Gosh, talk about being behind! I swear if there were two of me I'd still be weeks overdue getting things done LOL Seem like a good general update is in order. During the last blog I told you about the in's and out's of the stripping operation. Having finished that chore - finally - I was looking forward to getting out of the bathroom and doing a 'fun' job. I started out working on paint choices for the downstairs room and entrance mostly to stay out of Tom's way upstairs. He started working on the new counters and cabinets in the east apartment bath and kitchen and also replacing some windows. Ugh! Talk about sticker shock with the window bill LOL We've got about 4 times the amount of windows in a standard house so take your cost for new windows and multiply times four! And that's just for the second story! In the updated pictures there's a photo of Tom installing the windows and you can see how he easily fits standing inside one of those windows. We're talking the size of doors here!
My work with the paint choices was a bit frustrating but nothing compared to Tom's tasks. The first window revealed tons of rot and a serious insect infestation. Other windows were better but most of them were all in need of replacement, both the inner and outer trim and the interior window framing. In the case of the first window we'll have to also re-sheet and coat the enterior due to rot. Average time for installing each window was a day; Tom's days start when he gets off work at 3:30 and run until 9pm or so. That's only for the window btw, not the making or installing the interior trim. He got half of the windows upstairs replaced, about one per room, before being burnt out and in need of R&R.
The paint was a snap by comparison LOL Tom had suggested tropical colors of some sort while I needed to keep the same color through the entry, stairway and landings and break room, all of which are different for the amount of light. I think I tried a dozen or so color chips before settling on four different test shades of blue. Thank goodness the home improvement stores now sell those little samples LOL Using the tropical idea I selected an historical shade that is a close match to a light Carribean blue. It's a bit too intense for me in the entry although everyone else likes it. I can't say as I got too much done in the actual way of painting though. About the time I started Tom decided to work on the apartment entry door so after one coat I've got that project on hold. There's sure to be repair needed on the walls after the new door is installed and there's no sense making it all nice, ripping it up and then doing it again.
Much of the work needed for the kitchen cabinets also got done. While Tom salvaged as much as possible from the old cabinets he still needed to make new fronts and all new drawers. Once things are all finished I'll have to get some close up shots of the window molding Tom's made as well as the floor molding and cabinetry. The man definitely knows his way around the woodworking tools! With the amazing job he's done on the walls and trim I hated even more the idea of only stripping the floor molding downstairs. It just didn't seem to do the building or quality of his work justice so . . . I'm back to stripping LOL Not quite such a bad job this time, lots easier to strip varnish off woodwork that layers of paint off walls. On the other hand I've discovered more of what we term the 'green paint from hell'. This is the first coat of paint at the bottom of much of the woodwork and it defies removal. It takes at least 6 coats of stripper with each sitting 30 to 45 minutes to begin to get it off. We talked to our friend Walt, a local antiques dealer and restorer and he said it was milk paint. Then he laughed evily LOL The stuff wears like iron! So far I have the floor molding and one entire doorway stripped down in the entry and stairway, the hardware stripped and ready to enamel and the transom window rebuilt. We'll be leaving the built in cupboard finish alone since it's in great shape. Matching the colors was another learning experience LOL
We have the original wood removed of finish, replacement wood we estimate was installed 50 or so years ago also removed of finish and two different varieties of new pine that Tom is using. The color we're matching is a red oak/red mahogany mix. Using that color stain on the original wood results in a perfect match while on the replacement wood and new wood the color comes out dark walnut. Two days and about 20 stain tests later - six different colors of stain! - I determined it will all match provided I stain all but the original wood bright red and then recoat with the red oak/red mahogany mix followed by a second coat of the bright red. That will all be followed by several coats of a brush on laquer. Given the labor involved I'm doing the public areas first and then later, once the apartments are up and running, I'll strip and refinish the wood in the break room and offices.
Outside things are really looking nice. The update pictures have some shots of the new herb garden I planted. Also you'll find a picture of my new nemisis poison ivy. Back in the day I was terribly sensitive to it but over the years I either was lucky enough to avoid it or never got a serious rash. Not so this year! The old garden was polluted with it and even being cautious I got an awful case. Tom's taken on the job of getting rid of it all and has been making progress although the stuff is terribly difficult to kill. We also discovered it has actually infested the yard itself so for the past week or so I've been banned from working outside. We'll keep up with the spraying but given the severity of the rash I got this year I may lobby to have the yard professionally sprayed.
Away from the Cauldron we've managed to carve a bit of time off and find time for fun and relaxing. The motor home is finally ready to roll and we're hoping for a shake down trip next weekend. Bike nights are in full swing and we've been able to catch up with some of our party buddies. This past weekend was Harry and Rory's benefit for Cancer Patient Services - a great time for a good cause. If you missed it be sure to put it on your schedule for next year; great people, some of the best bands in the area, tricycle races and grilled burgers and weenies. Biggest summer news so far is we have our Gold Rush passes for the Chillicothe rodeo and we're by-passing Wetzeland this year. It's a bummer missing Wetzel, we had planned on this being our last trip and having a blow out time, but they've doubled the camping rates for vehicles to try and weed out the non-biking crowd. It's an admirable thought but doesn't do too much for us old bikers who can't pack it all in on the back of a motorcycle and sleep on the ground. With Wetzel out we're hoping to head down to Eldora for the Kings Royal race and just as good a time.
Be sure to check out the pictures after you've read the catch up. I finally have all shots online and even organized. Amazing! LOL The most current progress shots are in the main folder viewable directly upon clicking. Pictures showing the complete progress may now be accessed by clicking the 'more folder's' option where you'll find them separated by area. Some even have captions to explain a bit more about the project.
Litha blessings and a happy summer to all!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The Stripper Retires
After countless weeks and two and a half gallons of stripper I can finally report that the walls in the west bathroom are free of their layers of old paint. Saturday afternoon I scrapped off the last of the crud and cheerfully turned my stripping can and knife over to Tom for use on the woodwork. While the walls still need a bit of sanding and have definite character aka damage from years of use they are a beautiful color and grain that will look wonderful once refinished.
