Slowly but Surely

We've owned our Craftsman home a little over 2 months now and we're still trying to get all the electrical wiring completed. It has been a challenge to rewire without tearing up too many walls. This past week Nathan was able to finish almost all the downstairs except the family room and office. Hopefully that will be done by next week and he can start on the upstairs. We found a guy to help Dick install the Hardie siding on the upstairs dormer windows (which were taken off during the roofing process by mistake). We hope the rain holds off so that can be completed in 3-4 days. We also have been making strides in the plumbing with only one area in the master bath to be fixed before we can start remodeling that room. I plan on extending the shower area, adding a clawfoot tub, installing new tile flooring, vanity, lighting, and hopefully, will have room for a linen closet. Closets were not a big thing in the 1920's...I guess people didn't need as much clothing as we seem to now. We've been working all week on the upstairs bath. So far, we've removed the old tile, primed the beaded board, caulked, and removed 4 layers of wallpaper on the area above the beaded board. (without using the barbed thingy that cut my finger!) Tedious, but safer for me. The old board was dark brown with a red plaid paper on top of the wainscoating. I found the other 3 papers underneath dating back to the original and have kept them for my scrapbook. Can't wait to get the new paint up and see the transformation. We've ordered the new vanity cabinet and it should be ready in a week. I plan to also redo the combo tub/shower tile, new hexagon floor tiles, and lighting.

We have a fence?

Well, what do you know? After spending 2 months clearing the forest in the back yard and hauling off literally TONS of debris, including many dead trees or dying ones, we see we have a very large backyard (now empty!) and a fence! We actually saw the fence from the alley one day, but needed an axe and Paul Bunyon to help us find our way to it. Now my problem is how to fill it back up - do I want a deck and flagstone patio or maybe an outdoor fireplace? Of course, I love flowers and flowering shrubs, so that is a given. I spent a couple of weeks trying to transplant some of my plants like daylilies, hydrangeas, iris and confederate jasmine I had in my yard in Plano and hope they make it through the winter months. I will be busy this winter perusing plant catalogues and deciding what and where to put things. I played with the idea of only using older plants suitable to the age of the home (1920) but that limits me more than I want. Did I mention the dirt in Sherman is much better than in Plano? You can actually dig in it. It's more like a sandy loam than the gumbo clay I'm used to working in...and that is great!    

Time out

Hi all, Sorry I've not been able to post for awhile. The delay was due to a very bad cut I got while trying to remove 3 layers of old wallpaper in baths. I was using one of those barbed pole things that are supposed to make holes for the steamer....well, the finger got in the way...and now, 3 weeks later I can finally type again. Meanwhile, the work has progressed a little. We have Nathan, our great electrician, doing some rewiring on the old knob and tube stuff, and Jim @ J & S Foundations, doing a great job on adding some support beams and leveling. This last week we got Matt of Matt's Tree Service of Gainesville to come and chip all the dead wood we had cut and he and his crew spent two days clearing more of the forest in the back yard. They hauled off about 6 tons of debris and old concrete so the place is looking a lot cleaner. (and bare!) We didn't realize until we cut some underbrush that there was an old chain link fence along one side of the huge back yard...now that is gone too thanks to Matt. We've had 4 of the grandkids up to help out....or just swing on the new porch swing...Drew helped Dick cut down an old Bradford Pear so we could plant a new live oak.  Now, we are waiting for our Hardie Siding to come in so we can work on the exterior. 

Timberrrr!

Well, the past few days we've been dealing with cutting down half dead and already dead trees in the rear yard. We got a semi reasonable quote to cut, but to haul away was triple the price, so Dick said "we can do it!"  Many Aleve later, and about 4 trips already to the transfer station, we've hauled about 10 tons of dead wood in the truck and attached trailer and still have about that much more to go. (By the way, I never knew the dump could smell so bad-no wonder the people who work there are such Nazi's-I'd always be in a bad mood if I had to smell that mess all day!) Good news is the yard in rear now has sunshine pouring in and I can plant grass and beds instead of looking at brown dirt.  The rear faces east, so sun in the morning and shade in afternoon! A deck is in the plans too so we can plant the new red oaks to shade that.  Now, time for a good hot bath and scented candles.....

Shovels needed!

