Doing some serious sweating and not because of the heatwave.

The laundry room project is moving along like molasses in January. It has consumed my life. Not the laundry room specifically but the house renovation in general. I always thought I was handy but this has taken things to a whole different level. I was a "re-placer" I could replace anything that was pre-existing,  Like faucets, receptacles, switches and fixtures. But now I and the "originator" and it requires a pretty big learning curve. So here is my lesson in plumbing.

PLUMBING 101

The first thing I needed to do is get water from the basement up to the first floor. Lucky for me there is the internet. Thanks to YouTube I think I can do anything! So here is my first stab at sweating copper pipes.

1) You go out and but a handy dandy kit like this. It had a propane torch, solder, flux and ................

DIRECTIONS! See? 5 EASY STEPS TO SOLDER A COPPER FITTING! WOW!!!!

(Directions are merely somebody else's opinion on how to do the job)

2) You buy a shut off box like this and you mount it in your frame work. Still easy!

NOTE: GO SHUT THE MAIN OFF NOW BEFORE YOU GO ANY FURTHER!

3) Then you start putting it all together!!!

 4) A view from the basement. Here are the first 4 elbows I soldered. The joist you see is the one I caught momentarily on fire. On the left is the 10" sill joist that I was too lazy to drill through.

A nice long stretch....................................................................................................................

Going around another corner and down the wall.

Connecting in the main lines! I was feeling pretty good at this point!

Here is the drain and the water lines. Nice, huh?

Looky at my wire coat hanger used as a support. Classy.

Everything went pretty well except when I cut the lines they still had water in them. YOU CANNOT SOLDER COPPER WITH WATER IN THEM. So I used an old plumber trick- I got out as much water as I could and then I rolled up some white bread and shoved it down the lines. I am here to tell you that it really works! 

Then you go over to the main shut off.................close your eyes.........................hold your breath...............and turn on the water and pray like hell.

No leaks! Success! 

Putting the laundry room back together

Demo is just about done and I am starting to put laundry room put back together. It is an awesome feeling. I have to admit that I have had some apprehension because of my lack of knowledge along the way but that has not deterred me. Back when I was talking with the Gitter Done boys about renovation my house they were encouraging me to "just build a new house" I think I understand what they were talking about......NOW. So here is what has been happening in the last few weeks during our heat wave 2012:

New Sub Floor Where the Stairs Used To Be!

First of all I have to proclaim my love for Simpson Ties!!!!!!! I have used these to build my work bench that you can see HERE and putting in floor joists.  They are awesome, cheap and durable. A great combo.  You can see how I used them below.

Here is the floor joists and you can see the basement down below

Here is another angle. As you can see you walked down 2 steps to a landing and then went right to the outside. There was a door there but took it out and put in new foundation block and framed in the opening. You would go left to go to the basement but in this picture I have the steps removed. 

When putting in sub floor you got to put down some PL400! The stuff is da bomb! It eliminates squeaks and trust me, your sub floor will never come up. You will be laughing in your grave when the next people remodel your house. 

TA-DA!!!!! Subfloor is coming together!

Building a False Wall Because I am Lazy

On the north wall (which was original exterior wall of the porch that was enclosed)   there is a huge beam that runs the entire length of the house. It is something like 10"x10" and it is NOT what I want to be drilling through. I figured the electrical wouldn't be so bad but trying to drill a 2 1/2 drain would be another story. . Plus I didn't want to compromise the structure of the house.Then there is the issue of that being a planked wall and not studs So I decided to build a false wall to give me something to put the utilities in. I am not sure that this is the way a real contractor would do it but this is the way I seen as a solution to multiple problems.

Here is  a picture of the planked wall. It is an inch thick with that 10" beam directly below it. NOTICE: The wall on the left is a part of the oldest house. It is actually hand sawed I will try to get better pictures of this before I close it up. It is quite interesting. The newer house on the right is still hand sawed but it has a much smoother finish.

Here is the a picture of the false wall framed up in front of the former exterior planked wall. Please take note of the tape measure hanging from the top plate:

I was lining up the studs with the ceiling which has joists 16" on center. WOW! How easy is this going to be?    

Well I guess I should paid better attention because the ceiling joist's are ACTUAL 2x4's and I off some where and my last 4 studs were slanted. As you can see below. I am sure this falls under the "measure twice - cut once" rule. 

My mom was out visiting when I discovered the fiasco. Here is how that conversation went:

ME: Shit! These studs are off!!!

MOM: Oh just a little bit.(trying to be nice)

ME: A little bit? They are an inch off from the top to the bottom!!!!!

MOM: Well aren't you going to have drywall in front of the it? Nobody will be able to see it.And it is just a false wall and not a structural issue.

ME: Yeah, but I will know. (insert a lot of curse words here) How could I have messed up so (insert more curse words here) bad???  (((MORE CURSING))) I AM NOT REDOING THAT WALL!!! 

My mom left and I fixed the wall. After all......... I would know.

Here is my Great Pyrenees Merlin carving out a spot in the middle of the renovation. 

I REALLY HATE DEMO!!!

