New Chimney

For all the suffering and headaches over radiators, we really needed this most excellent customer service experience.

The chimney had long ago crumbled at the roofline. They were no bricks remaining at the roof, and this caused all sorts of interesting problems. Water damage, literally pouring all the way down into the basement during rainstorms, is one major issue we're dealing with. The second, and more dangerous, is the venting from the furnace had become corroded (probably due to the water) and broken in several places (probably due to any breeze of any kind knocking it about, as it isn't attached to bricks any longer). After the holes in the vent pipe were created, carbon monoxide from the furnace seeps into the chimney, causing furthur damage to the bricks, and also posing a threat to anyone wishing to breathe. Bad news all around.

The Do-It-Yourself guides always advise DIYers to never, never, never take the first contractor's bid...and if you've heard me & C talk at all about our experiences with contractors, you'll know thatit's never been possible for us to pounce on the first bid since NOBODY WANTS OUR MONEY. They either bid so high we couldn't possibly afford it, no-show to the estimate interview, no show on the first day of the job, show up late the first day of the job, and on and on. Essentially, we have been forced to DIY. Good for us, because now we know how to do all this cool stuff.

Anyway, imagine my surprise when the first phone call I made to a masonry company was pleasant and efficient. How could I NOT jump on their bid?


We totally deserved this good service, considering all the hell we've gone through. These guys bid on Friday, started this morning, and have just about wrapped up the job today. Incredible! I can't even get the front porch painted in a day...I need to fire myself.

Hey- we know a great mason if you should happen to need one.

Gol Dang Cursed Radiators!!!!

Seriously, folks. Will the radiator insanity NEVER END?! This predicament is more than mind-boggling. It's all a cruel joke, I just know it!

So we go through all the hoops to get the radiators to the house. I had the forsight to get to the salvage yard the moment they opened the doors, because I had a feeling that a transaction like this would take more time than necessary (it did). I also had the foresight to call a piano moving company to meet us at the house to remove them from the truck because I knew they would be too heavy for me and C to manage (they were) (oooooh I am so dang smart sometimes it's scary).

What do piano movers look like? Close your eyes and imagine. Then snap back to our reality on this fateful Saturday. These two youngsters rolled up, and I was like, "Where's the beef?" Combined, they didn't weigh 150 pounds. You know the rest of the story, and this photo tells it all. The could only get one out of the truck, and only got it as far as the edge of the porch.

Now close your eyes and picture me frantically dialing up every piano mover in the phone book, trying to get one open on Saturday, at 2:30, just waiting to drop everything to help a couple of folks out with some serious iron.

Second try. Enter: The Beef. These two muscled men hauled the three radiator out of the truck and up to the second floor without even breaking a sweat...and they used only muscles and canvas straps. Human machines! Human machines that took our $300 bucks to the bank, laughing, all the way to the bank.

Stay tuned. We still have to hook up the radiators. History has shown us that things don't go so smoothly when dealing with these things.

New Old Radiators

These weigh 400 lbs each. They cost us $18 bucks per fin. We need to replace three radiators (so, like, 26 total fins). Each home has a particular type installed, so you can't just pick any old one up at yer local salvage yard. You have to do your homework. In other words, they are an expensive pain in the ass...a pain in the ass that could've been avoided if the previous owner had simply drained them before turning them off, but that's yesterday's news. Here we are today, dealing with this pain that we've been putting off for several months now.

So back to the $18 bucks per fin. I pride myself on my successful haggling skills. I once picked up a lovely 1890 Eastlake chair at a flea market for $60 less than the $100 asking price. I was confident going into the radiator negotiation that I'd get the guy down to $12. At least. Then my husband delivered the bad news, in the form of an eavesdropped conversation between salvage yard guy and another sad sack trying to pick up some radiators on the cheap, mere weeks before snow fly (like us):

Sad Sack: "$18 bucks per fin! Ya gotta be crazy! They were, like, $10 bucks last time I got one!"

Salvage Guy: "Yeah, well when was that?"

Sad Sack: "Oh, about 1989."

Salvage Guy: "Yeah, well if you got a time machine then you can go back to 1989 and get 'em for $10. Today, they're $18."

Sad Sack didn't have a time machine. Neither did we.

Trim Work

Only 78 more pieces to go!

More Night Work

C's caulk job didn't look all that bad in daylight, either. What a pro!

Clean Up

The people at Kohler probably did not intend to have their lovely sink used in this way. We make workhorses out of everything!

Wrapping up the Exterior Jobs

She's looking prettier by the day. We've really accomplished a lot in the last few weeks!

Burning the Midnight Oil

As the wind blows ever crisper, as the call of flocks of geese migrate overhead, as the daylight hours grow shorter, we are hammering full steam ahead. The rush is on to get all outside tasks completed- painting, repairing/replacing storm windows, caulking, weatherstripping, rebuilding any exterior features, etcetera, etcetera.

Cabin Front Porch

This thing was rotten through and through. It's been Mr. D's task for the past two weekends to tear it off and rebuild it, fueled by Summit.

French Drain

The 125 year old basement is, not surprisingly, a bit damp. Well OK, Let's just admit that it's been downright juicy at times. Much of this problem is attributed to lack of gutters- and it should be said that houses don't necessarily need gutters. What makes us point our fingers at gutterlessness in this particular instance is that several roof peaks all meet in this one location, causing most of the roof rainwater to spill down into this location.

Some of this will be alleviated by installation of gutters.

However, and even better solution (and more fun 'cuz it involves digging a 6 foot deep hole, and you know how much we LOVE digging holes...digging them, digging ourselves into them, etcetera). Ladies and Gentlemen: the French Drain.

This is such an incredibly interesting theory. You dig a hole. You punch a bunch of holes into the bottom of a plastic garbage can. You insert garbage can into the hole, fill it with gravel, fill the whole hole with gravel and sand, and voila, water is collected and diverted away from your foundation. Well, OK, so maybe there's more involved...but that's really the gist of it. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_drain