Trolling Craigslist: Lighting Strikes

I think I've mentioned before how awful the Kansas City Craigslist is. We're awash in a sea of honey oak, "hand-carved" and "purchased just last year from Nebraska Furniture Mart!" Ugh.

But still I look, because you never know, and once in a while something interesting pops up.

Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin per the posting, and I'm inclined to believe it (although I'd sure as hell be looking for a mark).

They're upfront and specifically say that it needs refinishing, and it does. I'm okay with that because I bet its solid. I might like it even more just a bit darker.

They also call it zebrawood, which its not, but okay. They're asking $200 which doesn't seem obscene, but I'd still offer less.

I'm not even going to inquire as we've got plenty going on without another expense or project, but if we were between things here I'd totally give them a call.

I was going to live blog Dancing with the Stars

But between the underwhelming performances (I feel so bad for Michael Bolton) and Evil Sarah Palin in the audience I'm not certain I can finish watching.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure whoever made Bristol's dress is a democrat.

Did Carrie Ann just say balls? I believe she did!

***Update***
Well alright Jennifer Gray, nicely done! I think you should have got 9s personally.

And hopefully that was the last we'll see of Sarah Palin.

Firsts: Plumbing edition

Minor disaster struck in the basement this past week when the washing machine emptying suddenly caused water to begin streaming up through the floor drain. A couple applications of drain opener didn't help, and actually the second product (a gel) made it worse. Finally this afternoon we called Roto-Rooter.


We have six different stacks in the basement all leading to main waste lines. He had Brett run up and begin flushing toilets (except the one we're still missing) in an effort to diagnose. The master bath flush sent more water up through the drain. As the water rose I mumbled "Oh shit" to which the plumber replied "Probably."


Things didn't seem to be getting any better when he couldn't get the clean out open and announced that he'd have to chisel it out. The replacement was only 20 bucks.


As he got to work Brett and I sat at the table steeling ourselves for the worst, and praying that the old pipe hadn't simply collapsed. Finally we headed down to check, and the wet spot around the drain where the standing water had been signified that the drain was open.


Roto-Rooter guarantees their work and as such he went ahead and snaked the line to his machine's 100 foot max. He thought the clean-out had never been opened and guessed that 58 years of build-up was the culprit. As the drain snake worked its way back out he pulled out a big black blob that appeared to be a towel. Because he was wearing two pairs of gloves he poked around and finally laughed. It was pantyhose.

I guess I could get some fries instead

(photo via Joe.My.God)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Geometrics

With no work happening on the bathroom project and apropos of nothing, I've been thinking about wallpaper. None of the current paper will survive, but we'll definitely put some back up. I'm digging Fretwork by G P & J Baker. This is the silver colorway, which might be nice on the wall which will separate the living and family rooms. That wall will float in between the two rooms not connecting to any other walls, I could match the paint on the surrounding walls to the background.


It also comes in a pale aqua colorway which looked really sharp. The dining room has very little wall, picture windows on two walls and archways on the other two (eventually). I'd been thinking about black walls as there was so little of them, but some pattern could be nice too. I could also match the ground for painting the coved ceiling. Black wood floor, pale aqua ceiling, subtle pattern on the walls-I could live with that. And plenty of time before we have to make any decisions.

Patience

The plumber was scheduled to return on Sunday for the following:

1. Replace sink supply lines
2. Replumb shower
3. Remove toilet drain (so we can finish the subfloor replacement)
4. Re-install sink and shower drain vent piping

End result? No call, no show.

His reply to Brett's email today was that while he'd like to finish the job he's unsure when he'll be available so we should find someone else. I'll be interested to see if we get a bill for the tearout.

While we were out Saturday we stopped by the tile shop to see about our wall tile, which was back ordered until September 3rd. Estimated arrival: October 18th.