For those who ever contemplate such a task my first advice would be 'don't do it'! LOL If however, you're like us and choose to forge ahead here's a bit of what you can expect; the things the home improvement books and sites won't tell you. Stock up on pain relievers, paper towels, newspaper and old clothes. While stripping paint off walls would seem to be fairly straight forward it turns out to be murder on the back especially if you're working at it for several days and you'll be glad of those pain relievers. Many will suggest scrapping the disolved paint sludge into a can but we found it much easier and less messy to continuously clean the sludge off the scraper with a paper towel. Otherwise you tend to end up with a lot of gunk building up on the scraper that spreads back onto the wall. It's also important to keep as much of the stripping chemical and sludge off your gloves as possible and use of paper towels helps with this. Keep in mind that the sludge produced is extremely sticky and if allowed to build up on your gloves or scraper it will tear your gloves rather than come loose or worse, you'll end up with scraper, gloves and paper toweling stuck together in a wad.
Protecting the floors and anything else in the room is an absolute must. The stripping compound doesn't know the difference between old paint and say, your toilet seat, and can effectively melt both. It will eat through your flooring, countertop finish and anything else it falls on if allowed to sit more than a few seconds. And I do mean a few seconds there! I have seen it bleach out vinyl flooring in the short time it takes to cuss and climb down the ladder to clean up a spill LOL The sludge of melted paint and stripper isn't as bad for eating through things but it does stain and removal will damage the material it fell on. I found layers of the Sunday newspaper ads, the ones printed on slick and shiny paper, worked great for catching the inevitable globs of goo that slid down the wall or fell off the scraper. For this project I used approximately two and a half gallons of stripper, one and a half 12-packs of paper towels and almost a full box of rubber gloves. One of the best ideas I had was to pour the stripper solution into a clean, empty metal paint can - you can buy them at most home improvement stores - and I also stored the applicator brush in the can. For this job I used a 2-inch disposable brush and found it great for larger flat areas as well as detail work. Surprisingly enough the brush bristles didn't melt in the can.
Safety-wise you need to know that everything they tell you on the can of stripper is true. Many varieties are pretty nasty. We used Ace brand extra strength stripper after a single coat of lead abating stripper. The lead abating stripper was non-toxic and stabilized the lead but the rotten egg smell was very strong and took weeks to disapate. Because it works by breaking the bond between layers of paint it stopped working when it hit the lower layers which were old-fashioned oil based paint. Our second and third coats of stipper using the Ace brand worked much faster but I was surprised by the effects of the chemical. We all read the safety labels on products we use, or we should, but most of the time they're overkill - these warnings aren't! When they advise to work in small sections they're serious. Doing a section larger than approximately 4 foot by 4 foot will result in some serious reactions within a few hours. You can expect burning, streaming eyes, a sore throat and hoarse cough for a day or so even with good ventilation and safety gear. I found that two days of stripping followed by a day of being away from the fumes worked well. Contact of any kind between the stripper chemical and bare skin results in almost immediate burning and redness. If possible work near a source of running water or have a bucket of water near by. Rinsing the chemical off right away stops the burn immediately; the longer you delay the more chance of skin redness and irritation.
Remember also that the sludge from the melted paint is still paint, just disolved. If you get it on your clothing it is permanent in most all cases. It's possible to reduce the stain by immediately scrubbing the clothing with mineral spirits but the fumes and flamable nature of the mineral spirits makes this not such a good idea in general. Mineral spirits are also very caustic to the skin so if you try this form of removal make sure to remove the item of clothing first. I personally found that one out the hard way LOL For jeans and some types of boots/shoes you can use fine grained sandpaper to remove the dried sludge resulting in a very faint stain that blends in well. The sludge also tends to fall from the walls and ceilings so especially if you're working overhead wear fitted shirts buttoned up and head gear. Julie and I had a hysterical day weeks ago when a glob of sludge fell into my bra resulting in boob, bra, shirt and jacket being stuck together. The stuff gets everywhere so be warned! LOL If you are working in your home you also might want to set aside an old pair of shoes for use in that project only and take care to remove them before entering the rest of the house. We'd intended to replace the floor in the adjoining kitchen which is good since there's a permant track of stripper smudges now on the floor even with precautions.
Other than that, my last word on stipping is good luck, take your time and have patience - the job's worth it but it's a very long haul.
For those who ever contemplate such a task my first advice would be 'don't do it'! LOL If however, you're like us and choose to forge ahead here's a bit of what you can expect; the things the home improvement books and sites won't tell you. Stock up on pain relievers, paper towels, newspaper and old clothes. While stripping paint off walls would seem to be fairly straight forward it turns out to be murder on the back especially if you're working at it for several days and you'll be glad of those pain relievers. Many will suggest scrapping the disolved paint sludge into a can but we found it much easier and less messy to continuously clean the sludge off the scraper with a paper towel. Otherwise you tend to end up with a lot of gunk building up on the scraper that spreads back onto the wall. It's also important to keep as much of the stripping chemical and sludge off your gloves as possible and use of paper towels helps with this. Keep in mind that the sludge produced is extremely sticky and if allowed to build up on your gloves or scraper it will tear your gloves rather than come loose or worse, you'll end up with scraper, gloves and paper toweling stuck together in a wad.
Protecting the floors and anything else in the room is an absolute must. The stripping compound doesn't know the difference between old paint and say, your toilet seat, and can effectively melt both. It will eat through your flooring, countertop finish and anything else it falls on if allowed to sit more than a few seconds. And I do mean a few seconds there! I have seen it bleach out vinyl flooring in the short time it takes to cuss and climb down the ladder to clean up a spill LOL The sludge of melted paint and stripper isn't as bad for eating through things but it does stain and removal will damage the material it fell on. I found layers of the Sunday newspaper ads, the ones printed on slick and shiny paper, worked great for catching the inevitable globs of goo that slid down the wall or fell off the scraper. For this project I used approximately two and a half gallons of stripper, one and a half 12-packs of paper towels and almost a full box of rubber gloves. One of the best ideas I had was to pour the stripper solution into a clean, empty metal paint can - you can buy them at most home improvement stores - and I also stored the applicator brush in the can. For this job I used a 2-inch disposable brush and found it great for larger flat areas as well as detail work. Surprisingly enough the brush bristles didn't melt in the can.
