The 30 Year Flip

A Home for the Holidays

2009-12-24T06:28:00.003-06:00

Aired last night on CBS's "A Home for the Holidays"

WOO HOO!!!!

2009-11-19T13:32:00.000-06:00

Check it out....

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/highlights/archives/2009/11/10_09_register.asp

(Kris tearfully stumbles her way up the ladder to accept the award...)

I'd like to thank all of the people that keep us going...
The real estate agent and home inspector that questioned our sanity.
The 13 insurance companies that wouldn't insure the house.
All of the people that kindly asked.... "You really live here?"
The assessor that dryly inquired "How many other rooms don't have ceilings?"
To Badger Disposal for the 16+ dumpster loads they have hauled away.
The constant stream of family and friends that show up weekend after weekend to demolish, repair, electrify, mow, and plaster.

And to my husband, who still thinks the project can be done in 3 years. :-)

Medallions - Zia Sun Symbol?

2009-09-13T21:22:00.003-05:00

Finally - after two years, the medallions are back on the second story porch. They had been removed for the stucco work done in late summer 2008. Unfortunately for us, they were probably not the originals (lumber dimensionally looks like it was replaced in the recent past) and had rotted.

The short history of this house is that the owners, A.M and Alice Bellack so enjoyed their travels to the Southwest, they had their Queen Anne home partially redone in the southwest style. The South and West facing are stucco - the North and East facing still maintain their clapboard. To add an air of mystery - we found a very old real estate agent's business card in the kitchen walls. The agent was from New Mexico. (my mastery of the English language astounds me... let me clarify - the business card is very old - I'm not sure how old the agent is/was).

That little tidbit of history lead down another research path. Note the medallions on the front of the house. They seem to resemble the Zia Sun Symbol on the New Mexico state flag. Here's a pic and history of the Zia Sun Symbol: (excerpt from Wikipedia, Zia)

The Zia Indians of New Mexico regard the Sun as a sacred symbol. Their symbol, a red circle with groups of rays pointing in four directions, is painted on ceremonial vases, drawn on the ground around campfires, and used to introduce newborns to the Sun. Four is the sacred number of the Zia and can be found repeated in the four points radiating from the circle. The number four is embodied in:

the four points of the compass (north, south, east, and west);
the four seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn and winter);
the four periods of each day (morning, noon, evening and night);
the four seasons of life (childhood, youth, middle years and old age); and
the Zia's belief that with life comes four sacred obligations one must develop (a strong body, a clear mind, a pure spirit, and a devotion to the welfare of others).

We hope someday to find pictures of how the house used to look - both interior and exterior. So much is missing from this dear lady and with so many mysteries unanswered, we're left to develop our own conclusions.

Pea Viner (Guest Post)

2009-07-26T17:27:00.004-05:00

Here it is! My very first guest post. It's in response to a question by one of two loyal readers. :) Kathy - here's your explanation of how a pea viner works - written by Kathy (aka Mom).

An old sickle mower is used to cut the pea vines. Then they are loaded onto a wagon or the truck. This year they had an old hay elevator (the thing on the back of the truck, second photo: http://schirmacher.blogspot.com/2009/07/dads-cars.html ) fixed up to pick up the pea vines and drop them into the truck. The load is then forked by hand onto the elevator that takes the vines into the machine. Inside there are screens and I think paddles that separate the peas from the vines and other debris. The vines go out the back of the machine onto a wagon and the peas roll down a wide canvas belt to the front side into a bin. Dirt and small stuff go out the back side on the canvas. The viner is operated by a belt connected to the belt pulley of a tractor.

This machine doesn’t move; it stays in the field all year, the screens and belt are taken out and stored. They have been doing this for 4 years. They put up signs on nearby roads inviting people to see the pea viner run and sample the peas.

Dad's Cars

2009-07-25T08:48:00.006-05:00

Since they can't physically be here for the old car parade, I'll add them virtually. First picture is the Model A and T. Second photo, (photo credit to Kathy Lang) is of "the truck." Perhaps Dad or Mom can enlighten me on the vintage. It's shown during the annual family pea viner event. (Update: Truck is a 1929 Ford)

You Can't Save Them All - Or Can You?