We had Alex in the car with us so I stayed out with him. Brett was barely out the door when he yelled "I should just cancel the order." In the face of his displeasure the store staff had nothing to offer other than a lukewarm apology. Later on they did call Brett's niece (who ordered the tile for us utilizing her designer discount) and offered up the same stone in the 12X24 size at the price we paid for the 8X19.5.

I'm inclined to wait it out as what we ordered is what I think is absolutely right. I feel like the scale of the 12X24 tile is too chunky for the size of the room, but I've promised Brett I'll make some cardboard templates and tack them up to the wall so we can look at them.

Reveal photos will now likely include a jack-o-lantern.

Town & Country

We've had a little trip planned for a while now. Its next month, but the excitement just kicked in over the last few days. We start with a couple of days in the gay holy ground that is San Francisco, just Brett and I. We're staying at the Hotel Frank which looks very cool. If you've stayed there let me know what you thought.

And then Chris and Rachel and Cece join us for a few more in Napa.

This photo is from the Calistoga Ranch website. We're not staying here this time because we're saving it for our honeymoon when Prop 8 is finally overturned. Instead, and because its the middle of harvest and hotel rooms are nonexistant, we've rented a house at one of the vineyards. Theres a pool and views of the vines, so it should be a lot of fun and very relaxing. And very boozy. The end of the month can't get here soon enough.

The finest woodworking you'll never see

This has been the most monsterously manly weekend I've experienced in...maybe forever. Showering has been spotty (as in not yet today and it's 530pm) and I haven't shaved since Friday morning, but we've got some things done.

Here is about 40 inches of bathroom wall where the new sink will go. Fitting in nicely between the corner and a door, the only problem was going to be centering things. The Resto cabinet is sized to slip right in between studs (as am I!) but that was going to shift everything just slightly to the right. Further right than I could deal with. So with Brett, a measuring tape, a square, and the two power saws my mother bought me last week as an early birthday present, today we got down to it.

We did a dry fit before we nailed in the final board and it fit like a glove. It took careful planning and a crazy amount of measuring and marking, but this is the crowning achievement of the weekend.

The floor on this half of the bathroom is in good shape so we went ahead and tacked down new vapor barrier. Not a huge accomplishment I know, but part of the process.

What really does matter in the grand scheme is a solid subfloor. The old shower was cement inside a lead liner. For the most part it held up just fine, but the tile around it has been shot for some time, and with it the walls and part of the floor. Trimming back to the center of the floor joists and avoiding extraneous framing for drains and vents took longer than we thought. Piecing in too seemed a bit unwieldy, but neither of us were prepared to just up and replace the entire floor. The end result, while not a textbook repair I'm sure, is solid and flat.

Obviously theres a bit more of that to come. As mentioned, the plumber has to come back and do some things so we can fix around the toilet, and then we'll really be ready to move. Floor tile underlayment, pony wall, insulation and drywall are up next, in that order.

Brett is cleaning up and heading out to pick up some BBQ. After the weekend we've had grilled meat seems only fitting.

And so we labor

Hope your labor day weekend is going well! Ours has been...laborious.

We've cut out some bad spots in the bathroom subfloor (old rot and/or termite damage) and patched in with new wood. Its been a little bit frustrating because we have to leave the area around the toilet. The plumber left the cast iron pipe in. Once he's back to remove that I can replace that wood and we're moving.

In other areas we're going to go ahead and put down the vapor barrier and mortar/screw down the tile underlayment. We just cut a hole for the new floor register which is moving about 4 feet from where it was. I tweeted that I got mad jigsaw skills because it seems a lot like a sewing machine.

And here's something nice that happened: We walked into Lowe's yesterday with our materials list. We found the sawhorses and were about to start looking for everything else when Alli approached us and said "You guys have the look, can I help you find something?" She then proceeded to walk us around to get every single thing we needed. What's more, she helped a few other people on the way without ever breaking stride.

Management of the Lowe's in Roeland Park, Alli rocks, please note your file.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday everyone. I hope to have progress pictures soon!