Wednesday, October 31, 2007
It Came From Under The House!
More scary stuff just in time for Halloween.
The old dead pipes -- that's the cold water pipe from the shower.
Sorry if you are reading this over lunch, but here is the inside of the shower pipe:
And a closer, though blurry version. Maybe it's better blurry so you aren't so freaked out.
The old dead pipes -- that's the cold water pipe from the shower.
Sorry if you are reading this over lunch, but here is the inside of the shower pipe:
And a closer, though blurry version. Maybe it's better blurry so you aren't so freaked out.
Aaaaaahhhhhhhh
Just showered in our old shower with new pipes, new showerhead, new faucet handles, new water pressure. It's crazy awesome that you can turn on the water, then if you want a smidge more hot, you just turn the handle a smidge more and you get some more hot and even more pressure! In the old days it was bascially one setting for hot and if you wanted more hot, you turned the cold down. Water pressure remained the same at barely more than a strong trickle.
I'm so happy. Nevermind that there is much plaster patching to do...WE HAVE NEW PIPES! WE HAVE WATER PRESSURE LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE!
I'm so happy. Nevermind that there is much plaster patching to do...WE HAVE NEW PIPES! WE HAVE WATER PRESSURE LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE!
Labels: house
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Shiny!
Under the kitchen sink! Shiny new copper pipes!
Oh and I guess we have some patching to do....
Oh and I guess we have some patching to do....
Out With The Old
It's good that you only get to look at the insides of your old pipes when they are being replaced with bright shiny new copper pipes. I mean YIKES!
This one is from the laundry hook up:
This is from the kitchen:
Look at the tub spout! Blech!
Let's see a close up on that hideousness!
And that cold water shower pipe:
This one is from the laundry hook up:
This is from the kitchen:
Look at the tub spout! Blech!
Let's see a close up on that hideousness!
And that cold water shower pipe:
Monday, October 29, 2007
Kitchen KlusterF***s--New Pipes Going In
Talk about Just In Time!
The plumbers opened the wall to get to the shower/bathtub pipes. Check out the pipes on the cold water:
Holy crap! That was gonna blow and soon. (click for even bigger horror.)
The plumbers opened the wall to get to the shower/bathtub pipes. Check out the pipes on the cold water:
Holy crap! That was gonna blow and soon. (click for even bigger horror.)
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Beating the Heat
We converted the garage a couple of years ago into an office space for Kurt. The walls are drywalled and we put in a big window (thanks to Kurt and Mary) and a new entry door so it feels like a cool little studio. But "Cool" doesn't work in summer as there is no ceiling, just the unfinished underside of the roof. So in the summer it gets beastly hot from time to time. There is an R2 unit air conditioner, but it has to work too hard and wasn't as effective as possible with all that hot air coming through. So, a frugal idea -- use a large shade sail to block as much sun/heat as possible before it hits the roof all afternoon.
Voila:
And it appears to be working pretty well for the price/effort.
Voila:
And it appears to be working pretty well for the price/effort.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
DIY My Ass
We had a Saturday project on the books today -- regrout one part of our kitchen countertop tiles and see how hard it is, then do the rest. (It's not a big kitchen.) Part of that was to also recaulk the sink area because it really needed it. Really. A lot. We thought we'd have a day long project, let it all dry for 24 hours, cook easy stuff on the BBQ and use nothing we needed to wash. Oy.
Welcome to our new reality show:
Kitchen Klusterfucks!
Starring your hosts, Kurt and Julia!
While we did do research and bought all the right tools, we still had the wrong tools. But I will say it was not quite our fault. The house is 70 years old and the tile is original and therefore the grout is very very thin. So thin that the thin grout saw blade couldn't fit into it. Fack #1. Tried to get a new one, but they are all the same size, crap. So Kurt chipped away at the grout with a spackle knife and it was working (thin enough) but such a pain in the butt. So while he was working away at that, I started on removing the grout around the sink. Which was fine until all the tile started coming off around the sink. Fack #2. I barely touched it. In fact, just pulling the old caulk up loosened it all. So basically the tiles around the edge of the sink were only held on by caulking. The morter had long stopped adhering due to years of water seeping through. Two of the wooden support beams underneath just fell off when I poked them. Nice.
So we look at each other and go "Well?" We don't have a budget for a new kitchen sink or countertops, but we need something. So after a short discussion, we decided to make a quick fix with duct tape. Hooray duct tape! And then start calling people who have done recent sinks/countertops. Ikea is the key word and tomorrow we are going to look at what they have. Then hopefully hire someone in the next few weeks to replace the sink and countertops.
Here is the photographic evidence.
The sink with the tile all gone from the center and the support beams gone.
That's some old sink.
From underneath -- look! Plants! Sheesh.
The very temporary fix which Kurt calls "Post-Modern Catastrophe" or "Nuclear Winter Fix" or a "Ted Kaczynski Special."
Nice, huh? Of course it will leak, but hey, it can't be worse than the tiles that just fell off...
If anyone knows a great kitchen counter top specialist, on the cheap, let us know.
Welcome to our new reality show:
Kitchen Klusterfucks!
Starring your hosts, Kurt and Julia!
While we did do research and bought all the right tools, we still had the wrong tools. But I will say it was not quite our fault. The house is 70 years old and the tile is original and therefore the grout is very very thin. So thin that the thin grout saw blade couldn't fit into it. Fack #1. Tried to get a new one, but they are all the same size, crap. So Kurt chipped away at the grout with a spackle knife and it was working (thin enough) but such a pain in the butt. So while he was working away at that, I started on removing the grout around the sink. Which was fine until all the tile started coming off around the sink. Fack #2. I barely touched it. In fact, just pulling the old caulk up loosened it all. So basically the tiles around the edge of the sink were only held on by caulking. The morter had long stopped adhering due to years of water seeping through. Two of the wooden support beams underneath just fell off when I poked them. Nice.
So we look at each other and go "Well?" We don't have a budget for a new kitchen sink or countertops, but we need something. So after a short discussion, we decided to make a quick fix with duct tape. Hooray duct tape! And then start calling people who have done recent sinks/countertops. Ikea is the key word and tomorrow we are going to look at what they have. Then hopefully hire someone in the next few weeks to replace the sink and countertops.
Here is the photographic evidence.
The sink with the tile all gone from the center and the support beams gone.
That's some old sink.
From underneath -- look! Plants! Sheesh.
The very temporary fix which Kurt calls "Post-Modern Catastrophe" or "Nuclear Winter Fix" or a "Ted Kaczynski Special."
Nice, huh? Of course it will leak, but hey, it can't be worse than the tiles that just fell off...
If anyone knows a great kitchen counter top specialist, on the cheap, let us know.