2009-07-23T19:34:00.003-05:00

I love old houses. The absent paint, broken windows, overgrown weeds and neglect of an abandoned, falling down building always stirs something inside me. I want to fix it. I want to save it - make it look pretty again. When looking for my first home, my real estate agent wouldn't even step past the front door in one of the houses I begged to look at. I happily climbed all over it, before deciding to stick with my decision to purchase in Columbus.

I've been told numerous times "You can't save them all."

I was thrilled to find this post from Old North St. Louis Blog. Even with my champion for the underdog attitude, I don't think I would have looked at these homes as something that could be saved. I'm amazed and in awe. What an amazing feat from a group of people taking back and creating their own community.

Here's the link:
http://onsl.org/blog/2009/07/a-holiday-celebration-of-real-revitalization-in-action.html

Dale and I really like the St. Louis area and maybe (hopefully) will purchase property down there. Our first visit 5 years ago found us lost in the North St. Louis area (I just wanted to find that Louis Sullivan building!!). Anyway, it wasn't an area we felt safe exploring. Little did we know about the magnificent changes that are happening in that area - if we'd only driven a little farther.

Angry House

2009-06-02T19:25:00.002-05:00

It was 2:00 a.m. on Sunday.

He paced back and forth in the upstairs hallway.

"What are they doing... do they know what they are doing.... My beautiful home.... Look at all of this plaster dust everywhere - the stairwell, the bedrooms, the hallway..."

The floorboards creaked as he paced the hallway, yet he left no footprints.

Smokin'

2009-06-02T18:16:00.004-05:00

Project "How The Hell Are We Going to Get This Done" File - Weekend 1

By July 2, we have to have the following completed - interior porch ceilings, medallion replacement, clapboard painting, electrical upgrades, replace lead pipes in the master bath AND run new plumbing to a new bathroom.

The race is on.

Equipped with a knowlegeable electrician, we replaced some old wiring and I'm happy to report have power on the porch for the first time in 4 years. We have new lighting for the stairwell which involved said electrician balancing on a 12 foot ladder - 1 side on a step the other side balanced on a stepstool and his toolbox. He tested one of the outlets . Breaker on, outlet popped and Dale yelled... "Smoke!!"

The concrete backer board needed to go down in the new bathroom (after removing the floor to the joists, knocking out the walls and the ceiling underneath). To mix the concrete, Dale retreived the hammer drill that had been loaned out over the winter. Turned the drill on and it smoked...

While using the sawzall, I noticed it seemed to be missing some of it's pep. Dale thought it was due to a dull blade. He used it to cut into the plaster wall/wooden wall that previously held the pocket doors - it took it's last breath 5 inches from the bottom. And started smoking....

So, my darling husband spent a half day off drooling over new tools. He brought home the newest addition to our family - a Milwaukee Sawzall and promptly declared that "It's smokin'!!!"

Things That Can't Be Explained

2009-04-30T19:55:00.009-05:00

Last week marked the 2 year anniversary of my Grandfather's death from Glioblastoma, Stage IV. For those of you unfamilair with it, it's a horribly aggressive and fatal brain cancer. The family is still reeling from the loss. He had a great sense of humor (Mom, remember the time he tied the walnuts to our half dead walnut tree to mess with you? - I can still hear him laughing over that one). He kept busy and worked hard and was always full of surprises.

The Christmas before the diagnosis (2006), I left my camera bag next to where he was sitting. Upon returning home, I found a 1974 silver dollar in the bag. Grandpa. :)

Around the time he got sick, I lost the silver dollar. My series of searches ended earlier this year when I emptied my desk drawers and reorganized everything - still no silver dollar. I was heartbroken that I'd lost the last thing he had given me.

This week I opened the drawer to get a ruler for E. There, in plain sight, was that silver dollar. My mother and my husband know how I clean - there is no way I missed that the last time I cleaned. I believe in ghosts (can't live in this house and not...), but this seemed too unreal. I've asked everyone if they put it in there, racked my brain trying to think of ways I could have missed it or how it could have shown up there. Finally, Mom said "Kris, sometimes you have to believe in things that can't be explained."

Thanks Grandpa.

Glass Houses

2009-04-07T10:51:00.002-05:00

It has been said that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It is with that saying in mind that I introduce our latest project, creatively named "Flat Roof Repair."

