This Girl’s House

Desperate to get out of the house after 2 weeks of being snow bound, I headed off to the mall for some after Christmas shopping sales.  It wasn’t quite the madhouse that was advertised, but it was crowded.  I headed to JC Penney’s, an ad placed in my mailbox indicated a linen sale.  We needed new towels for the both bathrooms.  Stevie was tired of using the rags that I had collected over the years (I think I last purchased a set of towels 2 decades before), and I was ready for a fresh statement that not even new paint can convey in a bathroom.  Paint a bathroom, great.  Plush towels are even better.  I figured that with the 50% off sale, plus $15 dollar off coupon, we could afford to get some pretty neat towels. 

 

I paid $12 a piece for the Chris Madden towel collection (regular $24.99), a gorgeous Artic Blue (a combination of dark blue/dark gray), the 58″ length.  I bought 6 towels and 6 washcloths for the master bedroom. 

I also purchased another Chris Madden towel collection in a sage color for the guest bedroom.  Not the hotel special but still a nice weight and feel to it. 

All totaled, I purchased 2 towel collections for $175.  I had never spent that much for towels, but they make a nice addition to the bathrooms.  After I finished my shopping at the mall, I stopped by Target and picked up for 4 towels in a dark navy blue for $2.99 a piece. 

Now you might ask why I didn’t buy all of my towels at Target.  First, even though these towels were still a great find, they were not the quality and weight of the Chris Madden towel collection.  In this case, you get what you paid for.  For one thing, they were thinner.  Also, in the washing machine, these towels had a tendency to bleed and pill.  They won’t last long, and after a single washing, they’re not the dark dark blue that they once were.  I was only using these towels to lay on the floor when we get out of the tub or the shower.  I was no longer interested in having rugs for the bathroom floor.  I had found that keeping bathroom rugs was not sanitary, and the cats and dogs just used them as play toys.

 Now if I only I could decide on the perfect towel rack.  Towel racks didn’t come with the home that I had built.  Neither did toilet roll holders.  I’m not sure what to get for both bathrooms.  I’m thinking that I would like the hotel type of towel rack that usually juts over the toilet filled with plush towels and other supplies but I’m still thinking about the possiblities.

I started staining the kitchen island cabinets.  Well, I’m starting on a door.  I picked up a can of Old Masters Penetrating Stain in a Rich Mahogony color.  So far, the color has gone on very deep and smooth. 

The last appliance we purchased for the kitchen was a stainless steel microwave hood.  The microwave had gone out (it had lasted more than 14 years), and the range ho od was white and didn’t match the other stainless steel appliances we had recentlybought for the kitchen e.g., the refrigerator, stove and dishwasher.  We purchased a Kenmore Stainless Steel 30″ MicroHood for $350 from Sears.  Here’s the review that wrote about the product and published on the Kenmore web site.

“I love how this microwave/hood works. The microwave is powerful. The range hood is has powerful suction. It’s a great looking piece to the kitchen.

My only complaint with the micro/hood is the lighting. It’s very dim as an another reviewer indicated. I’m going to have to add above cabinet lightening over the stove to compensate. In addition, it’s absolute impossible to read the writing on the microwave panel in such a low lighting situation. The lettering on the panel is a mid gray color against a darker gray. There is not enough contrast to read the panel without additional lighting.

I have pressed the wrong keys in the past, which could be dangerous. I’m thinking of having some symbols printed in a higher contrast medium that I might paste or tape over the pad, or perhaps adding additional lighting over the cabinet with a focused beam on the panel might help to. My partner has the same problem with this feature of the microwave.”

I read somewhere that the hottest trends in homes todays is not renovating the kitchen, it’s cooking in the kitchen, and I had to laugh about that.  Cooking is not one of my strengths.  Even though I work from home, and live quite a bit aways from the nearest town, that has not stopped us from “eating out.”  But with economic conditions, the way they are and it is healthier to cook your own food, it seems a skill that is best learned sooner rather than later.  This year, I have updated all of my appliances.  I like the the large skillet area on the kenmore … there’s room for a canner on the stove.  But what I’ve really been getting into is the garden.  I have 6 raised beds that I’ve been working on.  The lettuce has largely worked out well but I’ll need at least two and maybe 3 beds of lettuce to feed both me and stevie.  I also started planting seeds under washed out 2 liter diet sprite bottles.  Even in the cold and wet weather of washington, the seedlings stay nice and warm.  And they’re growing.  I’m not sure how this technique will work out, but I’ll keep you informed.  I read a really nice article in the new york times about food preservation.  Here’s more information about food preservation …  Portland Preserve

We ran out of composite deck boards about 8 short.  Oh well, most of the deck is done.  Not counting railing of course.  We need the railing to get approved.  For now I enjoy sitting on the deck without the railing.

