February 25, 2004
Heck's a-poppin'...
...On the renovation. While we were up in SF, work continued on as it should. When we returned at 12AM on the 16th we found the stucco finished and the forms set for the new driveway. First thing the next morning the mixer shows up and we're a-pouring.
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This past weekend the missus and I set about the task of building a new privacy fence (came out to be around close to 50' of fence). We didn't want anything fancy just a nice wall effect that would give privacy to the master bedroom and elongate the house to accentuate the angle siting of the house. Came out pretty nice if you ask me. This will end up being painted the same color as the body of the house, which we've not decided on yet.
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Today the concrete pads arrived. 5 pallets of these beasts. They each weigh about 150lbs and are a bitch to move around. We were successful in getting 3 (of the 32 we ordered) set today. At this rate we should be done by thanksgiving! One note about these pads... Pouring concrete is expensive and the largest pre-cast paving stones you can buy are only 24" square. We felt this would be too small for the look we are going for. Instead we opted to buy 36" pre-cast "mechanical pads" (sometimes referred to as "air conditioner pads") While the grade of concrete is lower so is the price! These utility pads are a fraction of the cost of pouring concrete. Just a tip from me to you friend.
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Electrical Upgrade
This week we also started the kitchen electrical upgrade. Just a little demo... The plaster walls had deteriorated to the point where trying to cut a hole, the whole thing fell apart. Looks like we're going to have to demo the walls and hang new sheet rock in the kitchen, which is just as well, it's the right way to do it and it will look better in the end.
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And here's one for the boys (or girls, depends on what floats yer boat). This is our good friend and rough & ready electrician. Even I can agree that that's a fine lookin' butt!
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Interior Prep
The endless caulking continues... That's the living room ceiling. Even after 2 rounds of TSPing you can still see the nicotine (or god knows what substance) up there. At least the caulk and (hopefully!) the paint will stick.
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A word about trim... These homes lend themselves to the "sans trim" treatment. When we did the house we currently live in, we removed all of the trim and floated out the doorways and baseboards. The end product is clean, modern and perfect for a mid-century upgrade. It's not hard work, but it is time consuming. In the end, it looks great!
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February 10, 2004
Progress
As the majority of demolition work winds down, progress photos are not quite as dramatic - but nonetheless we're still working our tails off over there. We're now at the point where we begin to prep for painting, installation of floors - ordering cabinetry, plumber comes soon etc. Here then are this past weeks photo's.
Driveway Be Gone!
The actual removal took about a day and filled a 20 yard dumpster. Not too shabby! We thought we had it all figured out. But not so fast grasshopper... We've been moving so quickly that inevitably - we've begun to make a few mistakes. Mistake number one was not listening closely to what we could and could not put into the dumpster. All I heard was "No appliances" and all the missus heard was "No dirt" - when we'd finished filling the dumpster we were about to call to have it picked up and it hit me... I don't think we were supposed to put all that concrete and asphalt in there. Doh! And we weren't. There's no way they can haul that puppy up on the truck. It probably weighs well over 25 tons.
Tomorrow they drop off the "low boy" (intended for concrete, dirt, etc.) and we get to move half that asphalt from one dumpster to another. Yippie! The guy at PS Disposal was actually really great about the whole thing and hopefully - most of it will end up getting recycled.
Front Landscaping
We got our landscaping plans from our go-to designer guy. With some minor changes we began staking out the front. Today the ficus hedges went in. Even though they are 15 gallon plants they still look kind of puny at the moment but in a month or two, they'll begin to look more like a hedge.
So. Cal Edison
Any of you who own a home in Southern California are probably familiar with pathetic and brutal tree trimming work performed by the electric company, So. Cal Edison. They don't give a crap what it looks like when they're finished as long as it doesn't touch any wires. In fact they left our neighbor with a 30 ft. stump of a palm tree in his back yard last month. Nice.
So I was a little freaked when I walked out this morning to see they're trimmers heading into the back yard with chainsaws. Thankfully our gardener was here planting the ficus and he negotiated (in much better spanish than we could have come up with) a deal to have them take the whole "beard" taken off - instead of just hacking away at one side of the tree as they would have done. This "deal" was not exactly cheap but at least it looks good. I fear what we might have found had we not been around.
BEFORE
AFTER
On the Rocks
In preparation for the 40 tons of gravel going in next week, I've had to move a few little rocks. I have no idea where these beasts will end up, but we'll find a home for them somewhere.
Floors
Carpets were pulled a few weeks ago and now we're working on getting the glue up so we can lay the new flooring. We've also gotten most of the old linoleum up. Just this little bit left. It's hard and slow work. I've been procrastinating
Walls and Ceilings
As I think I mentioned before, this house was so covered in grease, grime and nicotine it was beyond disgusting. The missus has spent the better portion of the past week TSPing all of the walls and ceilings. If we didn't clean them, the paint wouldn't stick. TSP is nasty stuff, it can really burn your skin - so if you use it, be careful! Wear heavy duty gloves and goggles.
The ceilings in these homes are tongue and groove boards which expand and contract over time. If not sealed properly they tend to have large gaps and look unfinished. When we renovated our current home, we sealed them all up with caulk and they look fantastic. So begins that chore.
BEFORE TSP and CAULKING
AFTER TSP and CAULKING
Watch out! The missus is wicked with a caulk gun!
That's it for this week!
February 02, 2004
Gar-bage - Round 2
Second dumpster is full and ready to go. We'll get a new one tomorrow. Take a good look at that old crumbly asphault driveway. It goes bye-bye on Wednesday.
Kitchen Demo
Let me start by saying...
I HATE BLACK WIDOWS!
I found this big bad momma when I went to pull the garbage disposal. She was (yes, was - she's dead dead dead now - better her than me!) probably the biggest I'd ever seen. Her abdomen was about 1/2 inch around... "Honey?!?! Get me the ShopVac™ will ya?!?"
Kitchen demo is done - now we wait for plumbing. These pics show a more accurate view of the filth and grime that existed here. Also, when we pulled the last of the cabinets, we discovered some, how should I put this... Creative wiring...
Choo Choo Lounge
The Choo Choo Lounge has been demo'ed and is ready for sheet rock, floors and paint ... Whoot Whoot!
Yard Cleanup
Saturday was cleanup day. Our gardner arrived with 5 of the hardest working guys I'd ever seen - and they kicked ass. They pulled about 15 dead Oleanders and replaced with new plants. Pulled about 4 stumps, 2 trees and they even uncovered a side yard we didn't know existed! Well, we knew the space was there but it was so full of yard waste and garbage that we kind of ignored it. I think this will become the main access to the rear yard (they call them service entrances, but that sounds a bit fancy...).
They also trimmed our palms. These palms had not been trimmed in at least 10-15 years and the task was daunting. When they are so over grown they are usually filled with rats. No way in hell you'd get me up there. Must be why the palms cost us $100 each to trim!
Three truckloads to the green dump. They worked straight through the day with few breaks. We gave them a 12 pack of Bud Light around 4:00 - in addition to a rather large sum of money. But when all was said and done - we got a hell of a deal.
Guest Shower Demo
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This shower has now become my nightmare. The shower pan had rotted out and needed to be replaced, so we decided to rip the whole thing out and put in a new shower. Little did I know that back in '59 (this is all original tile) they took their mortar beds very seriously. In the second picture you may note that it's about 2.5 inches thick. It took me 3 hours to get this far. The pounding I had to give this @#$*! wall to break it up has caused my right arm and hand to go numb. I can barely lift my cocktail! The horror!