Prep for this project started last summer. We called roofers, begged them to call back or come out for a quote - no luck. We resigned ourselves to a springtime DIY project (not something we wanted to undertake ourselves). Luckily, our Stucco/Plaster Genius John found Joel. Joel and his crew come out later this week or early next to do the work. And we have a signed contract and he returns phone calls! Triple bonus.

We spent last weekend removing the damaged roof in the enclosed porch area and also the damaged roof in the open front porch area. We were surprised by the condition of the joists on the enclosed porch - not bad, not bad at all. Open porch not the same story - we said some words - words which Emily pointed out were "bad words."

So our focus turns to our glass house for the next few weeks. Never fear, soon we'll be back to throwing stones (City Hall roof repair).

Tour Brochure Volunteers - THANK YOU!

2009-04-06T16:46:00.004-05:00

I am deeply sorry for not getting this posting out sooner. I sincerely appreciate the contributions, sacrifices and heroic efforts to ensure the tour book was printed.

Wes Yuds - Wes not only has to work with my husband day in and day out, he also had to deal with the creative ungenius Kris ("can you change the font color to be the color of green grass on a day after it's stormed?"). He did ALL of the layout conversions (I was using publisher, which is a no-no for printers), scanned old postcards, cleaned up old scans, made wonderful layout recommendations and was ALWAYS pleasant about it - even when we spent the last month trying to do the front cover. Great job Wes.

Kathy Lang - She's a perfectionist and has that keen photographer eye for seeing the small details. She drove two and a half hours and went out with me in wicked winds to take most of the Tour 3 photos. She made a return trip to retake some of the photos that didn't turn out. Thanks Mom!!!

Rod Melotte - Already well known around these parts for championing a good cause, he's also willing to lend his photography skills to help out an organization in need. He also edited the lines out of the Zion Church photo (no small feat) and a storm window off a front porch (thanks again!). I wish I could have included some of his "artsy" photos, but this was purely a "front shot, normal light, fill the frame" job. Look for more of his work to turn up soon - I hope. Rod is responsible for most of the Tour 1 photos. http://publicenemiescolumbus.blogspot.com/

Michelle Martin - She had the hardest group to photograph - the downtown. I think the only time she was able to get photos without cars was on Sunday a.m. She also had the enviable task of photographing Farmers and Merchants bank. Michelle has done a lot of volunteer photography work for Columbus. http://www.michellemartinphotography.com/

John Salzwedel - John retook a few of the shots that weren't going to show up well in print - even out in a snowstorm to take photos of the F&M Bank. (And we didn't end up using the photo! Sorry!)

Nancy Osterhaus - She provided the photo of 334 South Ludington. With all of the trees and shadows, it proved a hard photo to get - luckily Nancy had taken a photo of the home for the Holiday Home tour a few years prior.

Sheila Worthen, Carolyn Fredericks, John Salzwedel, Alice Schmidt, Kim Bates, Carol Greiner - Thank you for all of the edits, rewrites, photographs, updated information and re-re-rewrite reviews.

Farmers and Merchants Bank, Columbus Landmarks and Historic Preservation, John and Retta Kurth, Robert and Evelyn McNulty, Sheila and Phil Worthen, Alice Schmidt, and Kris and Dale Schirmacher - your financial contributions put this project on the list of things that "could get done."

Dale Schirmacher - for taking care of the girls while I frantically tried to get the final product delivered, being my sounding board, telling me what was and was not possible in the printing and editing world, and offering a glass of wine and dose of reality when I needed it.

Schumann Printers and Mike Smit - Thanks for being patient. I think I gave Mike no less than 5 dates that the book "should be ready by." Everyone I dealt with at Schumann's was helpful, understanding and patient - even when we found corrections that needed to be made at the last minute.

Thanks again - The brochure is a wonderful snapshot in time of our beautiful community. It is even more special because of the many volunteers that contributed to its success.

Columbus History & Architecture Tour Brochure for Sale!!!

2009-01-29T14:26:00.008-06:00

I have it on good authority (because I am the authority - on this at least) that the Columbus History and Architecture Tours brochures are available for sale!!

$3.00 (yes, only three dollars) will buy you a 52 page "book" with three tours. Each walking/driving tour gives you a full color photo of buildings that have a unique history, architecture or homeowner.

The brochure has been many, many months and hundreds of volunteer hours in the making. I'm thrilled (and forever grateful) for the donations of money and time that helped push this brochure to completion. I'll use my next blog post to say a little about our donors and volunteers.

