Day two and amazingly our team came back! Craig must be a glutton for punishment, because he stuck with us at the house from 9am to just after 5pm! I could barely keep up with him!
I started my day at 7:30, which was admittedly difficult after being at the house until just after midnight the night before. I got to the house at 8:15 and had a few moments to just stand in the middle of everything in the daylight and accept the challenge. I got to walk through the rooms and touch the walls that are now MY walls, and scuff the carpet padding on the floors that are now MY floors. I appreciated how the sunlight comes through the windows in the front bedroom, and further confirmed that that will be OUR bedroom.
I decided to go get some coffee to get me fueled for the work ahead of me, so I walked the three blocks to the little coffeeshop in the neighborhood. And guess who I met there! Mom and Craig were just finishing up their breakfast of waffles and eggs. Maybe that was Craig’s secret to his unstoppable energy! Gotta buy me some waffles!
They paid their check while my order was in for a couple of breakfast sandwiches for me and Brandon to eat at the house so they headed back to the house.
When I got back, Craig was already setting up the saw horses we borrowed from Mom’s house. He put me to work (Yes, HE put ME to work.) pulling nails from the paneling Brandon and I had finished taking off the night before. Between the two of us we pulled all the nails and stacked the paneling in two piles, one that was small enough to fit in his burning bin on his rural property, and one that would need to be cut.
Brandon was still in bed back at Mom’s house and I found out later when he did arrive that the tetanus shot he’d gotten the day before made him kind of sick overnight. He was feverish and needed a little more rest, but he felt fine when he arrived around noon.
By the time Brandon arrived, Craig and I had all the paneling cut and stacked in Craig’s truck. I couldn’t believe it!
Here’s our pile of garbage before cutting down the paneling:
Here’s all the paneling in the back of Craig’s truck:
Here’s a photo that illustrates exactly how I feel about paneling:
When we were done with that, Brandon arrived, very well rested, just in time for lunch! Grandma had set up food for us down the street. We visited with Grandpa and ate yummy tostadas, fideo, and Mexican rice. It was tempting to stay there in the air conditioning, but Craig was getting restless to get back to work (I know! Right?) so we trooped back down the street.
When we arrived back, Craig gathered an armful of brooms, shovels, and buckets, and burrowed down into the basement. We wouldn’t see him emerge until nearly 5:00 later that evening.
Meanwhile, Brandon and I made a long overdue trip to the hardware store. We placed an order for a fridge and a dishwasher. They’ll be delivered on Monday afternoon. Here’s a list of what else we bought:
- new latch for the front storm door
- screen guard for front storm door
- floor lamp for the living room
- 5″ random orbital sander
- razor blade utility scrapers
- scouring pads
- rubber gloves
- compact flourescent lightbulbs
- portable radio
When we got back, Craig was away hauling buckets of dirt and debris that he scooped out of our basement. Mom has a decorative pond in her back yard that she’s been wanting to fill in, so that’s where the dirt went.
While Brandon figured out how to get the last two stubborn pieces of paneling out from over the bookshelves…
I started tackling the weird carpet padding that was left behind in the living room, dining room, and hallway. The carpeting had been laid in the late sixties or early seventies. It was a professional job, but the padding underneath has the inconvenient quality of becoming some kind of rock hard material that has adhered to the hardwood. Craig has a lifesaving tool that pulls staples, so I started pulling staples so I could start figuring out the safest way to remove this crumbly, chalky stuff without damaging the hardwood underneath.
Here’s the padding after I pulled off the cloth-like fiber layer:
There’s a crud-covered staple on the end of that tool that I’m about to pull out (gently!).
This stuff is NOT going to go quietly.
But the sander seems to be taking care of it. I’m going to put a coarser pad on next time, but this will be a good way to get rid of this crazy stuff.
I know, the mask and goggles work better when they’re on my FACE, but I was just demonstrating for this photo. I was fully protected for the actual work. I promise.
We have a plan for this afternoon to just keep plugging away at it to try to make it mostly livable. I took a little break to dream about how warm and comfortable our living room will be when it’s done.
See you next time with even more updates!
[tags]carpet, future plans, paneling, photos, power tools[/tags]