Day 14--Wrapping up Odds and Ends!!!

I woke up so, so tired.  These long days are catchin' up with me!!!  Since I had taken Mom and Dad out to eat last night, and we had finished fairly late (around 6:45 P.M.) and got home fairly late from eating (around 10:00 P.M.), I told Dad I would meet him at 8:30 A.M. instead of 8:00 today.

Well, that was even ambitious!  I saw a garage sale on the way over, and I ended up stopping by and buying a nice toolbench...for $100!  Aren't garage sales supposed to be nickels and dimes?!

I had various projects to wrap up today.  First and foremost, I wanted to tackle what Dad and I noticed in the crawlspace:  my ductwork had fallen down from the floor joists.  When it did so, it pulled away a couple of duct vents with it, so the furnace and air-conditioning was inefficiently pumping into the crawlspace and not the bedrooms!

The ductwork had fallen from the floor joists.

So while Dad worked upstairs on altering a circuit in the kitchen (we aren't done with wiring, I guess!), I worked downstairs hanging ductwork.  It wasn't too bad of work.  The ductwork was pretty heavy, but I just worked methodically from the end closest to the furnace on down.  I think one of the issues was the original furnace had been replaced, and this new furnace didn't really line up with the old ductwork.  So I was able to lift the ductwork to level, but they did not match up with where they used to be nailed into the floorjoists.

Before:  The ductwork drooped across my crawlspace.

After:  Level again!

After I hung up the ductwork, I reconnected two bedroom vents and taped them up.  This house just gained some real efficiency!  It intrigues me to wonder how long this was like this...and how many other homes across America have something similar.  I NEVER go down in my crawlspace!  A yearly check-up should probably be done.

The Master Bedroom was not getting air!  I know why!

Re-hung and taped.

Another bedroom had an air leak!

Pushed together again and taped.

After that, I then cleaned the crawlspace.  I took out our various messes we had made, laid the vapor barrier back flat where we had been crawling on it for two weeks, and re-installed the foam against the outer walls.  Another project I had had for today was to connect the dryer vent all the way out to the exterior wall.  I had seen it dangling numerous times while in the crawlspace in previous days.  Well, I was ecstatic to find that this was an old vent!  A new one ran from the dryer to the exterior wall!  Woo hoo!!!

The new vent on top, and the old vent below.

The crawlspace is clean!  And look at those working lights!

I then helped Dad to run a new stove wire.  He wanted to run a ground wire to the stove, but it was just as easy to run an entire new wire, so that's what we did.  I thought we were done wiring!!!  :)  That actually proved to be a little bit of a difficult chore!  Once AGAIN, we had the hardest time running wire through the wall!  It's crazy, too, because I only had about a foot to go on this one!  We seriously labored through running the new wire.  So frustrating again!

I then hooked up the wiring to the dishwasher and ran a cycle.  No leaks!  So that project is complete!  It made the house smell better, too, so it was a win-win!

My nieces came over this morning, and we just sat around and visited.  It was a PERFECT day for a nice little rest.  We sat out on the deck (every house should have a deck).  They did help with picking up sticks from the yard, and Keeks helped to sweep the deck of all of the helicopters.  But mostly we just hung out.  We even fed a bluejay some week-old doughnuts much to the delight of the girls.

Dad and I made a run to pick up my workbench in the early afternoon.  Once back at the house, we tried to finish installing the remaining light fixtures.  When I bought the house, it had come with two non-matching light fixtures in the living room.  It wasn't a terrible look, per se, but it certainly was noticeable.  It drove Mom nuts!  And one of my rules when I flip a house is..."What would my mom or sister say if they walked in here"?  So Dad swapped out some matching light fixtures we had previously installed and hung them up in the living room.  We also installed a new one in the hallway (it was so dim!) and entryway after learning that my larger fixture wouldn't fit (it hung too low).

One was silver, one was dark!  We changed them to match.

Proof for Mom that they are IN FACT changed!!!

The previous ugly (and VERY dim) light fixture.

The entryway light.