It is nice to report that the brochure sales will ensure that future printings of this brochure are fully funded. In addition, the brochure's format, photographs and postcards are now digital, making additions/corrections and future expansion even easier.

Where can I get one of these fabulous brochures?

Farmers and Merchants Union Bank (Downtown location only) - 159 West James Street - Not only are they helping us sell the books, they're the cover shot. A Loius Sullivan designed bank? In Columbus? YEAH!!! The interior is just as amazing as the exterior. http://www.fmub.com/

West James Gallery - 116 West James Stret - features a very nice selection of arts and crafts by local artists (paintings, photos, jewelry, textiles, woodware, mosaics,etc) -- all of this in a beautifully restored former bank building. Kim is also able to arrange shipping and credit card payments for those of you unable to make it to town (920-623-9096) http://westjamesgallery.blogspot.com/

Wisconsin Pottery - 1082 Park Avenue - Amazing redware pottery. They also have a doggie treat sales case. http://www.wisconsinpottery.com/

Sharrow Drugs - 100 South Ludington Street - 4 generations of family pharmacists! Sharrow's store (#54 in the brochure) has a great selection of unique gifts in addition to all of their drug store items. http://www.sharrowdrugs.com/

Julie's Java House - 409 North Ludington Street - Coffee and many, many bakery items. A perfect place to start tour #1

Columbus City Hall (Treasurer's office) - 105 North Dickason Blvd - While you're there - wander the halls a little and look at Susan Stare's paintings. http://www.cityofcolumbuswi.com/

tech writers a little bored?

2009-01-02T11:09:00.005-06:00

Dale, being a card carrying member of the "RTFM" brigade, noticed this at the bottom of the installation instructions for our new antenna. (see the last warning below).

Snow.

2008-12-21T12:33:00.004-06:00

I wonder if we should be concerned about this or not? :)

It looks worse than it is - I hope. It's a second floor window overlooking the flat roof. The grand debate is if the added weight of one of us removing the snow from the roof will cause it to fall in, or if we're better off removing the snow and risking broken limbs if it does fall in.

Even with the record setting snowfalls last year, I don't remember the snow being this high.

Paper Angels

2008-12-07T06:56:00.002-06:00

I can't seem to find the words to use to introduce this entry.

Unfortunately, I can't embed the video. Here is the link though (and lyrics below):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lAgP6JsDPE

Paper Angels
(Jimmy Wayne/Don Sampson)

After every day-after-Thanksgiving sale the malls just ain't complete
Without a bunch of decorations and a paper angel tree
There's artificial tree limbs
Saying what she'd love to have and what to buy for him

Well I hope Maggie likes her new winter clothes and her buggy with a baby doll
And maybe Tom'll smile in his new Nike shoes when he shoots that basketball
I can't help but wishing that I could do more
But not just while I'm shopping in the department store

Paper angels you're in my thoughts and prayers
No matter where you are right now remember God's right there
He's asking all of us to help take care
Of his paper angels everywhere

Going through the mail almost every afternoon I see a Mom and Dad's worst dream
There on the back of a money-saving ad to get my carpet cleaned
Height, weight, hair, eyes, date missin, and DOBA child's name, picture,
and the words 'have you seen me?'

Paper angels you're in my thoughts and prayers
No matter where you are right now remember God's right there
He's asking all of us to help take care
Of his paper angels everywhere

His documented bruises fill a folder in a file
She's a second grade self-portrait drawn without a smile
And every town is littered with this kind of debris
We've got to stop this madness and it's up to you and me

Paper angels you're in my thoughts and prayers
No matter where you are right now remember God's right there
He's asking all of us to help take care
Of his paper angels everywhere

A weeks worth of changes...

2008-10-03T14:14:00.003-05:00

Just a quick update:

September 21: Back from Missouri vacation.
September 25: Surprise to us! The children are back - to stay!!! We have the two girls. The eldest boy will stay where he is safe and happy.
September 29: 2 urgent care visits; 1 broken ankle (Kris)

So...we're still running in emergency mode and thankfully have a lot of family and friends helping out. Each day gets a little easier and everyone is adjusting to our new reality.

