.


The roofers arrived a couple weeks later and they began to remove the old slate tiles off and the old box gutters and rotten wood. The first week seemed a little slow going and suddenly stopped. After a couple days of no roofers, I made a call to the contractor. The roofing crew apparently walked off the job. A new crew was scheduled to start the next week.

Even though the old homeowner told us he rewired the house, I was more than skeptical. In fact, there was obvioulsy still knob and tube in use, so we decided to rewire everything from the pole on. The first electrician came and started the job. Early on, I noticed he had done some not-so-preferable wiring and I had to again call the contractor to find out the deal. He was planning on putting a junction box in the wall to run the old (but not knob and tube) wire from there to the new box, which was above it. Even I, an amateur, knew that it was not only dumb, and half assed, but illegal.

A new electrician was sent out. later. In the meantime, the ceilings were down and I had to move on to the 2nd floor bath, as it would be the only tub/shower in the house when we move in.

I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do with the bath, but I knew the ceiling was low, it was dark, and a bit cramped. I started ripping everything out, so I knew what I was dealing with. In the ceiling, there was duct work as well as a flue for the furnace and water heater. I realized that would all have to change. Beyond that, there was another roof limiting the height of the ceiling. The bathroom was apparently an addition to the home at some point and had a shed roof. The new addition was built over the top and the old roof never removed. After a little investigation, I decided it would be best removed and it would allow me to go up another 2 feet, the height of the other ceilings. I also decided to move the back wall out 2 feet to meet the exterior wall of the house and to put in a window and an alcove for a tub.

The total rip out of the bathroom, including the ceiling and wall, was about a week. That is almost every night after work and weekend. With a blank slate, I was able to layout what I thought was a perfect bathroom. We got inspiration from a Kohler ad on the finishes, which came much later. The bathroom took about 4 months to complete, with other jobs going on as well.

Introduction continued

Once the garbage was removed and the rooms were basically empty, we started removing wallpaper and ripping out carpeting. The carpet was a nasty shag in several colors and it all felt mildewy and old. On our previous trips to the home for the showings and inspection, we were only able to see small portions of what lie beneath the carpet, so although we could see it was a plank floor, we really had no idea what it was going to look like when we pulled up the carpet.

To our delight, we found wood plank floors varying in width and material, but none-the-less promising. The wood had been painted and felt like it had some heavy wax coat of sort on it. There were places where the boards were loose and the uneven areas had been filled in with what seemed to be plaster, just one of the many strange fixes, we would find. With the carpet and wallpaper out and the windows and doors opened, the old, mildew, mothball smell started to dissipate.
The other smell we had to take care of was one that was discovered in our inspection. Rodents, squirrels, and God only knows what else, had inhabited the attic and taken the insulation down to about an inch. In place of the missing insulation, they deposited their feces. There was no real easy way to tackle the clean up and I decided the best solution, although not simple, was to tear down all of the ceilings on the second floor and hang drywall.

In the sweltering heat of July, I crawled into the attic with a breathing aparatus, goggles, gloves, and boots and headed over to the worst room first. Since the old ceilings were plaster, I had to not only remove the plaster, but the lathe as well. I figured the attic would give me good leverage to knock it down. I sat on the ceiling joists and stomped with my feet until the plaster began to fall. With every kick and every hole, a cloud of soot, feces, insulation, plaster and whatever else would fill the room. I could barely see at times. It must have been 105 degrees in the attic and I could barely breath through my mask. It took several days and a couple helpers to finally knock down the entire ceiling. My father-in-law was following behind me and cleaning each room as I finished. I can't tell you how grateful I am.

introduction continued

Although the home was vacant at the time of closing, the seller requested 30 additional days to vacate the home (he stored antiques in it) and 60 days to vacate the barn. We did, however, get immediate access to the land and we took full advantage.

Since the property was vacant for so long, it was completely overtaken with shrubs, weeds, etc. Our first goal was to remove all of the shrubs around the house so it could breath again. It was amazing how much difference there was just doing this. We also discovered there was a window we did not know was there. On the inside, it was behind the shower wall in the cramped first floor bath.

On the other side of the property we trimmed back many trees and overgrowth. We mulched every bit of it and used it to cover areas near trees and to cover some of the mud that was developing from the trucks driving on the lawn. It was backbreaking work and I can't tell you how thankful I am that we had family to help.

We got the keys a couple days earlier than expected and didn't wait a second to get in and start ripping out. First order of business, get a dumpster for all of his crap he left behind. Oh yeah, I failed to mention that he actually said he would only take the valuables and we were responsible for the rest. What a mess it was too.

Introduction

Let me start off the blog with a review of the last 2 years.

It was October of 2006 and my mom wanted to go see an old farmhouse she had found online.  My wife and I had our curiosity peek and just had to go along.  Although we had driven by the place many times, it wasn't until we turned into the driveway that we noticed it.  

The house was buried in 8-10 feet shrubs, and the porch was barely visible.  The box gutters were completely deteriorated along with the eaves and facia. The Realtor had arrived a little earlier and had begun to air out the house.   As we approached the back door, which was the only one that he could open because the others were nailed shut, we had to pass through a narrow corridor between the shrubs to get to the door.

As we stepped into the narrow hallway that lead from the back door to the dark kitchen, our feet absorbed our footsteps into its soggy subfloor. Off the cramped hallway was a full bath crammed into an awkward space where the door actually hit the toilet when it was opened. Garbage bags filled the tub, the pipes were disconnected, and there were definite signs of mold.

Continuing on to the kitchen.  The odor of moth balls became quite apparent at this point.  The dark cabinets and countertops along with the fact that there was only one window, made it seem a bit tight.  The spiders, evidently, were fine with it.  

The rest of the home continued on about the same.  In one second floor room, there was a hole in the ceiling and you could peer out through the hole in the roof above it.  A makeshift funnel was made to direct the incoming water into a large garbage can which was also filled with trash.  It wasn't doing much good anyhow because the trash can had a hole in the bottom and the plush shag was was soaking it up.  

In the Master-suite-to-be (it was only framed in) there was a full size exterior hot tub plumbed and still holding a little water, old stinky water.  The room was also cluttered with old tools and more junk.  

The second floor bath was dark, the ceiling was starting to collapse, and the electric was a mess.  You could turn on the light, or you could turn on the fan, but when both were on, they hardly worked.  

The plaster above the bed in the south facing room was bulging as if it was going to explode.  It was obvious the structure, which by the way is brick, was collapsing.

I guess it is obvious by now, we fell in love with the place.  Who wouldn't?  We walked away with the notion that it was just too big a project for us to take on and we still hadn't finished the house we currently owned.  

Over the next couple months, my wife and I kept talking about the place and its potential.  We'd drive by and think, "what if...?"  We decided to let fate guide us.  We finished remodeling our current home and placed it on the market in April.  We thought, if it sells, it was meant to be.  If it doesn't, at least our home is finished and we can relax.  

We didn't have much time to wonder.  The sign went in our yard Sunday, we had our first showing Monday, and we were in contract in a week with the first visitor.   I guess our destiny had been chosen.

Excited and a little nervous, we made an offer and held our breath.  We were countered and countered back, but in the end we got it.  So the fun began.

Let me remind you, we sold our house and bought one that was uninhabitable.  This meant temporary housing.  We found a nice town home  within a few miles of our project home, which was very convenient.  Our goal was to be in our new home by the beginning of school for our niece who lives with us.  That meant we had 2 months to make the place safe and inhabitable.  We went into a 3 month contract to give us a buffer.