This evening I headed back to the house with Mom.  Dad called it a day (as he should!).  He spent his entire vacation helping me with this house!  Mom and I installed lightbulbs all throughout the house (so many were missing!).  She also helped me reinstall my leaky toilet.  I was THRILLED to wrap up that project again!  I hate "open" projects!  She then worked on painting the area behind the stove so that we can start testing and moving appliances in.

That's what my kitchen is going to look like!  Bright blue!  Time to move the stove in.

After checking for leaks one more time, I finished putting the trim on the dishwasher, and she cleaned, cleaned, cleaned.  It's time to start doing the finishing touches on the house!

The dishwasher is done!

I did make another project for myself.  In my main bath, I had a drain without a drain cover.  I decided to replace it, as it was old and scratched up.  Well, unfortunately, when going to unscrew the drain, the metal cross-members broke (and rather easily).  So that's not good.  I now have a broken drain stuck in my tub!  How to get it out?!

The old drain.  I broke those metal crossmembers trying to remove it.  Ruh roh.

The cross-members broke.  How am I going to get this out?!

We finally called it a night at 10:15 P.M.  I was soooooo tired and exhausted.  Thanks for the help, Ma!  I'm seriously ecstatic about the toilet working again!

Day 13--The LAST Wire Has Been Pulled!!!

Dad was over to help with the house yet again.  We focused on fully wrapping up the electrical work.  The rains that had prevented us from getting into the crawlspace were long gone, and the crawlspace had dried up nicely (that was an encouragement, too!).  I have no sump pump, but I am at the top of a very, very tiny hill.  I was pleased to see that the water left the house quickly!

We only had a few circuits left to tackle before we were completely finishsed with the re-wiring of the 1758-square foot house!  We had to wire the crawlspace lights, the furnace, the outdoor lamppost, and the kitchen.  Most of these circuits had originally been wired through the first light fixture in the crawlspace, but Dad wanted to clean all of that up.  Fine by me.

So we spent much of the day in the crawlspace re-wiring the old wires.  I ran wires to Dad as he wired the junction boxes.  Again, it was pretty straightforward work.  Just tedious and time-consuming!  Run a wire, staple a wire, wire a wire, repeat.

As a hilarious sidenote to me, at one point Dad was on his back wiring a fixture.  I was his toolman, handing him tools as he called for them.  I glanced down and about 8 inches to the right of his head was a dead mouse.  And Dad HATES mice!!!  I literally could not stop laughing.  He had NO idea what was going on (outside of thinking I was delusional), but every time I glanced down, I saw my Dad and a mouse and I just couldn't get enough of it!  Ever since a boy, I have taken delight in getting mice as close to possible to him to see him shudder!  It was as a 12-year-old boy's delight all over again.  After he was finished with the fixture, I told him to look to his right.  !!!

Once we were all wired up, the outdoor lamppost proved to be a little bit of a challenge.  It's actually a cute little lamp, but it didn't work at all.  Even with a new wire ran to the post and new bulbs, we still had no lights.  So we took off the lamp to try to find the issue.  We were greeted with a good amount of wasp's nests...hoping they were empty, we started to clear them out.  VROOM!!!  The wasps flew out alive and active!  A relatively simple project turned into an hour with enemies on the loose!

The fixture had so much dirt and dead bugs in it that the bulbs (all burned out anyway) couldn't touch the bases.  After cleaning it all up and installing new bulbs, we were pleased to find that the eye worked, and all the bulbs worked, too!  Time would tell if the post actually came on at night, but it seemed to be working!  Another project complete!

The outdoor lamp post.  Time will tell if it works when the sun sets or not!

I was happy to find that my painter showed up to put in a day's work, too.  That is a huge undertaking that I can't wait to check off!

Bye, bye, yellow!!!

The room is transforming!

He seriously paints so fast.  The living room's first coat.

While Dad worked on some electrical and Frank painted, I spent over an hour caulking the bathrooms.  After the vanities and new floor were installed, I had LOTS of cracks and crevices to fill in.  It took quite a bit of time!  But it was looking good.  It actually amazes me how the smallest of projects actually make a room look great.  It really is the trim pieces and finishing touches that complete a room.  The white caulk really pulled the room together.

Before...

After!

Before...

After!

The sink now looks a part of the room.  New caulk!

