Brick Patio

As you can see, we got the ground all prepped like we wanted a couple weeks ago. There was an awful lot of prepping to do, more than I would have figured.  Jodi kept on pointing at this slightly raised area, then that one.  And, we needed to fill in some low spots that I would not have even noticed.  But, it was all good and all necessary.  I recently read an old proverb that said "If I had ten hours to chop down a large tree I would spend seven sharpening the axe."  There's a lot of wisdom and applicability in that.  I don't usually prescribe to that philosophy very well, though.  Jodi, on the other hand, is pretty good at it so she helps balance me out.

Just like the front walk (which I'm only just now realizing I never blogged about) we got all the brick for free! I've added a photo of the front walk here for your reference.  That project was made possible by the old MFA building in Elkland, MO.  I was driving by it on my way to go pick up the children from my mom's house.  I always liked the building.  It was the only red brick two-story building in Elkland.  It was overgrown and boarded up.  When seeing it, I would usually brainstorm about what could be done with it if I was somehow able to acquire it.  In the condition it was in I didn't figure that the owner of it would have to be offered much to be convinced to let it go.

This particular day that I was driving by, it happened to be being demolished by a large excavator.  I stopped and asked the operator if it'd be alright to come back that evening and grab some brick from the rubble.  He gave me permission to do just that and I came home with a nice load of brick.  I didn't have a truck/trailer combo able to haul a large load so I negotiated borrowing one from my friend, Nate, in exchange for a third of the bounty.

So, it turned out that I wound up owning part of that building after all, you could say.  It's also nice to know that the building, as neat as it was, will go on living, in a sense, having been repurposed into a nice entry walk for our Springfield home that is likely roughly the same age as the MFA building was.

Sorry for the blog within a blog so far.  Back to the brick patio, it's taken several evenings and one Saturday so far to get where I am.  However, I think it's going pretty well.  We are over half way done and it's looking great.  I agree with what Jodi said about it "It really ties in everything we've done in the back."  She's right.  We built a great looking deck, an outdoor closet/remodeled backyard-to-basement entry door, a garden wall connecting the house to the detached garage complete with arched doorway, and installed a proper side door to the garage.  The brick patio is what fills in the area between all these improvements.

This brick, primarily, came from a house just off North Grant.  I don't know it's original source.  This house had a huge stack of them behind their garage.  The owners had just recently bought the house and were looking for someone to haul them away.  My friend, Jake, tipped me off about them.  The other two places that I scored more brick, albeit a much smaller quantity, were from our house and from a Craigslist ad.  The ones from our house came from taking down the second chimney.  When we finished out the attic into a cool fourth bedroom, I dismantled a second unused chimney to below the floor level.  It had previously been dismantled to be below the roof several decades ago, but I took it further down to remove it from the attic altogether.  The Craigslist ones came from a demolished brick detached garage.  There wasn't much left, but I took what they had.

I should have some time tonight to continue laying more brick.  Plus, I can get several hours logged tomorrow morning.  I have no other obligations until early afternoon.  So, I think that I'll try and maximize my time.  I also have the firepit to masonry up, so I can't say that I can knock it all out, but I certainly will get a lot closer.  It will be nice to have a legitimate outdoor space around the firepit that we have been using for some time now.  I'm really looking forward to it all being complete.

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Getting Things Done

Sometimes it feels like we're making progress with this house like an inchworm.  Other days it feels like we've accomplished huge feats is record time.  Not that it's some new discovery or anything, but I've decided that the emotional toll that comes with a home renovation is potentially overwhelming.  Jodi and I have done pretty well keeping our cool throughout the years, but we've also had our fair share of breakdowns.

We're so close to the end.  While that's a good thing, obviously, it's also a de-motivator in itself.  Before we were close, we didn't give ourselves too many time lines.  We didn't crack the whip because we couldn't see the end anywhere near.  Now, that we're fixated on it, it can't seem to come too soon.

This second-to-third-story staircase we built has been barely noticeable amongst the stacks of tools, buckets of paint, ladders, and piles of trim almost since we built it.  I remember there was a stretch of time when it was still roughed in and didn't have a single piece of drywall on it.  Then, it finally got drywall on it only to sit for seemingly forever before it got drywall mud applied.  Then, more waiting.