Hi all,
Well, today I was meeting the guy to install a chimney cap but again the rain has interrupted our plans. Being a 90 year old chimney, it was in need of repair along with adding a new damper and chimney cap, and gas logs. We have aleady removed the old fixture in the photo. Unfortunately, rain doesn't mix well with working in mortar and climbing up on a roof, so we are rescheduling for next week. I think we will still go up anyway and meet with a tree expert to see how bad off the pecan and elms really are before we take them out. This yard is half an acre and you would think there would be some decent trees on it.  There may have been at one time, but all the nice big ones seem to be too close to the house, power lines, or have holes in the trunks and look decayed....maybe time to go!  I bought a couple of live oaks and red oaks on sale at a nursery in Ft. Worth to replace them.  We have a chain saw, anybody got a good shovel?

Knob and tube anyone?

I know, by now you want some good news right?  Me too! Sorry...I had the electrician out yesterday and we have electricity issues. Good news is we have two new breaker boxes and the kitchen and hvac have been rewired already, but when I was attempting to clean the other day my vacuum blew a breaker. I found out several rooms are all on one circuit and a lot of the house is still on "knob and tube" wiring. Many of you probably never heard of this, but it was all that was used in the old days.. Dick keeps saying, "Remember Jane, you bought an old house." Since I want to be able to run several things at once - like have lights on while vacuuming, or watching tv and being on computer, or run the hairdryer while ceiling fan is on, etc. etc. and NOT go outside and flip the breaker, some of the old wiring will need to be replaced. I know the house has been fine for 90 years with this, but I'm a worrier and better safe than sorry!

Water, Water Everywhere

Well, water is not our friend. First it was the rain now it is the leaky  plumbing....Dick keeps saying "YOU wanted this old house- it has lots of old problems" Yeah, like I keep forgetting - ha! We had an inspection, which I always advise my clients to do, but when it says "various leaks in pressure lines" on reports, be careful!! We had our regular plumber, George, come and fix all the faucets that were broken, replace the water heater, which we knew was at least 12 years old, the exterior faucets, the bath drains, etc. but George REALLY didn't want to crawl under the house to look for any leaks. Did I mention this is a 90 year old house built on bois d'arc (pronounced bo-dark) posts?  Early settlers found these Bois D'Arc trees native to the area and found they were impervious to termites and decay. No concrete slab here.....all the duct work, plumbing, wiring, etc. is suspended under the home. So, that should make it easier to get to I think, right?  George didn't think so...he said, " I'm an older guy, and what if I died under there and no one thought to come get me? I could be stuck under there for 3 days!"  Well, I didn't want that to happen, so I let George off the hook. I was lucky to have an old high school friend who was building in the area give me some names of local guys who could come to the rescue. Only problem now is the pipes have been leaking for God knows how long and it is wet underneath the house. The new plumber tells me I have to turn off all the water to the house and let it dry out. Ok......how long will this take?  I also met with two foundation companies to get a bid on stabilizing the foundation piers and they also confirmed the wet areas.  Everything hinges on the plumbing getting fixed first, so now we wait. Patience, Jane!

Roofing 101

Who would have thought it would take two weeks to roof a house of only 2800 square feet?  More problems were encountered when one of the crew removed all the previous siding on 2nd floor, which we intended to do down the road sometime but not now! We knew they had to remove one course to put in flashing, but due to some communication issues - me no habla espanol/they very little English - they removed ALL the previous siding. Supervisor of job was off having new grandbaby but he really came through and fixed everything so it was "in the dry" until we could order some new siding. Early September is not usually such a wet time in Texas, but of course, for us, it was! The home was originally built in 1920 with cypress siding, so we are deciding whether to go back with that, which has to be special ordered and milled to order, or go with Hardie or Smart Siding.

Closing Day!

We closed on our home on September 1. The closing went well, but the weather didn't. It hadn't rained in weeks, but of course when the first thing we wanted to do was put on a new roof, it rained cats and dogs. The roofers had just torn off the old shingles and started to redeck with radiant barrier when the skies opened up. The previous roof was really in need of repair, but we didn't expect the problems that came with re-roofing. First, we found no insulation at all in most attic areas, so that was added. Second, some of the rafters were rotten and needed to be replaced. When the rains started, the roofer resorted to putting buckets under the leaking areas in the upstairs bedrooms....what a mess! Now, in addition to painting, we have to replace some ceilings. The fun has just begun.