The battle against nature continues

We've been a little waterlogged Chez Martineau with the summer storms of the past couple of weeks. When we bought the house we knew that we could get a fair amount of water in the front room of the basement, but it appeared that the water came from under the stairs and so one day might be fixable. Perhaps that day has come.

With repeated storms last week (we got 4" in one hour one day) we took on some significant water in the front room of the basement (a couple inches, but not enough to make it into any of the other rooms). Normally, this would be a minor inconvenience, however, as we stashed most of the contents of the basement of our old house in the first room while making plans to organize the back two, there's a little more at stake. At one point (well, at several points) Eric was outside in the midst of a rainstorm re-grading dirt and push-brooming the lake of water down the hill from between our house and the neighbor's (who we will patently blame for the water in our basement as their gutters are so clogged and dirty that brand new plants are growing up there and they overflow and land between our houses). Meanwhile, I was shop-vac-ing water out of the front room when I realized there appeared to be water in the heretofore DRY second room. I flipped on the light in there to witness a small stream coming in below the new glassblock window. I alerted Eric who immediately tackled that fountain from the outside and stopped the flow. It would probably help if we had actual grass in our backyard instead of the mud patch that just creates a pond out of our entire backyard.

Then we had guests staying over this past Friday when another storm broke out at 4AM. I awoke at 6AM on Saturday morning wondering where my husband was. He was in the basement shop-vac-ing water (sorry Tim & Carol!) and using hydraulic cement to attack a new (3rd) leak that sprung around our water connection in the second room in the basement. So finally, fed up with the repeated deluge, on Sunday Eric removed the stairs to the basement (actually just took them up) and used the Dry-Lok cement to fill in a number of holes under the steps. We've not had any serious rains since, but we're hopeful that we've finally addressed the main problem!

(Eric Here): Quite discouraging, really. For long-time readers, you may recall a half-dozen previous posts where I discussed my attempts to control the water in the basement. New gutters, a french drain, re-grade, gutter extensions, a drainpipe to direct 100% of the east side roof water down the front hill... I'm probably forgetting a few. And each time, a mother-of-a storm rolls through and our basement gets an inch or so of water.

On the positive side, it does happen much less frequently (or so it seems, as the frequency depends upon the weather). And the 4'' rainfall was truly a record-setter which had some streets in Columbus under 3 feet of water, so I shouldn't be surprised that the improvements I had made couldn't cope with such a massive rain.

So as Mary said, I tore up the stairs to the basement to access the wall where the water was coming in. The good news is I found a number of cracks where the water seemed to be entering. My hope is that by filling the cracks with hydraulic cement, the water will no longer be able to enter at all. Of course, water has to go somewhere... it is my hope it finds its way into the french drain rather than finding some new hole.

Time will tell...

An old friend returns

Remember our great adventures with raccoons from last year? Well, we deported a number of them. And it seems at least one decided to return for a visit. Or maybe, as it looks pretty young, it is a teenager who just wanted to see where his mom or dad grew-up. I (Mary) let Bogart out to do his business this morning. I sat on the porch and watched him for a minute then went in to pour his breakfast...when all of a sudden a RUCKUS broke out in the backyard and Bogart was barking hysterically (really, he was using his "big dog" bark). I run out and see a raccoon cowering behind our flower planter. I corral Bogart back into the house and don several pairs of leather gloves and think "he's itty bitty, I'll just put him in a tree." So I pet him on the back and he hisses at me nastily. I think better of attempting to manually relocate him and figure he'll move along once he's calmed down from the canine hysteria. After half an hour I have to be getting off to work and warn Eric about our visitor lest he accidentally let the dog out for round 2. An hour later and Eric finds we have a new resident in the backyard. Somehow he thought this was the best place to bunk down for the day, right off of our back porch in the fenced yard where we run our dogs.

Below, I've (Eric now) delivered a wake-up call and explained our "early checkout" policy:

With the aid of my trusty hockey stick, I manage to get him to leave the fenced yard. At which point he decides to find new accomodations:

Yes, that is the rim of our van tire. Well, with gas prices being what they are, I'll be taking the vespa today anyway, so I guess he's safe for now.

