Burning Down the House

Burning Down the House Vlog #3

2007-01-01T16:55:00.000-06:00

Repairing a damaged floor.

Burning Down the House Vlog #2

2006-10-28T12:53:00.000-05:00

Last weekend's project was a problem solving exercise. I've been looking for a way to paint my stairways since we moved in. I'm no fan of ladders, so I really needed something that wasn't going to shift around a lot.

This video jumps around a bunch because I recruited an eight year-old to handle the camera work. You'll get to see me giving her directing tips. The entire video is only about 5 minutes long, and you get to see me in a pink shirt.

Burning Down the House Vlog #1

2006-10-11T22:13:00.000-05:00

A simple project: installing base board trim.

I filmed this, hoping to start a new feature on this blog. Based on how much work went into editing, I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep this up every week. It was fun, anyway.

The tool tip I gave is actually partially inaccurate. The tip of the tape measure moves to compensate for the width of the metal hook. This ensures that your measurement will be correct whichever way you're measuring.

My Bowl, My Bowl!

2006-09-30T23:18:00.000-05:00

We spent the past week in Ontonogon, MI. It's on Lake Superior, near the Porcupine Mountians in the Northwestern U.P. We were extremely lucky to pick this week, the fall colors peaked a day before we arrived. The word "Ontonogon" comes from a legend about an Indian woman who lost her bowl in the river. Apparently her cries of dismay were worth naming the river (and town) after.

Of course I took tons of photos. These few are just a small example of how great the trees looked, in spite of all the rain.

I spotted this pheasant feather lying in a ditch when we stopped to walk the dog.

This is Lake of the Clouds. How do you suppose it got its name?

Ok. I don't know my birds. It's a crane, right? Anyway, this was the best shot I could get. I was actually standing pretty far away, using my camera's awesome optical zoom (I use an Olympus 2.1MP. It's the 10x optical zoom that makes all the difference). The light was too low to get all the jitters out, though.

Our cabin looked seriously retro. All that's missing in this photo is a cheap hooker.

Me, the woman, and the dog's butt on top of Michigan's highest point (Summit Peak, in the Porcupine Mountains). The dog hates stairs, but somehow we got her up that ranger tower.

On the return trip we made a point to stop at all the waterfalls we could find. There are tons of them! We stopped looking when we got sick of driving on bumpy dirt roads to see what amounted to someone's sump pump draining. Bond Falls is was the first and best of the bunch. It's probably one of the best falls I've seen in a while! Apart from the awesome cascade, there are actually places to walk right up to the river and wade in or stand on the rocks. Seriously, there's a boardwalk around the base with stairs going down to the water. I hope that lawyers never find this place, it's too perfect as it is.

Video:

Free At Last!

2006-09-18T20:55:00.000-05:00

The upstairs floors are done, after a year of work. Granted, most of that year was spent dreading the task. But, it was all so worth it! Check this out:

That's my room. Look at this wood grain!

We used gallons of floor stripper, countless sander belts, a dremel tool, palm sanders, and brute force to get this done. We hauled out garbage bags full of saw dust and even burned up a belt sander. In the end, I think we've accomplished job that looks 90% as good as the professional work I've seen. Using the dremel, we even got under the radiators and into one tight corner.

While I do think that this task was relatively easy, I'd warn anyone who's thinking of resurfacing hardwood that it's nowhere near as easy as the videos make it look. I'm extremely glad that I can finally pack away the chemical respirator I used while chemically stripping the old varnish off the floor.

Copper Falls

2006-06-17T15:11:00.000-05:00

It's been a month since our vacation at Copper Falls State Park, and I've really wanted to share these photos ever since.

I chose Copper Falls State Park for a few reasons. I haven't been to the area since I was really young, it was far enough away from the Dells to avoid crowds from Illinois, and there were a number of parks in the area that promised good scenery (mostly waterfalls). As it turns out, Copper Falls SP has several waterfalls and plenty of good hiking trails. We visited other parks in the area and I would choose to stay at Copper Falls again because is has good hiking, a lake, nice facilities (and concessions), it's close to Ashland if you need anything, the campsites are nice, and there's good biking (more details later).