Finally, we jumped right in and made the mess we knew it would make when picking up where we left off.  We sanded, re-mudded, and sanded some more.  It turned out pretty well and I'm satisfied with it.  Though, Jodi and I have sworn off ever doing drywall again.  We fully understand why wall paneling was such a popular trend in the 70's.  It probably looked stupid then, too.  But, at least it wasn't a 7-step process that took days to do even for the professionals.

So, with the walls done, primed, and painted it finally looks like it belongs to the house rather than being a misplaced construction project.  It's not done, of course.  We still have to install all the trim, but it doesn't make sense to do all that until we get the floors sanded down and refinished.

Jodi knew that it would be a little while before I installed treads and kick plates on the stairs so she took the liberty of painting the roughed in staircase as a temporary fix to pretty it up in the meantime.

I think that if we had the diligence to only work on one project at a time until it was done, we would perhaps feel better about our list of what's left.  But, in our defense, the reason we have always had multiple projects going on simultaneously is because we've also had small children the entire time we've lived here.  So, we have things to work around that contractors don't.  Like nap times.  We couldn't have just stopped working once a child fell asleep OR we could keep going somewhere else.  Also, the seasons played their role in our project list making.  We sometimes had to put one project on hold while we worked another that the weather allowed for at the time.

Yesterday, we started the brick patio.  That blog is to come, though.

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Goodbye, Facebook

I have decided to delete my facebook account.  It was an easy decision to make, yet did not go without several instances of personal reluctance to do so.

Why?  This is the question I keep getting asked by those who have a facebook account.  I'm not getting asked this question by those who don't have one.  Because, they don't know I'm deleting my account.  And, they don't care.  I look forward to being one of those people.

There is a grand myriad of reasons why I am tossing off the yoke of facebook.  I couldn't list them all if I tried, but I can list some of the top reasons that immediately come to mind.  They are, in no particular order:

• Lack of security.
• Facebook is a business.  They sell your information.  They always have.  And, they don't hide or apologize for this.  It's genius, really.  They have created a motive to get people to willingly profile and track themselves.  Since this information is so specific, it's very valuable for marketing.  Marketing you, that is.
• It's not reality.
•  What people post on facebook doesn't usually say much about them at all.  I cannot compare the time I have spent with friends with the time I have spent reading those same friends' facebook posts.  Time spent with friends is meaningful and I get to know them well.  That time is real and so is the content.  I can't say the same for facebook.
• It's not a responsible use of my time.
• I am married.  I am a father of three children.  I am involved in my church.  I work 50 hours a week.  I have many real friends.  I am renovating a house.  I am restoring a car.  I am coaching a soccer team.  Etc.  Etc.
• With all that I have going on in my life, I don't have time to maintain a digital profile of myself for others' sake of "knowing" me.  Nor, do I have time to browse an endless sea of junk to spot the few tidbits of "knowing" others.
• Define "friends"
• Let's face it.  I'm not friends with most of my facebook's friends list.  I've even been pretty picky about whose friend requests I've accepted.  Still, if not for facebook, I wouldn't know two cents about a lot of people and those people wouldn't know two cents about me.  That's not a bad thing. 
• I know things that I'd rather not know.
• Some of my facebook "friends" and I have not seen eye to eye on things.  And, while it's no requirement of mine that those I associate myself with carry all my same values, I wish there were some others' soapbox speeches I hadn't been exposed to.  I wonder if I would be better friends with some people if I weren't subconsciously using my "facebook impression" of them as a screening tool.  Don't hate on me.  You do it, too.  The difference is that I'm admitting it.
• I read that "Facebook Erodes Real Community" and I agree.
• I know that people don't make as much of an effort to visit friends since the introduction of facebook.  Why would I see that friend I haven't seen in three years when I've seen every post of his/hers since our last visit.  What could I possibly catch up on with them since we're already "caught up".  At the very least, it stands as a seemingly valid justification to put off visiting someone.
• What am I teaching my children?
• Do I want my children to be on facebook?  Maybe you do and that's fine.  Use your own judgement for what's good for your children.  But, I don't know that I want mine on there being exposed to an online social world where people say and do things that they wouldn't say or do in person.  Or, maybe I would allow them to have a limited profile with some heavy monitoring.  I don't know.  But, seriously, when I think about it, I think of how heavy of a burden to parenting it will be if or when it comes up.  Maybe things like that are better left to adults.  Regardless of how I want my children to use or not use it, one thing is for sure: I can't legitimately limit or restrict it's use for my children while I have given myself no limits or restrictions.
• At the end of my life, what total number of hours spent on facebook would satisfy me?
• 1,000?  100?  2?  It seems that whatever the number winds up being, it isn't anything to be proud of.  I tend to think that the greater the number the greater the shame, actually.  I'm glad that I don't know how much time I've burned scrolling, commenting, and liking.  It's too late for me to have 0 in that category.  But, it's certainly not too late to stop the number dead in its tracks.