Cardboard Kingdom

It's been over a month since our last update. The reason for the lapse is there just is not that much to report. We have moved in and things are going well, but it takes a long time to settle in. There is the whole issue of unpacking. We have the major rooms unpacked, but still have a sea of cardboard boxes in the LR and DR. Plus, the 101 small items of differing priority that we have to tackle just don't have a whole lotta WOW! factor. We hang some art one night. Another day I clean out the shed so we can 1. reach the items in it, and 2. put more in it. We do some more painting on the exterior porch. I rake 1 million concrete pieces out of the dirt that is our yard. See, no "Wow!"

One major accomplishment was to hook up the washer/dryer. Long-time blog readers may recall our dryer's cord didn't match the dryer outlet (3 prong vs. 4 prong cord). A new cord from the hardware store and some heavy lifting (to reach the cord connection) and gymnastics (to plug it in inside our small stackable-w/d closet) and we are able to clean our clothes!

I have a list of about 50 other small projects to complete, and I know it's not a comprehensive list, so it will keep me busy for months to come.

Another organizational feat!

You might recall that we had them frame in the extra space behind our master bath for a slim little linen closet:
This weekend I got out the tools and put in the shelves for our previously open space. Some cheating was involved. As I picked up the paint-ready pine boards at Lowes they were already the right width for the closet (hooray for 20") and they will do a couple cuts for free, so I just had them slice my shelves to the right depth. Then I painted them hearts of palm green (like the closet walls). We had lots of leftover 1" trim that I cut with the jigsaw (just because it was handy and they were only tiny cuts) to the right length for shelf brackets. I squeezed into the closet and did lots of measuring and leveling and stud finding to attach the brackets, popped in the painted shelves and VOILA~ instant linen closet:

OK, it was really like 2-3 hours worth of work between the finding of supplies, cutting of supports, sanding, painting, measuring, affixing, etc. But it all worked out right (read: level) the first time and I did it all by myself (Eric was at the Clarksdale Blues Festival in MS) so I was pretty pleased with my organizational quotient for the weekend! Now we just need storage for the basement, the steps to the basement and the shelves and bar for the coat closet!

What to do with an obscene amount of clothing?

Hi, my name is Mary and I am a clothing addict. My weakness is vintage clothing and thrift store finds. I likely have not seriously shopped in a bonafide department store since I left my job as assistant manager at Elder Beerman (Department Store) some dozen plus years ago. But I can have a field day at an outlet mall. Which has led me to this...we have a magnificent and HUGE new closet (compared to many in old houses + our old house) and I am still trying to devise a system that will accomodate my collection of clothing and shoes (Doc Martens are kinda chunky, ya know?). Eric seems mostly settled on his half (40%?) of the closet...while he technically has less of the space, he's got the "full-size" space with walls and a ceiling that neatly meet at 90 degree angles:

I am working in the eaves on my side. So envision a 16 inch span of flat ceiling, that connects to a wall that is immediately at a 120 degree angle until it meets the floor (it's been a long time since my last geometry class, forgive me if that is totally off). My ingenious mother helped me put in four wood pillars which then attach to angled blocks anchored into studs on the drywall so I've got 4 hanging bars that work for my on season (in front) and off season (in back) shirts and jackets. The right side:

The left side:

And I've got a fabulous old brass fixture from my former clothing-store-owning friend Anne (thanks Annie) that sits amidst the pillars and houses my "long hanging":

Because, yes, I'm still sentimentally attached to my wedding dress (among other things) and my parents kicked it out of the closet at their house. The big hanging picture:

So, most of my tops, jackets and dresses have a home in the closet. What I'm still working on is medium-height hanging for my pants. I thought it would be brilliant to just hang a bar from the ceiling- it's flat, I can fix it into the studs, I can still access my other stuff....but I can't find anyplace that sells ceiling hanging bars (our ceiling is maybe 6' tall, so I could easily reach it). I think this space needs just that:

Not Lowes, not Bed Bath & Beyond, not even my last bastion of hope The Container Store could solve the dilemma and give me a ceiling hanging rack or suitable alternative. And, yes, it's all on an adjustable mobile rack right now, but it's taking up too much space. So if anyone has any brilliant insight, I'm all ears!