Safety-wise you need to know that everything they tell you on the can of stripper is true. Many varieties are pretty nasty. We used Ace brand extra strength stripper after a single coat of lead abating stripper. The lead abating stripper was non-toxic and stabilized the lead but the rotten egg smell was very strong and took weeks to disapate. Because it works by breaking the bond between layers of paint it stopped working when it hit the lower layers which were old-fashioned oil based paint. Our second and third coats of stipper using the Ace brand worked much faster but I was surprised by the effects of the chemical. We all read the safety labels on products we use, or we should, but most of the time they're overkill - these warnings aren't! When they advise to work in small sections they're serious. Doing a section larger than approximately 4 foot by 4 foot will result in some serious reactions within a few hours. You can expect burning, streaming eyes, a sore throat and hoarse cough for a day or so even with good ventilation and safety gear. I found that two days of stripping followed by a day of being away from the fumes worked well. Contact of any kind between the stripper chemical and bare skin results in almost immediate burning and redness. If possible work near a source of running water or have a bucket of water near by. Rinsing the chemical off right away stops the burn immediately; the longer you delay the more chance of skin redness and irritation.
Remember also that the sludge from the melted paint is still paint, just disolved. If you get it on your clothing it is permanent in most all cases. It's possible to reduce the stain by immediately scrubbing the clothing with mineral spirits but the fumes and flamable nature of the mineral spirits makes this not such a good idea in general. Mineral spirits are also very caustic to the skin so if you try this form of removal make sure to remove the item of clothing first. I personally found that one out the hard way LOL For jeans and some types of boots/shoes you can use fine grained sandpaper to remove the dried sludge resulting in a very faint stain that blends in well. The sludge also tends to fall from the walls and ceilings so especially if you're working overhead wear fitted shirts buttoned up and head gear. Julie and I had a hysterical day weeks ago when a glob of sludge fell into my bra resulting in boob, bra, shirt and jacket being stuck together. The stuff gets everywhere so be warned! LOL If you are working in your home you also might want to set aside an old pair of shoes for use in that project only and take care to remove them before entering the rest of the house. We'd intended to replace the floor in the adjoining kitchen which is good since there's a permant track of stripper smudges now on the floor even with precautions.
Other than that, my last word on stipping is good luck, take your time and have patience - the job's worth it but it's a very long haul.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Legal Necessities
Now that Tom and I are a few months into renovations we decided the legal bits and pieces couldn't be ignored any more. In our world things like partnership agreements and financial documents aren't important but since the Cauldron is reality we had some missing i's that needed dotted and t's to cross. This week we had our first and surely not the last meeting with our accountant and attorney. I've worked with Randy Lishawa, the accountant, for years but this was Tom's first time meeting him; also both of us were meeting the recommended attorney, Scott Basinger, for the first time. The condensed version of the experience is that confusion ran rampant LOL While I've run a home business for several years it was small and didn't fall under many government or tax regulations. Not so the Cauldron. Expenses have to be categorized and some are a bit slippery. Take all the work Tom did on the gas lines and furnaces. That falls under the labels of 'repairs' and 'improvements' with the furnace parts going into the repairs column and the bits and pieces of line under improvements. Guess who will be having a ton of fun sorting through those receipts? The system seems a bit illogical to me based on common sense and daily living. Unless you purchase items by category such as all furnace parts separate from all gas line parts you've got a terrible task ahead in separating your purchase into the different parts. And what about the sales tax? LOL Do I divide it up based upon the dollar cost or what? Since the accountant has repeatedly reminded me of his rate per hour and how much it would cost for him to figure all that out I made an investment in Quicken this week and added Bookkeeping 101 to my summer schedule.
Meeting with the attorney was interesting since we were also pretty clueless there. I'd investigated tax ID numbers, apparently called an EIN for us, but found multiple answers. Some sources said we needed one while others said since we didn't have income we weren't eligible. Guess what, income or not the government still wants it's share and we need one LOL We also apparently need protection from each other or at least to quiet those who think we do so we're having a formal partnership agreement drawn up. Then we're forming a LLC which I think stands for Limited Liability Company which seems to be a fancy title for something that keeps our personal stuff safe from our business risks. If something bad happens at the Cauldron only the company is responsible and Tom and I can't loose our personal possessions. I'm thinking that's a pretty good idea LOL It's a bit like knocking over a line of dominoes though as 'progress' in the legal area means lots of changes elsewhere. Once the LLC is formed, filed or whatever we'll need to have changes made to our insurance where btw, we're already having trouble. The insurance company intends to raise our rates since they consider the building vacant and therefore more at risk. That's also lacking a bit on the common sense and logic end LOL I work from 9-ish in the morning to 4 or so at least 5 days a week, usually a half day on the 6th day. Tom is there from 3 or 4'o'clock to 9 or 10 at night every night but two. The dang building is hardly ever alone so how can it be vacant? LOL Luckily that's a battle for Tom to fight. I have enough to deal with setting up the books and dealing with the changes the LLC will bring. One of which, getting a completely separate bank account, will be cause for definite celebration.
The good news in all this is that we are making progress being safe and financially smart, the attorney turned out to be a good choice and - big woo hoo here - my office is set up! While Mr. Basinger seemed a bit too serious for us at first he had the good taste to fall in love with the Cauldron. Remember though, him being too serious for us isn't necessarily bad on his part but more a reflection on us. I've been watching too many Jurassic Park reruns as upon entering the office and greeting Randy Lishawa my first instinct was to turn to the attorney and say 'oh, this must be the blood-sucking attorney' ROFL Luckily my brain was faster than my mouth on this occasion. We also received a great tip from Mr. Basinger regarding our search for the history of the Cauldron. He's on board with our hoping for some historical grants and suggested a specific person here in Findlay who could likely advise us of much of the building's history. We might even find a few surprises but I'll save those for a later post if it's confirmed.