I could go on, I'm sure, but then I'd be wasting my time doing this.  Plus, my lunch hour is over.  Time to get back to work.

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Finished Deck Photo (Finally)

One thing that keeps me from writing a lot more blogs about our home improvement projects is that when we get done with a project, another one usually has already begun.  Such was the case with the deck.  Although, another reason the finished photo never got taken was because the siding wasn't done.  I didn't want the newly finished deck to be overshadowed by the house that was in desperate need of a facelift.

So, the last photo of the deck I wrote about was while it was still under construction.  As you can see, the railing wasn't up.  The privacy fence wasn't complete.  The gate hadn't been built.  The right door needed painted.  The siding needed replaced.  And, the yard was a mess.

All of these are fine for a photo while it is under construction.  But, the level of expectation goes up for the finished product.  Take Extreme Home Makeover for example.  Imagine if they still had tools lying about during the unveiling.  Picture them "moving that bus" to reveal a beautifully renovated home with a ladder leaning up against the roof, bare patches of dirt in the lawn, and a short stack of paint cans on the porch.

This is my dilemma.  I don't like taking that finished photo until it's TV quality.  But, perhaps, I'm too hard on myself.  Maybe it's ok to see tools lying around.  Maybe no one but myself cares, after all.

So, here it is.  You might take notice that it's not 100% complete.  I still have to finish the underpinning on the east side (or bottom-right to you).  One thing that came as a surprise to me is that the two brands of wood that we used for the decking both weathered to look the same.  I knew that they would weather closer to the same, but I didn't at all expect that I wouldn't be able to differentiate between them after a single season.  Not that I'm complaining.

We just started prepping the ground last night to lay our brick patio.  That's pretty exciting.  We got the masonry lines ran for leveling, the ditch dug for the buried drain pipe, the pile of pea gravel moved out of the way, some of the leveling complete, and the perimeter line laid.

When my father-in-law saw the size of our deck for the first time he humorously asked, "You trying to get out of mowing?"  Jodi and I just figured that if you're going to do it, then you might as well go ahead and do it.  You know?  The deck is a great size and is a perfect spot for outdoor entertaining.  With the installation of the brick patio, our outdoor space will finally be complete.  However, with around 1100 square feet of combined deck and patio space, my father-in-law will most likely be certain of my disdain for mowing.

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A Valiant Restoration: Day 3 & 4

According to Google, valiant is defined as "possessing or showing courage or determination".  In addition to literally restoring a Plymouth Valiant, I believe that the restoration itself is a valiant act.  It's Jacob trusting that I know what I am doing and am able to help him know what he is doing.  It's taking something apart that most people wouldn't dare in fear that they'd never get it back together.  It's knowing that there are risks but valuable rewards to be won.  Maybe, I'm being too deep here, but I just think that the name of the car is significant for this endeavor that we've taken on.

We continued pulling parts off the engine and cleaning them up. Many of the hang-ons got cleaned up and painted.  Both Jacob and I were pretty impressed with the turnout.  This thing is going to shine under the hood.

I borrowed a couple lifting eyebolts from work and an engine hoist and engine stand from Daniel.  It wasn't too bad pulling the engine out, but it took a bit to figure out how to get the transmission all the way off of the block.  We figured it out, though.  We bent the eyebolts into a nice J-shape so I bought some new replacements from Fastenal to return to my work.

With the motor out, I feel like I could probably benchpress the car right off the jack stands, not that I will be trying that or anything.

