October 2015

Tearing down the porch

We started removing the termite eaten front porch on this trip. Considering this porch an eyesore attached to the bigger eyesore that is our house, this was for me the most satisfying project so far. 

Here's what the porch looked like before we destroyed it. The white siding is aluminum. 

In keeping with the multi layer theme of the house, these are the cedar shingles under the aluminum. The dark brown squares were particleboard that were soggy and degraded. I guess they were used for spacers for the aluminum siding.

Under the drop ceiling was this beadboard ceiling. I'm sure this porch was pretty when it was built.

This is a small portion of that we salvaged.

 Maybe we will use it for cabinet facing in our kitchen,  like this:

....but not white. As most of you probably know, I am really not a fan of white.

 Photo from vintagemellie.blogspot.com.

We found some of the original moulding above the front door. 

Also evidence of where the original awning once was.

This must have been where the doorbell was.

A few clumps of this lead wool was found stuffed between the wall and the ceiling.

Here's a video of the project at mid point. We didn't have a lot of time, so we worked in the evenings. We were originally going to keep the windows to make a greenhouse, but we threw them away due to their poor condition.

Here's how we left the porch. It was frustrating not having time to finish it all.  I thought about our self appointed community leader calling our hedges an eyesore and then thought about her having to look at this mess. That made it easier to leave. It don't think she'll be whining about our shrubbery anymore. 

Some side by side progression photos. Can't wait to add to this!

We made $52. bux from scrapping the aluminum siding on the porch and from the bedroom.

That brings our profits to a sad $166.47

$52.80 scrap metal in October 2015

$62.30 scrap metal in July 2015

$11.37 Guitar Center gift card found in house November 2014

$40. box of uninstalled ceramic soap dishes sold on Craigslist

Thank you!

Before I continue, I would like to thank the fine men and women at 3M for providing these respirator cartridges, and keeping our lungs safe from who knows what. I felt much better once I pulled this this contraption apart to see what didn't go in our lungs!

The epic saga that is our water service

There was no water meter in the house when we bought it, only a copper pipe sticking out of the basement foundation. So naturally I was surprised to get a bill for water service for $200. 

We could not get a new meter installed until the outstanding bill was resolved. This took four months of phone calls to resolve. Luckily a completely different company was responsible for the meter installation. This was a great relief in the end, because I don't think I could trust company A to stir my coffee competently.

We had to visit the installation company to sign a form. This was advantageous in the end because we got a schematic of all the parts we needed to install. Off to Home Depot, where we lucked out and found the world's most helpful employee in the plumbing department. 

Thank you Frederick for being amazing! It was like having a hired expert. I was sure to write fan mail to Home Depot about this guy. 

I was so excited to finally see the meter installation man! I followed him around during the entire process, with cartoon hearts and stars popping over my head the entire time. If time permitted there would have been a red carpet rolled out right into the muddy basement with roped off cheering fans snapping pictures and clapping. 

"Is everyone this thrilled to see you?" I asked

"Uh, no." He replied dryly

My new best friend, working his magic.

Here is the meter completely installed. The plastic dome is the meter itself. It sends a wireless signal to a receiver attached to the outside of the house which is then picked up via GPS. That's how it's supposed to work, we'll see when we start getting bills for the morons at the billing company.

If you've been following this blog you may remember this unidentified thing we found in the house:

This is the tool used to open the valve at the water main. 

This is our water being turned on at the sidewalk, with a similar tool being used as the one we found.

Here's the big reveal, where we are all mumbling our approval in unison. 

I wrote a complaint letter to the billing company. I wasn't expecting anything. It was just a cathartic exercise.  Here are a couple of excerpts:

Doing some research I discovered that our case is not the only one where customers were overbilled. A couple in the local news received a $12,500. bill for one month of service, and then a shut off notice because they didn't pay it. Someone formed an activist group to reform the company, (whatever that involves) so we actually got off easy. We'll see what's in the mailbox on our next visit! It may have been easier to digging our own well for water.

Recent Acquisitions

creepy books, sixth installment

         

Pete usually throws away book dust covers, but this one is certainly worth keeping.

Flora and Fauna

This beautiful cat made an appearance in our backyard, walking closer and closer to us in a zigzag pattern before running off. If he's still around in the spring I will be scheduling him for his neuter surgery.

The gray cat is quite the little hunter, we found this skeleton in the front yard. There was deer cam video of him killing whatever this was, but I lost the footage. :(

The indoor nest we found between the wall and the ceiling.

One Loaf Less

I have to begin this story by saying our host Amanda is the cleanest person I know, constantly washing and scrubbing everything in the house. 

Pete and I bought a loaf of bread after a day at work, put it on the kitchen counter, and went to bed. When I woke the next morning to make coffee I found this:

Although I've never smelled marijuana in the house, I thought Amanda's brother came home with a bunch of his friends late at night, smoked a lot of weed, got the munchies and made sandwiches. Maybe our loaf of bread was somewhere else, misplaced in a cabinet. It was all really confusing until I turned and saw this:

Amanda had a rat in the house a few months ago, which she managed to kill with an electric trap. Before entering the rat hereafter he told his little rat buddies about Amanda's house, and now they were here for revenge and a good starchy meal.

I don't know why they left half a slice. Did I interrupt their heist at the very end?