Even with the dull task of bookkeeping ahead of me I'm looking forward to spending warm summer afternoons in the office adding up figures. While the new desk wasn't what I wanted it turned out to be what was needed and it fits perfectly in the space and goes well with the design of the building. I moved a few comfort items in - crystals, a few gifts from bff Amy - set up a bit of an altar and stock one shelf with a basic selection of witch craft books. Just like home! The large windows will let in plenty of air and light and once the walls are painted (a very pale pink) it will look wonderful and even professional. Heck, there's a business card holder even!
Renovations also progressed well this week. The east kitchen walls are primed and Tom is working on replacing the windows there and in the east bath. Once that's done, and if Ohio ever dries out, I can do the needed repairs to the outside of the building where leaks caused the stucco to rot. We got a bit more work done in the back but mostly were hampered by the constant rain this week. Paint stripping started out great and I'd hoped to finish up by the middle of the week but again the rain caused a delay due to the roof leaks there. There's just no space for a ladder among all the buckets catching drips and I'm not thrilled about being soaked while I work. And then, there's my visitor. Some of you know I'm terrified of spiders and given how long the building was empty it was only a matter of time before a few would appear. It did NOT have to be the grand daddy of all spiders though! Here I am, up on the ladder scraping the second coat of goo off and right along the top edge of the wall comes the largest, blackest spider I've seen in my life outside of a pet store! It's a wonder I didn't jump off the ladder and run screaming for the door LOL With a bad case of the shivers I kept one eye on the spider and one eye on the task and dutifully kept working and the spider stomped off. Yes, I mean stomped. This thing was so big it didn't even walk like a normal spider! Unfortunately it came back just as I was trying to finish the last bit near the floor. From that position I couldn't watch the spider and so I'd take a quick swipe with the scraper and then jump back to check on his position. Can't say as I did a very good job of that last bit but at least I tried LOL Of course the spider was gone by the time Tom arrived and hasn't been seen since but that's worse than if he was still about. When last seen he was crouched in the corner directly above the commode so now I either have to wait to pee until I get home or crouch on the potty craning my neck to keep an eye above me in case he jumps out. Guess who bought bug bombs on her last trip to the store?
Meeting with the attorney was interesting since we were also pretty clueless there. I'd investigated tax ID numbers, apparently called an EIN for us, but found multiple answers. Some sources said we needed one while others said since we didn't have income we weren't eligible. Guess what, income or not the government still wants it's share and we need one LOL We also apparently need protection from each other or at least to quiet those who think we do so we're having a formal partnership agreement drawn up. Then we're forming a LLC which I think stands for Limited Liability Company which seems to be a fancy title for something that keeps our personal stuff safe from our business risks. If something bad happens at the Cauldron only the company is responsible and Tom and I can't loose our personal possessions. I'm thinking that's a pretty good idea LOL It's a bit like knocking over a line of dominoes though as 'progress' in the legal area means lots of changes elsewhere. Once the LLC is formed, filed or whatever we'll need to have changes made to our insurance where btw, we're already having trouble. The insurance company intends to raise our rates since they consider the building vacant and therefore more at risk. That's also lacking a bit on the common sense and logic end LOL I work from 9-ish in the morning to 4 or so at least 5 days a week, usually a half day on the 6th day. Tom is there from 3 or 4'o'clock to 9 or 10 at night every night but two. The dang building is hardly ever alone so how can it be vacant? LOL Luckily that's a battle for Tom to fight. I have enough to deal with setting up the books and dealing with the changes the LLC will bring. One of which, getting a completely separate bank account, will be cause for definite celebration.
The good news in all this is that we are making progress being safe and financially smart, the attorney turned out to be a good choice and - big woo hoo here - my office is set up! While Mr. Basinger seemed a bit too serious for us at first he had the good taste to fall in love with the Cauldron. Remember though, him being too serious for us isn't necessarily bad on his part but more a reflection on us. I've been watching too many Jurassic Park reruns as upon entering the office and greeting Randy Lishawa my first instinct was to turn to the attorney and say 'oh, this must be the blood-sucking attorney' ROFL Luckily my brain was faster than my mouth on this occasion. We also received a great tip from Mr. Basinger regarding our search for the history of the Cauldron. He's on board with our hoping for some historical grants and suggested a specific person here in Findlay who could likely advise us of much of the building's history. We might even find a few surprises but I'll save those for a later post if it's confirmed.
Even with the dull task of bookkeeping ahead of me I'm looking forward to spending warm summer afternoons in the office adding up figures. While the new desk wasn't what I wanted it turned out to be what was needed and it fits perfectly in the space and goes well with the design of the building. I moved a few comfort items in - crystals, a few gifts from bff Amy - set up a bit of an altar and stock one shelf with a basic selection of witch craft books. Just like home! The large windows will let in plenty of air and light and once the walls are painted (a very pale pink) it will look wonderful and even professional. Heck, there's a business card holder even!
Renovations also progressed well this week. The east kitchen walls are primed and Tom is working on replacing the windows there and in the east bath. Once that's done, and if Ohio ever dries out, I can do the needed repairs to the outside of the building where leaks caused the stucco to rot. We got a bit more work done in the back but mostly were hampered by the constant rain this week. Paint stripping started out great and I'd hoped to finish up by the middle of the week but again the rain caused a delay due to the roof leaks there. There's just no space for a ladder among all the buckets catching drips and I'm not thrilled about being soaked while I work. And then, there's my visitor. Some of you know I'm terrified of spiders and given how long the building was empty it was only a matter of time before a few would appear. It did NOT have to be the grand daddy of all spiders though! Here I am, up on the ladder scraping the second coat of goo off and right along the top edge of the wall comes the largest, blackest spider I've seen in my life outside of a pet store! It's a wonder I didn't jump off the ladder and run screaming for the door LOL With a bad case of the shivers I kept one eye on the spider and one eye on the task and dutifully kept working and the spider stomped off. Yes, I mean stomped. This thing was so big it didn't even walk like a normal spider! Unfortunately it came back just as I was trying to finish the last bit near the floor. From that position I couldn't watch the spider and so I'd take a quick swipe with the scraper and then jump back to check on his position. Can't say as I did a very good job of that last bit but at least I tried LOL Of course the spider was gone by the time Tom arrived and hasn't been seen since but that's worse than if he was still about. When last seen he was crouched in the corner directly above the commode so now I either have to wait to pee until I get home or crouch on the potty craning my neck to keep an eye above me in case he jumps out. Guess who bought bug bombs on her last trip to the store?