These images are all from Copper Falls State Park:

I have no idea how anyone could hike one of these trails. Nevermind how long it would take. How do you prepare your gear? How do you know where to spend the night? I can tell you from hiking the short stretch in the park that you would need a VERY good map. The trail isn't always well marked and it forks a lot. You could make plenty of wrong turns in 3,200 miles!

Our first day at the park was filled with on and off thunderstorms. We even heard later that there was a tornado in the nearest town. The above photos were all taken on our first day, between rain showers. I actually enjoyed the experience because the rain wasn't too cold and it wasn't windy. When we put on rain ponchos, there really wasn't anything to worry about except the mosquitos and ticks.

The bugs were awful the entire trip. I think we must've gotten used to the mosquitos eventually, but I never could feel comfortable about all the ticks. Those bastards got into our sleeping bags and we kept spotting them on each other while we were out in the woods.

Kelly chose to torment every animal we encountered (what a perfect enviromentalist she is). I assume you've seen the video of the frogs. All of these guys also suffered her wrath:

This poor turtle was minding its business, possibly laying eggs. Kelly chased it back into the lake.

Don't feed the animals? They get used to people and get aggressive? Kelly says "prove it."

What do you do when you see frogs hanging out, minding their own business? Stand there taking tons of photos.

Yup. They're ugly, and fun to mess with, apparently.

Kelly sent this guy running right after he'd had a big meal.

A family of loons managed to keep out of the way by staying on the lake. The male got close enough for me to get these awesome shots.

We also spent plenty of time in Ashland. Riding the bike path along the shore of Lake Superior was a good way to spend the evening. This is where we did most of our biking because the other state parks didn't have trails and the ones at Copper Falls are really steep and grassy. Since Kelly's bike has two gears that work: "hard" and "random," we had to stick to the really easy trails or risk walking back.

We spent the last day of our trip trying to burn down the forest. We'd brought lots of firewood, and purchased even more on our second day because I thought we would run out.

After skipping a fire or two, the wood pile was looking a bit intimidating. I love camp fires, so I wasn't about to back away from a challenge. I set out to burn all the remaining wood. At one point the fire was so hot that many of the flames were blue.

I managed to use all the wood, but Kelly still wanted more. So, we took the "dead and down" rule to a whole new level! There were a bunch of fallen logs around the camp site that I started cutting up. Then, Kelly decided that she wanted to play with the axe. She spent the afternoon looking for logs to feed into the fire. One of the ones she picked was completely rotted. It smelled horrible when we burned it, but we managed to get rid of all of it. The next campers on that site aren't going to have much cleaning up to do!

One last note: on the ride home I spotted a sign that said "Watch for low-flying planes." Excuse me? Just what the heck am I supposed to do about it if I see one?

Tree Stump Removal

2006-05-24T18:25:00.000-05:00

My dad and I rented a tree stump removal tool over the weekend.
This thing is tons of fun! Watch it eat those stumps!

Watch here.

Shot in the Dark

2006-04-06T17:48:00.000-05:00

These are photos of a recent lunar eclipse. I mainly took them to test the exposure functions on my digital camera. I'd never tried anything "fancy" before.

Familiar Skyline

2006-03-27T19:24:00.000-06:00

High Speed Tourism

2006-03-13T23:21:00.000-06:00

Taking advantage of a short-term layoff in September '03, I decided to take a trip out to Crater Lake, Oregon. I decided to venture up and down the Pacific coast, from Seattle, WA to Cresent City, CA. This is great country, full of parks and forests. And, the smell of smoked salmon everywhere...

Mt. Rainier, WA

The photos are a bit hazy, from recent forest fires.

Mt. Saint Helens, WA

Mandatory Detour.

Mount Hood, OR

As seen in The Shining. Mount Hood is impressive and fun to look at as you drive toward Portland from the west.

Mount Thielsen, OR

Reminds me of the Murderhorn on The Simpsons.

