Sullivan House: Renovation Log

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  • Oktoberfest thru November:

    - Reorganized gigantic mess in attic
    - Assembled shelves in attic
    - Set up florescent lights in attic
    - Set up craft space in attic
    - Hosed down the basement (cleanup operation unfinished)
    - Assembled Ikea furniture for great room (2-sectional couch, sofa bed couch, hassock, shelving unit)
    - Installed curtains in great room and office
    - Fixed kitchen backdoor locks, latch, and added more to doorjam to keep out wind
    - Fixed latch on Kyle's door
    - Installed lighting fixtures in hallway, foyer, and Kyle's room
    - Finished installing antique light switches in public areas downstairs
    - Wired bathroom fan unit to also turn on lights (only has 1 circuit; needed 3 - derp by previous owner not worth fixing)
    - Bought curtains for front doors (pending painting in vestibule)
    - Scraped down stucco wall in pub
    - Cleaned antique cabinet piece from basement and added it to the pub
    - Unpacked video games and DVDs
    - Finished moving riff raff to attic that was scattered around house
    - Added 2 more lamps to the great room which means the room is actually well-lit now, and wired them all to a single remote control switch
    - Finished unpacking towels, linens, and blankets; reorganized linen closet
    - Aaron is nearly finished with Kyle's built-in desk for under his bed
    - Installed 2 ceiling fans in master bedroom suite
    - New electrical lines & outlets for the pub

    That was "taking a break" for a month.
  • Saturday - Monday (today):

    - Painted final wall in upstairs hallway
    - Painted vestibule ceiling and walls
    - Paint touchups around 2 lightswitches, on master bedroom ceiling, upstairs hallway, and in kitchen
    - Started taping off crown molding in entry area for painting
    - Started painting chimney. The lower right corner surface cumbled off so now we're in the process of repairing it with oil primer and spackle after scraping the mess away.
    - Mudded the entire north wall of the pub, ceiling to floor.
  • edited December 2012
    This past week:

    - Patched part of chimney facade downstairs
    - Installed bathroom towel bar, robe hook, tp roll, and towel ring
    - Wall mounted Perry's flourescent black light
    - Created a home office space for myself in the master bedroom suite
    - Continued work on fixing this blasted upsidedown Christmas tree from the 60s
    - Aaron continued work on Kyle's desk
  • This past week:

    - Patched the rest of the chimney (jeez what an ordeal)
    - Re-primed, painted remainder of chimney + touchups
    - Gave up on the "upside down" tree, put it back in attic, and put up the old Xmas tree
    - Put the great room back in order now that painting is done
    - Installed more handles in kitchen
    - Assembled shelves in the bathroom
    - Installed a lightswitch faceplate in the vestibule

    That's probably as far as we'll get til after Christmas.
  • edited January 2013
    This past week:

    - Mopped, wiped down, taped off, oil primed, and 3-coat painted the pub walls.
    - Hung ICHQ Detroit plaque over mantle & 2 posters on either side
    - Got throw pillows, blankets, and table covers for great room
    - Hung coat rack and Fallout Shelter sign in back stairwell
    - Added TP roll to 1/2 bathroom
    - Added towel racks to upstairs bathroom
    - Installed light and door curtains in vestibule (to replace pink bedsheets that had been there since we bought the house)
    - Hung curtains and dartboard in the pub
  • Lincoln said:

    This past week:

    - Added TP roll to 1/2 bathroom

    It's the little things that matter...

  • Friday:

    - Installed 3 switch coverplates
    - Hung 2 pictures, chalkboard on pub walls
    - Repaired fourth ceiling sconce in pub
    - Installed doorstops in pub and bathroom

    Saturday, I planned out spring repairs and Expo preparations (and did all the laundry from Icrontic New Years :P ).
  • edited January 2013
    Over the last week or so:
    • Moved bookshelf from office to pub
    • Rearranged pub slightly
    • Hung LED light fixture under tea cupboard for coffee/tea area
    • Hung windchime mount on back porch
    • Removed old entertainment center pieces from basement, pub, and foyer
    • Hung various things on walls (pictures, corkboards, etc.)
    • Painted first 2 coats of the crown molding in the entry area and foyer
  • edited January 2013
    This past week (or so):

    - Cleaned out the foyer and made it look presentable
    - Jackie painted the third & final coat on the crown molding downstairs
    - Got more furnishings at Ikea
    - Ordered curtains for Kyle's room
    - Moved in Aaron's desk to the office
    - Moved some furniture from master bedroom to attic
    - Hung the beer shelves in the pub
    - Installed the first few kitchen drawer handles (4/9)
    - Installed glass shelves in bathroom
    - Painted the master bedroom closet
    - Nicole did the last of the blue edging in the upstairs hallway
    - Brian and I taped off the crown molding in the back stairs and upstairs hallway

    Took down the Christmas stuff too.
  • This past week:

    - First coat of paint on upstairs/backstair crown molding
    - Plastic-hooded the small bathroom vent and window
    - Blocked leaks in kitchen windows
    - Weather stripped the backdoor
    - Purchased additional outdoor lighting to install
    - Continued moving in Aaron's stuff
  • This past week, mostly work by Dave:

    - New porch light, south porch stairs (motion sensor, dusk-to-dawn)
    - New outlet on front porch
    - Replaced side door light, north side (now motion sensor, dusk-to-dawn)
    - Finished work on pub outlets
    - New outlet in basement (turret)
    - Aaron finished moving in!