I have to apologize for the horrible pictures. I took them with my new fancy-schmancy cell phone and then I E-Mailed them to myself.  Well it is hard to make them bigger without pix-elating them. I never claimed to be a compute genius. 

So I decided early in this project that I was going to replace all of the 2-wire electrical with Romex that is actually grounded.  I guess that was an easy decision when all of the wire was BEHIND the walls and I couldn't see it but when I started tearing into stuff it became quite obvious that this was going to be a bigger challenge than I had first anticipated. This house had been rewired at some time and upgraded up from knob and tube. 

In order to do the laundry room I had to tear out the living room wall which was the point of origin that the wiring had come from. So her is what you get when you tear out:

1 layer of ceiling tile

1 layer of 1 by boards

1 layer of 3/8 drywall

1 layer of lathe and plaster.

Yes, you read that right, there was 4 layers of material. And a million pounds of dust! It was horrible! 

Then I did something that might now have been the best decision. I decided that we do NOT need a dumpster and we could bag it up and take it to my work and put it into two 2-yard dumpsters. What a dumbass move on my part. I am going to leave it at that. 

I had my buddy come out and run the electricity up to the new laundry room and I am finishing putting in the outlets and switches. I should be hanging drywall this weekend. There is a God. 

I had a little side project that I must show off!

The heat wave is starting to break here in the Midwest and I am still diligently working on the laundry room. Without being overly optimistic I think I actually have everything demo'ed out of that area and I am actually starting to put  things back together. I did do a small side project that I forgot to share!!!  


I do live in a farm house THAT HAS NO FRONT PORCH....... yet! But I am mildly obsessed with porch swings. Well.....more that mildly obsessed. But what is a girl to do who wants a porch swing that has no porch??? First you find this gem on Craigslist:

Crappy pic I know! This was one of those glider thingy's. The kind of one that had a frame that it sat in. So when I called the nice lady that lived in a less than desirable neighborhood about her swing (wood seat), she said that she would take $15.00 dollars for it. WHAT?? I WILL BE RIGHT THERE!! 


Normally I L-O-V-E me some Craigslist! Love, Love, Love Craigslist!!! But I hate when you pull up to a house and wonder if this is your last day on earth.  Yes Craigslist can take you to creepy places.


I get there and buy the swing seat thingy and tell the nice lady in the bad end of town that I am leaving all the frame that is suppose to go with it. She didn't seem to mind but she wanted to know what I was going to do with the seat without the glider. So I explained to her, while watching for random gunfire, that I was going to paint it and hang it up. She just stared at me and said, "To each there own." Snagged the money and went back in the house. The whole thing was very strange.

So here is my swing that Big L and his buddy Cody hung up for me in a walnut tree on the other side of the driveway. I sit here all the time. It faces across the road where there is no work to be done. It is shady. It is comfy. I love it






