My House

Just some gross and interesting things to find in a house, this is where I hope to show the funny things(and ridiculous) that I find in this journey:

A new friend that got lost in the attic one day, and never came out

Just love those squatters - Literally

When we visited the house to view it, there was at least some sort of fence. Closing day, they decided that the fence wasn't important and ripped 9 sections out.

How about $1150 for 2 bedrooms to have carpet put in. And that includes the work to remove most of the old stuff already done!! Can you say "Yeah, right!"

The idiot who put the ceiling fans in the two back bedrooms, decided that the attic light switch was a better place to plug the fans in then figuring out how to setup the light switch that was right there on the wall already to go and also decided that 25 ft. of electric wire was better then the close by wires to the switch. Can you say DORKASS!!!

14-15 Jan 2006

More fun, the Stove is a wasted case of neglect. 2 of the burners won' t work even after a rewire, but the oven comes on when you try them...;-)

The dishwasher has a leak on the underside, needless to say, that will be replaced to...lol Couple of months, but it will.

Not gonna do the carpet thing. To much hassle and money. We found laminate flooring for a decent price and will install it. Can always change it later..;-)

First night and weekend at the new house(to me anyways) and it was great. Got to sleep late and even get a good warm shower.

Fridge is in place to now. Thank god. Gonna start moving my "Stuff" there so I'll have to do updates from work.

Gotta love the crap behind the stove.

Juda got to be in the backyard and relax, he enjoyed the noisy dogs next door, but at least I could get a temp fence up for now till I can afford a better one.

25 Jan 2006

Note to self, check the studs and cross pieces before cutting holes. The closet on the other side has cross pieces in the wall, guess who didn't check? lol Corrected!!!

Rewired the ceiling fan in the 2nd bedroom and also ran extra outlets for various things in the corner.

Started the cabling for the in-house network, drop them thru the ceiling and will pretty up when I start on the computer room.

That popcorn crap on the ceiling... acoustic shit??? Decided to scrap it all off and clean up the ceilings. Whata mess!

Got the main bathroom floor scraped up, that funky roll tile crap is gone. Thanks Steven!!!

Fixed a previous hole in the 2nd bedroom. Looks like someone stepped almost thru the dam ceiling!

27-30 Jan 2006

Put all the rug crap out the day trash was told to me by the city - mondays.... Which was the 23rd... well, they finally picked this mess up THURSDAY!

Finally got all the prep work done for the room. That ceiling scraping SUCKS! in case you want to think about it...lol

Thought I lost my tools.... Ooops - there they are under all that crappy dust.

This stuff is some killer Primer. Haven't seen anything this won't cover....hehehehe Plus it kills off odors, and anything on the walls.

I got the second bedroom's ceiling finished (scrapped) in short order. Wanted to be done dam it!

Just one room's ceiling!

That's my boy enjoying the sunny day, just relaxing.

At LAST, All primed and ready for paint!

3-5-Feb-2006

So, who's the bright star of the weekend? Me of course. I picked a dark red (Antique Ruby) for the master bedroom color. All primed, went to Home Depot, got the paint, and the guy at the counter even asked, are the walls primed, I said of course. So I go home and paint the walls. Not to bad till things started drying. The result, holy crap!!!
I thought I did something wrong! These walls looked messed up! The Shining coming thru... redroooom! redrooom!

Thanks to Carolyn at the paint department, and the acting manager Brandy, we got the paint back free, and we got another 5 gallons of primer. Peptobismal Pink primer!
And because I've got the whole house to do, plus other stuff, we got an airless sprayer. That was way fun!!! Now I get to sand some of the pink off because I've never used one before!! To dam close and running. Not to bad tho, I got the whole room sprayed in about an hour or two.

Thank you to Dad and Mary for the gift card, came in great hand for the paint purchase, Premium Behr all the way..;-)

Grilled this weekend for the first time in the new house, killer burgers..;-)

I actually got the extra shelves in the walk in closet straight!

I even added to the Wind Chimes! Very cool sounds to...;-)

Lots and lots of other work done to the second bedroom, hallway and just stuff in general. I can't wait to redo the dam kitchen! Such a pain! Patience Tim, One step at a time!!

