Home Improvement

Well, the floor is done. Yesterday, the tile guy came back and did the grout. That went fairly quickly. He took about a half hour to finish up. The grout is ivory color, but went on kind of dark. My sister and I were talking about grout the other day. She did her kitchen tile […]

I have a certain affinity for threshold moulding. I am not sure why. I think because maybe the first time I put some in, it looked good. Maybe it’s because I got lucky and matched the color stain I picked out to the floor…the first time. Who knows, but I do. Anyway, today was the […]

In an unexpected surprise, the tile guy was able to come over a few weeks early to install the kitchen floor. I greeted him with open arms. Anything we can get done early, the better. He came over around 9:30 this morning. He called beforehand to see if I minded using 1/2 inch cement board […]

Well, that was fun. Not really. I sanded for the better part of yesterday and now I am a little sore. I do have to say that I am very happy that I bought that respirator mask. It has come in quite handy and it’s nice to know that I am not breathing in the […]

Well, it’s time to prepare the kitchen subfloor for the tile that’s going to be going on top of it. Some people have told me, “Hey, just lay the tile on top of the plywood…it’ll be fine.” I was always a little uneasy about that, so I read up on it. Apparently, it’s not a […]

I finished up the sanding of the joint compound last night. Two nights ago, I used the power sander…the little palm one. That was great to do the first major sand with. Then, I reapplied the joint compound and sanded by hand. Overall, everything came out pretty nicely. I was excited to get some paint […]

When I mention anything about redoing the kitchen to any man, almost instantly, the response is, “You are going to put the cabinets in the basement, right?” I’m like, “Yeah, I already have a few down there, but I am going to put a few more.” I can hear it in their voices…they want to […]

I set a goal for myself today…to finish the kitchen. That didn’t happen. It almost did. All I have to do now is to sand the joint compound, reapply and then sand again. Then, I paint…and all done for me. Well, I still have to do some prep work for the floor, but that’s fun. […]

Today, after I brought the cat to the vet, I ran down to Lowe’s for a few things. I had to get some outlets, switches and face plates. I also had to get some joint compound. When I was leaving, it started to snow. For a while, it was coming down pretty good. I thought […]

I got a call pretty early this morning from the lumber place. They told me they were about to leave for my sheetrock delivery. Man, I still had my coffee in my hand. I got ready and waited for the guy to come. A few minutes later, he was backing into the driveway with my […]

I didn’t know sheetrocking was so easy. Is it sheetrocking or drywalling? I am not down with the lingo. Anyway, I got one wall finished. I used the Dremel to make the cuts around the outlets and the doorway. It has this pretty cool rotating cutting tool. It goes through the drywall like a wicked […]

I just got back from the kitchen place. I have to go in to pick out the counter top color and the handles and knobs. I didn’t pick out the counter top colors…I did something better. I brought home four samples. We placed a bunch on the actual color of the cabinets and kept the […]

Well, this has just turned into a happy little project. I was all excited about my new belt sander and how I was going to show everyone in the world how I can make gold out of coal. Well, I ran into a little unexpected snag. This morning’s task was to sand one part of […]

Today was a pretty busy day for us. I think one of the most fun things about me is that I have no plan. This morning, while I was sitting at my computer, I decided to call Lowe’s to make an appointment for Laura and I to head down and meet with someone. I had […]

I got thinking today. Perhaps I should measure the kitchen up and bring the measurements down to Lowe’s. I read, on their website, that if you bring your measurements to them and pick out what you want, they will give you a price right there. Then, they will send someone to your house to measure […]

I have to do a few things today. One of them was to take a few cabinets in the kitchen down. One of them held the fan that goes above the stove. I took quick action and they came down fairly easily. Poor Simon was eating while I started removing one of them and got […]

Ok, I am sure you all think I am rather crazy at this point. If someone told me they wanted to use a belt sander to sand their walls, I would think they were nuts too. That’s why I am writing this post. To show that actually, you are the crazy ones. Just kidding. I […]

I have gotten quite a bit done. Laura and I decided last night that we are not going to buy a new vanity. We will keep the white one we have. We don’t love it, but we keep thinking that the next people who move in this house won’t appreciate all the time and money […]

I really hated the kitchen ceiling fan/light that came with the house. Not that it is a bad unit, it’s that it hung about an inch too low and was a nice target for the top of my head. Oh, how many times can a man that is six foot, two and three quarter inches […]

I had to run down to the tile place today to pick up the extra tile that wasn’t used on the bathroom floor. It was a whole box. I got it and put it in the basement for safe keeping. While I was there, I struck up a conversation with the fine lady about remodeling […]

