Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

It's a question that I've been asked frequently, especially dealing with the re-roofing project. Well, I guess I'd like to think that I've done my homework. I read in a Lowe's book that Allyson and I bought a while back. And of course, I utilize the internet. I guess I'm giving away my secrets instead of seeming all-knowing (which is obviously not anywhere close to truth), but maybe my references will help others out there.

Here's an example : How to Install a Ridge Vent

There are a ton more here --> www.easy2diy.com

Roscoe and Fritz came up on Saturday. We tackled some tasks in the attic. I didn't realize that I'd want to do so much prep-work in the attic before putting in the insulation. There's lingering shingle pieces and insulation remnants that have been picked up. More importantly, there are electrical boxes to cover up - Thanks Tim for the tips. There was ducting to complete (see earlier post for those details).

In relation to the bathroom ventilation - Roscoe, Fritz and I spent some serious time in the attic (I know, what's new) trying to figure out why one of the exhaust vents wasn't working ? It took some time, but ended up being a simples solution. In my attempt to tighly and thoroughly connect the 5' pipe to the exhaust fan housing, I taped over the pin that lets a flap open an close when the fan is turned on and off. So basically, I taped the flap's axle so that it wouldn't open. Once we figured that out. The air blew quite nicely. But this brings us to our next problem. How long before the fans go bad ? Off to Home Depot - learned that bathroom exhaust fans range from $13 per fan to $113 per fan. It mostly depends on quiteness and volume moved per minute. We picked up 2 $13 units (hey - they fit the room size, the noise wasn't bad, and they fit the budget, too. Ross and Fritz stayed and helped install the 1st fan and it worked wonderfully.

Well, there's more to do and more to say, but I've got some work to do at work. What a bummer !

(I promise I'll take some pictures tonight so ya'll can see what I'm stammering about. :)

Week of:
Oct 1st - 3 hrs
Oct 8th - 37 hrs
Oct 15th - 23.5 hrs
Oct 22nd - 19.5 hrs (thus far)

Grand Total - 83 hrs

So close :)

Got the final 6 or so rows completed and installed the ridge vent pieces. All that's left is the flashing around the chimney and the ridge cap shingles (which I still need to purchase.

The irony and the satisfaction - It started raining as soon as I had finished. I can now sleep at night, not worrying about rain leaking into the attic. :)

Pictures

This weekend - Roscoe, Fritz and Dad are coming up to lend a hand. Unfortunately, it won't be glorious work as here is the to-do list :

Blow insulation into attic
Pick up shingles, nails, old insulation and plywood from the yard and put into dumpster
Paint Bedrooms and Hallways
Remove Cabinets
Sand Cabinets
Paint Cabinets
Remove Drywall behind cabinets and replace

Oooh boy, lots of fun !

Started working @ 4:15 PM yesterday after work and finished up around 9:45. I only have 6 rows of shingles left to do. Part of the reason I stopped there was because I need to cut holes for additional bathroom ventilation and also because it was 9:45 and I didn't want to upset our new neighbors with the nail gun noise.

Today - I'll take some pictures so everyone can see what I'm describing. I also plan on finishing the remaining rows and getting the vents installed and a good portion of the ridge vent taken care of.

That's all for now :)

Went straight from work over to the house. FYI - being 6'5" does not simplify moving around in an attic. Things are tight and I'm clostraphobic. In any case, I cleaned up some debris that was left over from the re-roofing. I then started working on the bathroom exhaust fans. They were not set up to vent out of the attic, so I had already bought ventilation pipe and so movable 90 degree elbows. It took some time to get them connected and lined up, but they are now ready for the holes to be cut in the roof with the exhaust hoods. Funny, now that I've got them all connected, I wonder if I should have replaced the fan assemblies as well. Ah well.

Also today, our appliances were delivered ! A couple things need to be done yet to get them up and running, but they sure look sharp !

The plan for tomorrow - Get as much shingling done as possible ! (Unfortunately, this requires hauling bundles up to the 2nd story :(

Wow. Don't ever remember being this sore. Worked from 7 AM to 9 PM on Saturday. The boys outside accomplished : Removed all shingles, insulation and plywood from the area above the bedrooms. Unfortunately, in the name of speed, the debris all went wherever was easiest, which was straight down. What that means is long clean up and picking up of all the shingles, nails, plywood and insulation. We then started laying down the ice guard, drip edge and tar paper. We finished up laying the tar paper @ about 9 o'clock. 13 hours of fun!
What the girls accomplished inside : Priming of dining room, kitchen, downstairs hallway, upstairs hallway, and the four bedrooms (one of which needed to be taped beforehand. Also, both the 1/2 bath and main bath upstairs got sanded. The ladies also prepared the food and got everything ready to eat for the boys. Thanks to them.

