The Big Clock

This wall in the study has always needed something.

For a long time we thought that a big, old clock would be interesting.  We'd see some at various shops, but usually they had the wrong look to them; either too casual, country, woodsy, or the wrong scale.

On a whim a few weeks ago I did some internet searching and found a place with a surprisingly clever name, The Big Clock Store.  I'm sure someone paid a marketing consultant a lot of money for that one...

A little customization and, voila, it arrived last night.  Of course, we were having a family party and it arrived just before we opened gifts.

Perfect timing.

Merry Christmas to the Emerson Hadley House.

What's a Demi-Lune Table?

Amazingly, the guy that knows how to re-plumb a bathroom also knows what a demi-lune table is.  And he's been looking for the right one for ages.

Didn't exactly find it, but found something better instead.

We wanted one in the main hall between the doors to the living and dining rooms.  While we we looking, we had a chest we'd brought along from the old house.  It wasn't quite the right size or style, but it was functional while we searched for the right piece (pictured).

Like always, we looked half-heartedly at many places on the off chance we'd find "The One" while we we really looking for something else.

Of course, there's always a story.  Or in this case, starkly contrasting stories of The Search For The Perfect Demi-Lune Table (nice detail on the top, eh?).

One day, SWMBO found a candidate on a website for a company that shall not be named.  It has a store in a lovely town at the center of the furniture world, also known as Becker, MN.  They also have several satellite stores around the metro area.

We went to one of the satellite stores to check if they had the table in stock.  The salesman couldn't find it.  Anywhere.  Even though we had it on our iPad on their website right in front of his face.  It took the help of several sales people (all falling all over themselves volunteering to be our interior design consultant) 30 minutes before they finally found it.  On a different system.  Under a different product code.  And, of course, they only had one in stock. At the main store.

We could purchase it, they said, and they'd ship it free-of-charge to the satellite store where we could pick it up in a few days.  They'd call us when it arrived and we could take it home.  If it didn't work out, we could return it; no questions asked.

A week came and no call.  So we called to check on the status.  They said they'd check into it and call us back.

They didn't.  So we called back a few days later.  They said they'd check into it and call us back.

They didn't.  So we called back a few days later.  They said they'd check into it and call us back.   (Don't worry, my keyboard is not stuck.)  We said we'd wait on the line while they checked.  When they came back, they said it was in and we could pick it up.  Now, I don't know if the dude had to carry it on his back from Becker to Roseville, if 2 days in Becker equals 2 weeks in the real world, or if they have phones that don't dial out.  And I don't care.  But it gets better.

SWMBO picked it up on Wednesday.  I knew as soon as I saw it that it wasn't the right one; the style was fine, but the color was off and it wasn't wide enough.

It wasn't until Saturday that we had time to return it.  I carried it into the store and back to the "customer service" counter.  I waited for the two ladies (who appeared to be doing nothing) to acknowledge my presence. And waited.  And waited.  Finally one looked up from her computer and glanced in my direction (note that I was standing right in front of her).  She looked back down for a bit and then, without raising her gaze asked if she could help.

I waited for her to look at me before saying, "I'd like to return this table.  It didn't quite work in the space the way we'd hoped."  She didn't offer her hand as I reached with the receipt, so I set it on the counter next to her computer.  She looked at it for a bit and said, "Our return policy is seven days. I can't accept this."

I took a deep breath to keep my head from exploding and replied slowly, "If you check, you'll see we picked it up on Wednesday which is 3 days ago by my count and you really don't want to go there."  Without saying another word she finally picked up the receipt and began doing the right thing.  After several minutes of stuff she handed back the receipt and said, "Here you go."

No "I'm sorry it didn't work out"; no "Have a nice day"; nothing.

Contrast that with the experience we had at Pomegranate Designs.

On a Saturday we were out looking for random decorating things for the house.  As soon as we saw the table (pictured) in the shop, we knew it was the right one.  They only had the floor sample and it had a small nick in the finish below the bottom drawer.  The saleswoman said she'd order one for us.  She called first thing Monday morning to say that the table was on back order for 6-8 weeks.  She added that we could have the floor sample - the owner of the shop would have the nick repaired to our satisfaction and we'd get a 10% discount.  In addition, they'd have the repair done so that we could pick it up on Saturday if that worked for us.

Wow!  I couldn't find more opposite experiences if I tried.

Just In Time

The inspector arrived on time to inspect the fireplace gas lines.

The installers arrived on time and finished the installations.

Not quite in time for an evening with some close friends (M, R , TJ, and Z - now you're famous; you got a mention on the blog ;-).

But just in time for a couple of big parties.

The important part is that they got done in time for the big snow storm we're having today.

I think I'll just sit here and scorch the bottoms of my feet.

Jeeves, before you shovel the walk, bring me another cognac my good man!

Fireplace Inserts - part 2

The master fireplace didn't go in as easily.

OK, maybe a better way to say it is that it wasn't as easy to run the gas lines.

What you can see in the top picture looks great (or will once the face plate is installed).

What had to happen behind the scenes in the kitchen is another story...

They had to run the gas line from the basement, inside the kitchen wall against the bask of the chimney, and drill a hole through the back of the chimney into the firebox.

The big hole above the microwave and near the ceiling?  The one above the range and below the microwave?  That's how they got the gas line "inside the wall at the back of the chimney".

