Broken promises

As I mentioned in the previous post, Tom and I promised to hang a sheet of drywall per day this week after work. That didn't happen. For the first time in a long time, we've had other obligations every night this week. It's really just as well, though, since I was a bit under the weather anyhow. Whatever it was seems to have passed now, so tomorrow we will have a full day of drywall-hanging fun. We should have 2 helpers, making it go twice as fast. Or, with twice as many opinions on how to do something, twice as slow. We'll see. Pictures will follow.

Snail's pace

I know it's been a long time. And no, mom, I'm not deceased. Thanks for the vote of confidence, though. Progress has been frustratingly slow, bordering on non-existent, and I have avoided blogging to hide my shame.

We're still exactly where we were at the last post in terms of drywall. We were supposed to have help last weekend with it, but a nasty storm kept the helpers busy with other obligations (mostly helping their own families clean up after the mess that the storm made). Today we didn't have help, but we're not sure why.

We did get things done, though, in small and seemingly insignificant ways. While our work has no effect on our move-in date, it is all work that will need to be done eventually.

When we bought the house, a bunch of post-demolition work had already been completed. Things like framing, plumbing, and minimal electric (an outlet in the basement and one on the second floor, just enough to plug in some tools). Had these things been done correctly, it would have been a huge time-saver for us. Unfortunately, the guy was a hack and did just about everything wrong. It's taken us so much more time to go back and undo what they "fixed."

For example, today we focused on repairing the downstairs floor by the back door. They had patched in a couple of pieces of plywood in front of the stairway to the basement, which we needed to take it out so we could lay down the OSB. These sheets were only about 3 feet square, but they had at least 30 ring-shank nails in each piece. Getting those things out is a remarkable pain in the behind. A cat's claw is the best tool for it, but it's still back-straining, tedious work. We finally took all the nails out only to discover that the base plate of the wall framing was hiding more nails. Upon closer inspection, we decided to take out the wall framing altogether because the studs were unbelievably warped and twisted. Also, some of the plumbing that ran in the wall stuck out past the line of the wall, making it impossible to drywall even if the studs were straight. And of course, instead of using nails like every other framer in the history of wooden framing, they used 4" screws. Coincidentally, these screws are the worst screws money can buy. The head strips with one turn of the drill. Sometimes if it doesn't strip, the shank will simply break off right where the threads start, making it impossible to remove. We even bought a screw extractor kit, but to no avail.

We finally just cut the studs in half and used brute force to pull the framing out. Once that was done, we went back to trying to get the plywood out. But the plumbing and electrical lines that had already been run were running through the plywood, so we couldn't simply lift it out. A couple more hours of magical circular saw and hand saw maneuvers, and we were finally able to take out the piece of plywood to install the OSB. A few cuts along the edge for length and width and a couple of notches to accommodate the aforementioned plumbing, and we were in business. We spent about 5 hours on the flooring project today, and only got 2 pieces put down. Sigh.

And we can't really progress much further with the flooring until we take up all the top floor and the subfloor. Currently, that's got a bunch of drywall sitting on it, so I guess we really do have to finish the drywall first.

We rounded out the day with some other miscellany. I hung insulation in a couple more places, and Tom took out a bunch of electrical wiring The Hacks had installed. Based on what we'd seen of their electrical skills, we thought it best to start from scratch. (They hooked up a bunch of lights in the basement, put them on the same breaker as the furnace, and then started randomly cutting wires in the circuit - presumably to lighten the load after the circuit kept tripping.) I also mowed the lawn and talked to our next-door-neighbor. He offered his sister's labor to edge our front sidewalk. It's really nice and completely unnecessary, and I have a vague feeling that they're getting tired of our weeds overpowering the sidewalk and making their house look shabby, but I'll take what I can get.

As far as drywall goes, though, Tom and I promised each other to take the time this week to hang at least one sheet per day by ourselves after work. It doesn't sound like a lot, and it's not, but 1) drywall is heavy; 2) Tom usually doesn't come home from work until 7 pm; and 3) I still have to find the energy in the evening to cook dinner, wash dishes, do laundry, etc. etc.