The weather was absolutely perfect. It was partly cloudy and a wonderful temperature. Even after the sun had set, it still felt fairly warm !

After the work, Chipotle followed. Boy was it good. I think it only took 5 minutes following the food to be ready to hibernate for a long time. To bad we had to wake up at 6:30 Sunday to go shingle before the rains came.

Sunday -

Girls - Primed the 1/2 bath and the main bathroom. Painted (1st coat) Dining room and kitchen.

Boys - Shingled the front half of the upstairs during the intermittent rain. Carried 8 more bundles up to the top for later usage. The plan is to work on it this week and finish on the weekend.

Also what needs to get done this week - blow insulation into the attic since it was all removed during installation of the new plywood. I need to get the bathroom duct work secured for proper ventilation.

I took some pictures, but the camera is still over at the house, so I'll have to get those uploaded at a later time.

Woke up 36 minutes ago and the crew is ready to rock. Spent all yesterday evening picking up 60 bales of celluose insulation and some more stuff from Phil (ladders, staple gun, etc.)

Laura, Ron, Kevin, Blake, Allyson and I are going to the work crew today. Thankfully the weather is supposed to cooperate - 58 and sunny. Hopefully it stays for what has been forecasted.

Got to go roof now !!!

Started off pretty good.

Somehow - I don't know how - I got upgraded to First Class for my trip out. Now that is travelling in style. Large leather seats, hors d' voures, soda in a glass glass. I felt like a king !

Once we arrived (I'm travelling with 2 co-workers), we picked up our rental car - Toyota Avalon. Plush. One of my co-workers loves to drive, so I have yet to get behind the wheel at all since I've been out here. I get picked up from my hotel in the morning and I read the paper on the way to work. It really is somewhat funny when I think about it, and I'm not trying to rub it in. It's just cool !

The dining out here has been excellent as well. We ate at a legitimate Italian restaurant on Monday night and I had a veal dish with a glass of wine, with bruschetta as an appetizer. YUM. Last night we went to an authentic Greek Restaurant - "Jake and Telly's" where I had the braised lamb - I beleive it was "Lamb Giovetsi" if I recall. It was over pasta that looked like rice (believe it's called ozzou..something like that) followed by a glass of red wine from Greece. The Lamb was simmered for 5 hours and fell off the bone. EXCELLENT.

Finally the room - King bed. However, this isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'd rather have less room and be at home with my bed hog ;)

PS - I was able to get the pictures up to the site about the house. They aren't very exciting - Click here ---> Pictures

Can you hear the song in your head ?

I'm sure Dad and Allyson can ! Dad came up on Friday afternoon and we headed over to the house to work on some various tasks. I had a hockey game on Friday, so our work night was cut a bit short, but we needed to get some stuff from Home Depot anyway so it worked out OK.

As far as the hockey game goes. I scored the game winning goal on a deflection of a centering pass that was about waist-high. Probably the best goal I've ever scored !

Anyway, back to the house stuff. Saturday we slept in a bit - as I needed to catch up on some rest ...Mom :). We started working about 11 AM after I returned from Home Depot with: Dust Masks, Drywall sanding blocks, sandpaper, Plumbing T's and couplers, roof flashing, 7 gallons of oil-based primer, roofing tar caulk, and washer hookup hoses. The rest of the day consisted of :

Sanding, Sanding, Sanding, some more Sanding followed by some Sanding. Dad finished installing our new locks in the front door and the garage side door. He then cut up a ton of removed tree branches and stacked the wood out at the back of our property line. He worked on that until sundown! Allyson wasn't feeling so hot, and I didn't want her to hang around to only get more sick, so I encouraged her to head home, lay down and get some healing rest. Unfortunately, she's still feeling under the weather :(

Dad resumed her position, in assisting w/ the sanding and we worked on that until all rooms that we mudded were finished. The rooms that we've been working on are :

Dining Room, Kitchen, Downstairs and Upstairs Hallways, All 4 Bedrooms. The family room need some additional care that might require some help of volleyball friends who paint for a living. We haven't tackled the bathrooms yet either : 1 we are leaving, the other two need to be done.