Vidae Falls (Crater Lake NP, OR)

The falls are much more active in the spring. I have photos of that, too.

Phantom Ship (Crater Lake NP, OR)

The clouds in this photo were blowing past, over the rim of the crater. As you can see, the bowl was still in clear view. This was an extremely erie moment, to have ice crystals blowing in my face, standing in a cloud, looking down on a clear blue lake. Van Halen was on the radio.

Wizard Island (Crater Lake NP, OR)

I've wanted to see Crater Lake since I saw a winter photo of it in a National Geographic book. The idea of a volcano inside a volcano seemed so cool to me at the time.

Crater Lake (Crater Lake NP, OR)

You have to see this in person to appreciate the scale. The lake is five miles across. And, yes, you can get down to it, even canoe to the island and climb it. On my second trip (in July '04) I hiked down to the lake, but the boats weren't operating. That's just an excuse to go again!

California Redwoods

I stayed in a hotel near the ocean in Cresent City, and woke to the sound of a fog horn an seals. Then, I drove through the redwood forest to find a short hike or two. You just can't photograph these trees. It's hard to make them look big enough!

Dam Break!

2006-02-28T22:20:00.000-06:00

Thanks to George for inspiring me to find these photos. Here's the story from 05/17/03:

Marquette Flood Delays Shipping

And, the photos:

The Blur

2006-02-26T16:43:00.000-06:00

Here's a little screwing around with long exposures.
16 seconds under low light.

All Work and No Play

2006-02-19T16:43:00.000-06:00

I spent one summer working at a power plant in Marquette, MI. The job left me with plenty of time to enjoy the scenery, because I was working contractor's hours (6:30-2-30).

This is the Dead River, as seen from the top of the power plant. I hate heights, but the view was so worth it! And to think, the people who work at the plant get to see this out their window every day!

Overlooking the city, you can see Sugarloaf Mountain. It's a short hike to the top, and you can see for miles.

View of the power plant from Sugarloaf Mountain.

Lake Superior is extremely clear here. Well, it was, until the dam broke a year later.

I Hate Water

2006-01-07T14:19:00.000-06:00

I don't do much of anything that involves water, frozen or not. I don't ski, skate, or dive. I don't care for water parks or water based thrill rides, either. And, I'm usually the first one out of the pool, especially when horse play begins.

But, I love boats, especially like canoes. This leaves me somewhat conflicted. So, a few years ago I agreed to take a white water rafting trip in early spring, on the Peshtigo River. As you can see from the falling snow, it's very early spring. Needless to say, it was really fun and I'm not likely to try this again.

What could possibly go wrong?

Oh, that.

And that.

Can you tell by my face that I'm enjoying this?

Four heads, paddles, raging river, snow fall... Something is missing. Oh yeah, the boat!

I Need a Stronger Geek Instinct

2005-12-11T13:08:00.000-06:00

The cat got loose in the house last weekend. I'm not sure why, but he must've been afraid to come downstairs and use his litter box. Instead, he found a sheet of plastic drop cloth and went on that. I guess he's smart for that.

I cleaned it up as soon as I spotted it. Afterward, I was kicking myself for reacting so quickly. It's not like anything was in danger of being permanently damaged. I couldn't help thinking, "now I'm never going to get to see if it really does glow under black light!"

The Doll's Trying to Kill Me and the Toaster's Been Laughing at Me!

2005-11-12T13:47:00.000-06:00

Ok, so the toaster's not laughing at me. But, my dining room set could be (the salesman I bought it from certainly is). The saga of the dining room set began in May, but it didn't really become a saga until June. I know the date, because it was also the day I tried out for the Milwaukee Talkstar contest and I used the first chapter of this epic in my audition piece:

With plenty of time left, I described the furniture delivery I'd received that morning. I ordered a dining room table, six chairs, a hutch, and a dresser to stand the hutch on. What I got that morning was four chairs (one scratched and loaded back on the truck), the dresser and the hutch. This was almost a month after the order and everything was supposed to be in stock within two weeks! The dresser was brought in and it rocked back and forth. We sent it back and told them not to bother with the hutch because it was useless without the dresser. So, at this point I'd waited around all day for THREE STINKING CHAIRS! But, an hour later the delivery guys show up again and say "we got a tech to meet us."

