House update: Wednesday

[electricland]

Long one today. My aunt reports:

Today for lunch Gillian, Stuart, Dan, brother Michael (the
architect on the project for many times his fee for us) and I had lunch at
Nevada.

Sorry, hooligans, it looks like--courtesy of Gill and Stuart--that you
won't be out of the salt mine in the near future. (It also means that I'm
off the hook for cooking beef Wellington for Dave this weekend.)

Also, two insurance people came to take pictures and assess progress.
Seemed to be copasetic.

Today, William taped and mudded; Dan did drywall on the second floor; and
John wired on the first. I did not make lunch.

Bro Michael was very complimentary about
- the care that William is putting into his work. He was impressed by the
amounts of taping and mudding William is putting on the drywall, which,
evidently, considerably lessens the amount of sanding needed. Also the
iron corners behind corners.
- the "reveals" (ask me later about this) on the bow window in the second
floor, which will lessen the glare between the windows and the walls. It's
all a question of gradations between light.
- that Dan can do drywall so well. Evidently, drywallers used to use
stilts, but now there is a $5,000 fine for doing that. Mike said that a
drywaller who can, without too much trouble, put up ceiling drywall is
worth his weight in gold. (Dan, who needs a history degree?)
- that my John is looking so well and seems to be enjoying this. (Mike
said the physical work would make him suicidal. Each to his own. I get my
best ideas peeling potatoes.)

So, going forward, the plan is:
- to finish drywalling the walls
- Stuart will work on windows. He and Mike agree that old windows, if
maintained, last about 80 years longer than modern windows.
- get William to fill in holes in wood floors after drywalling. He's good
at it.
- to ourselves finish the kitchen floors and install appliances.
- for $3,000 to hire someone professional to do all the other floors. (I
got good service from Silverbirch floors and Jen has another name. ) Bro
Mike, who is very handy, said that it took him 16 hours in all (with three
grades of sanders) to sand his first floor. Having a professional in will
mean that we can't enter the house for about a week. I figure John could
take me some place glamorous, or do some serf work around here.

There is still a question about the primer coat on the drywall. Gill says
if you get the wrong one, it soaks up paint. To do, or not to do, before
the floor protection is taken up. Speaking for my sloppy self, cleaning up
paint on the floor is a major paint in the neck. Not my floors.

Cheers, Helen

This is all very wonderful and I love that it's been sorted. Somehow I
feel about 6, however, and like Jen and I SHOULD be doing all this for
ourselves. And then I remember the uncomfortable family dynamics involved
if we try to do too much dictating to our respective parents or, worse
still, to our respective aunts and uncles, not to mention the general
disconnect between our stress levels at any given time and the resulting
difficulty of having a serious discussion about how to handle the rest of
the project, especially when Jen handles most of the money side of things.
And then I feel like a miserable ungrateful creature who doesn't deserve
such an awesome and generous and thoughtful family. I should probably get
over it, eh?

Comments

[raithen.livejournal.com]

{{hugs}}

[raithen.livejournal.com]

also, please note: this morning you wish for professionals to do floors. This afternoon it is done ;).

[electricland.livejournal.com]

LOL! I suppose you're right at that.

No idea why that makes it better, but it does. Thanks. *hugs*

[nellisir.livejournal.com]

All of our painters use Benjamin & Moore paints.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Yes, they're supposed to be very good!

I think it has something to do with scale...

[bryghtboy.livejournal.com]

When I first heard that you guys were going to buy a house and possibly do some of the work instead of hiring a contractor I was really excited about the prospect... After seeing the amount of work needed it got more than a little daunting and more than a little scary... so I can only imagine how you feel.

There is something pretty basic in the whole renovation process that I think leads to the feeling of being disempowered. Imagine telling someone that you want a green leather couch about 5 feet long and comfy and then handing over 800 bucks, never going to happen, people want to sit on couches and shop around its human nature I think. So why should home renovation be any different. When my Mom reno'ed our old house she told me that the only reason she could make any decisions at all about what was going in there was the fact that she wasn't planning on living there. You can't be there 100% of the time and so you need people to help you, so thank the almighty that you have some kick-ass family. Though its harder in some ways, anyone else you could just haul off and yell at them when you feel frustrated or fire them. And it would be nice to sit on a few different green couches... or maybe that brown one over there...

[nellisir.livejournal.com]

Funny paint/primer story. You can get this plywood called MDO (not MDF), which is plywood with a tan paper facing; makes it nice and smooth. We use it on shelves, access panels, stuff like that.

We had a panel that needed painting, and no primer, so I thought we'd just slap an extra coat of paint on instead.

The first coat of -white- paint completely disappeared in less than 5 minutes. It was incredible. It was like it hadn't been touched, never mind just had a thick coat of paint slapped on. I could literally see it soak in.

After the first few coats, I just wanted to see how many it would take to properly cover it -- the total was about 10.

So, there's value in primer.

Re: I think it has something to do with scale...

[nellisir.livejournal.com]

There are alot of steps in renovating a house; even, in some ways, more than in building a new one. Without a clear sense of what's happening and how long it will take, there are times when it just gets incredibly frustrating. I do it for a living, but working on my own house still makes me want to scream.