Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Roll the credits

People always ask if I do all the work on the house myself. Noooooo...not even close.
So it's time to recognize the people who did all the actual skilled work and fixed all the stuff I screwed up:


Rochelle Relyea: Pardon the lousy photo. Here's a better one:





International model-turned renovator (Maybe you've seen her on the cover of Elle. Really.) A great eye for design and cost-effective problem-solving. Her time is in high demand so I was fortunate to get some of it on very short notice.

Joe Penney: Lucky thing that Sara passed Joe's name along. He seems to know how to do everything, well. Installed windows, cabinets, flooring, doors and more. I don't think I could have completed this project without his help.

Canstar electric; John, Bill and Evan: Fast, John had great ideas for lighting and wiring options. Bill is very funny but can be hard to understand when he speaks English. Evan's a lovely young guy who seemed to spend a lot of time crawling in the crawl space.

David's Plumbing Service: Which is really Bob and Wayne. Why do plumbing companies always seem to have names that bear no relation to the plumbers themselves?

Kathryn Mulders: Nice job tiling the kitchen backsplash and shower surround.

There have been other great helpers, but I didn't want anyone to think I deserve the credit for all this work.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Before n' after

I had hoped Madeline would bring home the bacon in the office lottery pool so we wouldn't have to sell. But no luck, or not enough of it, anyway. So the sign is on the lawn, and people are tramping through, pronouncing it "too small" or saying they don't like crawl-space houses.
Funny how the houses in your price range are never what you're really looking for, whatever your price range is.















garage sale leftovers


Passed up this cute bed frame at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago, but lucky for me, so did everyone else. It was still there, waiting for me on the lawn, when I realized I needed something for the front room.

Myrtle

I heard someone calling me beyond the back fence and when I went over Myrtle introduced herself. She had been waiting to present me with a rose bush she had started for me. A welcoming present. She was disappointed to learn that I was not going to stay.
Myrtle's house is surrounded by terraced gardens. Vegetables in the corner nearest the fence line, lilacs and vines and her darling roses.
She thinks the one she gave me is called "American Peace". The flower is a lovely clear pink. I felt guilty and apologized repeatedly for failing to move in to the place, but I'm expecting the next owners will be the staying kind.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Here it is....

http://samsar.qti.net/vrebEpic/mldetail1.asp?ID=2ec4hn7&agcode=1713

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Never done




It's almost ready but so many small details are nagging. Sanding and painting touch-ups. Installing bathroom towel bars, getting the pea gravel and bark mulch out of the driveway and into their places. Plants into the ground. Install the new garage window. Install new doorknobs. Caulking. Another coat of paint on the fireplace bricks. Hang mirror and pictures, bring furniture. Clean. Clean. Clean. It's probably good that it's not quite listed yet - maybe later today?

Meanwhile things are breaking down and disappearing. Losing the cellphone is a sure sign that things are reaching stress meltdown point. Both lawnmowers have cacked out; well, the newer one is making mysterious rattling noises and the other just quit. The computer went on the fritz. Even my watch has stopped keeping correct time. I've been too rushed and busy to deal with any of this. Haven't even had time to put down the paintbrush or shovel and take pictures. So I'll post some "not-quite-after" photos of the back door project and Bindweed Alley (or is it Allee?) without the "befores." You'll have to take my word that it was really really bad before.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Learning to crawl space/Goodbye Norma Jean


Took Friday off to deal with the crawl space. It was one of the remaining creepy scary things about the house that had to be exorcised. Have a welter of scraped patches along my spine to show for it. Also 3 yards of drain rock that was formerly in the driveway is now down below (with a lot of help from Tom and Johnny.) There is much more to do: Spreading the gravel over the ground, laying a plastic vapour barrier on the ground (or stapling it under the floor joists, which is the much more time-consuming but correct route). There are still a few metal ducts to remove from the old oil heating system, and bits of garbage, food wrappers, toys etc. to pick up. But it is looking and smelling a lot better.

The only good thing I found in the crawl space was an old picture of Marilyn Monroe, black and white, laminated on wood. I cleaned it up but it disappeared amid the growing jumble of building supplies in the garage. I have not found Jimmy Hoffa down there yet, but I'm not ruling it out.