I leave you with this history lesson from the 5 year old:

100 years ago, God made the earth
one of the first things on the earth were dinosaurs and unicorns
the dinosaurs were "stinked" (extinct)
then people came along.

Scaffolding

2008-08-25T19:00:00.003-05:00

For those of you that do not know, we did not get the children. It sucks and there really isn't much of an upside to the situation - for us or them or anyone involved in the case. The fact that we don't have them and have the Fall River house on the market, means we are moving onto house projects that have been on hold due to time or child safety concerns.

After we moved in we removed a NASTY, rotton, moldy, cat urine infested porch off the backside of the house (before it fell off) and later decided to not replace it in favor of more kitchen counter space. That left an ugly spot of dead-ended clapboard, plywood, vertical boards, etc. My sister used the time she was going to spent with the children tearing the old siding off. We've got 1000 feet of clapboard coming soon. So we borrowed scaffolding. I don't think we set it up right - it doesn't reach the back of the house.... :)

Actually, while we're waiting for the clapboard, we've (ok, Dale has) devised a safe way to finally finish painting the side of the house. Left to my own devices, I would have parked the Aztek on the hill, set the parking brake (for safety of course) and run the ladder out of the open sunroof and painted the side of the house. Dale, being a stickler for safety, thought the scaffolding idea would be better. He made the comment "better than backing a truck up and putting a ladder in the truck bed." Little does he know that's how we painted my parent's house.... Ain't nuthin wrong with a little redneck every now and then.

Cadillac Converter

2008-08-12T18:56:00.004-05:00

I got my car washed last week, which only means one thing - something's going to break. Sure enough, this fell off my car on the way home:

Dale is off saving the world (or at least a roof or a building or something). A quick stop to see my son at the Dollar General tells me a few things: They don't sell this thing, I should still be worried about him living on his own and he has no clue what this is either. All I know is that my check engine soon light is still on and I don't have to turn the radio up to drown out the rattling noise it was making.

Brandon, trying to be helpful, declares it must be a heat cover for the catalytic converter "you know...." and he starts to get into all of the technical details of how the leg bone is connected to the hip bone, etc. My mind wanders - CADILLAC CONVERTER? Obviously it's not working right - the stupid car is still a Pontiac. Or was it a Cadillac and now a Pontiac?? Crap, that's just my luck, I get the car swan to ugly duck and not ugly duck to swan.

Anyone know where I can get a new cover? And how much it's gonna cost? I really want a Black Cadillac CTS...

Disclaimer: Yes Dad, I know what a catalytic converter is, yes, I was driving with the A/C on when it happened but I'm sure it didn't cause it to fall off. And no Brandon, it is not ok to cook questionable meat and decide after you've cooked and sampled it that it's no good.

Oooohhhh.... The anticipation!!

2008-07-27T12:28:00.002-05:00

I can hardly type - I'm so excited. The gentleman hired by HLPC to work on the National Register for Historic Places applications for 8 homes in Columbus will be here in a few minutes. He's going to take photos of the interior of the house. Oh, crap... he's going to take pictures of the interior....

Wonder what will prove to be most intriguing for him? The Hamm's beer can that was cut down and nailed over a hole in the floor? The gaping holes where the pocket doors were sold by a prior homeowner for mortgage money? The rustic beam ceiling in the dining room? (Ok, ok, they are joists and yes, those are spiderwebs and yes, those are lead pipes). My personal favs are the water feature in the basement and the front porch - although with sunny skies today, it's a shame he won't get to experience them.

I could laugh hysterically, until I'm in a corner rocking back and forth. But, I've done that too much lately - Dale's becoming numb to it and it's no fun without an audience. Or, I could hope that the guy is blinded by the size, rambling layout, staircase, wood trim and my non-stop chatter to notice all of the other "details." It's not like he's a professional or anything... AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

:)

Restored!

2008-07-14T18:41:00.003-05:00

Ha! Silly you if you thought the title meant anything in the house. Have you seen the house???

Actually, I refer to my attitude from a couple of weeks ago. We had a pet bite someone, and thought things were going to get really ugly. I spent an evening and part of a day swearing I was never going to stick my neck out again and help anyone. "I will not take in homeless animals, feel sorry for roadkill, bring donuts into work, volunteer, or be nice to anyone - anymore!!" It all ended well, and we got an opportunity to work with some wonderful people that really do their jobs well.