They bring in the dresser and put it down. It still rocks. So now, one of them grabs a battery operated circular saw and starts going to town on the dresser, in my dining room! He's fighting with the safety guard, so he tries to tape it open. While he's doing this he's holding the blade toward himself, with his finger in the trigger. I said "I thought I was going to have to tell the police why there was a bloody black man on my dining room floor." The panel cracked up again, even Bailey Coleman, who happened to be a black woman. I was almost scared to tell the punch line to this story, but decided to just let it ride.

You may have picked up on the fact that we ordered a dresser with the dining room set. We didn't like the look of the base that matched the hutch. We spent a good hour in the store trying to find a black hutch and base combination that we could settle on. Suddenly, I realized that there was a bedroom set in our color! Both sets were labeled "Merlot," and the dresser was exactly the thing we were looking for. The salesman even agreed that this was a good solution.

After the delivery, we noticed this:

It's not really a good match, is it?

The second delivery eventually came: the remaining chairs and the table. Again, we tried to have them leave this delivery on the truck, because we could plainly see scratches on the furniture. They insisted that their technicians could fix the damage, so we hesitantly accepted.

Let me tell you: the technicians are MAGICIANS! He repaired a gouge in the table by scraping out some of the wood, filling it back in, and staining it perfectly. You can't even tell where the repair was made. The technician said that he could lighten the dresser to match, but that would cost twice more than the dresser. He said that the company would send us a new dresser instead.

So, we went to the store and they agreed to send us a lighter dresser. Nearly a month later, the replacement showed up. Not only was it still the wrong color, it was constructed poorly. This wasn't delivery damage. The face of one of the drawers was missing part of its bottom edge. It was pretty obvious to me that the board had a knot hole in it when it was cut. That knot hole ran along the length of the bottom of the drawer. The exposed wood was so rough that the stain didn't even fill all the holes. It looked awful! We didn't even let it come off the truck.

When we told the delivery driver what we wanted, he told us that we needed to contact the store again. He said that we needed to tell a manager and see the dresser in person, in the warehouse, or they were likely to keep attempting to deliver the wrong color.

So, we called the store and spoke with a manager. She told us (not so politely) that they couldn't get us a lighter stain, but she would put in another order for us. That was more than a month ago, and we haven't heard a peep!

We were told by a a salesman (no longer with the company), a technician, and a delivery man that the color change should not be a problem. And I have talked about this problem with friends, on the radio (very briefly), on an internet forum, and now in this blog. I've never mentioned the company (except to friends) by name up until now.

I think that people ought to know Ashley Furniture's customer service is not at all helpful. They do have good products at reasonable prices, but they don't back the sale after it's been made. We've talked with friends who have gotten a similar run-around.

Cats Crap in Your House!

2005-11-12T13:07:00.000-06:00

Don't let anyone convince you that cats are clean animals. They lick themselves, cough up hairballs, and they stink!

A litter box is no place for the timid, especially if it's full of cheap kitty litter. It smells awful, and it's messy. Cats love to spill their litter, food, and water all over the floor, too.

Trust me, get a dog instead.

I'm a Professional Stripper

2005-11-06T15:00:00.000-06:00

I'm finally working on the floors again. There are two bedrooms upstairs that still need to be refinished. So, I'll be spending much of the day wearing my Darth Vader mask.

Have you ever tried to refinish a hardwood floor? It's an interesting experience. The first time I set out to get this done, I could only find varnish removers that were flammable and had warnings all over them saying "not for floors!" I said "to hell with it," and bought some anyway. Eventually, I found the non-flammable stuff. The major difference, from what I can tell, is that the non-flammable version burns more if you get it on your skin. Both have warnings all over the container, telling you to wear a mask, open the windows, and dial the first two digits of 9-1-1 (just in case).

