Andy’s birthday is a week from today, and he needs new undie pants ’cause his parts keep falling out of the ones he currently owns, and yesterday he re-wore a pair because he didn’t do laundry, and maybe if he had more that wouldn’t happen. (You’d think that if he had to re-wear a pair, he’d at least choose a pair that didn’t have TWO holes in them. [And I don’t mean the holes that are supposed to be there.]) I think he wears large and prefers boxers. I am too tired to go shopping, so if anyone wants to send Andy a birthday present, consider undie pants.
Monthly Archives: August 2008
Oooh, that smell
Posted onToday I saw a post on craigslist for some reclaimed red oak flooring out of a house in town. Approximately 300 square feet for $125. We have talked about putting hardwood down in the living room/kitchen/hallway, and really liked some rustic maple at the hardwood store in Floyd, but it is pricey. And we had red oak at the old house, and it looked nice once I refinished it. So I went to check it out and came home with a truck full of oak (and one piece of bamboo).
Most of the boards are in decent shape. Many will need some trimming, but there is still a lot of usable flooring. And all but 2 nails have been removed or clipped. After stacking it in the workshop and doing some quick calculations, though, I’d say there is somewhere between 255-300 square feet. Depending on the waste, that may not be enough to do the living room like I hoped.
On the plus side, it *is* 2 1/4 #1 common red oak, so we can probably locate some more easily. The finish is ok, but not geat, so I will probably sand and refinish it all anyways. I could be not so picky when trimming, too, and we could just call it ‘utility grade flooring.’ 
If Cabol looks at it in the light of day and decides she doesnt like it, then I will probably save it for my long term plan of putting a level floor in the workshop. There is a cement slab, but it seems like they made it out of leftover cement and no one bothered to float it and make it nice and smooth, so it is full of dips and high spots. 
And I absolutely adore the smell of red oak. Cabol couldn’t smell it(!), so I shoved it in her face until she could. I don’t think she was as enamored with it.
Cabol’s Best Birthday
Posted onIt was my birthday last weekend, and it was the best birthday in a long time. Andy made me an awesome cake floating in a lake of chocolate:
And then he (mostly) finished our bathroom!!!!!!! The toilet got a clog in it before anyone could even use it, but we had a plunger so no worries.
Here’s what we did….errrrr…what Andy did.
Before:
During:
After:
We (and again, by “we” I mean “Andy”)
+ removed the old, nasty wallpaper (okay, I did a lot of that)
+ removed the little shelf that was over the sink and toilet and the trim on the opposite wall that topped off the wallpaper
+ removed the old, nasty medicine cabinet, sink, and vanity
+ removed a light switch that was in the middle of the wall for the medicine cabinet light and patched the hole
+ painted the upper parts of the walls and the ceiling blue, and painted the trim we weren’t messing with white
+ replaced the old, nasty shower curtain rod with a new, groovy one
+ replaced the old, nasty light in the ceiling with a light/fan combo (thanks, Pops, for climbing on the roof to help with that!)
+ added beadboard and trim to the lower part of the walls and painted white
+ removed the old, nasty stick on floor tiles and replaced the rotting plywood under the toilet
+ did something with the toilet plumbing to move the toilet hole out from the wall so the new toilet would fit
+ installed concrete backer board on the floor
+ installed awesome hex tiles
+ installed baseboard trim and quarter round and a threshold at the doorway and painted white
+ framed the old mirror and painted the trim white
+ installed new, super-low-flow toilet
+ installed new vanity, sink, faucet, and mirror we got at the Habitat store about two years ago (!)
+ replaced the door handle, the outlets and light switch and their covers, and the towel racks
There are just a wee few things left to do:
+ install the tp holder
+ hook up the plumping for the sink
+ buy and install cabinet over the toilet
Andy is a rockin’ renovator!