Speaking of that.... Many of you know we are "foster to adopt." I hope someday I can blog more about our experience - maybe help out other families. Right now it's keeping everything about the children as confidential as possible. I can say that now that we're participants in the program, the intricate network behind what is the special needs adoption program is phenomenal. The volunteers that pick the children up and drive them places, foster parents, the State, County and private social workers are amazing. Everyone we have come in contact with has truely had the best needs of children at heart - be it keeping the children in their family to finding the children a home when they can't stay with the birth family. I'm impressed and I know I couldn't do that work day in and out. No matter how the next few weeks turn out, I can say that my faith in humanity is.... Restored.

Are we in twouble again?

2008-06-25T17:20:00.003-05:00

So, we officially became "those parents" this week when stopping at Mullins for lunch with the kids. I apologize wholeheartedly to our waitress - As a former waitress (10 years) I knew what she was thinking as she approached our table. One child playing monkey, one very decisive child and one indecisive child. But all ended well. We ate, played, tore through the house, fed the deer, fed ourselves and had fun.

The trip there and back netted a discussion in proper behavior in a car (i.e. no fighting). Yup, we pulled over on the side of the road once there and once back. As we slowed down to pull into town, the little one asked "Uh oh.... are we in twouble again?" Then she giggled.

We're really looking forward to seeing them again!

ENOUGH!!!

2008-06-15T13:44:00.005-05:00

I almost titled this "When it rains, it pours" but I and probably everyone else in this area are tired of water related subjects.

The past week has been an amazing flurry of activity - a non-graduation party, with people from South Carolina, up Nort, and Minnesota, running concurrently with a flooded basement and tornado sirens. Follow that up with the graduation, more flooding and meeting the children that may join our family.

Our water "issues" started two weeks ago. It appears that the weight of the scaffolding and stucco work from last summer cracked the pipe that carries water from our second floor flat roof/balcony to the yard. We realized the pipe was clogged and broken when we had 5 inches of water on the roof - and heard it pouring into a small crawl space in the basement. The flat roof was on the list of fixes - just not immediate. Super Dale managed to break out the cast iron pipe and replace it with PVC, test it for leaks and our stupid homeowner optimism assured us we could make it a couple of weeks through the graduation and have enough time to find someone to fix the flat roof.

Supid homeowner optimism didn't take into consideration torrential downpours and enough water for an ark. I guess this new development pushes the roof repair to the near top of the list of things to fix. I'm not sure how to prioritize it against fixing up/selling my in-law's home, putting a bathroom in the upstairs for the kids or trying to maybe get the kitchen finished. Ooooh.... and add an all day fund raiser on the 22nd into the mix.

Bad Vacuum

2008-05-11T15:53:00.000-05:00

Poor weasels... They're afraid of the big mean vacuum cleaner.

2 = 7 ????

2008-04-13T16:59:00.000-05:00

As we make changes to the house, I'm fanatical about searching the back of molding for clues or messages. So far we haven't found anything interesting. Yesterday's find on the back of the bathroom door trim still has me puzzled. 2 = 7? I'm not a math whiz, but I don't think that's right...

Dale and I try to be very clear and concise when leaving message for future homeowners. We've got notes stashed on the back of drywall all over the house (dates of work, party guests, a disertation on respect, tallies of who missed the most w/drywall screws, song quotes, etc.). Our latest is a dire warning to explain that we put the bench in the kitchen for a reason.

Diane!!!

2008-03-19T20:10:00.000-05:00

You thinking what I'm thinking? Suddenly an aisle runner isn't nearly as much fun as fake cobblestone....

Must be a Ford..

2008-03-18T18:06:00.000-05:00

I couldn't get close enough to tell, but Dad always said you could tell it was a Ford if it was on the side of the road or gettin' pulled by something.

(This is the filming of the street scene for the Public Enemies movie.)

Look Ma! No...

2007-07-29T20:03:00.000-05:00

.. common sense. :)

Not our fault, you raised us.

What do normal people do on the weekend?

2007-07-29T19:49:00.000-05:00

We bought 200 square feet of flooring, construction screws and more studs. Our projects included pounding nails out of "select" red birch flooring (about 120 square feet of it), framing in walls, running electrical, removing lath, adding lath, installing drywall and cleaning up for the flooring project.

