Five Points Renovation and Renewal: This Is Fun.

"This is Fun."

Written: 1911

Found: 2012

Turn of the century graffiti or a child at play?

You decide.

If you're reading this, you may be wondering why I haven't posted in a while...

Well, I'm sorry... I'll tell you a little about what has been taking up all my spare time.

Stripping layers of old wallpaper off of the old bead board ceiling! This job is boring, and my arms become noodles after an hour. I bought a wallpaper steamer and that made it go quicker.. but standing on a ladder holding a steamer that drips scalding water on your head.. not very exciting. The end result is encouraging though! The old bead board is cleaning up nicely! When it gets primed and painted it will look great.

I have gotten smarter though... I just bought some ZipWall stuff!! A bit pricey, but they are so great. I used a pole to hold the steamer against the ceiling while I ran in circles waiting on it to steam that old wallpaper right off! It speeds up my progress and saves my arms. I also have one of the zippers separating the demo zone from the rest of the house. A definite improvement over layers of plastic and drop cloths. These products are a must have for anyone living with a renovation or any professional working in a home. LOVE ZipWall!!

Ooooohhhhh.....

Aaaaaaahhhhhh...

Cleaning these things is a messy job though.. They are loose so that means a century of old coal dust in the attic rains down from behind the wallpaper when removed. It continues to pour out if the board is moved in any way. I will have to tighten these boards up and also go up in the attic, bag up all the loose insulation, vacuum the back of the boards, and then spray foam everything to get a nice tight seal. Lots of work.... and the thing that haunts me lately is being up in the attic during summer... yuck.

I also installed some attic stairs!! I didn't get a pic yet, but I'm proud of them. I had to rip the AC unit in the attic all to hell to make room for them, but it had to be done! While I was up there, I outfitted the attic with lights while and started on the attic floor. The floor will help tighten up the saggy second story ceiling. Thinking about all the stuff going on up there is making me tired.

The backyard pile... and junkyard dog guarding it all... Dexter is no help, but I keep him around because he is fuzzy. I actually doubled the size of this pile over the weekend.. The backyard is at carrying capacity. I need to get a dumpster and load this stuff up before they city fines me or something.

Nice Wallpaper... Should we keep it?

So, what I'm calling "Phase 1A - Upstairs" is completed... almost. Since I have almost roughed in the old jungle room all the way, I've moved into the master bedroom to start ripping it out and getting it ready for rough in. "Phase 1 - Upstairs" is the complete rough in of the jungle room and master bedroom.. electrical, plumbing, framing, and insulation. It is all really a giant jumble of mini and major projects that can't be completed without finishing parts of the others.... Old houses are annoying that way...

Cue master bedroom demo pics!!

Yay!! Brick!!!

So the upstairs double window used to be a single window. Whoever switched it out didn't bother framing it in correctly... The siding is transferring the load. Dumb. I'm glad that old wood is strong.

I knew this corner was going to be bad news from the first time we looked at the house. I haven't even opened up the floor under it yet.... I don't want to. If I just ignore it, maybe the problem will go away!