I spent yesterday cleaning and familiarizing myself with everything in the basement. It was dump day, so I was able to clean out and get out a whole bunch of rusted metals and other items that went to the scrap piles at the transfer station. I swear those boys who prowl around the piles of twisted scrap love to see me coming. Sometimes I can hand someone a piece of scrap from my truck and they just put it into theirs...that makes me feel good.

If you can embiggen the photo, you might be able to see the large slab of slate that sits in the middle of the garage. I was able to get this out the door and I believe it will make a really nice threshold or top step somewhere around the property.

I found a lot of dried up old paint cans, which is good, since I can throw them away without worry. There are still a lot of full cans, which will have to be disposed of properly. I had to clean because we are beginning a new project tomorrow...or rather, we have hired out to have it done. The basement is dirt and rather wet, so I hired a friend to come in and level off the floor, perhaps removing some of the dirt so that we can put down a layer of plastic and then a layer of stone over that. This serves as an inexpensive way to help keep the basement drier and help the water flow through. It will also help keep moisture levels down and be an aesthetic improvement over what is there now.

And off to the left, you can see our BASC (Big Ass Support Column) that is keeping the bounce out of the bouncy house.

With all the snow today, I may be a shut in...seeing how it is Sunday and all, it seems like a great day to work on Christmas presents and watch movies!

Happy Sunday

Back with a vengeance after our whirlwind trip to New York. Greg and I decided to tackle the "soft corner" of the house where there wasn't enough support for the large beam that takes the place of the old outer wall of the original house. I took us awhile to figure out the best way to go about it. After much hemming and hawing and a few calls to our resident consultant contractor, we went and borrowed jacks and heavy wood scraps and we were going to jack the beam to get it level (it was 3/8" off on the rear right corner of the house). But first came the support post in the basement: a 102" long 6 x 6" pressure treated support post that would sit on a concrete pill and get whacked into place underneath the unsupported wall on the first floor.

You can see in the photo below that the post goes right up through a long homemade bench that was in the house already. What strikes me as funny is that where it counts, the house is underbuilt, but in cases like this shelf, there are five support brackets underneath the shelf, each having 6 stripped screws anchoring the shelf. There was no way that I could remove the shelf and not take all day doing it, so I simply cut out a space for the support beam. I love bashing stuff, so it was my pleasure to wield a sledgehammer over my head to whack this beam into place. We cut it a 1/2" taller than it needed to be and after a bit of whacking the top into place and then whacking the concrete pill back a few inches, and some leveling out here and there, the damn thing was in place.....and I needed to go lie down!!!

Then we went upstairs to get the jack in place, and low and behold, the house has stopped shaking and the beam was spot on level. We had raised the sagging floor enough on the first floor to bring the whole damn thing in-line. This was a HUGE impediment to me mentally, for one part of me thought that we were going to have this shaky house to rent out. I was euphoric! Greg and I had debated back and forth about the best way to try and do this project and in the end, I think each one of us contributed out bit and we ended up not having to take the next step of jacking and shimming.

As well as putting the post in downstairs, Greg redid the support post on the first floor to correct the flawed support underneath the large beam. Originally, the beam sat squarely on a header with two 2 x 6" boards sistered together on either side, making up a support post. Naturally, these 2 x 6" supports bowed out because the weight of the overhead beam (carrying the weight of the back half of the second floor) was not directly supported overhead. Now, there is one solid support post directly under the overhead beam, which corrected the improper deflection of the beam above. (I think)

Phew! Today I am going over to contemplate taking out some of the old windows in prep for the new ones!

Our real jobs have gotten in the way of working on Sunnyside. Greg has been sequestered upstairs making coats for people before the holiday season really gets underway. There have been a few auctions out there for me, and today will be spent attempting to buy an 18th century needlework pocketbook at auction here in Maine for clients in LA. Tomorrow we both take off for New York on business, so poor forlorn Sunnyside will have to wait until we return next weekend. We will then have less than two weeks to get ready for the new windows. The house will really show some progress once those windows are in.

And, ok, I lied. I never got around to whacking the support post in place before the holiday tryptophan set in. I spent two days alternately baking or watching movies. So, no photos of the event. When I am not driving an hour to this auction, I will be cleaning and making some dessert for our evening hosts tomorrow night.

So, more from us after the 4th of December...stay tuned!!

We are at the wood buying stage of the program. Yesterday, we started shoring up the cottage. Greg took some of the old studs and made them into supports for the big manufactured beam that "holds up" the second floor at the back of the house. The beam is almost 1/2" an inch off level and only had two 2 x 6" boards holding direct weight. Greg put in two more post and hammered them into the others and now, one end of the beam is perfectly supported. This will be important when we jack up the other end of the beam so that more load will be transferred. Before we do that though, we have to put in a proper support post underneath the house, directly under the wacky column that "supports" the manufactured beam. The existing column sits squarely on the floor board between two joists and has nothing underneath to support it, like a foundation wall. So, we bought a concrete pill which I dug into place and then tomorrow, I will cut the 6 x 6" support column and wack it into place. I think this should do wonders for the stability of the house.
Pictures of the work tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another day of recycling yesterday. I really want to try and use as many old boards as possible in the new scheme. I am removing old nails and cutting the tongue and groove boards down. getting rid of damaged ends, etc. I hope to have enough materials between the tongue and groove boards and the old studs to make the kitchen cabinets. Have come across so many old 19th square cut nails, that I decided to try and save those as well. There has to be some decorative wall treatment I can do with old cut brads.

Put out a curb alert on Craig's List to get rid of the bathroom vanity. I honestly think it was never used, for it looks brand new. Within about 30 minutes I had some guy from Waterville ask me to hold it for him. He is driving down tomorrow to pick it up. It's a good feeling to know that a lot of this stuff is not going to land up in some landfill.

We placed the window order yesterday. We probably could have found them cheaper at some big box store, but we wanted the good quality Anderson windows that are not as cheap as the ones at one of those BB stores. And, I feel good about ordering from Viking...they are a local Maine company and probably need the business. I've asked our BFF contractor to put the windows in for us. I can see where the previous windows have leaked and since I have no experience in putting in an 8 foot sliding glass door, I want it done properly. The small square windows that are probably original have caused all sorts of leaks, so I want to get those done up right too. We have to take out the bay window (there are leak marks all around it) that was installed in 2000....I think I can probably sell it to pay for part of the other windows. I cannot wait to get rid of the front picture window...it's old and not too weatherproof.....and its so ugly!

SOLD!

Got rid of the Thomasville Oak Hutch that I was about to give away to the Goodwill. Craig's list rules! A nice couple from Bath drove up to see it this morning. They were waiting when I got here, and she walked into the house and gasped that she loved it. They just bought their first house after 19 years of marriage. I love these stories almost as much as I love making the money.

Exciting day today. Besides finally getting the floor up in the bathroom, we had our building consultant, Larry Jones of Whitecap Builders, come in and look over the place. He pointed us in the right direction with several things, and gave us the ego boost we needed when he agreed with us that the project was not overwhelming.

We ordered windows and doors. 10 new windows and a set of 8' sliders to replace the upstairs bay window. We are replacing the front picture window and accompanying side lights with three 6 over 6 mullioned windows that match those downstairs. We are replacing the side door with a window to make the downstairs bathroom.

We discussed what to do in the basement and decided on plastic sheeting and four inches of pea stone to level out the floor and keep the moisture levels down.

We got rid of the last giant piece of furniture when the walnut head board found temporary digs at the Goodwill today. I thought we were going to have to break the thing up for firewood because it wasn't going down the stairs when the walls were up. Guess we might've waited to get those beds down the stairs!