It's not that I mind the holes; it's more that there was an inch of dust and junk all over everything once they were done.  And SWMBO had to clean it up.  I suspect that will end up on the comment card when this is done...

The holes aren't a big deal considering that I despise the current kitchen and can't wait to gut it and start over.  The style of the cabinets doesn't fit the house. Nor do the counters and floor.  The work triangle is the nuttiest I've ever seen (note the proximity of the range and sink).  And that cabinet on the right can't be opened because the light fixture is in the way.  And that's a battle for a future day.

Fireplace Inserts - Part 1

The two inserts on the main floor went in fairly easily.  A long time ago we'd removed the plaster from the basement ceiling.  That gave easy access to run the gas lines.

The installers hooked up the living room fireplace so that we could use it prior to the inspection next week.  The photos show before and after the installation of the insert.  There's a roaring fire in the after picture; it raises the temperature on the first floor at least 3 degrees!

Once the inspection passes, the installers can come back and put on the face plates.

If everything works out, they'll all be done just in time for She Who Must Be Obeyeds next big party.

Hopefully this time I won't be installing a chandelier at midnight the night before...

Using The Right Tools?

When you're getting gas fireplace inserts installed, do you expect that this is the special tool that is needed?

The guys had a 20 foot ladder.  It's not long enough to get to the roof to drop the new flues into place.  So they needed this...

When we moved in, we had the chimneys cleaned and inspected.  Not surprisingly, the flues were in bad shape.  So bad that we couldn't use the fireplaces without risking burning the house down.  Enough of the mortar is missing that we'd get "heat transfer" and start the walls on fire.

Of course, the cost to re-line one chimney is about the same as converting 3 fireplaces to gas inserts.  Pretty simple decision there...

We've known we wanted to do this for a long time, so we'd been looking at various options.  It turns out that the fireplaces were originally coal-burners.  For those, the fireboxes are smaller than in a wood-burning fireplace.  The net result is that most inserts are too big to fit, so our choices were somewhat limited.

We finally get enough other things done to prioritize the fireplaces.  It didn't hurt that the timing worked out with a sale at the vendor we'd picked a while back.

The installers showed up today and things went pretty smoothly (other than not having a suitable ladder ;-).

The installation is mostly done.  The new gas lines just need to be inspected before the face-plates can be installed.  All that should be done about this time next week.

Aaaargh!

She Who Must Be Obeyed wanted a mirror above the dining room fireplace.

After the walls have been painted.

Not so bad if you frame the mirror like a picture and hang it like one.

On the other hand...

If you want to attach it directly to the wall without any sort of mechanical fastener...

Then you need some way to hold it in place while the adhesive cures.

I tried many approaches to avoid putting holes in the freshly painted mill work.

But no joy.

So I ended up with this.

Now I get to patch the holes and repaint.

And you can't just touch up the spots because you can never get the sheen to match quite right.  You have to paint the whole surface to a natural edge.

Bleeding Radiators

It's that time of year again.

When it starts getting cold, it's time to bleed the radiators.  Usually you can tell which ones need to be bled by whether they get warm or not.  ;-)

We've been in the house long enough to recognize a pattern.  There are a couple in the attic that get a little air in them.  The rest are typically fine except for one in the kitchen.  For some reason it always has a lot of air in it.  And that means the kitchen is stone cold while the rest of the house is quite comfortable.

If you look closely, you can't find the guilty radiator in this picture.

That's not because it isn't there.

Rather, it's because it's cleverly disguised as a set of kitchen cabinets.

That's right.  It's that little slot underneath the window that lets the hot air escape from the radiator (normally the perforated metal grate on the counter covers the hole; I've removed it to get to the bleed valve).

It's extremely effective at keeping our seldom used baking dishes pre-heated.

It's also effective at taking up lots of cupboard space.

It's not so good at keeping the kitchen warm.

Oh boy am I itching to completely remodel this kitchen...

Carriage House Doors - Part 2

Early in the year we had new carriage house doors installed.

The doors were primed prior to being installed back in January.  Obviously it was a little to cold to paint then, so I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

For no particular reason, I guess.

Last weekend I finally got a round to putting on the finish coat of paint, just in time as it were - overnight lows are expected to be in the 20s over the weekend...

It's the same color as the trim on the house and it works well with the stone.

Boiler Pump

A few weeks ago it started to get a little cool at night.  We haven't had the heating plant "cleaned" since we moved in four years ago, so we figured it was time before we needed to turn on the heat for the winter.  We also received a "Fall Tune-up" special in the mail that happened to be from the same company that installed the new boiler for the previous owners. Things were starting to align.

When I turned on the boiler, the pump started to make an awful racket.  It didn't make that noise last year.

Good timing.

When the service guy came he checked everything out.  Everything on the boiler all looked good, except the pump.  It would run for a while, make an awful racket, and then shut off.  So they ordered a new pump and would come back in 10 days or so to install it.

Meanwhile, it started to get chilly at night so we broke out the blankets.

When the new pump arrived they came to install it.  It took several hours to drain the system before they could remove the old pump.  There's a lot of water in those old pipes.

When they finally could remove the old pump, they discovered that the blades on the impeller were pointed the wrong way.

It's a wonder we got any heat at all...