Tag: Plumbing

House Remodel Status – 4/12/16

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Things are moving along with the house and garage, abet very slowly.

  1. I cut the dying vine maple out of the back yard.  Its loss made both my wife and I sad – we loved that tree.  Part of it I saved for fire wood and part I gave to a local bowl turned I know so he could make beautiful stuff out of the sections that were free of rot.
  2. The new 1″ water supply line is in.
  3. Our basement slab was cut for the new basement bathroom and drains
  4. Concrete floor re-poured.
  5. I have demo’ed part of the basement ceiling, the front bedroom closet and a huge spot in the dining room for the plumbing company to run PexA supply lines and vent pipe.
  6. Plumbing rough-in is going on today and we may have a functioning toilet and kitchen sink by 5:00pm tonight – maybe…
  7. We haven’t had water for a week and have been staying in an air B&B, which has gotten old and expensive.
  8. Basement bathroom framing is going in tomorrow.
  9. The new 1st floor bathroom vanity is done and in place, but the holes in the granite top for one of the facets are cut wrong – it has made me a little crazy…
  10. I have cleared all the stuff out of the way in the back yard and am ready for dumpster deliveries.  I am taking the old garage out this coming weekend.
  11. The attic is ready for new floor joists, but still waiting on the engineer’s report to decide what is going in and options for the space.  We had wanted a Master Suite up there, but are not sure if it can be done at this point.
  12. Our fireplace insert goes in tomorrow and the new fireplace tools are already there.
  13. The three windows for the garage and two for the house are on order and should be here next week.  I just have to find a place to store them.

Some pictures of the current status and the latest progress:

Matt Talley_house remodel_127Matt Talley_house remodel_126Matt Talley_house remodel_130Matt Talley_house remodel_125 Matt Talley_house remodel_128 Matt Talley_house remodel_129Matt Talley_house remodel_131 Matt Talley_house remodel_132

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I haven’t had a day off in about three weeks – working my day job, making calls to contractors and supply companies at lunch and on the way to work/home, and working at the house at night and on weekends.  I have to work all this week getting ready for the garage demo and all weekend tearing it down.  It is all starting to take it toll on me.  I’ll get an evening off from remodel this week to attend my new advanced throwing (pottery) class, and will have a two evenings off next week while the drywall goes in, but will be back at it painting the entire weekend of the 23rd and every evening the rest of the week after.

My wife said a little something a few days ago that resonates: “Life is a journey an not the destination, but remodeling is all about the destination.  The journey sucks!” I swear if I had to make this decision again, I would have sold the house and bought a McMansion in Maple Valley or an updated mid-century rambler Bellevue and just moved right in in.  I have remodeled many homes in the past, but this one and the size/scope are both out of hand and way too ambitious for someone who has a day job.  When all is said and done, I do not want to touch a thing in or on the house for YEARS and would like to just enjoy home for a while, sit in the back yard and drink rosé in the summer sun with my wife.

 

Leaving for France and our MONSTER To-Do list.

/ Matt Talley / Leave a comment

Moving from one country to another, the actual process, is a huge pain in the ass.  So much to do and so many details…  The complexity of our move was increased because we will continue to own our place in Seattle and we had The Nana move into it.  Separating the stuff that would go and stay, fixing small issues like that leaking faucet, winterizing the garden, trimming trees, installing railings and additional locks, and organizing yard and house maintenance contacts was enough to make my head explode.

There were 4 specific and different to-do lists that were drawn up in June and added to as time went on.  I would like to tell you that it all got done, but the state of my backyard, the unsold table saws, the uninstalled basement railing and the incomplete bookshelf in our bedroom say different.