I wish I had pictures to update this entry, but I didn't take any this weekend, and they really wouldn't have been very exciting anyway. Maybe next time.

It's starting to look like something.

I'm pleased to announce that we finally began work on drywall today! It was only 3 pieces, but it certainly feels like an accomplishment.

Hint: It's not the underside of a spaceship. Also, not a weird face with widely-spaced glowing eyes, a tiny mouth, and exposed brains.

Our weekend help will be out of town next weekend, so Tom and I will be on our own. That means a lot of long hours holding up heavy sheets of drywall, but I think we'll be able to do most of it ourselves. Tom will probably take a day or two off while The Help is on vacation to get a bit more knocked off the list.

In other news, Paul got us pretty well on the way with the plumbing in the bathroom. These are for the shower:

Corn mazes are out. CPVC mazes are in.

We used flex tubing instead of rigid CPVC connections. The idea is that if the shower valves and such ever need to be replaced, unscrewing those tubes will be easier, faster, and neater than trying to cut off rigid pipe and having to glue small extension pieces in place. In reality, replacing that stuff will never be easy, fast, or neat, but we can at least minimize damage this way.

This is the setup for the tub:


The connectors we used caused a bit of controversy with The Help. They're called GatorBite fittings, and they form a glue- and solder-free joint. You simply push the pipe into the end and call it a day. I guess he doesn't trust the connection. I can't really find any reliable information about them. All I can find are message boards where professional plumbers complain about them because they enable people to fix their plumbing themselves. I haven't seen anything that says that they form a poor connection, or that they leak, or that they're poor quality. Any negatives I've seen about GatorBite have been about a line of copper fittings that they don't sell anymore. I guess we'll do some pressure testing before we put wallboard up to see how they do.

During the week next week:

- Finish plumbing for shower (install straps, connect supply lines to main supply stack).
- Continue drywalling (the goal is to get the ceiling and one wall done before the weekend).

Quick update.

Just a quick update to show you the installed tub, since I finally remembered to snap a picture of it. The half-wall beside it hides the toilet from view upon entering the bathroom. There will be a shelf on the toilet side for extra TP and the ever-present library collection.

So we read in the bathroom. Don't judge us.

The front of the tub will feature a removable access panel. I found an interesting schematic that I think will work well, and you'd never know there was a panel there. There will also be another panel on the toilet side to make it easier to reach the motor. Our bathroom will have a bit more color in it than this example, but this is what I was going for with the tub:

All that white is a bit blinding.

This weekend, we also finally cleaned up the glass from the broken window, stubbed out the sink plumbing, connected the tub drain, and added in nailing blocks for drywall. We should be ready to drywall in the bedroom this weekend. It's possible I'm being overly optimistic, but I think we can get the majority of the drywall hung in the bedroom this weekend. Then you'll really be able to see the progress.

Mysteries revealed.

The county auditor has our home listed as being built in 1870, but we've always doubted that date. It's an old house, but we really didn't think it was that old. I probably could have found more accurate records at the courthouse, but my work schedule doesn't work well with their 4:30 pm closing time. The previous owner told us what he knew - or what he thought he knew - about it, which wasn't much. He gave us the name Peter Kline. He was a physician, and because of his job was a fairly prominent citizen, so he was easy to track down.

Found in a book of local history, published when Kline was alive.

I found census records and his listing in the telephone directory (his telephone number: 1. How awesome is that?). One of the directories gave a physical location, too - the northeast corner of Fourth and Washington. That's our intersection, but it's the wrong corner. It turns out that all his addresses had odd numbers, which means he lived and worked on the opposite side of the street. So I was basically back to nothing.

I did find out that his son was also became a doctor and practiced briefly in Portsmouth. The information I found indicated that he also lived on Fourth Street, but I couldn't pinpoint an address. I kept him in mind, thinking maybe the previous owner got the names confused and it was actually his son that lived in the house.