We ordered the Marquis fair special.  I hear they sold almost 40 of them.  It’s a 3 and half man hot tub, 110/220, with the light show.  The day it arrived, Steve spent all day filling it with hot water from the hot water tank and heating water on the stove.  It was raining that night, when we slipped into it, but boy did it feel good.  The next night it was even colder but the stars were out.  They say that most hot tubs get used more the first 90 days of ownership.  I can’t figure that out, because I’ve always been a tub person.  I think we’ll get years of enjoyment on this one, and maybe upgrade to a better model a few years down the road.  This has great jets, but if I had my wish, I’d prefer the “top of the line” jets.  Stevie thinks we’ll need a system with two pumps.

Well, after work we installed the windows.  There were 5 windows in total, 4 by 4 and it took us 1 1/2 hours to staple tyrex around the windows, carry the windows over, level them with shims, and nail them in.   Of course, I didn’t do all the nails.  We didn’t have enough time, but we put enough in that they’ll stay there and I finish that job off tomorrow.  Sometimes a renovation project is just an hour here, two hours there.  You do it when you can.  Cost of the windows for the garage, $750.  Because this is Stevie’s garage, we’re going to install welded bars inside those windows with locks to prevent break-ins.  Anyway, we went into the house right before dark.

We did a lot of work on the deck this weekend.  I finally broke down and purchase the decking materials.  It was twice as much as I expected because prices had gone up and we needed more than I figured on.  Did I say I was going to be broke, broke, broke? :-)  However, I’m beginning to believe that I will be sitting in my hot tub, on the deck, this weekend.

Of course, we’re just laying out the strips and figuring out the spacing right now.  We had 180 joist hangers to nail up and that’s the time consuming part.  Here’s a picture of one.

Each one takes 10 nails.  Steve can do one about every 5 minutes.  It takes me about 8 minutes and you have to pound away in awkward positions.  Man, my back and legs were hurting yesterday. 

I have always wanted a kitchen island.  A nice spacious kitchen island.  We couldn’t afford to have a total kitchen remodel done, but I still wanted the functionality.  We purchased the kitchen island granite at an auction 6 months ago.  It went for $150.  Absolute black.  It is 6 foot long and 37 inches wide.

We found a kitchen island carcass that someone was selling on craig’s list 6 months ago.  We purchased that for $75 dollars.  It’s a little beatup and needed cleaning, but nothing that a little elbow grease won’t fix.  I finally got  into the kitchen yesterday.  Still have to affix it to the floor, refinish it (have started on one door), and we need to wait to do all that before we put the granite ontop, but until that time, we threw on top of it, a luan hollow door we picked up at home depot for 5 bucks.  I wanted to get an idea of placement, where we would end up putting the kitchen island in the kitchen, how we would center it, how much room we would have around it, how it would work for me when doing kitchen prep, etc.  I really need try something out before I buy it, if at all possible.  Anyway, here’s what the test looks like.

Not bad for $80 bucks and some elbow grease.  We’re going to wire it on both sides.  I already applied for that electrical permit.  Like I said, I took that door off to see how well it’s going to work to strip off the varnish and restain it.  This is not as easy as it is often talked about on the do it yourself magazines.  It took me a day to strip off the varnish off both sides of the door (this is a small door), and I still need to do sanding.  It comes off like wax, and I’m using a product called Klean Kutter Refinisher.  We plan to refinish the cabinets all throughout the kitchen and I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to do that.  I think it’s one thing to repaint, and it’s another to restain.  We will see.  I also think we’re not going to have room for that kitchen table on the side.  It’s just a clutter holder anyway.  I’m thinking about putting windowseats in that area.  It’s a narrow bumpout, not really a breakfast nook and things on it, obstruct our view of the lake.