Before and after of the "pink room"

Pandora's Box

2007-07-19T20:08:00.000-05:00

4 layers of stucco (sandwiched with some sort of improperly installed paper patching), bad window flashing, wood rot around the windows, disintegrating lath = this:

(note - in the 1920's when the house was stuccoed, they put it right over the original clapboard)

Everyone got nailed...

2007-07-04T18:55:00.000-05:00

July 1, 2007 - Bedroom Expansion

The basic premise of this project is: Keep the house 5 bedrooms, make them bigger and add some closet space. The only way that would happen would be to remove the walls to a 9 ft by 19 ft sleeping porch, split it in half and expand two existing bedrooms.

Help arrived in a silver Grand Prix and a black Buick. The eager, yet uncoordinated crew tackled the trim, plaster and what was once an exterior wall with vigor. The walls were no match for us. However the house fought back. All members of the crew ended up stepping on nails. Some twice.

Bemused by my declaration that we finish by 10:30, we labored on. At 4:00 the battle was over. The house had won. We would have to finish another day. It's probably a good thing I don't manage projects for a living. :)

Limping, they all headed home for tetanus shots. (Yes, Mom and Dad actually went in for shots).

Pictures show before and after.

For Diane and Karen...

2006-11-05T20:16:00.000-06:00

Yup, in Victorian times there wasn't heat throughout the house, so in order to keep the water from freezing, it needed to be placed in front of the fireplace. He He.... For those of you familiar with the house, please note the absence of ugly red brick. It didn't put up much of a fight - 30 minutes and it was down and tossed out the window.

Kitchen - 2 year status report

2006-11-05T20:00:00.000-06:00

Yup. 2 years.

Photos showing tile counters, some shots of the dirty walnut floor before we covered it, Kris's baking area, Dale's fancy 5 burner cooktop and Brandon's sink and dishwasher. :) If you look carefully at the photo with the walnut flooring, you can see a huge hole - floor slopes way too much, so it will become a bench seat and table area.

I'm back!!!

2006-09-21T20:22:00.000-05:00

Woohoo! I finally remembered the login ID! Must keep password in a place safer than the recesses of my mind. :)

The latest updates - we've got the granite tile for the counters, the french doors gone, and the door to the bathroom moved. Moving the bathroom door was fun. We found where the mysterious vent stack at the end of the house ended. The previous owners cut it off, drywalled over it and didn't cap it off on the top - open pipe to the outside - who doesn't want water cascading between the walls? Or perhaps it was a clever ruse to divert the attention from the missing wall studs and studs that were chopped into to run something.

But, I digress. Focus on the kitchen - latest picture attached. It has actually been painted, but it is hard to get a photo with the wall ovens, fridge and cabinets shoved to the center of the room. Hopefully after this weekend all of the pieces parts will move to their new, permanent home. And, sometime we should haul the extremely large, extremely heavy radiator back in the house - it is almost October. Good thing it doesn't get cold in Wisconsin.

You've got that look...

2006-08-13T15:01:00.000-05:00

That "look" translates into "I really don't like this at all..."

Ok - Let's start at the beginning - abridged version. Beautiful, unique old home in Wisconsin. Some neglect, some blatant abuse (future rant). Despite the lack of heat, falling stucco, having to beg for insurance and numerous raised eyebrows from parents, co-workers, siblings, our real estate agent and friends, we bought the house and moved the teenager and ferrets in March 2004.

In addition to the other projects, we started on the downstairs kitchen in November 2004. Little step by little step, we reach Summer 2006. Cabinets are designed, appliances purchased and the cabinet carcasses are built. Dale, Brandon and Robert move the fridge in for a temporary fitting. Now our story has come full circle. To say I disliked the way the fridge looked in the space is probably too mild (reference big ugly fridge in picture). Dale, with all of the collective Kris wisdom he's built up over the last 9 years, notes the look and chooses to acknowledge it, knowing what is going to happen. KITCHEN REDESIGN!!! Yup, after a few hours of moving the wall ovens, wall oven cabinets, work surfaces, etc, the collective group comes up with a new plan. We're ditching the french doors (reference picture) that lead to a non-existant deck. We really didn't want to build the deck anyway. French doors will now be windows, window will now be a door to the outside. Wall ovens to the left, fridge to the right and move the bathroom entrance tothe dining room. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?? HeHe... welcome to my world.