I stumbled upon some old fire maps of the area in a earch tonight. It turns out we were right about the house. The earliest map, dated 1884, shows a building on our lot, but it is definitely not our house.

The building that is not our house is circled in red.

Two maps later, in 1892, the building is gone.

In the 1904 map, the footprint for the existing house is shown. It also indicates "from plans," meaning the house was not yet complete. This note was removed by the 1911 map, so we at least narrowed it down to a 7-year period.

Yes, our next-door-neighbor's house was - and still is - nearly identical.

These maps also indicate the older numbering system for the city. The 1911 map indicates both the old system and the new (current) system. Our house was listed as 52 W. Fourth Street. I went back to the census for this time period and looked up Peter Kline's son, Charles Flint Kline. His address is listed as 56 W. Fourth Street - our next-door-neighbor. And because the census was taken door-to-door (not listed alphabetically), it was easy to see who lived in the next house - Samuel Peebles.

At some point, our entire backyard was covered in brick pavers, many of which bear a "Peebles" stamp. There was a brickyard in Portsmouth called the Peebles Paving Brick Company. Samuel's involvement in the company certainly explains why our house is brick when so many from that time period have wood siding. So far I've not been able to find out anything else about him, but I'll keep hunting. It feels good to know a little bit more about the house, but I still have many more questions and will keep up the hunt.

Frustrations

We didn't get as much accomplished this weekend as we originally planned because of a little wiring mishap. While I was finishing up the tub framing, the outlet suddenly died. I thought it was just a tripped breaker (since I was running the compressor for the framing nailer and the radio and the power tool battery charger all on the same outlet). But apparently while Tom was working on running the new circuits down to the basement, he hit a cable with the angle drill, nicking the wire and shorting the circuit. Since I couldn't finish the framing upstairs, and couldn't really do anything to help with the electric (and also to keep me from wanting to strangle my dear husband), I mowed the lawn instead. By the time I was finished, Tom had repaired it temporarily. He simply cut out the bad section and connected the wires with wire nuts, which is definitely not to code. We'll have to re-run that section of wire, but the temporary fix will suffice for a while.

We ran into another problem with the tub wall that day, too. It had to do with the 2x4 supports under the lip of the tub being out of level, but we fixed that problem today. By the end of the day yesterday, I was too grumpy to want to fool with it anymore. (To be fair, I bumped my head on the wall - hard - and had a horrible throbbing in my head any time I leaned over.) We planned on plumbing the tub today, too, but were unable to complete that. The pipe for the overflow assembly was about 3 inches too short for our installation. I thought that overflows were a pretty standard thing, but I guess whirlpools are different.

This weekend wasn't a total loss, though. We did manage to run the electric for all the new circuits and connect them to the main breaker, and the tub frame is done with the tub in place. I have a few more odds and ends to pick up at Lowe's, then we should really have all that done next weekend. And the biggest news of the day: the bedroom is pretty much ready for drywall. I have a bit of cleaning up to do, but we'll almost certainly be ready for wallboard next weekend.

Progress, but no pictures.

Tom and I had a busy work weekend at the house, and I feel like we got a lot accomplished. We:

- Hauled our Jacuzzi bathtub upstairs (negotiating the turn in the stairs was a trick).
- Hung the recessed light for the shower.
- Figured out exact heights for hanging vanity lights and hung electrical boxes.
- Ran the electric for bathroom lights and outlets.
- Built half the frame for the bathtub.
- Cleaned the crystal chandelier.
- Finished insulation in bedroom ceiling and bathroom.
-Made cutout for tub's drain/overflow assembly.

Our workday yesterday was cut short by the local university's emergency broadcast system, which informed us that a tornado had been spotted an hour west of town and was headed in our general direction. Francesca drove by the house honking the car horn, informing us that our work day was over.

On the plate for this week (before the weekend):
- Run wire for Jacuzzi.
- Connect newly run circuits to main breaker.
- Finish tub frame.
- Clean out and vacuum bedroom, closet, and bathroom.

And next weekend:
- Finish bathroom plumbing.
- Cap off other supply lines in the house so we can have the water turned on.