10-12-Feb-2006

Holy shit, I can't believe the way things are going, I actually like the looks so far, and my body is paying for it. I hurt all over dam it, but the pay-off has been great.

The walls looked like shit before, even after sanding and filling and all that, the previous owners must have had a thumb-tack fetish. The ceiling again, had that stupid "popcorn" crap, this actually came out smooth.

Believe it or not, I actually know where everything is!

The second coat of primer in the master bedroom had a few runs...lol... alot actually, but then I sanded them, and re-shot it and it came out good enough for the paint. I liked the way the paint came out. Looks kinda like the "RedRooooom" from the shining...;-) The dam window sills kept getting moisture from the paint and the cold outside.

Juda was easy to amuse this weekend..... Who-Dat???

Gotta have Tunes sometimes to work dam it!

Thank god for the breathing masks! This vent was replaced afterwards btw..lol

25-27-Feb-2006

Well, finally got the 2 main bedrooms finished to the point they are livable and can be comfortable. Floors are done, along with the base boards, came out real good IMHO. Month and a half for the 2 rooms, not to bad considering having a job to. In case someone hasn't fingered it out, the red room is the master bedroom, and the blue one is the 2nd bedroom.

The bed base and the head board came out pretty good. I like the natural wood so I put polyurethane on the pieces... to bad they didn't mention it was NOT water clean up.

I really wish that stupid miter-box worked as easy as it looks.... then again, maybe it was me perhaps? Needless to say, some putty was needed to fill the gaps in the base boards, to much fun!! Didn't use as much as I thought, but dam, that sanding was a pain.

All in all, a little bit of clean up, and the 2 rooms looked pretty dam good...;-) Needless to say, we are now using them. I got to move out of the one room(computer room) that I stayed in for a month and a half, into the master bedroom.

Next up, the computer room and the hall-way. Found an 6000 btu air-conditioner for $40 that I'm planning to put in the window. Blocking off a 2 x10 ft. section of the room to put the computer rack and the various file servers along with other "junk" and have then inside an air-conditioned space as well as vents and misc. just so they stay cool. Gonna get the desk I had in the apt. in the closet and basically make a computer room a geek can be proud of. 3 wired network lines out and power outlets specially run - This room is gonna be a project in its self. We'll see how long it takes to finish. But first, a vacation to the lovely islands of Hawaii to meet up with Steve and a short break, then I'll be ready for another year of toil till next years vacation.

The hall-way will get some modernizations along with a closet door change and some doors to block off sounds from the living room - dining room area. Decided to do the kitchen before the living room/dining room because of the time frame and budget, that means laundry room will get fixed along with some solid doors for the noisy wash dryer.

Mar-2006

After a much needed vacation to Hawaii, We've started back to work on the house. Computer room and the hallway need a fixing! I'm making a section similar to a data-center with a window air-conditioner and even have the battery backups for the room. Building in the desk and even putting in some vents and such to make this a geeks heaven I hope. We'll see how it turns out. This past weekend, the start of spring, talk about rain!!! The drainage by the house was 3/4 full!!

Apr-2006

Now this was an interesting month... got the hallway started, the front entrance, and finished up the computer room. Oh what fun that was. Because of the dark blue color, its dark, dark, dark in the room with only a single light on. This room has its own section for the storage and download machines to sit in a nice air conditioned (its own window air no less - $35 on craigslist) space and stay as cold as I need them. I even put in its own venting system to take the heat from the back of the machines to the front to get recooled. Stays about 65 degrees in the section with very little on-off(cycling) from the air conditioner.

The whole Idea to the room in my mind was to make it so if I needed to, I could remove everything in short order, redo the walls and ceiling, and it could be a bedroom again without alot of hassle. Would probably take a week at the most to redo the room. I wanted something to cool the storage systems because all those PC's in one room can generate alot of heat that can be hard to get rid of. In the winter time in the Apt., I closed off the vents and used the heat from the PC's to stay warm. So, I made two vents in the room to circulate air and still enjoy the geeks heaven...;-) Everything in the room to include the air unit, false wall, and desk, can be removed by undoing screws and removal is very simple. Far easier then putting in place.