Well, that wasn’t so bad. A few weeks of a bit of work here and there and I have gotten myself to the point of (almost) completion. All I have to do now is caulk and paint the moulding that goes around the inside of the bathroom door. I did a few odds and ends […]

The tile guy came over at 8AM this morning to finish up the tiling. All he had to do was the grout. I must’ve gotten up about eight times last night for various reasons. I do this all the time when I am expecting someone to come over early in the morning. I heard a […]

Well, that was pretty quick. The tile guy came at about 9AM and left around 11:30AM. I am pretty happy that there were no hiccups. When he first showed up, I went outside to greet him. I told him that I was going to be the best little helper he ever had. Then, I came […]

If you starting seeing my hand in magazines, don’t be surprised. As you can see, my hand is model quality and I hope you appreciate it. Back when I was taking up the tile in the bathroom, I noticed that the sub-floor to the side of the toilet was a little wet. I thought this […]

I have to say, my days have been pretty full and this blog has been helping. I really enjoy doing things in life and writing about them. Perhaps I should’ve been an author. Nah…the minute someone expects something from me, I don’t want to do it anymore. Half of the fun of writing here is […]

This just goes to show that I will actually post anything on this blog when I have the time. Now, to the fun stuff. Ok, since we have moved into this house, we have had this loose handle on the sliding glass door that goes out to the porch. I always said that I was […]

I thought I should take a few pictures to show you what I was talking about in the last post when I mentioned that I was having difficulties with moving the vanity, due to the water feed pipes. From my previous post… Well, then I hit a snag. I opened the doors to get under […]

Well that sucked. I thought this was going to be an easy job…just unscrew some stuff under the sink, pull it out and take off the toilet. That’s all there is, right? Wrong. I got half the floor up and was cruising along beautifully. I was doing well under the baseboard heating (not viewable in […]

Here is an exciting post. It’s about the new medicine chest and shower rod we bought last night. We had to go down to Sam’s Club anyway, so we decided to hit Lowes first. We needed a few things, with the medicine chest being the most important. The shower rod and the little chrome thing […]

The only two things we have to do with this house is to remodel the bathroom and kitchen. Hmmm…that’s not too bad. Yeah right. Those two rooms are the two most expensive ones. There isn’t all that much to do in the bathroom. I went out yesterday and picked up the ceiling and wall paint. […]

Laura and I went out to Sam’s Club and Lowe’s last night to get some stuff. By the way, I think it was “Obesity Wednesday” at Sam’s Club. We really have to get out of that place. I can’t stand looking at those people any more. I try…I really try to be a nice guy, […]

I am not completely sure if you call them curtains or drapes. I am not sure I care either. On Friday night, Laura and I decided to venture out to Lowes to look at some curtain stuff. Since the heat is back for the year, our living room and home office are taking a hit. […]

This is an old post that I have been meaning to put up for about a year. Since it is raining outside and kind of slow here at work, what the heck. Back when we first purchased this house, we noticed that the master bedroom was the place the the previous occupants kept their dogs. […]

I don’t think I mentioned this before…I know I took some pictures though. A few weekends ago, I added a bunch of lights in the basement. I rewired the whole thing for a total of 8 high efficiency 100w (equivalent) fluorescent light bulbs. They only use 23 watts each. Now, the whole basement glows like […]

For about a year, I have been looking at the concrete part of our basement floor. I just sit there and look at it. No really, I have been looking at it because at times, there has been a little puddle of water and a wet area near the oil burner, or boiler, as some […]

If you remember, a few weeks ago, I finished digging out the basement (of course I wrote about it). Well, since then, I have done a lot of work. I am not sure you can see it in the picture above, but I repaired all the foundation walls (not that there was too much wrong […]

Well, I finally finished digging out the basement. I found some time under a rock on Saturday and went down to the pit with my shovel and rototiller. This was the last section of dirt…and boy was this tough stuff. I swear it was like rock, not to mention all the real rocks! Take a […]

This is a funny story and hopefully one I can keep short. I seem to have developed a knack for writing too much. See, there I go again. The Red Oak tree is now gone. A flourishing garden is beginning to grow. There is only one more slight problem. A Red Maple with a rotten […]

I happen live live in a very beautiful area of New York. The Shawangunk Ridge is absolutely spectacular and visiting the Mohonk Preserve has become a favorite activity. Unfortunately, it seems that the western side of the Hudson River has water that smells like rotten eggs. I know there are towns on the eastern side […]

One of the first things I noticed while looking at this house when we were “In the market” was the lousy shape of the basement. I heard that there was a little moisture on the floor (the remedy of which I will discuss later), was informed by the home inspector that the insulation fitted in […]