Thursday, September 29, 2005

Officer Canada

Last night I was changing my doorknob while waiting for the latex primer to dry in the bathroom. There I was, on my knees in front of my door with my drill in my hands, when my neighbor came downstairs on his way out to his car. Now, my neighbor is a police officer, although I had never seen him in uniform . . . until he and his partner, Officer "Canada" (I can't remember his name!), walked by me and my drill. It was a totally Sex and the City moment. Me on my knees with a drill, gaping at two uniformed officers and them staring back at me, jaws dropping.

They were really impressed when I told them my drill had twenty-four adjustable torque settings.

Inch by inch . . .

. . . row by row.

Everything takes so long to do! I'm trying not to get frustrated that I can't do everything at once. Instead, I just keep plugging away a piece at a time. I had to stop laying the floors because there's no room in the Dumpster to throw away the old carpet, so I took a break from that and did the bedroom closet.

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i used an area rug and just carpeted over the old carpet (too hard to pull that up) and it looks pretty good. I'm starting to get nervous about the borders between doors and different flooring ... all that finish work is a little frightening to contemplate.

I also finished up in the bathroom, except for the sink--the faucet hasn't arrived yet! I like the tile that I picked out, and I like the blue walls. I still have the wainscoating to do, but that comes after the plumbing.

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By the way, what's the deal with caulk? Yuck!

I also put the washing machine and dryer back together, with burst resistant hoses. I'm still not sure I understand what "channel locks" are, but I used them to tighten all the gaskets.
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Now I just have to wait for someone to take away the trash so I can get these piles out of my living room.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Improvise, overcome, and adapt.

Based on yesterday's floor adventures, I've made a few adjustments to the master plan. I'm going to carpet the two closets with installed area rugs (actually, bamboo for the living room closet, and white for the bedroom closet).

Today was actually pretty productive. I got the washer/dryer out of the bathroom (that took some doing and many shouts of "Why am I doing this?").

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What I found under the washer:
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I ripped out the sink in the bathroom too, so I could paint.
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I decided to do vinyl tile on the floor instead of the wood because 1) cutting the wood to fit around the toilet seems difficult and 2) I discovered that there's a drain under the washer and I don't want to have a hole in the wood for that.

The walls are a little worse for the wear, what with ripping the sink out and seeing what was behind the washer and dryer. I'm going to get an ivory or white wainscoating for the two walls by the sink, so I'm not too worried about that (which will also come in handy to cover up the holes I'm going to make trying to install the new faucet). The tile I got at Home Depot is a sort of dark blue marble color.

Boy, that doesn't really sound like I was very productive ... well I did go shopping (twice) and do laundry and dishes. I also did have to take the mirror and shelves out of the bathroom. And I cooked lunch, which I'm about to reheat for dinner. Does that seem like a productive day? Oh, I also fixed the little paint flubs in the living room and cleaned up the living room so I can take out the carpet and get ready to lay the floor in there.

There, that sounds productive.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Progress!

What a day today! First thing this morning I decided to install my first light fixture. I had a chandelier that I bought from SmartBargains a whille ago, thinking I would hang it in my room in NY until it arrived and I realized it had to be hard wired. Fortunately, I kept all the pieces together. I lost the instructions, which made things a little tricky, but I bought an electrical 101 book at Barnes and Noble. The hardest part was not the wiring, it was figuring out how to hang the stupid thing from the ceiling using the box that was already installed. (Unscrewing the old fixture: torque 3; hanging the new fixture: torque 5) I think it took me about an hour and a half to finish, and then, just as I was about to test my wiring skills, I realized I had the wrong light bulbs. How was I supposed to know there are two kinds of "G" light bulbs? I didn't even know there was one kind of "G" light bulb. I finally got the right bulbs this evening, and the light works!! Yay me! It looks great, too.

I spent the rest of the day laying floor in the kitchen. First I had to rip out the linoleum, which wasn't too difficult. I also tried to fix the squeaks in the floor by screwing the plywood down (torque 14), but it didn't seem to have any effect. Once I got the carpet and the lino up, the real work started. This laminate flooring does click together, but it is not easy. I ended up covered in sawdust (cutting by hand), wearing my rollerblading knee pads and cursing on the floor for hours. I finally got some results though. I can't WAIT to finish.