Other workable stuff we assembled includes a sweater shelving rack that steps down with the angle of the wall:

A shoe rack that fits in at the bottom of the floor angle for shoes on top and storage below:

And these great armed towel holders that I got from Ikea, but mounted on the side of the sweater shelving that are working fab for handbags:

That's the closet so far! Stay tuned for more organizational accomplishments!

Do you miss us?

Sorry for the lack of updates...but last weekend we started MOVING....and now the computer is still at the OLD HOUSE...and we're not so much anymore. And the packing, loading, unloading and unpacking is still just as much fun as I remember from 11 years ago (NOT!) And our basement is still untouched. Ugh!

Fence on a Budget: $0.00

So we need to enclose the backyard for our dogs. And we have hopes of either building a garage or replacing the whole Western fence in the next couple of years, so we don't want to spend any $$$ on something we are going to tear out soon. But we don't want it to look crappy. So, using lumber salvaged from the front deck when it was torn down (posts and rails), other 2x4s from the interior demo we did last year, plus some fence board and an old gate given to us by the Magnificent Mr. Ressa, I constructed the following fence. At 52'' high, it's not a true privacy fence, but it will certainly keep our dogs in and uninvited guests out.

Day 1 I finished the first panel (after having sunk the posts earlier in the week):
Next, I hung the gate and began constructing the second panel:
Here is the cheesy handyman pose:

And below is the "best face forward" look. Only a top rail to install and the finish pieces on the backyard side and it is done.

Bonus shot: We dog-sat this monster over the weekend. Anyone who thinks we have big dogs needs to meet Luke, a full-blooded Bernese.

Yes, as a matter of fact he is sitting completely ON TOP of Bogart...and neither one appeared to mind in the slightest....

Puttering about here and there

We've been over to the house the last couple evenings and the weather's been so nice that we weren't overly inclined to work INSIDE. Not to mention we are now (still) in possession of an extra dog and the three like to romp in the yard. So Eric has been working on constructing a make-do fence with all of the pieces parts that we've got lying about: fencing planks from friend Jim, posts from the now-defunct front deck, random wood beams from whatever else. The current conglomeration is looking a little white trash, but it will have to do for a bit while E assembles something better. Meanwhile I started to tidy up the mountain of bricks. Once upon a time they were organized: the red-orange bricks from the wall taken down in the center of the house, the hard-fired pink ones from the chimney and exterior walls and the pavers from the porch foundation. At some point they started looking chaotic, falling over, getting mixed up, etc. As seen here: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHL8T8tnVrNCDXTLhC19V2ngz_idKPsOtQ5GECxGk9fADSTJUn1oEQLL3c-vEvENdOFWi5QQkEEo6G9AuhT-hEgAHzz3v61mhnOU5umlqQGWFE0PRPqlcSVst_v50TTuV0iEH38slcOBg/s1600-h/DSCN1730.JPG
So we took a pallet, put it on the side of the house and started re-organizing them. It's a nice workout to haul half a dozen bricks at a time across the yard. And eventually, our brickyard will return to our actual yard and we'll have better access to the shed. Today I did a little bit of polyurethaning in the master bedroom. The side cabinets and one eyebrow window. We want to get that done so that we can move into our bedroom "for real." Who needs a really charming young male golden retriever? Animal Kingdom continues!

Final Inspection!

