Itu0026#8217;s just a bathroom u0026#8211; how tough could it be??We had a problem with our upstairs bathroom. It had no shower. Who takes baths any more? One end of the tub was stuck under the sloped ceiling of our Cape Cod, making it impossible to consider adding a shower without getting the ceiling wet (also kinda tough for a tall guy like me to stand up in there). The room was just as wide as the bathtub was long – pretty small. We decided to remove the tub and replace it with a shower stall. I didn’t like the look of the fiberglass shower stalls – they looked dark and would eat up much of our little room. The solution was to install an angle shower. It was obvious that this job would require some careful planning and measuring. We went to the home center and took measurements of different shower options and tried to get ideas. It became clear that we would have to move a wall in order to fit the new shower in that small space – it would have to clear that darn angled ceiling. I didn’t want to eat up too much of my upstairs den, so we decided to move the wall justu0026hellip;
Itu0026#8217;s just a bathroom u0026#8211; how tough could it be??We had a problem with our upstairs bathroom. It had no shower. Who takes baths any more? One end of the tub was stuck under the sloped ceiling of our Cape Cod, making it impossible to consider adding a shower without getting the ceiling wet (also kinda tough for a tall guy like me to stand up in there). The room was just as wide as the bathtub was long – pretty small. We decided to remove the tub and replace it with a shower stall. I didn’t like the look of the fiberglass shower stalls – they looked dark and would eat up much of our little room. The solution was to install an angle shower. It was obvious that this job would require some careful planning and measuring. We went to the home center and took measurements of different shower options and tried to get ideas. It became clear that we would have to move a wall in order to fit the new shower in that small space – it would have to clear that darn angled ceiling. I didn’t want to eat up too much of my upstairs den, so we decided to move the wall justu0026hellip;
Working on the Front YardWe got all of this cool shrubbery with the house. It had to go. We also wanted to grade the yard a little better to ensure that the basement remained dry. We had the old shrubs torn out by a local guy and bought a whole bunch of topsoil, spreading it around and leveling it as best as we could. I planted grass seed and watered faithfully, but I didn’t get much of a lawn. I tried more seed a few weeks later, making sure to rake it in a bit so the birds (really fat by now) didn’t get any ideas about eating THIS lawn. I’m happy to report that the second lawn worked. We’ve put the fall fertilizer (and weed killer) down and the weeds are just gone. I’ve never had a nice lawn before. It’s cool. [caption id=u0022attachment_881u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022500u0022 caption=u0022Shrubs that came with the houseu0022][/caption] [caption id=u0022attachment_882u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022500u0022 caption=u0022So long shrubs!!u0022][/caption] [caption id=u0022attachment_883u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022500u0022 caption=u0022Monica points out one that the guys missed.....u0022][/caption] [caption id=u0022attachment_884u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022500u0022 caption=u0022Do-it-yerself lawn delivered by dump truck.u0022][/caption] [caption id=u0022attachment_885u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022500u0022 caption=u0022Spread out and ready for seed. Hi Bonnie!!u0022][/caption] Need to add a picture of the new lawn. Iu0026hellip;
Working on the Front YardWe got all of this cool shrubbery with the house. It had to go. We also wanted to grade the yard a little better to ensure that the basement remained dry. We had the old shrubs torn out by a local guy and bought a whole bunch of topsoil, spreading it around and leveling it as best as we could. I planted grass seed and watered faithfully, but I didn’t get much of a lawn. I tried more seed a few weeks later, making sure to rake it in a bit so the birds (really fat by now) didn’t get any ideas about eating THIS lawn. I’m happy to report that the second lawn worked. We’ve put the fall fertilizer (and weed killer) down and the weeds are just gone. I’ve never had a nice lawn before. It’s cool. [caption id=u0022attachment_881u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022500u0022 caption=u0022Shrubs that came with the houseu0022][/caption] [caption id=u0022attachment_882u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022500u0022 caption=u0022So long shrubs!!u0022][/caption] [caption id=u0022attachment_883u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022500u0022 caption=u0022Monica points out one that the guys missed.....u0022][/caption] [caption id=u0022attachment_884u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022500u0022 caption=u0022Do-it-yerself lawn delivered by dump truck.u0022][/caption] [caption id=u0022attachment_885u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022500u0022 caption=u0022Spread out and ready for seed. Hi Bonnie!!u0022][/caption] Need to add a picture of the new lawn. Iu0026hellip;
Kitchen. Yup, every house needs oneu0026#8230;.We didn’t really have anything in our kitchen except an icky ceramic tile floor and a lot of bad tile work. Under the tile work, we had that really cool fake brick. After messing with the stuff for a day or so, we decided that the best way to deal with the icky stuff was just to remove the walls. Our house’s walls were not lath and plaster, but plaster board nailed over studs with a skim coat of plaster, making for a smooth surface. Today, drywall is the way to go, and that’s what we used to finish the walls after we tore everything down. Some interesting stuff about the construction of the house. The studs didn’t really support anything and just seemed there as support for the plaster board. The cinder block wall is plenty strong anyway. In order to have enough room to add insulation, we had to rip 2x4s in half lengthwise, adding them to the existing studs to get a standard wall cavity for the R13 fiberglass. Of course, this made our room a bit smaller and played heck with the trim work, but insulation was a must – especially in the kitchen, where threeu0026hellip;