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It's a little messy around the edges, which means I'll need to buy moldings to cover that all up. Also, there are two cupboard doors missing because I ran out of satin paint and keep forgetting to go to the paint store. I'd better finish that up before I get all the floors in!

Next up ... living room floor and bathroom walls.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Baby's first power tool.

My dad and step-mom sent me a kick-ass drill as a housewarming present! It has 24 adjustable torque settings and about a hundred drill bits and there's a little led light at the base that shines on the tip when you pull the trigger. He was going to get me a "mid-level" drill, but my dad is a tool guy, and he just couldn't get me a tool that wasn't the right tool for the job.

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I'm about to put up my kitchen cabinets (torque 2), take down my banister (torque 14), and ... what else can I drill? Huh? Huh?

By the way, this thing is seriously heavy.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Some choices are very difficult.

I went to Home Depot tonight to buy the floor underlayment (the floor arrived! It's beautiful!) and a few other things I need (drain for the sink, saw, mitre box, etc.). I also picked up a new toilet seat. I passed a couple in the toilet seat aisle, just staring at the twenty or so different models, most of them white. I walked up, picked up the wooden one that matches the floor, and walked away. I overheard them marveling at how quickly I was able to make the decision. Hey, when you know, you know.

Thanks to a little help from my friends, twenty-four boxes of Royal Oak laminate flooring is now curing in my living room. It will be ready to install by Thursday, but I realized that I'm drinking on the company dime on Thursday, which means that I probably won't want to start installing floors when I get home. Well, Saturday is soon enough to start.

I also haven't started in the bathroom. I need to move the washer and dryer out, and I need to paint, and I need to take the sink apart, and I need to re-caulk the tub, and I need to get rid of the shelving that's in there, because I think I want to replace it (although I'll probably stick it in the attic and leave it when I sell the place). Yikes, so much to do.

I'm going to send out invites for the housewarming party. That's one way to make sure that I keep moving with this stuff . . . invite people over.

Friday, September 16, 2005

The faucet solution.


I found a faucet for my vessel sink! It's a wallmount faucet . . . which sounds like holes in the walls and complicated plumbing. No problem, my dad is sending me channel locks!

Mellow Yellow Update:

By the way, I forgot to mention that I do like the color of the kitchen. It's a very peachy-red-yellow, and it's much warmer than the other colors that I chose, but that seems to work for the kitchen. I've seen it in all kinds of lighting, and I'm happy with the choice.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Settling in.

Well I'm starting to get into a groove with my projects. I ordered the floors on Monday, so my color scheme is complete:
ColorScheme

I will be able to start laying floors in the living room by next Thursday. It has been really nice knowing that I'm going be ripping up the carpet--I don't have to be careful about getting paint all over the floor. But that's going to change once I start putting the nice floors in.

I've spent the last two days priming and painting the kitchen cabinets. What a mess! Priming is not fun, and it's a lot harder to paint cabinets than it is to paint walls. I'm doing it with a brush, which is probably part of the reason it takes longer. It looks really nice though. I chose Linen White for the cabinets. Unfortunately, it's going to take two coats, which means at least another night of painting in the kitchen. And when I'm done with the cabinets, I'll have to get the yellow out and touch up the places where I messed up the walls ... oops.

Oh! My spider moved out yesterday. When I came home, the web was half demolished and this morning, most of the rest of it is gone. I knew he'd leave if I talked to him nicely!

I bought a vessel sink yesterday. I can't figure out how the faucet gets installed, though, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to use it. I may have to return it. Here are some pics of the sink:
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I need to have the sink changed, the bathroom painted, and the kitchen cupboards finished by the time the floor gets here on Monday. That should be no problem!

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Mellow yellow.

I've painted two walls in the kitchen, and I'm just not sure how I feel about the color. There's nothing wrong with it, I think. I'm not crazy about it, I think. It's so hard to tell! Yellow is such a funny color. What was I thinking?

