Making Progress

I have been making some headway into demolishing the main floor. I need to step up my game a little and stop waiting until after lunch to get over to the house. But the main floor is getting closer every day, little by little.

Unfortunately, I have no picture of my progress so I offer you a picture of two cats on a rocker.


A little feline synchronized snoozing for your entertainment pleasure. Hopefully by Wednesday, I will have the main floor done, including the ceilings.

Demolition, or Behold the Power of a Four Pound Hammer

This is what our living room looks like today. I did this all with a four pound hammer and a snow shovel. Here is how. I took the hammer and hit up and down the wall to loosen the plaster from the slats behind it. At first I hit hard enough to go through the plaster and the slats but I learned how hard to hit it just to crack the plaster. I did this up and down the walls until I thought I had the plaster just hanging there. Then I used the hammer to open up an area to the slats big enough for the blade of this snow shovel. For the most part, the plaster fell off the wall like butter off a hot knife. I decided to leave the lath on the wall. There is blown in insulation behind it and I want to preserve that.

Really, it was easier than I thought it would be. But I will admit, it was really amazing how much heavier that hammer got as the day went on. Eerie.

When removing horsehair plaster, it is really important to use all eye and respiratory safety precautions. There are things in this plaster that can make you sick so I didn't take any chances. And I learned that although wearing the hat backwards looks cooler, the bill of the hat helps keep plaster crumbles out of my safety glasses.

After a while, I was able to lose the coat, even though there is no heat in the house. I finished removing the walls in the living room and the library and tomorrow will take some of the moulding out of the house and get started on the kid's play area.

This seems to be moving along rather well (knock on wood.) Tomorrow I will call to get trash service started to get some of this plaster out of here and hopefully remove the plaster from the walls in the kids play room. I also need to call an electrician and schedule a time for him to come by and look at the wiring.

Overall, I am happy with the progress of the main floor.

A Little Note about Links

I believe that you can find information concerning whatever problem you are facing on the Internet if you know how to search for it. However, I have yet to find a website that covers a total house renovation.

There are some really great websites on specific renovations and repairs but not one that covers everything from roof inspection to selecting a furnace. So, if you look to the right, I will be linking to those sites as I find them. The topics will hopefully cover everything you need to know to repair or replace just about everything in your house.

Oh, and when looking for information about installing windows, make sure you put house windows. Bill Gates has a little product that goes by a similar name. It tends to get a higher Google search ranking without being specific.

First Salvo

So today we made the first effort into the home restoration. We bought stuff. And where do I go when I want to buy stuff for home improvement? I go to Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse.

I have said this before and people thought I was joking or they may have just thought it was funny, but we shop at Lowe's because HOME DEPOT KILLS PEOPLE!!

No kidding! Don't believe me. Check this out:
Accident Claims Lives of Home Depot Shoppers

From the article, describing the death of a 3-year old girl:

The countertops splintered and large fragments of broken lumber scattered around the area. Horner-Cunningham pushed the cart carrying her youngest daughter away from the lumber that was "flying through the air end over end." As she turned to grab Janessa and move her away from the danger, two large pieces of splintered lumber hit Janessa and "crushed her into the concrete floor," the mother said.

"I grabbed her bruised little body and screamed 'Janessa,' realizing she was unconscious," Horner-Cunningham said. "I laid her down on the floor, too scared to check for a pulse or breathing. She was already bruised all over her body, her face, and one eye [was] swollen purple. Everyone in the store kept reassuring me that she was going to be OK but I knew that she wasn't."

The lumber that hit Janessa split a main blood vessel in her brain and broke bones throughout her body. She was disconnected from life-support machines several hours later. Her parents donated her organs, except her heart: It was too damaged from the accident to salvage.

They were following Home Depot's safety guidelines when this happened. The number of deaths at Home Depot has been estimated to 30 customers. Have you heard of any? Probably not and Home Depot loves that fact. They make people sign confidentiality agreements to settle the lawsuits.

Lowe's has never killed anyone. That doesn't mean it's not dangerous but it means they are doing something right. I know. I used to work there. Lowe's is very safety conscious and I appreciated that fact. Little tip to share with you. When you are shopping at a big warehouse store, look up. Don't just look up once, but always look up. Look for pallets hanging over the side or stuff not secured to the pallets. That is the stuff that will kill you or whoever you are shopping with then. And if you find something you think is unsafe, tell a manager. Don't tell the pimply-faced stocker. Tell a manager. They will do something and you may save a life.

Now, we bought a little over $100 worth of stuff. Nothing big, really. Got a hammer, a prybar, respirator and filters, some large trashbags and then some light bulbs at Wal-Mart. That pretty much wore the boy out. He's pretty good out of the gate, but not much for stamina.

So we gathered our new stuff and headed for the house. The electricity service was started today and we could see the basement for the first time without the use of a flashlight.

The first thing that had to happen was I had to remove the dead possum from the basement. Oh yeah, dead possum. That smell was lovely. I have a picture of the dead possum if anyone wants to see it. It was a medium sized vermin and is not on the front porch in one large garbage bag. Come and get it.

