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Front Page News
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I know it's been FOREVER since we've posted and the e-mail today did prompt me to write a post. (I actually haven't read the entire e-mail from Houseblogs, but I'll add that to my long to-do list.) The roof did get done, we finally got gutters on about...
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The crew showed up on Monday to deliver materials and get stuff set up. Yesterday they arrived and got right to work. In no time, half the roof was off: We also decided to have all the old bead board, that is covered with that awful paint with sand in...
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So we got a bid for a roofer, he said he could do it this summer, then it was next year, and then we convinced him that we really wanted it done by Oct. and he agreed. He then called tonight and said he could start next week. Now it's time for me to take...
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As we await the estimate for a new roof, I found this cost estimator online. I guessed the measurements, and it only has the basic information, but I really liked the price it came up with! To have our old roof torn off and new 30 year roof put on, it...
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Things have been slow around here in terms of house work. It may be directly proportional to how busy Atticus is: if we could just absorb his energy we might be able to get work done during his nap instead of needing naps ourselves! So what have we accomplished?...
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So I haven't done much around the house lately. I'm not even sure what my last "real" project was. Today I cleared off the concrete countertops and put a new layer of wax on them and polished them. Does that count for home improvement? If I had a free...
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There was a cool (short) article in the Real Estate section of this Sunday's Seattle Times about a company called "Tiny Texas Houses". They build small houses (think 10'x16'') out of reclaimed materials. You can buy one for $30K to $60K. Tiny Texas Houses...
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I'm still unemployed and have a bunch of free time, so last week I worked on a project I've had on the back burner for a while. Nick's Graphing Mortgage Calculator There are a zillion mortgage calculators on the web, some of which are similar to this...
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Week two didn’t feel as productive as week one . The dent in the sofa cushion is definitely more pronounced. Here’s the list: 1. used up left over insulation I had laying around in the shop, to insulate a portion of the shop ceiling. This took all of...
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I spent some of my time last week repairing the workbench my dad sent, which was busted up by UPS . The repairs involved fabricating new pieces for the top, a new piece for the frame, and fixing the side panel. I also re-fastened the plywood bottom which...
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Being unemployed hasn't helped my stress level much, but it's starting to have an effect on the various projects around here: I've got three four window sashes glued up. nine eight more to go. I glued up two remaining cabinet doors for the kitchen Also...
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Well, it wasn't a great day. My company notified me this morning, along with the engineering team I ran, that they decided to lay us off effective immediately and move the positions overseas. There have been a number of layoffs in the past few months...
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A quick update about this topic . The morning after my previous post on the subject, a man from U.P.S Store HQ contacted me. He had read my post (is he a Houseblogger? Is it his job to mine the internet for words like "U.P.S." and "destroyed"?) and said...
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01/18/2008 Update: I have an update to this post, which I've placed at the end. 01/23/2008 Update: I've made a second post about this, here . Once upon a time, when I was 3 or 4, my dad made me a workbench. People are always asking me how I learned to...
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Nick's got all the pieces cut for the rest of the first floor windows and has done a dry fit. This week he will order the glass and after that comes, he will begin assembling them. I've been thinking about the backsplash in the kitchen and how high I...
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I found these ABC wall art cards at a local store ( Georgia Blu ) last week and had to buy them. When Atticus is ready for a big boy bed and we change his room, we'll put these up. Here are some of the letters. I love the classic look of the drawings....
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(Several of these are left over from 2007) Replace all the windows. (One down, six to go on the 1 st floor. Eight on the 2 nd .) Kitchen 100% done. Pay someone to replace the roof. Finish removing the asbestos siding. Strip, prep, and paint the exterior....
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One down, six to go. The “prototype” window is installed and fully functional. The exterior is primed but not painted; we have to wait for slightly warmer weather for that. We have a test color picked out and purchased – ready to go. Mom and dad came...
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Merry Christmas! Today was a wonderful day. We stayed in our pajamas most of the day and got to watch Atticus open his presents. Without a doubt, the best present was the one that Nick made him. What do you make a toddler? Something that has everything...
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Or... "You can never own too many clamps." Nick's been busy the past few weeks using up all the salvaged fir we had left. There's enough wood for the sashes, but we'll have to buy wood for the frames. He glued up all the pieces, put them through the planer,...
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Nick spent yesterday and the afternoon in the shop today. He cleaned up all the old fir that we have salvaged from the house. There were some old kitchen cabinet shelves and some old posts taken out of the walls. He cut them down to size and put them...
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So Nick and I are back to work and Phil has gone back to Wisconsin. In all reality we won't be able to install the new window until Christmas time. That means Phil can be here when we do that, and it will give us enough time to prime the trim. (We are...
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Success! The window is largely complete. It isn't installed; the sashes are currently installed in the frame, set up in my shop. It operates pretty well - I can slide the lower sash up and it stays in place, and I can slide the lower sash down and it...
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Nick and Phil have been busy. They say it's going a bit slower than they thought, but since this is the first window, they are being very careful. A wrong cut on this project would be a huge setback. Here's a picture of the profile of the stiles and rails:...
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Day One of window building is now complete. We started the day with a trip across town to Hardwick's hardware store, in search of a window-sash router bit set. In fact, we bought a sash bit last night at Rockler, but I pretty much decided to return it...
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