Here’s a breakdown of pictures, lessons learned, and what we spent on the garage floor.  We decided on 6 inch floor, 1156 square feet, with fiberglass mix in the concrete.  We could have gotten by with 4 inches, but we wanted the extra strength on the floor.  We also decided to add 6 mil plastic underneath the concrete to do what we could to prevent moisture from coming up through the concrete, but this also increased the amount of drying time because the water in the concrete mix had no where to go so we had to wait a couple of days for it evaporate, and we hadn’t planned on that extra time.  We also laid down rebar.

We used 22 yards of concrete from Bomac, at $94 a yard which included the fiber.  We also needed the pump truck for most of the day, and that ran at $400.  Here’s how the costs broke down:

• $2450 for concrete
• $400 for concrete pump 
• $450 for rebar and plastic
• $1000 for knowledge and labor
• $180 to rent the concrete power troweller
•  $120 to rent the concrete diamond saw to cut the expansion joints after it dried
• $50 for propane to help heat the area to speed drying

Total costs for the concrete floor was $4460 which was bargain considering the size of the floor.

Here the guys are waiting for the concrete truck to arrive.  It was late.  Should have been here 15 minutes ago.

Concrete is being poured.

Concrete pour under the door opening.

Waiting for the second truck to arrive.  With 22 yards of concrete, we needed 2 trucks.

Strong Arm Pumping pushing the concrete through the pump truck. 

The guys taking a break.  I made 3 dozen scrambled eggs, 2 pounds of sausage and 3 pounds of bacon, 2 loaves of bread and 4 gallons of coffee for breakfast.  We had 8 helps, thank you very much.  This is not a job for just the home owner on the weekend.  The more the help the merrier.  It is hard work.

Waiting for the floor to dry.  This was a long wait.  We had 2 propane blowing heaters going at the same time.

Tada!  The concrete floor.

I just bought 3 7 foot cabinets, 18″ wide, to replace what we took out when we removed the pantry.    They’re not the quality I was hoping for, but then what do you expect for $250 a cabinet.  That said, there is a lot that I can do to make then indistinguishable from the cabinets that are in my kitchen now, and I might even be able to improve the look.  They add an incredible amount of functionality.  They only came with 2 shelves each, and I figured that I could use 3 more per cabinet, so I purchased 3 sheets of laminate plywood, close to the same width, and Home Depot cut them down to size for me, so I came away with 9 shelves for 50 bucks. 

 

Here’s a really great article about the quality of cabinets, these days. 

Melamine Carcasses

Installing Cabinets

Installing Kitchen Cabinets or Flooring First

Steve didn’t get to sleep until 3 this morning.  It’s set but not quite dry.  I can’t quite talk about the experience yet.  I’m too exhausted.  There is mud and dirt everywhere.  I decided to start by cleaning the kitchen, and work my way from there, since I have 3 day weekend.  I found a really good article about kitchen cleaning at Cleaning up the Kitchen’s for the Holidays.  Of course, this doesn’t quite describe the degree of work that I’ve got to do.  The doors were left open almost all day yesterday.  I have no screens so there is the problem of the flies, and suddenly I realize that there is significant grease built up on the kitchen cabinest, and that over the cabinets is a bad place to put knick knacks, at least not if you cook to any degree.  Yuck.

It’s well into fall, and the way it’s been raining lately, it feels real close to winter.  We’re doing the concrete floor pour this weekend, and it’s been a muddy mess.  Steve skimmed off a top layer of gravel and dirt in the garage, to get it ready for the pour.  It took a day and a half.  We are doing a 6 inch floor.  With the kind of vehicle traffic that Stevie likes to work on, I want a solid garage floor.  We’re planning on pouring 22 yards of concrete plus a cleanup.  For those who are unfamiliar with that term (like me), it means that concrete firm will have ready another load of concrete ready for you, regardless of how much or how little you need, and won’t charge you more than the $35 delivery fee.  Which is great, because we’re also planning on pouring the concrete forms for the deck.  Believe it or not, that project is still on schedule.  The concrete forms are all built, and Steve plans to dig the holes for those forms tonight.  I can’t believe we’re doing everything we’re doing.  I’m going to be broke, broke, broke.  Plus, I need to send an e-mail to my home insurance rep today.  I want to make sure that the garage is covered, after all we’ve been through.

