Good Morning all, this is the Saturday Morning Home Repair Blog, where the Daily Kos community comes together to discuss our building projects, ask questions and just generally shoot the shit.
Our experienced staff of experts stands ready to answer questions, ask the right ones and generally help you out in any way.
OK OK OK settle down now we're going to start
Been working away on stuff. I have tactics and and overaall strategy. the tactics are to wit: get the upstairs all ready for carpet this spring. The over riding strategy is a race to finish before I turn 80 (age mid 60 ish)
And as usual, just when I get going good on something, I have to drop tools and fix something else. Such a case was my automatic gate opener. Now I love my gate opener 'bout as much as a man can love an inanimate object----whoops! its an animated object but you know what I mean. BOY this beats getting out, opening the gate, then getting out and closing it---you may have heard it does rain in Oregon.
So it went out again and I had to replace it ($300 minus 10% vets discount,no sales tax) This is the 2d time Ive had to replace it so I'm good at it by now. Brand: Mighty Mule---yeah its mighty for 2.5 years, then it becomes Mao's Revenge.
notice that its wrapped in plastic--thats to keep moisture from getting in which seems to be the main problem.
Still and all, I sleep better nights knowing its closed; other than that people come up here at all hours---its why I put it up in the first place. People who interfere with a lrrp's repose sometimes (often) come to regret it. I mean I got FOUR signs out on the (mile long) driveway saying DEAD END--PRIVATE DRIVE--NO TURNAROUND---people would still drive right past them, pull up to my house and ask me if this was the road to town. If they come up now they have to back up half a mile--tough tooties.
re: the orange cap: hunting season
OK, so lets get back to the main project. I started this waaaay back in March, after I came back from Chile. The first photo shows the old whatever-it-is space. Tis sort of space come from trainwrecking 4 houses into one. As you can see much of this space was unusable where it got low at the walls but I still have to heat it anyway. So through a highly detailed and technical plan, I have been walling off areas and making short closets with inset bookshelves. This has resulted in the new "nook" I call if for lack of anything else to call it
Before:
As it looks now:
Before:
after:
Before:
After:
One of the most endearing things about this old house was these "secretaries" (?)(!) You can see them on the back wall in the #2 pic. I call them that because, again, I don't know what else to call it. there were two of them that would have been covered up and I thought it would be cool to continue this in the new space. I came to regret this, bet I got 24 hrs in this but it came out good. I tried to get the whole unit out but they were nailed in with #16 finish nails (not kidding) so I wound up reusing what I could. I reused the thin divider strips and the hardware.
Anyway, its another unique architectural feature, like having a bridge inside the house (not kidding there either.) I'll put a bud vase in there and an old fountain pen and ink, maybe some old postcards--you know: kitsch!
The old:
the new:
So thats what Ive been doing, the legal part anyway.
What have you been up to? Post some pictures and let us all see