I found 2 more 21 inch monitors on craigslist for $40 for both of them. Work on placement and even tried it out for gaming, should be pretty cool for those weekend Tournies...;-)

That little pink fan you see was from moving air around in the master bedroom, I put that in the cold air room to move the air past the window unit to force the sensor to see the temp. changes better and faster.

May-2006

May shown itself to be a busy month. Finished up the hall-way and started the living room in fine Fashion. Thanks to Tammie, the hall-way got its finishing touches in the beginning of June and it came out pretty nice. Actually took the time to smooth the walls out(lol) and Changed out the closet door - the transition from Living room to Hallway - and put up a re-cycled light fixture with some paint and new bulbs. Lots and lots of fun was to be had.

June-2006

Took a road trip to see Zeke Graduate HighSchool! So that was some time off - 2300 miles in a rental, Not like we lied or anything and unlimited mileage...lol Stopped to see Clif In Kansas City, Miss. Good food and lots of talk..;-) Thanks for the visit dude.

June brought a change to the living room. The folks who lived here before obviously had a leak or two. One in the bathroom, and one in the kitchen. Needless to say, the after affects of those events wasn't felt till much later. The mildew, and rot where there. Had to replace pieces and recover the walls because of the poor job they did to begin with, what a joke. I've also started filling in holes, and adding the power and data lines needed for the build-in Wall center. Added more wall-board compound and started sanding the fill. Oh what fun we are having now.

Also started some yard work. This poor yard has been so, so, abused. You can see the before and after affects. In my mind at least, I think its already starting to look better. I yanked out those dam bushes next to the walk way by the garage. Again, Steven came along and helped out a good deal when it came to those things, used the car(lol) to yank them out when they were loose from the dirt. Jack's tow-strap came in handy after all. Then dug down a foot, tuned the ground over and removed roots, rocks, and alot of stuff that shouldn't be in the ground...lol The list was pretty normal for a public place, not where I plan to plant (move and add) some rose bushes.

Then proceeded to the walk way by the drive-way. The idiots had taken plastic walmart bags to use as a weed barrier under the walking stones they had there. That's not a bad idea until you want to change stuff a few (cough,cough) years later. Talk about a waste. They had also spread stupid white rocks around various locations - Thanks to Tammie who got most of those rocks outa the way, I know that shit sucked.

For the final project, the section to the right of the walk-way needed to be turned so that grass could grow back along with evening up the soil. That took alot of root, rocks, and crap outa the way also. My body aches all over from the weekends work. Was worth it tho I think, good foundation work for the YardWork that lays ahead.

Also, (lol) Spent some time at an auction to find some stuff to decorate with. You know, that pretty stuff that you wonder where people got them from, enjoy the pictures, hopefully the next time you see them will be on the walls and in the shelves.

July-2006

How about a long weekend to get things started in July. May have been the countries B-Day, it was my chance to get somethings done without time constraints such as going to work on Monday. That stupid - heat generating - fogged up - noise pass thru - Pain in the ass 3 pane Sliding glass door in History - Gone - gone- GONE!!! I replace this with a sitting window/bay window type of set up and a regular door with a small window at the top. Boy oh boy did this make a huge difference. Thanks to help from Shannon, most of the second day went very fast and we got alot of work done, was great to have the help. Thanks Shannon!

Another special thanks goes to a neighbor who allowed me to use his truck to get 95% of the supply's too, thanks Mo.

Of course, Juda wanted some attention to, Smile pretty for the camera

I may have not done everything perfect, but I tell you what, the insulation and parts from the old builders were shoddy at best. I put some R-30 insulation in place and even used real wood, unlike what they could do. Brenda mentioned that the sliding door was the cheap way out, I can see why.

Tammie got her own little project to do the beginning of the month. This fire place is basically trashed because of the paint. So, to figure out what could be done, this had to be stripped of the paint at the very least and lets see what we have underneath. So far, she's done a great job, hopefully this will be done soon and the natural wood will shine thru. Should be nice with alittle bit of stain and a varnish to protect it. Course the tiles around the edge will get replaced and then some more tiles will be laid in the front. Will be taking the tiles to the hall door, around to the new back door, with a single strip to the kitchen walk way. Should look good with a dark gray tile.