 At one point this afternoon, I was in the crawlspace when Dad used the toilet.  I heard dripping.  Oh, no!  I crawled over to where the master bath was in the crawlspace and saw water dripping down from the toilet flange.  Noooooooooo!!!  That was a frustrating setback.  GRRR!!!

While Dad worked on finishing up the electrical, I worked on pulling out the TREMENDOUS amount of cable wire in the crawlspace.  I seriously think the previous owner had cable in every room!  I wanted to clean up that crawlspace!!!

After the crawlspace was completely wired, Dad and I then tackled the kitchen this afternoon.  We were happy to find that we could GFCI-protect the countertop outlets by attaching them to another circuit.  That project went fairly well.

So finally, after a couple of weeks of wiring, Dad was done!!!  I dragged the wire out of the crawlspace.  What a great feeling!  I kept the last two wires that we pulled out.  This re-wiring project was a huge surprise after I purchased the house.  The more we wired, the more I realized just how big of a project it really was.   Seriously, doing the work ourselves probably saved me $8,000-$10,000.  Words don't do my appreciation justice, but...THANKS, DAD!!!  :)

The completed breaker panel.  Look at all that copper on top!  Woo hoo!

All the wire we pulled out from the house.  This was work!

I worked on a few other projects throughout the day.  I sanded some more walls and patched up a couple more holes.  We put quite a bit of holes in the drywall!

More patching and sanding.  I'm getting good at it!

I wanted to wrap up the dishwasher, but I needed one more part.  Agh, I'm so close!!!  I simply need a 6-foot water line instead of the 4-foot one I purchased.  Who would've thunk you needed that much?!

Re-wiring the receptacle behind the dishwasher.

The dishwasher mostly installed.  I need to install the electrical!

The house is coming together nicely.  Today was a HUGE step in the right direction...

THE WIRING IS COMPLETE!!!

I treated Mom and Dad to supper tonight.  I told Dad it was for thanks for what he's done so far...and Mom for thanks for what she is going to do!!!  ha!

We stopped at Menard's on the way home for more parts.  Dad chose to stay in the van and rest while Mom and I shopped!  ha!  We had to make two stops as I went back for some mortar for the exterior bricks.  I chose not to buy a 60-pound bag for two bricks...but then changed my mind after Dad said it needed to be done!

It's time to wrap up some projects!!!  I was home around 10:00 P.M.

Day 12--FINALLY Progress!

Today was quite simply the best day we have had yet!

Our focus for today was on completing the garage wiring.  So we started out by following the aluminum wires from the breaker box to the receptacles.  We also had some pretty lofty plans to make the new homeowner's life easier:  install more garage receptacles!!!  Only one existed in the entire garage.  This is NO way to have a garage wired up!  So both Dad and I agree to add three more!  Of course, that meant extra work for us, but if there is one thing I've learned from Dad, it's about doing a job right.  And as a homeowner, we both wanted more receptacles!

That's not to say we didn't have our problems.  In the first hour, I made a huge boo-boo!  I was fishing tape down to Dad from the ceiling, but I was having the hardest time getting the wire to go down the wall.  This house is so-well insulated, and the fish tape kept catching on the thick insulation just inches after being pushed through the hole.  We tried over and over and over again.  Finally Dad suggested sending more wire down the wall to kind of give it a "push" of sorts.  Well, I sent more down.  Still nothing.  I tried to wind the tape back up, but it was stuck.  Dad couldn't understand what I meant.  I meant stuck!  As in stuck!  It didn't make sense to him!

Well, I was quite honestly getting nowhere, and this tape was stuck on stuck.  So guess what!  We had to cut into the drywall yet again!  And I heard Dad making all sorts of comments!  haha...he had never seen such a thing.  I climbed up on the ladder to see what he was looking at.  My oh my.  I had really done a number on that fish tape!  So THAT was how our day was going to start, huh?!

The fish tape was literally STUCK on STUCK!  It had wrapped around itself so many times.  And THIS is why you don't push too much tape into the wall.  Oops!

A new patch job all because I sent too much tape down the wall!  Agh!!!