After the sanding was all done, Dad took the upstairs and I took the downstairs - We shop vac'ed all of the dust up that came from the sanding. After that I went by and wiped all the walls down with a damp wash mitt (better buy a new one before I forget and try and use it on the Jetta). Dad then started removing faceplates on the outlets and switches and began taping. We stopped taping around 1:30 AM and called it a day.

Sunday - Allyson was still feeling cruddy :( so Dad and I went over to the house and started taping to try and finish up before I had to leave to go to the airport. We still have just over a room to tape, so we're almost finished there. I tried to remove a couple tiles on the wall in the kitchen and found out, that in order to get rid of the tiles on the wall = replacement of all drywall = removing of hanging cabinets = more fun !

We then cleaned up the place a bit, Dad packed up the majority of the tools and we were gone.

I'm now in Colorado, and even though I wish I was home (to take care of Allyson) and work on the house, I think my body will appreciate the break before Roofing Weekend #1 begins on Friday. :D

I'll try and upload the few images that I took (see I'm already slacking) but I don't know if I can do it from work.

Click Here for --> Pictures

Oh, also forgot to say that Dad installed a new mailbox. It's funny how things like that make you proud. Putting up a mailbox with an address on it, knowing that it's ours :)

Bye for now !

Updates in pictures :

++++++++++ Pictures ++++++++++

First load moved into the house (well garage) was 3 sets of tires. Also, 3 bent rims.

Next load - Home Depot loot.

After getting the stuff from the Depot, I then proceeded to scrape the entire family room as the paint came off SUPER easy. This took about 5 hours. Ended up finishing around 4 AM. That was Wednesday.

Thursday - woke up around 10:15, and headed over to the house to make sure that I was there before the Home Depot delivery truck arrived. While waiting, I cleaned out the front gutters, because when I was there on Wed. night, it was basically one BIG waterfall from garage door to the end of the porch. It was a fairly cold day, and I was wishing that I had brought my stocking hat. I then poured out 5 gallons of H20 into the newly cleaned gutter, and it all went down successfully through the downspout into the drain. :)

The next thing on my list was to tackle that pesky shingle issue over the dining room. However, I felt fortunate that I found some left over shingles in the attic, from when they had done the re-roofing previously. Got up there and checked out the situation. It looked as if a 14x14 hole was cut in the plywood for something, but it was never used. In any case, it had been repaired haphazardly and was now causing water to pool on the roof surface and case some water marks and peeling in the dining room. So, I re-supported the fix, and raised the low spots in the shingles with the ones that I had found in the attic. The colors don't match, but it's only a temp. fix.

I then did some more tree trimming before Allyson showed up with Pizza for dinner. Ended up that Home Depot never did show. I called in and they said that they probably tried to deliver it to our apartment by mistake. Hopefully, we'll get a refund for the shipping charges.

The night was finished of by applying joint compound to all the cracks, holes and indentations in the walls of the dining room, kitchen, and front hallway.

In other news : received my cell phone bill...eeek...$323 !! That's what happens when you're in Colorado for 2 weeks and calling Cleveland about 300 times a day. (I just file that 300 bucks under home purchase costs ;) )

Tomorrow (or today rather), Dad is coming up to do anything that needs to be done. I think when he gets here, I'll ask him why he hasn't done the following tasks:

1. Mow the lawn
2. Make Popcorn
3. Eat the Popcorn
4. Put together a puzzle
5. Re-roofed the entire house
6. Planted a garden

We're planning on doing more spackling, installing the locks, cleaning and all kinds of other fun little things.

That's all for now !

Home improvement Plans :

This week and weekend (Oct. 14 & 15)
Fill in holes w/ putty (Oct 11)
Trim more tree branches (Oct 11)
Sand putty (Oct 12)
Fix Shingles above Dining Room (Oct 12 & 13)
Paint (Oct 12)
Paint (Oct 14)
Paint (Oct 15)

Next week (Oct 16-20)
Colorado Springs
Allyson and Friends - Paint

Next weekend: (Oct. 21 & 22)
Re-roof the section above the bedrooms. This will include removing any necessary plywood, installing tar paper, ice guard, flashing, etc.

Two weekends later: (Nov. 4th & 5th)
Move in !!
This date may change more than most. Just depends on how fast it gets cold !!