    We now have 3 motion sensors lights that turn on low at dusk, 1 set of floodlights (backyard) that stays off until motion is detected, and very bright manual front porch lights. I also bought a lamp post for the south yard where the dumpsters were. IT'S LIKE A FORCEFIELD OF LIGHT.
  • And electrical bills.
  • @Ryder You can't imagine how much I've learned about (and spent on) lightbulbs trying to minimize my wattage.
  • Lincoln said:

    @Ryder You can't imagine how much I've learned about (and spent on) lightbulbs trying to minimize my wattage.

    He uses all halogen bulbs... 1000w are the best. :D

    • Got rid of the rest of the scrap metal in the carriage house
  • Must be pretty clean in there now.
  • Ryder said:

    Must be pretty clean in there now.

    Ugh. Not so much. It's just navigable, now.
    • Began pipe insulation in basement
    • Removed two chunks of asbestos we missed
  • Also these past 2 week:

    - Dave disassembled the chimney stub in the attic and cleaned the bricks
    - Dave started wiring the attic with electricity
    - Hung curtains in Kyle's room
    - 2nd-4th coats of paint on the upstairs/back stairs crown molding & removed tape
    - Organized the attic for several hours
    • Attic has working lightswitch and ceiling outlets now
  • Dave wrapped up work here today:
    • 3 outlets in attic (new circuit)
    • New grounded outlets at front of master bedroom
    Was sad to have him leave knowing I didn't have more work for him (yet).
  • edited March 2013
    This past week:
    • Finished installing cabinet hardware
    • Installed towel racks outside the bathroom (+capacity for kids & Icrontic events)
    • Organized the attic more (Aaron & I, 3 hrs)
    • Moved futon & other miscellany to attic
  • edited March 2013
    This past week:
    • Finished organizing the attic (3 hrs)
    • Reassembled futon & creating sitting area in attic
    • Hung Norwegian flag in office ("Little Norway")
    • Finished putting away painting supplies laying in back stairwell
    • Assembled guest cubby shelves outside bathroom
    • Put together bar area in the pub, unpacked remaining glassware
    • Hung more pictures upstairs, re-hung chalkboard in pub
    • Cut cork to fit under dartboard; need epoxy to finish
    • Got tools & supplies out of the basement and organized in attic
    Plus Icrontic event prep:
    • Cleaned coolers (after 5 months outdoors)
    • Cleaned bathroom
    • Vacuumed all the things
    • Put chairs back out on porch
  • edited March 2013
    Spring is here!

    Today I was all alone - and then Dave came by! I knew I could find more stuff for him to do.

    He started work on installing a pub porch light and helped me yank a bunch more useless wires in the basement (including 2 knob-and-tube lines that went nowhere). I almost cut the thermostat lines :D

    I cleaned the rest of the junk out of the basement in preparation for hosing it down. Luckily I elected to wear a face mask - it was black when I was done. D:

    Yesterday, I hauled all the giant pile of clay blocks (imagine 6x size bricks shaped like stones) out of the backyard and turned them into bed liners in the front yard. I also filled 2 trashcans of debris from the backyard, and stacked pavers & bricks under the kitchen porch steps.

    This kids brought the first 20 bricks from the attic down to the yard.

    Came up with design ideas for the basement and backyard. It's gonna be so good.
  • edited April 2013
    Yesterday, Aaron and I hosed and squeegeed the entire basement. Bleh. Basically took all day decked in full-body suits, goggles, and filter masks. It's our new Easter tradition.

    Today (off work), I went into planning / coordinating mode for a few hours, then started emptying the carriage house all afternoon.

    Looks like we're gonna need another dumpster. And, I found a helluva lot of work for Dave in the basement and carriage house.

    I called RC Marsack (the folks who did our chimney work) to come and inspect the foundation and get a quote for brick repairs and tuck pointing as needed.
  • edited April 2013
    Dumpster is here, and Mr. Marsack's quote has been signed! It also includes basement floor repairs.
  • AWESOME... Man... I am so looking forward to seeing the place in 2.5 months!
  • Today was an 8 hr day:

    - Aaron and I cleaned out the carriage house
    - Brian and Kyle insulated pipes
    - Nicole carried a ton of bricks from the attic to the backyard
    - We all started filling the dumpster & reorganized things back into the carriage house

    Aaron is going to build wood racks in the carriage house. We also made a pile for Architecture Warehouse Salvage pickup. And, we opened the big carriage doors for the first time.

    We have a lot of bikes. 0.o
  • Lincoln said:


    - Nicole carried a ton of bricks from the attic to the backyard

    Not trying to criticize or sound sexist, but why is the girl doing the heavy work?
  • edited April 2013
    Jokke said:

    Not trying to criticize or sound sexist, but why is the girl doing the heavy work?

    Because that's what she decided to do. It was all heavy work.
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