The break down in cost is: Swing $15.00 Paint $10.00, Chains rated at 800 pounds $60.00. Watching Big L and Cody climb 20 feet up in the tree to place the chains..............PRICELESS!

~~~~~Heat Wave~~~~~~ and back to home improvement.

I live in the Midwest. I have lived here most of my life with the exception of a couple of rebellious years of living in California straight out of high school. I live in the same town that my parents lived when I was born and I am the 5th generation to this town so I guess I can say that I am a true "Midwesterner"

If you are not from here, well let me tell you that we are in the middle of a heat wave and a drought. It is hot...it is dry.......it is unbearable at best. But Midwesterners are stoic. Nobody complains. You go somewhere and you hear, "Sure is hot out there" or "Is it hot enough for you?" and when you leave there is the obligatory, "Stay cool"

I try to be stoic and I think I do a pretty good job for the most part but I haven't been doing much home improvement because all I have been doing is demo and no improvement, I know you got to do demo to be able to put stuff back together, but I am sick of it. I feel like if I was going to blog I would just end up bitching about more demo so I  decided that I wasn't going to write anything until I had something positive to say.

Then the heat wave happened. A perfect excuse to not do anything outside on the farm. I decided I was going to work 1 hour a day on my project and I was NOT going to start anything else until I get the laundry room done. Magically things are actually getting done this way! Seriously. I start working on it after work and I tell myself that I just need to tear stuff apart for 1 hour. Well I am actually starting to put stuff back together and I should be hanging sheetrock this weekend. Hallelujah!

I might mention that I picked one of the hardest rooms to do first. I tore out and rebuilt an exterior wall, (never  framed before), I put in new windows (never done that before), Laid blocks for a foundation (never done that before) Put in new floor joists (Never done that before), Installed subfloor (Do I really need to say it?) I haven't even covered electrical or plumbing yet.

So I am I think I had a pretty big learning curve but thank God I rarely stop and think before I do anything or else I would haven't accomplished half of everything I have done with in my life.

Show Me The Money!

I have been kind of quiet here. That doesn't mean that I haven't been doing anything. I have but just not a lot in the home improvement arena.
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I am in the middle of my goat kidding season here and there are many sleepless nights waiting for the little babies to arrive. I just love my goats and I wouldn't change a thing.

We had the most amazing winter with hardly no winter at all but with that and an early, warm, dry spring we started mowing grass in March. Yes, March. A job that usually doesn't need to be done until late May or early June around here. And when you are mowing  around two acres it is a big job.

Now a for a little on the home improvement front. Do you remember I got a "FREE" hot tub?? When you get a  "FREE" hot tub there is a certain amount of prep work to get ready for it. Like hook up 240 electricity, which I had a buddy help me with, and build a patio, which I did myself with the help of Big L.

Here is how you see articles in DIY magazines about patios:

Build A Patio! A fun and easy weekend project!


Here is what it should say:

Build A Patio! It is the most God awful DIY project you will ever do! It is back breaking! It is finger smashing! It is knee scraping! IT SUCKS!!!


I am going out on a limb and I am going to say that is worse than demo. Holy crap it was hard! But I did get it done! (Further proof that that there is a God)  I love the way the patio looked when I was done. I loved it so much I wanted to build a bigger patio...............and maybe a pergola........and some lighting!!!!!!! But there is a problem. I am out of money. It is not like they are going to shut off my lights or anything but I don't have any "extra" cash laying around because my real job is seasonal and we are just getting back to work.

I haven't been doing very good on keep a running total of money  I have spent on  my blog for this project but here are a few checks that I have wrote lately:

Gitter Done: Moving the staircase and putting in headers for load bearing walls- $2150.00


The water softener place- Fixing the water softener and putting in 2 new hydrants. $2800.00


Windows from Menards: For my bedroom that I haven't got put in yet. $446.00


Prepping for the hot tub: Patio and electrical $550.00


Repairs on hot tub: (The guy I got it from said it needed $1500.00 in repairs I am at $715.00 so far and I still need a top which is going to cost around $500.00)


Just the stuff I listed above the grand total is $6111.00! Crap! No wonder I am broke! That is ALOT of money my friends. So I have decided to only do stuff that won't cost me anything (because I have the material already) or things that are under a hundred dollars.

I am thinking this will force me to finish up a lot up the projects that I have started but are not done. Like the following:

1) Laundry Room- Need I see more?

2) Clean gutters and bury the downspouts to help keep water out of the basement.

3) Fix the barn door.

4) Put in my bedroom windows that are sitting the garage, waiting to get broken.

I think that is enough loose ends for now.

How to build a patio. (Instead of the laundry room)

Last week I was actually up past 9pm. Now I know that for most people that is not a huge feat but for me it nothing short of a small miracle. Since I couldn't sleep I thought I would look at facebook on my phone. As I scrolled down, here is what a friend posted:

"I have a free hot tub for whoever wants it. Just come and get it. Paid $9000 for it in 2005. Needs about $1,500 in some repairs but works just needs some parts replaced. No time for it anymore. Kids are growing up and I travel and it's taking up deck space. I will help u load it. 6 person, 600 gal."

WHAT?!?!?!?! A FREE HOT TUB???????? HOLY SHIT!!!!!! 

How fast can you type, "I will take it"?????? I messaged him............... He messaged back............... I went to look at it........... I said I will take it.............. and that is how I got a free hot tub!!!!!!!!! 

We agreed to meet on Sunday but when I called Bic he said his boys weren't home and then we agreed to meet Monday instead, which turned out to be a good idea because as it turns out it takes 1 adult male, 4 big teenage boys, and 3 girls to move a huge hot tub. 

I have to show you a few pictures of Bic and Diane's gorgeous Victorian home. This house was moved here from another location and it is breath taking. If you think that the outside is beautiful then you would fall in love with the inside. (I didn't have enough guts to ask to take interior pics.)  I love the double porches and on the front (and the back). And check out the gingerbread detail on those porches! What is there to not love about this.

My daughter is going to "dog sit" for them while they are on vacation. I am so jealous that she gets to stay here for a week. They are paying her! Crap, I would have paid them to stay there and keep those puppies company! 

Bic and Diane's Victorian- Front View

Side view

Porch Detail

Here is the hot tub on the trailer awaiting its new home!

Here is were I was planning on putting the new hot tub. It would fit perfectly between the two dilapidated stairs. Yes that is a female peacock in the picture.

Making progress! This is how you get stuff done on the farm! Bring in your friend John Deere! I worked on this a couple of hours and was pretty happy with the results.

Here is the what it looked like at the end of the day.Yep, that is a male peacock there now....and the random farm cat that has to be in every outside picture.

One of the things that we did have to do before we finished the laundry room was take out a fenced in part of our yard and move it (and the dogs) elsewhere because we I have to take an exterior door out. and put up siding over the OSB/TYVEK patch on the house. So while I was working on the area where the hot tub was going, Big L was working on taking out the existing fencing. That area looked so good when he was done, I decided (after working on the other spot all after noon) the I want the hot tub over there! Yeah I know. Dumb, huh? But Big L and I decided that this would be a really cool place for and big patio area. So guess that is our next project. I will be praying to Little Baby Jesus for the sanity to finish this house and in the meantime I will be thanking him for this beautiful sunset looking off the back of our, ever so crappy, deck.