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Catch Up
Gosh, I've been nagging myself to get an update posted but I didn't realize how fast time was passing! Tom and I have had our respective noses to the grindstone and I don't think either of us has come up for air in weeks LOL In many ways it seems there hasn't been a great deal to report on but in other ways so very much has changed. We're actually beginning to see some results of our efforts in the way the east apartment is shaping up. Not like we don't have miles to go yet but somehow having the kitchen re-walled and the bathroom painted is encouraging. Tom is doing his usual perfectionist job on the walls but even with bare wallboard and drywall mud it looks 500% better than when we started. Next week I'll likely be working priming and painting in there getting ready for window replacement and cabinetry.
With the walls coming along and paint going on I can see the color scheme I chose for the apartment coming together. Tom not so much but he's a tolerant man and since he doesn't have to live there he doesn't complain. Lucky for me, huh? For those curious the scheme is a neutral-ish pale green for the bath and kitchen, terracotta accents in the tile and sink back splashes and then a very soft and pale terracotta color for the living area walls. Think semi-Mexican color scheme LOL Did you notice also that I actually painted? As opposed to stripping walls? No, they're not done, not quite yet, but darn close. Another two or three days will finally see me done with chemicals and after a quick sanding I'll be free of the west bath for a bit. Trust me, you'll likely hear the celebration when I take that last scraper full of paint off LOL It's been a long haul and everyone has worked on the project. Even Brandie tried her hand at it last week and my brother called with great advice.
We were also treated to a few nice, sunny days in Ohio, a very few, and I used them to get the front bushes cleaned of trash and the backyard cleaned up from a few years of neglect. Our huge tree back there is wonderful but it's obviously been very busy this past winter shedding small limbs as well as leaves. The existing plants have begun to leaf out and I've identified peony and wild roses as well as a few bulbs in the future herb garden. Thanks to a sale on outdoor chairs we now have seating too = ) The seeds I started have sprouted and grown to the point where today I put a few into larger peat pots. Now on breaks I can sit in the new yard chairs and imagine the herbs and flowers growing around me in a few months.
Likely the biggest news, at least for me, is the beginnings of an office. Finally! Both Tom and I had hunted for a desk with no success. I'm thinking either my wish list or my budget was a bit off LOL I knew we needed two file drawers and I wanted at least two drawers for supplies, preferable a center drawer also. And I wanted it cheap and neither of those were going to happen at the same time. I could find lovely pedestal or executive desks but none for less than $500 which I termed a ridiculous price. Desks in our price range either didn't have the needed file drawers or were set up for computers with a drop down keyboard rest and CPU cabinet which we couldn't use. We haunted craigslist, EBay, the local newspaper and trading sites and came up empty handed or a day late on anything remotely workable. With paperwork piling up I gave up the search and bought a small desk which will work although is far from my dream desk. And I had to put it together! LOL THAT could serve as the subject of an entire post! To be honest though it wasn't too bad with careful reading of directions. I had one part break during assembly and one part arrive damaged so I'm waiting on replacements to assemble the final drawer but for the most part it's together and works. Just in time too! Next week we have an appointment with the accountant and attorney to begin our education on the business end of things. I've been reading some great books on landlording but we'll need a good team behind us to avoid trouble with regulations and paperwork.
I also need to report on Tom's water project although I still need to get the pictures uploaded for you to see. Our main waterline enters the building from the front and runs under one of the front display window with the main valve just in front of the window box. The access hole in the floor is maybe 2' x 2', maybe a bit more, not large though. And the main leaked, somewhere LOL With the weather thawing Tom got started repairing the leak and that required him to dig down several feet and then tunnel underneath the window towards the street. I didn't want to know the entire details but I believe he spent most of his time laying on his tummy using a shovel to dig the hole and then vacuuming the dirt out with the shop vac LOL It was a huge undertaking though and from the looks of it on a par with stripping paint for misery. It's too bad neither of us thought to have him do a tour with the video camera, it would have been great LOL No more leak though and tonight Tom hauled a load of stone in to fill up the hole in the front sidewalk. The water pressure is greatly improved and lots of gunk was flushed out of the pipes. With a lot of luck that will take care of any water issues = )
Doesn't seem like much for three weeks but based on simple tiredness and how sore we are I'm thinking we're working about as hard as we can LOL Between Tom's shoulder, my back and the general everyday aches and bruises I'm thinking the next update will come from a nice hot tub somewhere!
With the walls coming along and paint going on I can see the color scheme I chose for the apartment coming together. Tom not so much but he's a tolerant man and since he doesn't have to live there he doesn't complain. Lucky for me, huh? For those curious the scheme is a neutral-ish pale green for the bath and kitchen, terracotta accents in the tile and sink back splashes and then a very soft and pale terracotta color for the living area walls. Think semi-Mexican color scheme LOL Did you notice also that I actually painted? As opposed to stripping walls? No, they're not done, not quite yet, but darn close. Another two or three days will finally see me done with chemicals and after a quick sanding I'll be free of the west bath for a bit. Trust me, you'll likely hear the celebration when I take that last scraper full of paint off LOL It's been a long haul and everyone has worked on the project. Even Brandie tried her hand at it last week and my brother called with great advice.
