party shower?

Did someone say party shower?  I think the sledgehammer did.  It's gone, I'm sorry to all of you that may have been a devoted fan. After weighing the options it was demolished.  Now that it isnt there, it is much, much better. There was some consideration of using the space for a bathroom, but another spot is a better option if that happens. Its lack of existence makes a huge difference as you will see...

paintbrushes and pizza oven

Outside the showers bounce and trickle down the windows, the sound of the autumn breezes rustling the leaves. Inside the bristles strike the walls, the paint brings life to a neglected place. The sound is quiet, almost inaudible, but yet is thunderous and echoes through the rooms.

basement trouble II

After some awesome friends and family chipped in their demolition skills, carrying muscle, and cleaning ability, a lot has been accomplished.  You can see now actually where the bones of this old house are. You can see more walls came down.  Also plenty of electrical wiring, speaker wire, and enough coax cable to start a television studio has been cleaned up. The party shower is still there, after some debate I think its totally coming out, it's in an awkward location for potential future development. I can't figure out what it might have been originally, one theory is where the coal was kept.

fuzziness

The good thing about this whole basement demo is all the insulation that was tucked away in every part of the ceiling, walls, and crevices. Apparently the party room needed to be soundproofed.

This will be [re]used in the attic space for more thermal value. Bonus!

God's Creatures

This happened the other day..  Walking out the back door and see two does passing through the yard.  Had to snap a quick pic so the mobile device had to do. Of course I know people that want me to get a bow so I don't have to leave home to hunt.  Pretty amazing to see, I won't hurt them.  If it would have been a buck and a doe I probably would've started gathering the wood from the garage.   Genesis 6:19

unrelated break

Well a break was needed from the house. So I went to the Mat Kearney concert at the House of Blues, was looking forward to it for awhile. I must say it was a pretty awesome show, check out his music if you have never heard.  Diane Birch opened up, she was great as well. Attached is a very low quality pic from the mobile device. Mat Kearney is in the left third of the frame, white shirt, black fedora, bad pic, I know. Check out his website, you can tell its him.

basement waste

The unfortunate part of demolition is waste. Less is more, the famous quote by Mies. That's what I'll be doing after the basement is cleaned up. But til then this 15 cubic yard dumpster is packed tight, with more to be taken away. A lesson for everyone, if you don't need it and can do something just as well without more stuff, make it happen. The first step is reduce. The good thing about this waste is that it will be separated and recycled. I saved what I could for future use, but so much was riddled with excessive nails that it would have taken weeks to remove all of them. So for now this is taken away and move onto more removal. More to come...

basement trouble I

Well here it is.  The trouble, I didn't take some totally before pics because I got to carried away with demo, so during will have to do. Sorry for the quality of the first couple, the mobile device was used, the camera was offsite. The basement was completely finished, top to bottom, drywall ceiling, furred out walls with drywall, carpet and padding on the floor, insulation in everything. It was stained and smelled less than pleasing. All trimmed out with mouldings, baseboard, etc.  There was a large bar built by the basement stairs with a bar sink and shelving.   And to top it off a party shower was in progress!  This apparently was the party room. Well since then demolition has ensued. The insulation in the furred out walls was fiberglass batt, directly on the block walls. For those that don't know that is a problem, moisture coming through the block walls will eventually get into the fiberglass batt and make it moldy.  So the insulation needed to be removed, some of that had already started in places where moisture was prevalent.  These pics are after phase I demo.  More to come in phase II.

 

the beginning...

the breakers go out and the shop light turns on...

House and Home

This is the first post, on this blog, important one I guess, better make it good so people keep checking in. The image is my new house/project. Its a big project. The final product is undetermined, this is a work in progress, one step at a time. There are plenty of ideas as always, what ideas get done will be based on life, ambition, time, and of unfortunately budget. But sometimes the best things come cheap (or free), so we will see what happens. This is a two bedroom, one bath, ranch bungalow on an almost acre lot in a great neighborhood. I know the neighborhood is great from the nice neighbors that have already stopped by and welcomed me. The house needs work inside and out which you will see over time, but that makes things interesting. So here it goes, we'll see what happens.

I'll do what i can to put my vision on this place for myself, but also with the thinking that someday someone else will be blessed with a roof like this over their head. Maybe they will like what I've done, maybe they will look at it and see something they have never experienced before. But we'll see if that day comes and what comes of it. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34    Right now i have trouble in the basement, you will see soon.

Home is where the heart is. Its an old saying, everyone has heard it. lots of people understand it, many don't. I know what it is to me, and I have for a long time. The Elvis song describes it pretty well, check it out if you've never heard it. This house isn't my home right now, this is where I'm at right now, and I will make the best I can of it.

my Home is somewhere else.