And after I finish the walls in the kitchen, I have to do the cupboards, and I have no idea what color to do them. I'm too busy dreading the sanding and priming to think about the paint color. Maybe white. Or ivory. Something neutral. Wood floors, ivory cupboards, yellow walls. What could be wrong with that?

I went to the other local paint store, and they don't carry Benjamin Moore Ceiling White paint either. How annoying. So I have to special order that, which means more waiting. I did get some sisal style carpet samples to look at. I think I have the right idea with the natural floor in the entry. It's expensive, though, so I need to shop around and see what else I can find.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to do the Ralph Lauren River Rock in the entry ... it requires a single ceiling to floor sweep to finish, and I can't do that because my walls are 15 feet high on the stairs. I would try to fake it, but they put this instruction in large bold letters in about five places on the can, and all over the instruction booklets, so I'm thinking it's important. I need to find another way to give my entryway texture. Uh ... spongepainting is out, right?

I just pried up the rest of the moldings in the living room. It was a lot easier this time. I talked to my Dad and he said to use a shim to press against, so I used the plastic putty knife that I broke the other day (using it as a pry tool) and that helped a lot. I'm not going to paint the rest of the wall below the molding until I figure out what kind of molding I'll be putting back on when I get the floor.

I just want this to be done! It's fun to put my house together, but sometimes I just feel exhausted looking at everything laying around. Well, one step at a time. Today I put the vent covers and outlet covers back in the living room and moved yesterday's haul from the city into the attic and out of the way. Clearing the space up makes me feel like I can have that floor in in no time.

Kitchen prep.

Before I could paint the kitchen, I had to pull the cabinets away from the walls:

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And the stove (you can see the yellow in the background because I painted two walls first to see how I felt about the color):
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And the fridge:
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That was messy work!

Saturday, September 10, 2005

My oasis.

So the entryway that I originally forgot about is getting bigger and bigger in my mind. I want natural carpet (like jute or sisal) and sandstone walls (Ralph Lauren River Rock paint effects) and a fountain at the top. It will be like being outside . . . like my backyard.

The problem is, other than the River Rock, I don't know where to get any of these things. I have looked and looked online and I can't find natural carpet. I guess I'll actually have to go to the local carpet stores.

I'm making slow progress on the rest of things. I have half the molding pried off in the living room and the green wall painted.

My floor samples arrived yesterday, and I'm not sure what to get. I ordered a couple more, just to compare. I need to order this stuff soon, though, because it will take a week to get delivered, and then it has to acclimate for a few days before I can start putting it in. I may be looking at the end of September before I can even start!

Today is moving day--a quick trip to the city to pack more and bring up another load. This moving is really cutting into my project time, but at least it's almost done. Amazingly, I have done the whole move in my little Hyundai Accent!

Thursday, September 08, 2005

D. I. Why?

So I shopped online for my flooring today, and I ordered some samples that will be here tomorrow. I'm really hoping I like the one that is $.99 a square foot. What a deal! Of course I'm going to use laminate, or click-flooring, as I call it.

However, thinking about the floor made me realize that I'll need to remove the shoe moldings, so I went to the Po and got a "Wonder Bar." (Very clever name, I think! Not sure how much it does for the bust, though.) This is a prying tool. I set to work on my moldings when I got home, and I learned that this is also a dent making tool. Drywall was not meant to be pried apart from its baseboards. Sigh. Everything is tedious.

I pulled the molding off of one of the unpainted walls, patched the dents and holes, and while that was drying, I pulled the molding off one of the painted walls. This was much harder, because there was some kind of strip of carpet tack in the way. I'm not sure what it was, but it seemed to be a piece of 1" wood with about ten thousand nails sticking up to hold the carpet in place. I only got scratched a few times.