We were also treated to a few nice, sunny days in Ohio, a very few, and I used them to get the front bushes cleaned of trash and the backyard cleaned up from a few years of neglect. Our huge tree back there is wonderful but it's obviously been very busy this past winter shedding small limbs as well as leaves. The existing plants have begun to leaf out and I've identified peony and wild roses as well as a few bulbs in the future herb garden. Thanks to a sale on outdoor chairs we now have seating too = ) The seeds I started have sprouted and grown to the point where today I put a few into larger peat pots. Now on breaks I can sit in the new yard chairs and imagine the herbs and flowers growing around me in a few months.
Likely the biggest news, at least for me, is the beginnings of an office. Finally! Both Tom and I had hunted for a desk with no success. I'm thinking either my wish list or my budget was a bit off LOL I knew we needed two file drawers and I wanted at least two drawers for supplies, preferable a center drawer also. And I wanted it cheap and neither of those were going to happen at the same time. I could find lovely pedestal or executive desks but none for less than $500 which I termed a ridiculous price. Desks in our price range either didn't have the needed file drawers or were set up for computers with a drop down keyboard rest and CPU cabinet which we couldn't use. We haunted craigslist, EBay, the local newspaper and trading sites and came up empty handed or a day late on anything remotely workable. With paperwork piling up I gave up the search and bought a small desk which will work although is far from my dream desk. And I had to put it together! LOL THAT could serve as the subject of an entire post! To be honest though it wasn't too bad with careful reading of directions. I had one part break during assembly and one part arrive damaged so I'm waiting on replacements to assemble the final drawer but for the most part it's together and works. Just in time too! Next week we have an appointment with the accountant and attorney to begin our education on the business end of things. I've been reading some great books on landlording but we'll need a good team behind us to avoid trouble with regulations and paperwork.
I also need to report on Tom's water project although I still need to get the pictures uploaded for you to see. Our main waterline enters the building from the front and runs under one of the front display window with the main valve just in front of the window box. The access hole in the floor is maybe 2' x 2', maybe a bit more, not large though. And the main leaked, somewhere LOL With the weather thawing Tom got started repairing the leak and that required him to dig down several feet and then tunnel underneath the window towards the street. I didn't want to know the entire details but I believe he spent most of his time laying on his tummy using a shovel to dig the hole and then vacuuming the dirt out with the shop vac LOL It was a huge undertaking though and from the looks of it on a par with stripping paint for misery. It's too bad neither of us thought to have him do a tour with the video camera, it would have been great LOL No more leak though and tonight Tom hauled a load of stone in to fill up the hole in the front sidewalk. The water pressure is greatly improved and lots of gunk was flushed out of the pipes. With a lot of luck that will take care of any water issues = )
Doesn't seem like much for three weeks but based on simple tiredness and how sore we are I'm thinking we're working about as hard as we can LOL Between Tom's shoulder, my back and the general everyday aches and bruises I'm thinking the next update will come from a nice hot tub somewhere!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Stripping!
I'm guessing the title of this post will get a bit of attention, at least until they see the picture LOL Yep, I'm still stuck in the bathroom stripping paint = ( Lucky Tom has moved on to demolishing the east kitchen and even starting to rebuild it and there I am with the sander buzzing away. I'm thinking this is truly the project from hell LOL And it all started out so innocently!The bead board in the west bathroom truly is beautiful, at least what I've uncovered, and I know that it's worth saving. Just one piece to be used for repairs costs around $10 and is just soft pine, not the nice old heartwood we have. The job is kicking my fanny though. Since it's lead paint I chose to use a chemical stripper rather than the hazards of sanding. I got a big container of Lead Out by Re-Me-Diate and painted the stinky stuff on according to the directions. It worked pretty well and has the benefit of converting the lead to a non-toxic EPA safe form. Unfortunately it works by breaking the bond between paint layers and about three layers from bare wood it met old style oil paint and stopped working. Worse, it left a sticky, glue like layer that was impossible to scrape off and soon dried to the consistency of putty. I ordered another container, waited weeks for it to arrive and finally canceled. The company provided a refund with no trouble but at this point I think I'd rather have had the stripper LOL
Since the lead is now not a worry I decided to re-scrape the walls and then try sanding. The scraping took over a week which should have been my first clue. And it also ruined another knife which now makes three total for the project. The putty stuff builds up and is impossible to remove or wash off. The stuff doesn't even grind off! LOL This week I started sanding and was just positive things would go well. Hmm . . . back to that 'reality sucks' thing. Tom's Black & Decker sander didn't make a dent in the stuff and after one day poohed out with a bad switch. The new sander has more power, enough that I have trouble stopping it from dragging me around the room but it still doesn't remove the putty-like stuff. Seems more power isn't always good and what's happening now is the heat from the sander is just making things stickier. Today I spend a good five hours grinding away and managed to clean only a 2 by 3 foot section or so. Not a lot to show for how badly my wrists hurt LOL At this point less that one wall is done after a four day's work with the remaining surface way too rough and sticky to even consider painting and I'm fresh out of ideas. Tom's thinking maybe a flap wheel while I'm about ready to try one of those wire brush things. So far I'm still under budget compared to what it would have cost to just put up dry wall over the stuff but at the rate I'm burning sandpaper things are getting expensive fast. Ugh! So much for a good idea, huh? LOL Saturday new cauldron crew girl Mandy will be helping out and even bringing her own sander so silly me still has hope. In the meantime I'm taking a well deserved day off to recover. If anyone has suggestions for getting things moving along a bit better I'd love to hear them!
In the meantime our other projects have been going well. Tom's making good progress on the east kitchen and I conquered the hated slide show project so you can see pictures of our progress through the site instead of scrolling around the blog. Both Julie and Brandie made appearances this week; Julie primed the east bathroom and Brandie pitched in hand sanding the bit of progress I'd made with the walls. I also treated 'us girls' to goodies - Murano glass pendants that look like lovely spring flowers. We may be stiff, sore and grubby but at least we'll look cute! LOL Hopefully things will look better when I get back to the cauldron on Saturday but if not ya know where I'll be for the next few weeks LOL And btw, for those in the area, stop by and say 'hey' Saturday night up at Whiskey Venue. Big birthday party and both Blaming Alice and Diesel are playing!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Reality Bites!