But, along with the warnings about hazardous vapors, the non-flammable container comes with a spray bottle applicator. COOL! You can render it aerosol to get the job done quicker! This gets really ugly around the base boards, because it strips the paint off of them, too. This chemical really is nasty stuff. You'll need chemical gloves, chemical goggles, a chem respirator, lots of rags, a plastic scraper, steel buckets, and work clothes. I've seen it eat a polystyrene cup and a plastic paint brush, so be sure that everything you use is the right type of plastic!

This is probably the third time I've applied the varnish remover to my floors. Every time I've rented the floor sander, I still manage to gum up the pads. This time will be different, though. My dad and I finally learned the trick. First, you need to get as much varnish off as you can. The floor needs to be really clean, or you're going to be buying a lot of sand paper. Before we rent the floor sander, we go over the floor with a belt sander and stripping pads. They get gummed up, too. But, you can use a wire brush to clean them off. My home inspector said you can even spray them down with WD-40 if you want to get more use out of them.

Once the floor is clean, the finishing part is fun. I've been using the Varathane sander from Menards. It's like a giant three-pad orbital sander, and it works really well. It also gets very close to the wall, so you don't need to do much work with edgers if you pull the trim boards off. It doesn't use a very fine grain of sand paper, though, so I can see some of the marks it left behind.

Staining is another adventure. I still haven't got this down quite right. You can see a few places where I've over stained, or didn't let the stain set as much. The best stain in the house was done with a Swiffer. We used a foam applicator to apply the stain, and the swiffer to mop it up. The result was very even. Don't even bother trying to paint the stain on, it'll be a disaster!

I used a quick drying polyurethane sealer. Because we weren't living in the house yet, I was able to put a coat or two on all the floors and leave for the night. Later, I found out after all of this that there is a more pet-proof top coat. When I need to resurface, I'll have to look into that.

The Heat is On

2005-10-17T18:11:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to get the radiators going today. It wouldn't be so bad, except that I made a rookie mistake.

After turning on the pump, I immediately went around to bleed the radiators. The result, is that I actually ended up draining many of the the upstairs radiators. I've got to get some pressure back into the system, now. I think this is going to be a long chore. The pressure can onlt build so much, then I need to bleed off the air to let the water rise just a little more.

Well, at least the bedroom nozzle was clogged. This gave me time to figure this all out before I went and messed up the heat in there!

Update: the frigging pump is jammed. Gotta call the pros!

Dead Ant... Dead Ant

2005-09-24T15:01:00.000-05:00

I decided that I should get at least one project done this weekend. So, I've put out some ant bait to try and kill the ants in the upstairs bedroom.

I have no idea how we've got ants upstairs and not downstairs. There wasn't anything that resembled food up there until months after I bought the place. They should've starved to death or something! The dog likes to eat at night, but we've had to move her food until these ants are gone.

I bought some brand name ant baits to to the job. I just hope they work as well as my dad's secret formulas. He uses some gel that attracts armies of ants. They take all the gel back to the hive and *poof* no more ants. He uses Malathion outside, and that stuff is GREAT! I had some hives in the yard that were literally piled high with swarming ants. The malathion turned them into piles of dead ants.

If anyone ever tries to ban Malathion, be sure to pick some up! Environmentalists and other nanny figures are always trying to ban insecticides that actually work. They'll claim that the chemicals hurt birds. I say "BS! If the birds were actually eating the bugs (like they're supposed to), we wouldn't need insecticide!" :)

Skunked!

2005-09-16T23:02:00.000-05:00

Last night, we had a visitor. We never saw it, but we sure smelled it!
The upstairs bedroom still has a faint aroma of a skunk's perfume...

I hope someone pancaked that sucker before he had a chance to spread more joy and happiness.

Batten Them Down Again, We'll Teach Those Hatches

2005-09-14T18:33:00.000-05:00

Good news: no storm damage. At least, I don't see any damage. It's awfully difficult to see the roof from the ground.

