The Basement Ceiling

This week the guys have removed all the plaster from the basement ceiling. It was a nasty, dirty job. They filled a huge dumpster with all the plaster and lath.

Now we have clear access to the joists and can easily see where everything goes from an electrical and plumbing perspective. And we'll be able to tuck replacement wires and pipes up in the joist cavities so they're out of the way - then I can heal the goose-eggs on my noggin'. :-)

Master Chandelier

The electricians have been here on-and-off over the last few weeks doing some prep work for upgrading the electrical service. We've had them remove some sconces that were in odd places, add a couple of ceiling fixtures for chandeliers, add switches to comrol some existing lights, and add a few outlets. They've also done some stuff as required by code (e.g., add GFCI outlets in the bathrooms).

This photo shows the new chandelier in the master bedroom - note the absence of the sconces from previous posts! The ceiling still needs to be painted now that we've removed the old fabric that was falling down.

Broken Glass

There has been quite a bit of progress since last week.

Except for the back screen door, all the trim and windows have been painted. The first floor of the porch and "Wizard of Oz" doors have also been painted, but in a contrasting color to the trim. While the trim is a cream color, the porch floor and cellar doors are a light sage green. It really works well with the trim color and the brick. The lumber for the new floor on the second floor porch has been delivered, so that should get installed soon, too.

Most of the broken or cracked window glass has been replaced. Meaning all the flat glass has been replaced. There is still some curved glass that needs help, along with some leaded glass. The leaded glass next to the front door may take a while - we're still "working" with our friends at the St Paul Pioneer Press on that. Let's just say they've been less than cooperative in fixing the 114-year-old leaded glass window that was broken by their paper last Labor Day...

However, we've received approval from the HPC for the new storm windows, so things are moving along!

The National Register

As I mentioned in some earlier posts, we have to abide by the Heritage Preservation Commission because the house is in a historic district. The house is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Downspout Extensions

Shortly after moving in, we noticed a little water in the basement every time it rained. Last fall we had Boyd and the guys re-grade around the foundation so that the yard sloped away from the house - using gravity to your advantage should be one of those common-sense things, but I've found that common sense isn't that common...

The re-grading helped quite a bit, but we've still had some water seeping in the front corners of the house when it rains. Of course, the downspouts ended about 3 feet short of the corner; dumping rain water right up against the foundation.

Friday was a day off, so I finally decided to jump to that part of my "Honey Do" list and went to one of the local home centers early in the morning. I found just what I needed, almost...

I was looking for 2-five foot lengths of downspout, but they only had 10-foot lengths. No problem, I thought, I have a hacksaw and tin snips...

Well, I purchased it and the sheet metal screws to hold everything together. Then I walked out into the parking lot and realized...

I have my car. Ten feet of downspout isn't going to fit - even sticking out the window (OK, it would, but it would stick out the side rather than the front and take out everyone on the sidewalk on the way home...) So I called She Who Must Be Obeyed to bring the Family Truckster (and the grill's propane tank for exchange - I'd forgotten it, too).

The rest of the project was uneventful. And the extensions worked well with the big rain we had yesterday afternoon; no water in the basement!

Painting Windows

This is short week with the holiday, but the guys have been busy painting windows. They are already about three-fourths done.