Week following: (Nov 6th-8th)
Septic System Replacement
(Don't worry, it works OK now, and the switchover (when we won't be able to use it is only 60 minutes and will probably be during the day while Allyson and I are both at work.)

Keep in mind that all dates might shift due to weather related issues.

It's official. The house is ours !!!!

We signed and signed and signed at 4:45 today at McDonalds in Macedonia, and the house @ 11535 Dunham Road now belongs to us. (Well I guess the bank still owns 100%, but we'll work on that month after month.)

After signing, we went over to the house and I started cutting down tree limbs. I was targeting the limbs that were haning over the house near the deck, as all the leaves and pine needles were glogging the gutters something fierce.

++++++++++ Pictures ++++++++++

Then, tomorrow afternoon, we'll get the keys and then - it's on !

Let's talk about Columbus Day. Banks are closed. Title companies can't converse with banks that are closed. What does this mean in the Luke and Allyson "Fiasco of buying a foreclosed home"? Closing has been delayed until today.

Delivery of building materials (shingles, plywood, drywall, etc) is all coming on Thursday now, instead of today. (Can't really have tons of stuff delivered to a house we don't own yet.

However, I am borrowing a truck from a good friend today and I will be going to pick up the smaller stuff: tools, ladder, paint, dehumidifier, shop vac, etc.

SO: Closing today, getting the keys tomorrow late afternoon.

3 1/2 hours of mayhem! Allyson and I went aisle to aisle picking up supplies and tools, and we actually ran out of time. But we did end up with a shopping cart full of gallons of paint (14 total), a flat cart with a ladder, 2x4s, fire extinguisher, etc. Just shy of 4k !

Delivery of everything is to come Tuesday afternoon !! Then let the REAL fun begin :)

Closing is still happening tomorrow, and I think I'm going to take a half day of on Tuesday so I can meet for the delivery of the supplies and get started w/ painting, etc.

I was at the house today for a couple hours. I cleaned out the gutter over the deck because it was about 1/2 full with pine needles, leaves and other dirt/mud. There were actually 3 six inch plants growing in the gutter, so that obviously was an issue. I'll be trimming back tree limbs pretty aggressively over the next week to make sure the leaves and pine needles don't continue to be an issue.

I'm excited to do all these things (well at least I am for now) !!!

The day is here. Heading to a home improvement store to spend tons o' cash. It's good though, because right now they're running a deal for 12 months - No Payments, No Interest !

We have a laundry list of things to buy for the house: shingles, nails, tar paper, plumbing supplies, ladder, paint, primer, tape, drop cloths, level, hacksaw, cleaning supplies, etc.

Heading over to the house now to clean out the gutters and check some other miscellaneous (sp?) things out !

For those that are curious :

Luke and Allyson
11535 Dunham Rd.
Sagamore Hills, OH 44067

Well. Didn't close on Thursday or Friday. But we did hear that everything is submitted and we will be able to close on Monday (FOR SURE (so they say)).

More to come, because A and I are headed to Home Depot !

HOUSE NEWS - We got it !!!!

Let the home repair begin ;)

We're supposed to close this Thursday, and then we'll go from there.

Friends and Family be forewarned, we're going to be asking for help :)

Monday was a training day. I was a co-instructor for the Data Network Analysis course. We taught the new hires about capturing data network traffic by utilizing a handful of applications and tools. It went fairly well I thought and it was the first time this course was taught, so it was good.

HOUSE News - Nada. The waiting game continues. However, Mike Keyes had some good advice when re-doing the roof. His job is to train people on the proper methods of installing installation and other attic related things, so his info was very insightful.

On another note - Allyson bought me Caramel Apples. That is great, no matter how you slice it :D

Headed for Athens on Friday after work. Allyson and I rode down with Sundeep a co-worker of mine that used to work w/ Waller as well. We went down to surprise Kevin for an early birthday weekend. We dropped Allyson off and Bec and Tob's and then went over to his house. He sure was surprised, and we had a great time.

Saturday was the OU Sporting event day. We went to the football game, volleyball game, and hockey game. Then we went to see a movie after that. I really don't think we could have packed anything else in to the day. It was a blast !

Sunday, I got up early and went over to the Bec's and hung out with everyone and then we went to Church and then Ruby Tuesdays afterward. It was a ton of fun all packed into 2 days :)

I miss OU in the fall :(