We were able to get the tape out of our large hole in the drywall (we had to expand it!).  What a setback!  We have honestly just not been good with fishing on this whole house!  It's supposed to be easy!  We wired that receptacle, then were happy to find we could fish side-to-side to the original receptacle.  Woo hoo!

I cut out spots for the two new receptacles on one wall, then went up in the attic to make some more holes for the wire for the new receptacles.  It's so funny to me when you're working in the blind.  I strategically picked a good location on the wall for one receptacle.  Well, once up in the attic, wouldn't you know it, a "stray" piece of wood had been installed during the build most likely.  It was right in the way!  Just a guide piece of wood or framework or something.  But it was right on top of my wallplate on top of where I wanted to be!  Oh the joys of remodeling!  It's those small things that get ya and make projects tough!

No wall outlets in a garage?!  Umm, no thanks!  We would add two on this wall!

Adding a wall outlet.  You are welcome, next owner!

But we were able to wire up a new receptacle.  At this point, we were going to be done, but I decided another one (for the total of three new) would be best on that long wall.  So more of the same.  Cut a hole for the receptacle, drill a hole for the wires.  I did the prep work, Dad did the finishing work.  It was going smoothly!

As we were working, I was very excited to see my painter show up!  He has been itching to get into this house, and I was more than happy to give him half the house!  He did one coat on the master bathroom and all three bedrooms today.  He is so efficient!  Agh, it's so exciting!  The house is coming together!!!

Dad and I also installed a new receptacle above the garage door opener.  The previous owners had literally been using an extension cord to the ONLY receptacle in the garage.  Much like the wire for the wall opener button unit, this wire was left out in the open.  So you literally had a bright orange extension cord running up the wall, across the ceiling, and down to the motor.  Silly!  So we cleaned it all up and installed an outlet right above the opener.  So clean now!

Before:  An extension cord ran to the back wall and plugged into the only outlet in the garage!

After:  A new receptacle right above the opener.  Voila!  Clean and crisp!

Dad tied it all together, and we completed the garage circuit!  Four new outlets!!!

We had a flurry of activity going on today. Dad installed a single outlet into the workshop (we had to leave one outlet open yesterday), so now that circuit is complete. I sanded the numerous patches in the workshop and re-mudded where necessary.

I installed a toilet in the Main Bathroom.  I also addressed the leaking 1/4-turn valve under the sink.  I simply could not get it to work, so I called it a manufacturer's defect!  I went to the hardware store, bought a new one, and guess what...no leaks!

The Main Bathroom.  It looks so much different!

I completed the faucet in the master sink complete with the brand-new drain lines.

The old way of doing things.  Nope!

All fresh and clean!

After Dad was done in the garage, we moved in to the kitchen!!!  Agh, that's our last room!!!  We were able to GFCI-protect three receptacles in that room, and we are literally down to just three receptacles left in the entire house!  We still have the crawlspace lights, furnace, and outdoor lamp post light to re-wire, but inside, we are almost done!!!

At the end of all of this, we mowed the yard (thanks for staying behind to help, Pa!), cleaned out the gutters from thousands of helicopters, re-installed my gutter with new nails, re-attached a downspout.  Dad headed for home around 6:45 P.M., and I stayed behind to vacuum, sand, and patch some holes.  Knowing that my painter is going to be moving fast, I wanted all the prep work to be done.

Getting ready for the painter again tomorrow!  Sanding those patches!

I know you are going to find this hard to believe, but my gutter didn't drain very well...

The gutter, downspout, and outdoor light re-installed!

Look at those two new receptacles where NONE used to exist a day earlier!

It's hard to put today into adequate words.  After the NUMEROUS frustrations we've been having, today was just an amazing day.  It was honestly really the first day that went well.  And so it feels great!!!  It feels beyond great!!!

I really just feel like today was the day that got us over the hump.  It's been an uphill battle the whole time, and something just switched today.  It really feels like it's all coming together, and that makes me beyond excited!!!

I'm hoping we can finish ALL of the electrical work tomorrow!  Agh, what a day!!!  I headed over to Mom and Dad's at 7:15 P.M. to play with my nieces and grab some much-needed supper.

Oh, and for the FIRST time since I purchased the house weeks ago, the water is staying on overnight!  THE WATER IS ON!!!

Such a great day!