Also started the Dining room. Close of the ceiling, re-run electric for some recessed lights, and extend the vent down. Tie the cross beams to the ceiling. And off we go with a new ceiling. This little project will take a bit of work, but its well worth it and I think it will come out pretty good. Lots and lots of stuff to do and pretty up to make this presentable. Gonna be fun getting everything prepped for paint....;-)

Of course, more work to the living room, entry way, and the dining room to come. Plans are being made for the Kitchen already which will be next after getting these two rooms completed. Should be fun...lol NOT!!! Already can tell that most of the kitchen will be getting ripped out and replaced, now that part will be fun, the hard part is the replacement..;-) Stay tuned for more fun and adventures in remodeling. I haven't heard many comments from the links so feel free to email me and let me know what you think.

August-2006

Not much happened in the month of August. Alot of prep work, sanding and some added walls for looks and changes. I think the house is coming along pretty good, not as fast as I want, but fast enough considering the amount of regulat paying work I have to do. August was also a transition month for me and time to get things back on course and focused to some extent. There was also added a bunch of "natural" insulation along with R-30 to the top of the computer room. Hoping this will help the electric bill. If you can believe it, I've been running window air unit in the 2 bedrooms, and very little else because the central air finally bite the dust. My bill was still over $300 each month for the hottest days of summer. Here's to hoping for a lower bill this coming month with cool days ahead. I've already found a replacment central air unit, just gotta get the monies together for it now.

September-2006

Now this was a busy month so far, with August spent getting ready, its about time to do the primer and painting and lets get the Living/Dining Room livable again. Little by little.
So far, primer has been added to both rooms and they even got some paint on the walls. Working on shelves and various trimmings that I hope will complete the room. After all that is done, the floors will be done, partial tile along with some of the same wood flooring already used in the hallway and the back bedrooms.

October-2006

These rooms are HUGE compared to what I have been doing with the previous rooms. This is taking forever!! Its been well worth it tho. All the little touches and things are coming together. Shelving and cabinets, even have the TV and Stereo places. Got the display shelves and the lighting done, things are really looking good. Talk about the "I built that" thing going on...;-) Granted, someone else who can really do better woodworking could probably do better, but then I couldn't say "I did that!" now could I? With winter coming, A/C guys weren't to busy and the price was pretty cheap compared to what I was quoted at the beginning. Even added the heat strip and all and its a 3 ton unit. The guys who did it were great - Fastrac Air did a great job. I ended up with 90% new ducting in which they basically did it for free - I bought the duct, and since they were up there.... Was way cool of them to do that. Now I only have 2 ducts to replace. Want to contact them? 817-808-8816 - Ask for Ron, tell him Tim at the house address sent you. Lots and lots of test fittings and getting things the way I want for that "look & feel", hopefully, this will come out the way I want.

27 -29 Oct 2006

More work on the Entertainment center and the tiles needed to complete the flooring. Finished up the fireplace tile, some quick paint, and this will be ready to be used in the next cold spell that comes thru. Hopefully will start the wood section this coming few days.

So much for the wood flooring till next Payday. A 6 penny nail into the rear tire of the bike fixed that. $218 and that was discounted. Jez, crazy shit prices just for a tire. Oh well, patience has been the key these last 10 months, what is another 15 days right? Been planning the kitchen too, so this should be real interesting to see how this all works out.

3 -5 Nov 2006

November looks to be a good month so far. Got the Poly-urethane done and Leia worked hard to get things sanded and Poly'ed up. The fireplace came out great and it looks really good after all the work done to it. Granted, alittle patience would have helped...hehehe But it came out really good anyways. The media center is huge, but then again, its gotta hold alot of stuff. I really liked the way it turned out considering that I had my doubts there for a bit...;-)

10 -12 Nov 2006

Can you say yeah!!!! Living room and Dining room floors finally!! And a new door thanks to Leia's dad.. he was a great help in getting that thing in place. Came out pretty good and all the floor needs now is the bottom edge molding and it will look great.

The signing of the life away!!!
signing1