Things that were accomplished:

  1. Trimmed our vine maple (see pictures below of Stamps-With-Foot with the chainsaw)
  2. Winterized the pipes and garden
  3. Installed the front stair railing
  4. Installed a speak-easy in the front door, so Nana would not have to open the door to a stranger
  5. Leaves were raked
  6. The raspberry cage was retied
  7. Junk was removed from the backyard
  8. Bills were transferred
  9. The heating-oil tank was filled
  10. Rebuilt bathroom faucet and valve
  11. Cancelled our car insurance
  12. Trimmed the bushes
  13. New tires were purchased for the car we left for Nana to use
  14. Squeaky doors were oiled
  15. Wired a motion detector light in the back yard
  16. Installed an additional basement door lock and metal security screen
  17. My shop was cleaned and organized
  18. Had extra keys made
  19. Upgrades made in the alarm system
  20. We sold one truck and donated another
  21. My father-in-law planted a fig tree and served as grunt labor during Thanksgiving
  22. I drained and prepped the hot tub for 2 years of alone time
  23. Basement became slightly more organized
  24. I hauled two entire loads of brush and projects-that-will-never-be to the dump (and found a very nice Fender guitar and new oak office chair there, but that is a story/post for another day)
  25. Household paint was retouched
  26. Replaced burned out bulbs
  27. Blackberries were trimmed
  28. Removed rust and repainted the front door railings
  29. Did some final cabinet work
  30. Moved two houses worth of furniture and a storeroom into our basement, first floor and garage
  31. Unpacked my mom
  32. Had Cable TV and a home phone installed (we only used cell phones)
  33. Repaired outside wall where cable installer poked extra holes
  34. I busted some plaster in the living room that will wait until I get back in the summer
  35. Hung the TV over the fireplace
  36. etc…etc…etc…

The images below are proof of some of the work and evidence of what did not get done as well.

Birthday Weekend

/ Matt Talley / 1 Comment

Took the day off from work – yay!!
4:17am: alarm goes off and my 40th birthday weekend begins.
I sing “Happy Birthday to Me!”
Sweet wife gives me a gift – mostly to shut me up
Breakfast out with wife and mother: yummy beignets, eggs, bacon, and sweet coffee
Mother has gift for me and hands it over right away
savage the gift wrapping like I am three years old
More Awesome presents from my wife
Facebook, phone and e-mail fill with birthday wishes
Take shower and get dressed in vest and tie
Off to Bellevue for a haircut and strait razor shave
Really enjoyed shave
Bought a bottle of lavender pre-shave oil
A new leather ISW holster somehow becomes mine – self-gifting is awesome
Stop for more coffee at C&P
Home to get ready for date with wife
Talked to some friends on the phone
Played in yard with puppy
Off to a dinner Theatre Circus show
Very Cool
Really happy
Home to snuggle
Asleep and dreaming by 12:30

Up early Saturday.
Chocolate croissants, eggs, and bacon for breakfast
Sweet wife sick
Fall arrived and the rain started
Ran some errands
Spent a little time in the shop working on some lathe projects
Napped a bit with wife and puppy
Went into basement to get a tool and water everywhere
Water heater blew its seam and was leaking
DAMMIT!!
Shut off water and cleared path from heater to basement drain
Assessed the damage and decided it had to be replaced
Went to Home Depot and dropped $400 on a new water heater
Grumble… Grumble… Grumble…
Went to sleep pissed off.
Slept late in the hope that the water-heater magically replaced itself
No luck
Put on work clothes and trudged downstairs into the depths of the basement to wage war
REALLY hate to plumb
Drained the rest of the tank, disconnected the plumbing and electrical
Said a number of curse words
Pulled old heater out, carried it up stairs to truck, and brought new one in
Tweaked back
Cleaned up mess on old tank platform and placed new one
Connected the pipes and filled the tank
FVCKING pipe above tank now leaking!!
I HATE TO PLUMB!!!!
Trip to hardware store
Installed new sections of pipe
Said prayer
turned on water and tank pressurized
No leaks
HALLELUJAH!
Wired new heater and set the duel thermostat
2 hours later, I took a very satisfying hot shower.
Wife swooned and told me how awesome I was.
Made the hassle and aggravation all worth while
Packed for 5 day trip to England
Went to sleep and snuggled wife and puppy

Up early and off to the airport.