Have you ever though you had a really good idea and then the actual situation, aka reality, sneaks up and bites you in the fanny? Welcome to our world! LOL I'm quickly finding out there's a big difference between what Tom and I want and think we're going to do at the cauldron and what actually happens. Case in point . . .
At the beginning (that would be when we were naive and not aching in every joint) we had great plans of cutting corners by using a lot of the original materials. "The walls are fine", we said. "This vanity will work great with a coat of paint." Uh huh, right. Reality set in and at the moment the place looks like Jericho after the walls came tumbling down LOL The first to go were the west bathroom walls which btw, I am still stripping. Long story short - the second batch of stripper never arrived so I'm reduced to hand scraping the years of gunk and dried first coat of stripper. At last estimate I figure it'll take another 3 days at least before I even think about sanding them. But hey, it keeps me out of trouble and I'm getting some nice definition in my upper arms LOL
With me hogging the bathroom (typical woman) Tom set to work in the east bath where we had also planned to keep the old wallboard. Well, he did, I wasn't so happy with it although I agreed it wasn't all that bad. Next thing I knew, down it came along with the vanity we had hoped to save. Just too much work needed to repair each and even after the work neither would look decent. Tom spent days putting up new drywall - the man is obsessive about muddling his joints LOL - while I juggled the decorating budget to make up for the extra expense. The juggling thing has actually been fun and led to my current project of painting tile. Being a bit of an overachiever it's not enough that I have to learn to cut and install tile but apparently now I think I also need to decorate with hand painted tiles on a shoestring budget. Seriously though, a Mexican color scheme just screams for those ornate painted tiles and they're like $5 each and up! And yeah, yeah, I know, it's just a rental but it's our rental and ya know already we're a bit different LOL
Between the scraping during the day and the tile painting at night Tom's been able to work in blissful peace without my chattering but it's maybe not such a good thing. It seems that as the evening goes along and weariness sets in one beer leads to another and a certain someone goes into destruct mode. First he peeked behind a wall in the east kitchen to repair a cupboard and didn't like what he saw. Then I opened my mouth and asked for the rest of the old bath wallboard to be removed from the connecting hall and before ya could blink the kitchen was naked down to it's lath! That was way cool! Not the mess, which Tom kindly cleaned up, or the work but all the discoveries. I'll admit to being a bit of a renovation geek and I enjoy peeling apart the old layers of wallpaper and poking around de-construction debris. Tearing off the old wallboard exposed a slew of different papers which were in fairly decent condition. We were even able to see a bit of the original paper although it's not likely we'll be able to save any. And Tom found the baseboard molding was still attached with the original square head nails! This is by far the oldest building I've worked on and those bits of history have been great to find. Later this summer it's going to be a fun puzzle to research the place and its beginnings and possibly even find some old photos. I think they'd be great to hang in the entrance way = )
During the few spring days we had recently, before the current round of ice and snow, I was even able to get a bit of work done outside. The sidewalk along the east side that had been buried under weeds and dirt is now clear and the back patio even got raked so we're not walking through muck and leaves. Rocking chairs for the front porch were purchased and assembled and are just waiting on Tom to install some anti-theft tethers and the return of spring and sunshine. I also braved my notoriously un-green thumb and planted Jiffy Pots with herb and flower seeds for the back yard. With luck, or perhaps replacements from the local nursery, we'll have a kitchen herb garden similar to what might have grown there originally as well as some old-time 4'o'clocks this summer. Heck, I'm thinking if I add a tomato and a few pepper plants we can even keep the tenants in fresh salsa - or us LOL
At the beginning (that would be when we were naive and not aching in every joint) we had great plans of cutting corners by using a lot of the original materials. "The walls are fine", we said. "This vanity will work great with a coat of paint." Uh huh, right. Reality set in and at the moment the place looks like Jericho after the walls came tumbling down LOL The first to go were the west bathroom walls which btw, I am still stripping. Long story short - the second batch of stripper never arrived so I'm reduced to hand scraping the years of gunk and dried first coat of stripper. At last estimate I figure it'll take another 3 days at least before I even think about sanding them. But hey, it keeps me out of trouble and I'm getting some nice definition in my upper arms LOL
With me hogging the bathroom (typical woman) Tom set to work in the east bath where we had also planned to keep the old wallboard. Well, he did, I wasn't so happy with it although I agreed it wasn't all that bad. Next thing I knew, down it came along with the vanity we had hoped to save. Just too much work needed to repair each and even after the work neither would look decent. Tom spent days putting up new drywall - the man is obsessive about muddling his joints LOL - while I juggled the decorating budget to make up for the extra expense. The juggling thing has actually been fun and led to my current project of painting tile. Being a bit of an overachiever it's not enough that I have to learn to cut and install tile but apparently now I think I also need to decorate with hand painted tiles on a shoestring budget. Seriously though, a Mexican color scheme just screams for those ornate painted tiles and they're like $5 each and up! And yeah, yeah, I know, it's just a rental but it's our rental and ya know already we're a bit different LOL
Between the scraping during the day and the tile painting at night Tom's been able to work in blissful peace without my chattering but it's maybe not such a good thing. It seems that as the evening goes along and weariness sets in one beer leads to another and a certain someone goes into destruct mode. First he peeked behind a wall in the east kitchen to repair a cupboard and didn't like what he saw. Then I opened my mouth and asked for the rest of the old bath wallboard to be removed from the connecting hall and before ya could blink the kitchen was naked down to it's lath! That was way cool! Not the mess, which Tom kindly cleaned up, or the work but all the discoveries. I'll admit to being a bit of a renovation geek and I enjoy peeling apart the old layers of wallpaper and poking around de-construction debris. Tearing off the old wallboard exposed a slew of different papers which were in fairly decent condition. We were even able to see a bit of the original paper although it's not likely we'll be able to save any. And Tom found the baseboard molding was still attached with the original square head nails! This is by far the oldest building I've worked on and those bits of history have been great to find. Later this summer it's going to be a fun puzzle to research the place and its beginnings and possibly even find some old photos. I think they'd be great to hang in the entrance way = )
During the few spring days we had recently, before the current round of ice and snow, I was even able to get a bit of work done outside. The sidewalk along the east side that had been buried under weeds and dirt is now clear and the back patio even got raked so we're not walking through muck and leaves. Rocking chairs for the front porch were purchased and assembled and are just waiting on Tom to install some anti-theft tethers and the return of spring and sunshine. I also braved my notoriously un-green thumb and planted Jiffy Pots with herb and flower seeds for the back yard. With luck, or perhaps replacements from the local nursery, we'll have a kitchen herb garden similar to what might have grown there originally as well as some old-time 4'o'clocks this summer. Heck, I'm thinking if I add a tomato and a few pepper plants we can even keep the tenants in fresh salsa - or us LOL
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Flood City USA
Have ya noticed a lag in the updates here? LOL That was some great weather we had locally the past few weeks. Tons of snow followed by one of our famous Findlay floods. Living on the river is one thing but we're starting the high water way too early in the year for comfort. Not like many of you haven't experienced the same thing for yourself even if you're not from our area. Just a nasty thing that leaves you nervously watching for raindrops for months after. The cauldron folk are blessed to be relatively free of water trouble though. Tom's basement situation improved with his addition of a back flow valve and the cauldron building gets water only in the basement. The picture above would be the view from the basement steps LOL I got swamped due to a sudden pump failure but no damage done and Brandie and Julie both stayed high and dry.
