NBPM6 - Thursday Thoughts - Why We're Tired & Broke

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

The other day when I was feeling a little more tired & broke that usual, I got to thinking about all the things we've done with/on/for the house (with, of course, help from family & friends... and contractors!). I realized it's got to be QUITE a long list, so to make myself feel better about my perceived poverty and house-frustration, here it is...

(Also, this is likely incomplete & will be added to as Mr. Kluges or I remember more stuff.)

Whole House-Electrical

• replaced knob-and-tube wiring
• added umpteen outlets
• added lights to many closets
• added motion detector lights outside
• Mr. Kluges rewired fixtures to replace some existing
• purchased really nice matching lights for office
• had electric line buried

Whole House-Plumbing

• Had the sewer line replaced since the cast iron pipe had rotted through to dirt on the bottom.
• While they were cutting up the basement floor anyway, had them stub in a waste pipe for the eventual future 2nd bathroom
• Had them add a drain, and a laundry sink
  

House Exterior

• Replaced cement-asbestos roof with lovely diamond-shaped asphalt shingles
  
• Replaced original gutters with custom-made gutters to match
• (Roof and Gutter project here at House of 42 Doors)
  
• Had sections of house re-tuck-pointed and repaired
• Had some of the rotten fascia replaced
• Had dormers reroofed & re-cedar-shingled on the sides
• Painted 460 cedar shakes for the dormers (Thanks, Pusher & Puck!)
• Scraped & repainted some of the rest of the fascia
• Done quite a bit of work on repairing storm windows
• Painted dormers
  

Landscaping

• Mr. Kluges cut out section of sidewalk for electrical line burying
• He and Grampa Pharaoh filled it it with cement.
• Mr. Kluges relaid some brick stairs along the side of the house.
• We tried to take care of the big mess the plumbers had left after fixing the sewer line.
• Mr. Kluges and Grampa Jem relaid the part of our brick patio under the clothesline the plumbers had to take out for the sewer line.
• Had about 8 trees removed
• Mr. Kluges took out DOZENS of buckthorn trees/bushes/scrub
• Sort of redid the front "rock garden"
• Built (and filled) a nice firewood shed that holds about a cord of wood.
  

Living Room

• Painted (Thanks, Gramma Yori)
• Replaced light fixtures above fireplace
• Now have lovely matching draft stoppers for doors and cushion for cedar chest (Thanks, Gramma Pet!)
• Bought end tables & lights
• and rug
• and semi-circular shelf for phone
• Oh, right - bought set of cordless phones
  

Kitchen

• Painted (Thanks, Gramma Yori!)
• Replaced waste pipe running above ceiling due to sudden failure
• Therefore, had entire ceiling redone.
• And painted ceiling & some walls again (Thanks, Gramma Yori!)
  

Office

• Replaced light fixtures and added a wall scones & some outlets
  

Dining Room

• ...actually, I think nothing. We were waiting to paint until the tuck-pointing was done since in the spring a couple of times water came right through the wall into here...
• Wait - replaced missing pane of glass in French doors

Sunroom

• Fixed someof the rotting window sills
• Replaced/added dealies to wind up the blind cords

Foyer

• Peeled/scraped
• Washed the calcimine paint residue off the walls
• Primed
• Painted
• Now have lovely custom-made bench cushion (Thanks, Gramma Pet!)
• Replaced scratched-up plexiglass in door to LR with real glass
  

Master Bedroom

• Painted
• Added outlets
• Bought nightstands & lights
• and headboard
  

Pumpkin's Bedroom

• Peeled/scraped
• Applied flour-water mixture to calcimine paint, scraped that off when dry
• Washed the walls
• Primed
• Painted
  
• (Thanks, Gramma Yori!)
• Took care of ugly conduit and outlet boxes on walls
• Replastered spots left from ugly outlet boxes
• Painted trim
  

Penguin's Bedroom

• Peeled/scraped
• Repaired plaster cracks
  
• Applied flour-water mixture to calcimine paint, scraped that off when dry
• Washed the walls
• Primed
• Painted
• Took care of ugly conduit and outlet boxes on walls
• Painted trim
  

Guest Bedroom

• Got lovely furniture! (Thanks, Grampa Pharaoh & Gramma Pet!)
• Mr. Kluges started peeling the paint but has been warned to leave it the heck alone until we're done with the bathroom painting.
  

Playroom

• Painted
  

Bathroom

• In process peeling paint in preparation for whole calcimine-removal process
  

Basement

• Had washer & dryer installed (Thanks, TNGreatAunt!)
• Had vent cut through wall for dryer venting
• Had sewer line replaced with MUCH cutting through the floor and subsequent reconcreting of floor
• Built shelving for storage of totes
• Wrapped radiator and hot water pipes with pipe insulation
• Built support wall for LR floor under radiator where it was sagging
• Ripped out basement lathe & plaster in preparation for electricians (The dirtiest job EVER - MANY, MANY thanks to Grampa Pharaoh for helping with that!)
  

Stairs/Hallway

• Painted
• Added lights, switches & outlets
• Mr. Kluges put shelves in one under-stairs closet for my pantry
• Painted back hallway/entryway
• Purchased phone stand for next to laundry chute
  

Ok, well, dang, no wonder we're broke & exhausted!



Edited to add: AKJ is right - there was something about the radiators. We had the heat exchanger go out on our boiler & had to get that replaced. We want to get the sunroom radiators fixed sometime, but it didn't make it into this budget cycle. :)

Also, I forgot, we (and by "we" I mean more like Mr. Kluges & Grampa Jem) shaved down, planed, sanded, and otherwise smallified some of the doors throughout the house that were sticking. And fixed the garage door and put in a threshold or something out there to keep the snow and chipmunks out.

(Yes, chipmunks - the gap was fairly big under the door, plus they chewed it or something so they had a hole that gave them free reign of the garage.)

Oh, and Mr. Kluges fixed/replaced/repaired some of the old mortise locks. And we had a locksmith in for the front door lock, too.

Edited again to add that my mom also made curtains for Pumpkin's room. On a related note, do you know how hard it is to find fabric that has both cats AND butterflies on it?!

Edited yet again to add that we also had a good portion of the sidewalk around the house mud-jacked up to slant away from us, and that we had the radiator system drained & refilled.