Kitchen. Yup, every house needs oneu0026#8230;.We didn’t really have anything in our kitchen except an icky ceramic tile floor and a lot of bad tile work. Under the tile work, we had that really cool fake brick. After messing with the stuff for a day or so, we decided that the best way to deal with the icky stuff was just to remove the walls. Our house’s walls were not lath and plaster, but plaster board nailed over studs with a skim coat of plaster, making for a smooth surface. Today, drywall is the way to go, and that’s what we used to finish the walls after we tore everything down. Some interesting stuff about the construction of the house. The studs didn’t really support anything and just seemed there as support for the plaster board. The cinder block wall is plenty strong anyway. In order to have enough room to add insulation, we had to rip 2x4s in half lengthwise, adding them to the existing studs to get a standard wall cavity for the R13 fiberglass. Of course, this made our room a bit smaller and played heck with the trim work, but insulation was a must – especially in the kitchen, where threeu0026hellip;
The Tale of Our New HouseToday we had the settlement on our new house. Since there wasn’t a mortgage, it was not a complicated thing. We didn’t pay a lot of money for the new place – it could be considered a fixer-upper. Going into the deal, we were aware of the following problems. It has no kitchen. None. No cabinets, no sink. The only thing in the kitchen is an electric range, but I wouldn’t want to use it. The kitchen has a ceramic tile floor that has to go, too. The basement gets wet. We’ve already fixed that problem by replacing the gutters. The old ones were leaking badly and the downspouts didn’t have elbows or splash blocks (so they just concentrated and injected the water at one place – the foundation corners). As of the last rain, the problem seems to be solved. Cost, around $220, including a new 8′ fiberglass ladder. Speaking of the basement, someone carted away the heater and air conditioner. Oh, and someone also took much of the copper pipe. How much crack does ten feet of copper pipe buy, anyway? So we know there’s some HVAC work to be done. Most of the duct system is stillu0026hellip;
The Tale of Our New HouseToday we had the settlement on our new house. Since there wasn’t a mortgage, it was not a complicated thing. We didn’t pay a lot of money for the new place – it could be considered a fixer-upper. Going into the deal, we were aware of the following problems. It has no kitchen. None. No cabinets, no sink. The only thing in the kitchen is an electric range, but I wouldn’t want to use it. The kitchen has a ceramic tile floor that has to go, too. The basement gets wet. We’ve already fixed that problem by replacing the gutters. The old ones were leaking badly and the downspouts didn’t have elbows or splash blocks (so they just concentrated and injected the water at one place – the foundation corners). As of the last rain, the problem seems to be solved. Cost, around $220, including a new 8′ fiberglass ladder. Speaking of the basement, someone carted away the heater and air conditioner. Oh, and someone also took much of the copper pipe. How much crack does ten feet of copper pipe buy, anyway? So we know there’s some HVAC work to be done. Most of the duct system is stillu0026hellip;
About Me[caption id=u0022attachment_279u0022 align=u0022aligncenteru0022 width=u0022179u0022 caption=u0022I really enjoy divingu0022][/caption] Chances are that if you’re reading this page. you already know a little about me. Or maybe a lot about me. I’m pretty sure that the readers of this page are limited to my friends and relatives. On the off chance that you aren’t one of them, here’s a bit about the author. Where I live. I live in the State of Delaware, tucked underneath Pennsylvania, between Maryland and New Jersey. It’s not a bad place to live. I was born here and except for a ten-year stint in Southern California, I’ve lived here all of my life. I presently live in a little row house in a not-so-nice-but-getting-better part of the largest city in the state. I live there for a number of reasons – the biggest ones being that it’s convenient to work and really inexpensive. Update 4/09 – I live in a different house now – it’s a fixer-upper near the other one. I’m crazy in love with a Brasileira. I met Monica on the internet (oh no!!) back in March of 2006. She lives in Brasil in a city called Volta Redonda. I’ve been spending a week thereu0026hellip;
About Me[caption id=u0022attachment_279u0022 align=u0022aligncenteru0022 width=u0022179u0022 caption=u0022I really enjoy divingu0022][/caption] Chances are that if you’re reading this page. you already know a little about me. Or maybe a lot about me. I’m pretty sure that the readers of this page are limited to my friends and relatives. On the off chance that you aren’t one of them, here’s a bit about the author. Where I live. I live in the State of Delaware, tucked underneath Pennsylvania, between Maryland and New Jersey. It’s not a bad place to live. I was born here and except for a ten-year stint in Southern California, I’ve lived here all of my life. I presently live in a little row house in a not-so-nice-but-getting-better part of the largest city in the state. I live there for a number of reasons – the biggest ones being that it’s convenient to work and really inexpensive. Update 4/09 – I live in a different house now – it’s a fixer-upper near the other one. I’m crazy in love with a Brasileira. I met Monica on the internet (oh no!!) back in March of 2006. She lives in Brasil in a city called Volta Redonda. I’ve been spending a week thereu0026hellip;

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January 7, 2008

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