In the hopes of having an uneventful final inspection by the city, we had hand-rails installed on both porches. While the porch design looked cleaner without them, the city likely would have required them and they do serve a purpose. So, voila!
Back porch:

Yesterday was supposed to be the final inspection by the city. I waited at the house all day, and happily the inspector did show up at 3:00pm. While waiting I stained the woodwork in the entry/dining room area:

While also waiting, I dug some post-holes for our fence. Turns out we have all the components to finish the fence, thanks to Mr. Ressa and some other wood we salvaged from our old deck.

So, how'd the inspection go? Passed without a hitch. We have our occupancy permit and are free to move in!

Oh, final bit of news from yesterday. While on our way to the old house, our celebration plans (dinner at Basi Italia) nearly got derailed as we found this creature wandering along 4th Street (a very busy road). Had a collar but no tags, though it is obvious he is a well-cared for dog. So we lured him into the van and are now trying to find his owners. Thankfully, he and Bogart have been getting along very well, wrestling non-stop. And he has enough sense to leave Wiley alone.

Pre-work staining...E polyurethaning

Usually I'm the Market "opener" meaning I get to work at 7AM. Every once in a while something's going on and I'm the "closer" so I get the morning to do other stuff. Today it was staining. My coolest accomplishment today was the first section of railing off the master bedroom:
Let's look at it again from another angle:

I also stained the steps into the groovy room, they look like cedar in this picture:

And the door crowns to the master bedroom and the laundry closet:

Eric got another nice day and put a coat of polyurethane down on the back porch:
He also re-attached the gutter that our carpenter removed to construct the porch and never replaced. And we took a desk to the house in the morning...so we're SLOWLY moving!

Still on task...

Meaning another piece of furniture made it to the house today. The wine rack from the kitchen:
Now in the new kitchen in the little space between the basement door and the arch:

Eric took advantage of the latest dry spell and slightly (50s) warmer weather to finally get a coat of polyurethane on the front porch:

And from the side view (that really red strip is new):

After work I stained more trim. The window in the groovy room that overlooks the living room:

The window in the upstairs hallway that overlooks the backyard:

Another day..another piece of furniture moved...

Day three of our task to bring a new piece of furniture to the house per day. We're on a roll, but I suspect that after a week of this it's going to get a little trickier about what we can sacrifice at the other house and still keep it functional. Today's pick, one of the bookshelves from the study. Eric adjusts the shelves:
We'll have to think about whether we really like it there or if it blocks the window too much, but for now it stays:

Then it was on to our new perpetual job of staining woodwork. These photos are for Suz, "Any new photos? I guess photos of stained woodwork probably aren't that interesting, huh?" You wanted them, you got em! Here's the master bedroom just awaiting polyurethane (now poly drying is REALLY dull)!

It's nice to compare how the stain really warms up a room. Case in point, the HVAC box before:

And now with blue tape and red oak stain:

And the window in the groovy room also got stained yesterday:

A couple hours of that and we deserved pizza. Homemade in our new house...our first "real meal"!

Easter Weekend Progress

We worked on Saturday morning before heading up to Cleveland for Dad Mac's birthday dinner. More staining of woodwork was involved. We finished up the French doors:Here's the dormer windows in the master bedroom:
The little window in the master bedroom that overlooks the park (if you're tall enough):

And you can see in a couple of the above pics that we stained the little "cubbies" on either side of the room. We've decided to try to bring a piece of non-essential (at the old house) furniture each day on our trip to the house. Saturday morning we transported this dresser out of the dining room and into its final resting place in the guest bedroom:

And on Sunday afternoon we brought this desk out of the guest bedroom at the old house and think it works rather well with the color scheme in the groovy room:

Sunday afternoon we installed some cabinet hardware on the linen closet and the "cubbies". We found the backplates in a bin at the Habitat for Humanity Build-it-Again-Center and the knobs we picked up at Great Indoors. The linen closet:

A close-up of the hardware details:

Our architect warned us of a couple things we'll need to pass the final inspection, like house numbers. So we picked those up at the Great Indoors too and put them up:

Eric is meeting Justen at the house tomorrow to go over the final details of the trim work...and maybe paying him if he's done. And then it's all us. Since it was nice out today I took a new exterior shot: