Hammer Time!

Having lived previously in a house with just one bathroom I decided that adding a 1/2 bath would increase value, and as this house will eventually be a rental, make it a much more agreeable roomate situation. Yep I like tools. The saw seen here did the "heavy lifting".

The need to cut the slab is so I can put a 23 foot sewer pipe to carry the afluent from the new bath, and the water from the washer in the new laundry room.

The slab is 4" - 7" thick and the saw is very efficient at cutting it. The
busting, prying and removing of the concrete is pretty satisfying labor.

My best partner in this project, my father is off in two weeks for a long drive in his motor home. Good news is I'll have a place to live (house sitting) - and the good news is that I'll have to stand on my own on all the plumbing and electrical skills that he has shared with me over the years...

Batts in the Attic

Thats unfaced batts. After attempting to remove the blown-in inuslation from below - disasterous... I rented a 15Hp gas powered vacuum. Still lots of work, had to remove the fiberglass batts to access the blown in cellulose/newspaper/fiberglass mess.

The insulation goes down the hose to the vac and out to a "bag". The bags are huge (a picture of one in the back of the red truck), two bags did the trick. They are virtually unmovable once they are in the truck and suceptible to ripping if manhandled... big adventure at the landfill transfer station.

Bids for windows are in, looks like drywall, taped and texured is $1.30 a square foot. Otherwise progress is slow, if not steady.

Good news and cat news

Two good surprises today. And one bad. The wiring appears to be up to date - those wire nuts in the box are from the restoration company that stabilized the house post conflagration. The kitchen wall has insulation and vapor barrier - hopefully that is true throughout. Not a given on these 50's houses.

The first mal-olfactory experiance was cleaning out that fridge that has set, popped open for two months... salmon, chicken, potatoes and brocolli slurry. Gack. Now I'm looking to irradicate a much more insidious threat - cat urine. Double Gack! Really grew after pulling the carpet and pad up in the future laundry room and master bedroom.

Four days of work at my real job - and then back to it next Friday!

Welcome to my project!

Learning the real meaning of "sweat equity".