I was going to include a photo of the crawl space, but this picture that Nellie took in the garden at Fallingdowne is much nicer.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Too much pressure

The Young Grad has been pressure-washing for me this week. Suddenly the house looks quite all right with the grime gone from the gutters and the stucco walls washed down. We're using a cleaner that's "not harmful to pets plants or people." Johnny thinks it would be easier if it actually was harmful to moss. It doesn't want to come off the concrete walks.

Fixed/replaced the downspouts! It has been hard to find the right type without going the expensive way and calling in the gutter people to supply and install them (last time I did that it was several hundred dollars.) But Johnny and Nellie's former teacher had a bunch of pieces at her garage sale last week in the free pile, so these are Mme. LeGoff's downspouts.

There are only a few days left (and most of them I will be working at the office all day) before I feel I have to put this little place up for sale. Before all the potential buyers take off for summer vacation and the market slows down. And there's way too many things on the to-do list: Install kitchen cabinet handles, deal with the crawl space, paint baseboards and interior doors, install interior doors and door handles, paint the exterior trim, get rid of the weedy mess around the garage... I'm trying to figure out whether it makes sense to add construction of a small deck off the back of the house. More of a viewing platform, I think, since I only want it to be about 6 feet deep. Should I really be adding another project to this long list? (I won't be building it myself, fortunately, Joe would do it.) Or should I just spread some pea gravel around the area and paint the ugly concrete step? That might involve some jackhammering of asphalt and a lot of wear and tear on the old joints.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Spend, spend, spend


Never had a real, new bed before. I remember one garage-sale special that collapsed when Tom reached over to answer the phone early one morning. (Honest, that's how it happened. It was Cecilia Walters phoning about a news story.) Rob, who's staying at the house short-term, had only a box spring and mattress (half his household is still in Vancouver) and it seemed like a good idea to make things look less temporary for the house-hunters who will soon be coming through.
So I got the bed I've always wanted, but for now it is only a prop.

The cardboard trick




A wet and muddy weekend, but the plants seemed to like it.

I learned this planting method (and many other useful things about gardening) from Michael Cowan of Edibella Organic Landscapes. He calls it cardboard mulch, Peter calls it "the cardboard trick." Mary, for the record, says it doesn't work. It's not perfect, but it sure beats digging.

We dug deep holes for the plants and filled around and them with compost and dirt, then laid cardboard all around them, covering all the grass and soil. Then lots of fine bark mulch on top. The idea is the sod and weeds will die under the cardboard, which will slowly decompose. The reality is there are often breakouts of grass and weeds, but you can always add more bark, or cardboard, or landscape cloth over the whole thing, then more bark. I didn't think I liked bark, but I've realized weeds don't like it as much as they like growing in compost or dirt, so it saves a lot of work.

Also, tried the trim colour on the windows: "Noble Grey". Too wet to pressure wash the rest of the house, and not enough time, so let's hope we can do it tomorrow.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Details, details


Amazing what light fixtures and tiles can do for a place.
I always wanted subway tiles. The sconces are upside down though. I will try to turn them the other way if there's enough slack in the wiring.
It's starting to feel done in some rooms, though there are still closets to finish, washer and dryer to hook up, touch-ups on the drywall and painting inside and a whack of painting and landscaping and stucco repair to do outside.
Last night we hauled some bamboo, variegated holly and a pine and a few other plants to the house and plunked them into holes in the lawn to see how they looked. All I've really wanted to do all this time was to place that bamboo clump in one particular spot next to the front bedroom window. It's felt like the whole point of the purchase in my mind. So now it's there. I'll try to get pictures of it tonight.

Monday, June 4, 2007

Meanwhile at Fallingdowne...


Things are looking pretty neglected.

Before and after

In no particular order.
Does anyone know how to turn these photos right side up?






Sunday, June 3, 2007

Preoccupied with occupancy

Feels like I've had my head in a paint can for the last week. Sometimes I look like it too. It has been a rush to get the house in livable condition for today, when Rob arrived to stay for a month while he starts a new job and looks for a condo.

After months standing empty, the little house is about to become someone's home again.

It has been a lot of hours and a lot of help from others. I caved in and hired help with painting - and Zach saved the day, getting many rooms done over a
couple of evenings, after his day's work was already done.



Somehow the plumber and electricians got almost everything hooked up and working. Joe did the bathroom sink and our friend John installed the countertop, which I had stupidly mismeasured the first time around (I knew I didn't know what I was doing. Remind me never to try to measure a complicated countertop again.)
Anyway, here are the results so far:




<>

Now, time to start work outside, where the grass is out of control, but not as out of control as the bindweed.