The shingles went up this weekend. Steve devised this ingenious device to raise the 70 pound shingle packages to the roof.

To cover the roof, we had purchased around 80 of them.

It took about half hour to get them all up there and saved a load on every one’s back.

More pictures of the garage which has been fully enclosed except for the windows and garage doors.

I scaled the heights today.  Steve need help securing the facia board to the roof, and there was literally no one who dropped by and was willing to climb a ladder.  So it was up to me.

I climbed the ladder up to the peak of the roof and froze 8 feet from my destination.  I could not do it.  I just couldn’t.

So Stevie told me to try the scaffolding.  I climbed 15 feet of scaffolding, like a monkey really, and then stepped onto the roof.  Of course, I navigated the roof on my butt most of the time, and when it came time to lean over and hold the fascia, I closed my eyes, but I did it.

There’s no doubt that it takes a certain someone to work heights.  And I’ve always had to pinch myself when I cross the Narrows bridge.  But there was a time when I worked the roofs of my home.  Of course, I was naive.  I tied myself off and then climbed the ladder not realizing that if I ever fell off the roof, I would end up with a broken back.  But having that rope as a mental “safety line”, gave me confidence.  This time, on a much taller roofline, and with 5 more years under my belt, I’m a lot more hesitant.  Still, we got the job done.

I’m at the point where I’m ready to purchase a dishwasher and stove.  Stainless steel, but I’m not looking for the same brand as our refrigerator.  GE Profiles are nice, but spendy.  And anyway, I have some specific features that I’m looking for. 

 Like quiet in a dishwasher.  Some say they have a quiet package, but don’t post the decibel level.  Our current dishwasher, a find for $50 when I was broke after building my house.  But when you turn it on, it sounds like you’re sitting in a plane on the runway, ready to take off.  Not really noticeable if you leave the kitchen immediately and have no plans to use the greatroom.  However since Stevie moved in, we prefer some quiet after dinner conversation or enjoy watching the news.  I usally end up not using the dishwasher.  I plan to look at the Amana ADB1500AWS which is running for about $450 for the stainless steel package.

We purchased the Amana dishwasher and the Kenmore elite range with 12/9/6″ radiant element, warming element and warming drawer.  It has also has the largest oven in it’s line.  They should be delivered next Sunday.  The only issue now outstanding is the range hood/microwave.

Well, partially.  But the things we have to fix are so minute, basically adding some more nails, that we can keep going and add the siding, the shingles, the gutters, and the windows and call back only when we’re ready for the final.

Here is an update on the garage.  A lot went on between the stem walls and the frame, and these are not even the most recent pictures, but I thought I would give you guys an update.  I’ll post further details at a later date, when we can take a breather.  Scheduled for inspection tomorrow.  Cross your fingers for us.

A view further away, from my future garden spot.

 My new raised beds.

We’ve been putting up the garage walls this weekend.  It’s been exciting, and interesting and scary.  Each wall goes up in two interlocking pieces, one piece at a time.  We’re using 5 people to lift each section, and these sections are really heavy, and really big, awkward to lift because the walls are 14 feet high.  Had I known that lifting such high walls would be so difficult, there is no way that I would have signed onto walls that high.  I mean, I like the size of the walls, but it’s just a job to get them up there.  What would have been worse is trying to lift the walls up on an even higher concrete wall.  Well Steve thinks we will get through this part of the job, this weekend.  I’ll be glad of that, but face the next task with some unease.  The next job is to put the trusses up.  Each time I hear the words, “this is the easy part, the next part is harder”, and each time I believe it.  I’ve stopped believing it.

I just watched this great video on how to deadhead flowers.  Maybe everyone knows how to do this but me.  You can find it at http://video.about.com/gardening/deadheading-flowers.htm. 

I know that most people might think I’m crazy to start a kitchen renovation, when we haven’t finished building the garage, but there it is.  The kitchen redesign and renovation is largely my project, and it won’t get done with me just thinking about it.  So I decided to apply for my electrical permit.  I don’t need a renovation permit from the county, but I do need a permit to move electrical outlets.  To add or change 8 electrical circuits, cost $66, and the electrical permit is good for a year.  Here’s hoping I finish in time.

Washington State Home Electrical Inspections