Most of the past two weeks has been spent shoveling and walking. First digging out and helping Tom shovel from the last snow then walking between our three places and the downtown area staring at the rising water. When the water receded the sun made a short appearance and we took advantage of the brief nice weather to haul out all the junk and construction debris that had piled up. Around a ton according to Tom! My part was loading up the truck which was a pretty interesting task considering quite a few of the pieces were bigger than I am LOL I learned also that it takes a pretty hefty person to break wallboard into pieces and that person wouldn't be me. I have the bruises to prove it too! I swear we need to install cameras around the place for comic relief. Here I am, trying to break this sheet of wallboard that's like 10 foot by 4 foot and I've got it bent almost in half but the dang thing is fighting and bucking like a mule. I get the bright idea to climb on top of the thing and finally get it to snap in half and yep, I go crashing to the floor! I'm still limping a bit but the worst part is no one saw it to laugh over . . . or get pictures! I can't imagine my expression when I landed LOL
This week has also been a bit difficult. With Tom on a wall removing rampage we discovered the west bathroom still had the original bead board walls = ) Of course I wanted to save them and really, it's a good idea. It's all old wood and people would pay a fortune to be able to put it in their fancy homes. Tom wisely left me to the project and wandered off to tackle gutting the east bath while I researched lead paint removal. Scary stuff, huh? Luckily I found a great chemical stripper that is non-toxic and renders the lead into something safe. Here in a week or so I'll give ya a full report on the forum board for future reference. Those who have stripped paint chemically before will likely already be chuckling. Yeah, I'm dumb enough to attempt it on an entire room. Including the ceiling. Yeah, I'm regretting it but not really. It'll be worth it. And yeah again, Tom is kind of chuckling too and shaking his head. It goes something like this . . .
Saturday I mix up this huge bucket of goo, watery gray color and about the consistency of snot. It brushes on the walls pretty well but on Saturday it was also raining so while I'm smearing this stuff around it's also raining in the bathroom and dripping into three different buckets. Half way through the first wall the smell starts to become noticeable. This is one of those nice non-hazardous materials so the fumes aren't harmful and at the beginning only smell like rotten eggs. By wall two my throat was raw and even Tom was coughing in the other room LOL Still, I'm confident as the old paint is already beginning to bubble. I follow the directions and check the progress after five hours and then start removing it at 24 hours. Yeah. Right. You know that rubber stuff they use to glue gift cards and such onto paper with? The stuff you have to rub and pull forever to get off? Well, on Sunday I had four walls and a ceiling coated with stuff even stickier than that. No lie! I'm wearing rubber gloves and my hands are stuck to the paint scraper so tightly that the gloves tear when I try to release the scraper! LOL Nothing other than huge effort is moving that paint. I got about a third of one wall done before I was too tired to lift another arm and went home defeated to do some more research.
As it turns out we have a problem aka the situation isn't my fault = ) Some of you may remember when there was a compatibility issue between the oil based paints used years ago and latex paint when it first came out. The stripper I used works by breaking the bond between paint layers and since that compatibility issue caused no bond to form the stripper stopped working. It thought its job was done LOL The solution was to scrape off what I could and then apply a second coat. Luckily Tom's sister Julie had a few days off work and bad timing for offering to volunteer. She and I spent the past two days stripping in the bathroom together . . . hehehe Actually, we worked our fannies off but finally the first peeling is done, more or less. I also learned I should have blocked off the furnace duct as its constantly blowing heat on the ceiling caused the stripper to dry hard as a rock. Round two will come over the weekend when I try the second coat. I've got a picture of the stripping process so once the project is done you'll likely see it in a slide show LOL
The rest of this week will hopefully be a bit easier. Tom checked out the roof today and depending on the weather he may start repairs as early as next week. This Saturday, besides a benefit at the Whiskey Venue, we'll be taking a break from the renovations to check out floor and wall tile at the Home Depot in Bowling Green. That's seriously major excitement for me and I can't wait to get started putting things back together a bit. And it serves as a day off and a chance to unwind a bit together. Tom can actually see me clean and not reeking of sulfur for a change = ) Things are moving along well and getting more exciting although the arrival of spring begins a new dress code for the cauldron - umbrellas definitely needed LOL Beyond the three buckets in the only working bathroom there's a steady drip directly over the commode seat. The leak in the west kitchen is growing by leaps and bounds and tomorrow I'm looking for a kiddy wading pool to even try to cover the space. We've started the habit again of always checking the ceiling before entering a room given the state of things there and also water dripping into the downstairs break area. We're not a hard hat zone yet but if ya visit you'll need to be on your toes =)
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