My dad called this afternoon and said that a tree fell on the power lines in his neighbor's yard. The power line fell into his ditch, and blocked the driveway.

The crews have managed to remove the power line and the tree, but he says there's a really neat looking burn mark in the grass.

Easy Access

2005-09-13T20:39:00.000-05:00

When this house started getting the better of me (day one), I thought to myself "well, at least I can have cool hard wood floors in every room."

I had a blast tearing up the carpets: all four upstairs bedrooms, upstairs hallway, downstairs bedroom, and living room. I made a night of it, and the resulting pile o' carpet in the garage was an ego boost. The best floor in the house, I found out, was the one bedroom that I planned to carpet over. It figures.

The big surprise though, was this mess:
Notice the vinyl tile? That was covering the gaping hole in the floor. I thought maybe someone had decided to practice his tiling skills before heading into the bathroom, which is the room on the other side of the wall. Opening up the access panel to the tub revealed a bucket. See "Plumbing Roulette." Which part of "seller is not aware of any plumbing defects" did I miss?

I'm not quite sure what to do about this hole, yet. I'm thinking the best option will be to patch up the opening and put in an engineered floor. I understand that engineered flooring isn't tough to install, and it'll be harder than normal wood. Since Kelly thinks this would be a good exercise room (for storing more junk), the hard floor would be a plus.

They Should Invent Brown Grass

2005-09-13T19:01:00.000-05:00

I'm not watering the lawn today. If the storm doesn't take care of the new grass, that's just tough!

I've been nursing the lawn on the north side of the house for weeks now. After the basement repairs, we had a patch a few feet wide along the entire side that needed to be planted.

I don't get it. I've got to make a lake out there to get the grass to sprout, but the weeds are nine feet tall. Shouldn't we have genetically engineered grass by now? I want mine to actually eat weeds! In the middle of the night I want to hear slurping, chomping and gurgling noises outside the window, and wake up to find a bright green lawn free of weeds (and rodents).

The Wonder Tool

2005-09-12T23:29:00.000-05:00

I've got to plug this AWESOME pair of pliers I've been using around the house. I found these things at Restoration Hardware in the Mayfair mall. When I picked them up, they felt pretty tough. I would've expected anything from that store to be a pretty cheap gimmick. Then, I noticed that these pliers have a dual head. You flip the handle over on itself (like you're opening the jaws really wide), and the other set of jaws comes out. Picture it, needle nose one second, lineman's pliers the next. And the thing makes a very satifying "click, click" noise when you give it the flip of a wrist. I played with them for a minute or two, giggling like a little girl, until my girlfriend came over to stop the embarassing display.

I never really used these pliers until I started working on the house. But now I use them for everything! They've been handy for electrical work, plumbing, pulling carpet staples, cooking diner, etc. They've been so handy that I bought a second pair for the times when I can't find the first one. But, my girlfriend pretty much draws the line at letting me sleep with my new favorite tool(s).

Plumbing Roulette

2005-09-12T23:06:00.000-05:00

The upstairs shower works! Well, at least it should, once the caulking dries.

My dad and I pulled the mixer valve apart to try and figure out why the temperature control didn't work. Kelly and I were getting awfully tired of two tempteratures: scalding and ice water. It turns out, the rubber seal inside the mixer was really torn up. The cold water was getting through all the time.

I didn't think we'd be able to find the right replacment, but the ACE on 110th and Oklahoma had just the right parts. Now I know that my faucet is a Kohler, or Kohler compatible. This ACE Hardware had plenty of parts for other faucets, too. I guess I've found my plumbing store.

Now that the upstairs shower is fixed, hopefully, I've got to get to work on the leaks in the downstairs shower. The control valve drips if you push it in too far, and I'm reasonably sure the drain drips, too. My dad and I found replacement o-rings for the mixer. They'd better do the trick! We've already replaced the drain tubing upstairs, so I'm not really afraid of that project. The toughest part should be getting access to the piping in the fist place. Luckily for me, the guy who built the bathrooms was smart enough to put in access panels.

Two working showers would be pretty cool!