So now that the moldings are starting to come off, I realize that I will probably not be able to use quarter round moldings or whatever they're called. Since the drywall has never been painted, it's probably always going to look funny, so it probably needs to be covered up. Bummer. Twice the price for those moldings. On the other hand, I've been secretly fantasizing about crown moldings so if I buy them at the same time, they'll match. I'm also trying to be careful with the stuff I'm pulling off . . . maybe I can just paint or refinish that. One piece is broken, but maybe I can match it and put it back on. Hey, there's a plan.

Today I've definitely been asking myself why I'm doing this all myself. I think I need to see faster progress. Next up: order the floors and the kitchen window. Oh, and I need to figure out if I'm going to take out the cabinets in the kitchen to remove the linoleum. Something tells me to buy a carpet knife and cut around it, right?

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

My new neighbor.

A spider has been living on my door since the day I moved in. I have been very careful with the web because it's so beautiful.

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I'm pretty proud of myself for letting the spider hang out. It's HUGE after all, and I am not a huge fan of bugs with six or eight legs.

I've been talking to him every morning and asking him to move out. But he can stay for now.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Color success.

I painted the blues (living room walls and accent wall) and I love love love the color. I don't know what I was worried about. I'm not the greatest painter though ... I did try to spackle the walls first, and I took off the face plates from the outlets and switches, but it's really hard not to paint a little bit of the baseboard, even with the special edging tool I got. Even so, it's much easier to paint walls then it is to paint ceilings. Yesterday I painted the ceiling and it was torture. I'm not sure whose bright idea that was. Although I must admit that it looks great with a fresh coat of bright white paint.

Anyway, the living room looks great. And it's nice to feel like I've accomplished something. I still need to pull the cable through the ceiling and patch those holes, and fix the little places where I dropped paint in the wrong place. I think that I'll be investing in a little container of turpentine the next time I go to the Po (I'm going to be a frequent face at Home Depot, so I figure I'm entitled to use its nickname).

Here's a look at the two blues . . . and the corner where I still need to pull the cable into the ceiling, patch the holes, and touch up the paint. But the blue is pretty, isn't it?

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And here's me after my first night of painting. Kind of like Rosie the Riveter, but covered in ceiling paint.
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Monday, September 05, 2005

Oops, I kind of left a room out.

So while I was selecting paint chips yesterday, I forgot about the entryway. My front door opens to a flight of stairs and a little landing at the top, and then there's another door that opens into the main room.

I guess this is sort of an important room, since it's my first impression of my house when I come home every day. I will have to figure out something nice to do in here.

Here's my floorplan, which I'm carying around with me in a binder now, so I don't leave any more rooms out:
NoFurniture

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Oh my god, what will happen if I paint everything the wrong color?

I went to the paint store today to get paint chips. I have a general idea of what I want: a sort of teal-grey in the living room, accented with green, gold in the kitchen, and probably something neutral in the bedroom. But there are hundreds of shades of teal-grey! Not to mention thousands of shades of white! I stood in front of the paint chips for almost an hour, trying to figure out what they would look like translated onto my walls.

I made it out of the paint store with about 20 cards, and took them out in the daylight to have a look. After juggling them around, my colors emerged! I'm going to sleep on it and see how I feel about them in the morning, but I think I found something nice.

Friday, September 02, 2005

My blog is my motto: DIY or Die Trying

Today I closed on my first home purchase, a cute 600 square foot condo in Connecticut. I fell in love with it as soon as a walked in the door, and although the buying process wasn't exactly stressfree, I am now the proud owner of my first home.

See pictures on flickr.

I'm going to spend all my free time for the next month "doing a little work" to get the place up to my specifications. The condo is 20 years old and everything, including the carpet and appliances is orignial, so I just want to update a few things.

Here's my plan:
1) Paint everything
2) Rip up the carpet (living room, bedroom, entry) and the linoleum (bathroom, kitchen)
3) Install laminate flooring throughout living areas and kitchen
4) Tile the bathroom and replace the vanity with a pedistal sink
5) Re-carpet the entry

I'm hoping to be done in a month. I'll chronicle my progress here and keep track of my accomplishments I've never done anything quite like this before, but I'm looking forward to expanding my handiness.

And if all else fails, I'm sure there's somewhere I can rent a husband.

 
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