Following the removal of the possum, I walked around the basement and looked for light sockets that needed bulbs. Once I illuminated the rooms, I saw that it was filled with junk that we might make a profit from in a yard sale. I also found another room but did not enter it because it was pitch black and I was without a flashlight.

I then went and retrieved my Uncle Junior, who came up to look around with me to help spot any structural deficiencies.

I started working with my Uncle Junior when I was fifteen. I mostly broke the equipment I was using and he helped me fix it.

During a tour of the basement, he turned to me and said, "You haven't gotten any smarter since you were a kid." All I could do was laugh. Ah, good times.

He helped me understand that there wasn't a low spot in the dining room floor. He found that there was a high spot. For some reason, someone has jacked up the floor under the dining room and created a hump in the middle of the room. Uncle Junior spotted this and said it could be fixed fairly easily. We then moved upstairs and started talking about the carpeting. I wondered if there was hardwood flooring under the carpet. He said when I tore the carpet up, I would find out. I said, "Let's do it now." I happened to be carrying a box cutter and tore up part of the carpet. Lo and behold, beautiful hardwood flooring.

We left after that. I think I may leave the basement the way it is for now and get to work stripping the plaster off the walls. There is a ton of trash in the back yard and I think I'll just deal with all that garbage at one time. Plus, the sooner I get the walls gutted, the sooner I can have an electrician look at the wiring.

Remember that movie "The Money Pit..."

Here I am, standing on the porch of my family's new house. On January 12, we finally finished all the paperwork on this monster and collected the keys. Now the real fun begins: making it livable for the Lester brood.

There are a couple reasons we bought this house. First off, we needed a bigger place. We have outgrown our secluded homestead in Quitman and this place is more than double the size. Second, it is about 25 miles closer to where I work. And third, look at this picture:

In the foreground is the corner of our new home. In the background, you can see my parent's house. So living that close is a great benefit for the family.

This future luxurious dream house needs a lot of work. Let me show you how much exactly, starting where we started looking: the basement.

The Basement

The door to the basement opens to this:

These stairs are about shoulder width and weak. I worried walking down them about whether they would shoulder my weight. They will need replaced. And yes, that is a drain line running through the stair.

Sara and I had no idea what we would find in the basement but we were happy with one surprise. The size of the basement is much greater than we expected. Plus, it was filled with all kinds of junk for us to pay someone to haul away. Jackpot!

Here is one of several rooms in the basement. We just did some minor exploring while we were down there because there were no lights. We had not called for electricity and were using a flashlight. (By the way, the flash on our digital camera is great.)







Here is another room in the basement and - cha-ching- free trash cans. More loot for me. Looks like there is some metal shelving and a big flower pot. I didn't look but I'm hoping there are a couple Dr. Hy-Vees left in those boxes next to the white trash can.

Here you can see the outside entrance to the basement. The previous occupants were kind enough to leave refuse on these steps for us to remove. One part of me would really like to meet these people, but one part of me knows I really, really don't want to meet them.

This leads up to the area by the back door. I foresee a deck in this are with these stairs being implemented into the deck. I would like to build some sort of cellar door style covering for this area, for when it isn't being used and to keep snow out. I have not worked all that out yet. We're a long way from working on that project.

Finally, here is the star of the basement. When I saw this, I was both awe-struck and feeling a presence of evil. This, dear ones, is: the furnace. Dun-dun-duuuuuuuuuuh!

I'm fairly sure this was the furnace in the movie "A Christmas Story." I saw it and felt like Luke Skywalker felt when he laid his eyes on Darth Vader in "Empire." It was a soup of fear, anger, confidence and doubt, all jumbled together.

Let me tell you a little story. When I was in junior high, my friend Travis Brandt lived in this house. I was over here all the time. Once, he opened the door to the basement. He was giving me the tour, I think. He looked down the stairs and said, "That's the basement. I don't go down there. It freaks me out a little." I knew what he meant. Just looking down those stairs, I felt the presence of evil. It chilled me to the bone. My point?

This furnace was the cause of that evil.

Man, creeps me out 25 miles away, just knowing it lies there waiting for me.

The Foyer and Main Staircase

The front door to this house is pretty cool. I don't have a picture of it but I will get one. The one I took was back lit and dark. But trust me, it's worth saving. But the foyer is a little dark, so I would like to put a window or two along side it, to lighten things up. The floor in the foyer has been covered in parquet flooring, which is now loose. I am sure there is hardwood flooring under it. I'd rather have that anyway.

The staircase has a really cool main post that I would like to clean up and get back to new again. It seems sturdy and I hope will serve us well. A majority of the balusters on the handrail are missing and will have to be replaced. Te stairs, however, are in great condition. I was very happy with their condition. There is a rug on the stairs and I can see beautiful wood peeking out from under it. I would like to just have that wood, but wonder about kids in socks slipping on finished wood. This staircase is the main focal point as you open the door so I want it to shine. But not if I have to sacrifice safety. Hopefully, I can find a solution and achieve both.



There is a hallway in the foyer that will be worked on also. The carpet will be removed to show the hardwood floors I hope are under it and the walls will be redecorated. Currently, there is wallpaper on these walls that someone has painted over. I had never seen someone paint wallpaper before so I don't know if that is common or not, but it seems stupid and lazy to me. So, demo the walls and paint it up how I, I mean, Sara, likes it. The heating grate in this hall is pretty cool also. I hope I can polish it up and make it stand out in the area. There is paint and some other build-up on it, but I have confidence in the chemical industry providing a safe manner of fixing it.

The Living Room

The room we have decided to be our living room has a really cool wood floor. The pattern is unusual and I think it will really be a beautiful floor when I get finished with it.

The walls in this room are cracked and need replaced, along with the ceiling. The room also needs some more electrical outlets. I have debated whether to work with the plaster walls or replace them. I am currently leaning towards replacing them. I would like to insulate the house better and this room has two walls that are exterior walls. That and the rewiring motivate me to replace them. But I have not made up my mind yet on this. It could change.

The Kid's Day Room

The center of the house on the main floor opens to a long room which we both think makes a great place for the kids' play area.

The carpet in this room is filthy, musty and has to go. Again, I hope there is hardwood under it. Sara says the paneling is good to go for now, but I will get rid of it. Just give me enough time. The door leads to the wrap around porch and is covered by layers of paint. It is a nice door and I hope to save it.

By the way, you can see the door leading to the Lair of the Furnace. It is right next to the door leading outside. Didn't I tell you? Evil even in binary code.

The Library

This room was being used as the master bedroom, but we are going to turn it into the library, with wall to ceiling bookcases, maybe a hide-a-bed.























It's just too bad we can't show off these walls. I mean, WOW! But these walls are all exterior walls and I will be tearing them out for insulating purposes and for wiring. The closet has a window in it. Nothing more to add, just thought it was a weird place for a window. We'll be using the closet to store games and school supplies.

There is a reason I think a hide-a-bed or futon will be in this library. It features a full bath that was used as a master bath. So, this room is actually a library/guest room. Feel free to stop by for a visit.

But first we'll have to replace the toilet, bath, shower walls, sink, vanity and check the plumbing to make sure it is insulated and not busted from the winter.

But after that, it's all yours.



The Dining Room

Next to the day room is the dining room. This room has two doors in it, one leading to the wrap-around porch in the front and another leading to where the deck will someday be located.

The door to the back will need a new exterior storm door and both interior doors will need refinished. Also, this room has a low spot, a slant that leans toward the kitchen. I need to get under the house with some lighting and see if this is structural or intended. It worries me quite a bit. But this is a nice room for dining in and I hope to construct a large concrete table for our family. So far, Sara and Willa are against that idea. That's a double whammy. But, if I build it, they will come...to dinner.

If you have never seen the beauty of concrete counter tops or tables, check this out.

The Kitchen

This kitchen is gonna be a lot of work. It is a buffet style kitchen and it needs all new counter tops, which I plan to make out of concrete. It will need new cupboards, new flooring and the window at the end needs replaced. The other window has a counter top built over it, which I will remove. There is also space at the other end of the kitchen that needs work.

The biggest project here, however, will be the partial removal of the wall to the left of the picture. I would like to take it out to about bar level, so the kitchen is opened up to the rest of the house. The way it is, you are secluded when in the kitchen. The wall is really thick though, so it may be a support wall or a wet wall. This one I'll need outside help with, I think.

Pretty much, this room is a total do over. About the only thing salvageable is the ceiling. And I'm not too fond of it, either.

The Mud Room

This room looks like it was tacked onto the back of the house as an afterthought. It has a heating vent to it and will probably hold our deep freeze. Not much to see here.

Upstairs Bathroom

This room is pink. Oh, and the sink...it's on the floor. Two big problems with this room. First things I saw, anyway.

It will also need a new toilet, new flooring, ceiling, tub/shower. The moulding needs replaced and the door also needs a door knob.

This will serve as the main bathroom for the family, being upstairs with the bedrooms.

So, did I mention it was pink? Oh yeah, they painted everything pink. Even the tiles on the walls.

Something that I noticed while I was standing there looking at the tragic pinkness of the room was there was no door knob. There are a lot of rooms in this house without a door knob, so that didn't surprise me.

What did confuse me, though, was this:



As I said, the door had no door knob, so it would not stay shut. But this lock is on the outside of the bathroom, and the door swings outward. What is this all about? Why would you have a lock on the outside of the bathroom, where you couldn't open it when you were finished?

Sara asked if I thought they locked their kids in the bathroom.

After some questioning, it seems that may be the reason for the lock on the outside.

Looking around at the carnage they left behind, nothing would surprise me.

The rest of the rooms up here were bedrooms, except for the room we will be using for a "hobby" room.

This room has windows all along the western and northern walls. All these windows will need to be replaced.

I'll post a more later, but this marathon post has taken a great deal of time today as it is. But you can see the enormity of the job ahead of us. It will be an adventure.