I realized during the third day that I had a shop manual from 1962 for the car.  I bought it in an ebay auction probably 7 years ago or so knowing that it would come in handy someday.  I read through some of it concerning the engine and discovered a way to find out which motor it is.  As it turns out, it's not a 225 like I always thought.  It's a 170.  It's the exact same motor except for the height of the block is shorter than a 225 and the connecting rods are shorter.  This gives it a shorter stroke which gives it better fuel economy, less torque at low RPMs but greater power at higher RPMs, less engine stress which means greater durability.  It won't be a super-power for Jacob which is good, but it will last a long time, be easy on gas, and will have good passing speed capability.

Jacob mentioned that he would like to get some bucket seats for it to replace the bench seat in the front.  So, I'll be on the look out for some period buckets seats.  It would be nice to find some Valiant bucket seats, but in order to keep them on the cheaper end of the spectrum we'll likely have to find something else more common.  I like the idea of replacing the bench with buckets because it would allow for a custom console to be built.  And, I could see Jacob and myself getting pretty creative and fancy with that.

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A Valiant Restoration: Day One & Two

The rules were simple:

1. I would buy Jacob a vehicle of his choosing when he was 14 years old up to a decent yet frugal dollar amount.
2. We would spend the next couple of years fixing it up to his satisfaction.
3. I would only work on it when he was working on it and I would match him dollar for dollar for replacement parts.

My goal was for him to gain two important lessons from this process:

1. He would learn to appreciate the vehicle more since it had his own sweat equity in it and would hopefully treat it with a respect one rarely sees from a new teenage driver.
2. He would learn some advanced mechanics and be able to diagnose and repair any future issues himself thus saving an unforeseen amount of money over the course of his lifetime.

This has been something that I really looked forward to doing.  Not only will the lessons be great ones to gain, but the time spent together on a project like this will be incomparably memorable.  So far, it's not been a tel down at all.  It's been a lot of fun showing him the ropes.

Jacob chose the 1962 Plymouth Valiant that I bought for me and Jodi back in 2006.  I never did get it licensed because I was really only driving it for a month or so while I was working on my '59 when the clutch went out and needed replaced.  After that, it mostly just sat.  I think it was 2011 when we had a neighbor move in on our street who called the city and complained about all of our neighbors, us included.  In Springfield, you have to have a vehicle licensed and insured that is on your property unless it's garaged.  So, I had 30 days to comply.

Well, I didn't need to drive it, so paying to have it licensed and insured was unnecessary.  So, we decided to move it out to my mom's farm in Elkland.  It never leaked a drop of oil so I didn't bother to check it before I headed out.  I wish I would have.  The motor locked up just north of Fair Grove.  A friend helped me trailer it out to Elkland where it's been sitting ever since providing a nice home for a family of mice, several hundred mud daubers, and an ant colony.  Apparently, it was also being used as a shelter for groundhogs that were seen traveling in and out from underneath it.  As much as I hated to disrupt the habitat of so many creatures, we pulled it out of the weeds and proceeded to pull it back to Springfield via my Harbor Freight tow bar.

Back at the house, after a fun game of musical chairs with the vehicles, we started in on the engine.  First step was bagging the carb and the alternator and then proceeding to spray down the engine to wash a good portion of the gunk off.

We started pulling parts off one by one, cleaning them up, taking them down to the bare metal, and then giving them a fresh coat of paint.  Jacob did a great job.  Lyric even helped for a while.  The parts we worked on sparkled and shined like new.

We tried getting the oil pan off, but couldn't due to the location of the framework of the car.  So, we made a call to "uncle" Daniel and got loaned an engine hoist and an engine stand.  I was hoping that we wouldn't need to pull the engine out, but it works out anyway.  It will be much easier to work on the engine with it out of the car.  And, it will make prepping the engine compartment for a paint job so much easier, as well.

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Bedroom Floor Removal

It's been a while since I wrote a blog, even longer since I shared any of our home renovations.  So, no time like the present, right?

Last weekend, we started the master bedroom floor project.  All of the hardwood flooring in the second story of our house was installed directly on top of the floor joists.  Since, there was no sub-flooring, the floors have likely always been creaky and poppy in places, but certainly during our tenure here.  I don't generally notice the noise in the day when everyone is up and doing things.  But, having raised two children from babies in this house, I am highly aware of the unwelcome noise at night.  There's very little in this world that's scarier than the pent-up sheer fury in a desperately tired parent's face at 3:00 a.m. who having just spent an hour lulling a teething baby back to sleep steps on a noisy floorboard in their carefully planned escape from the baby's bedroom... rrrRRRREEEEEEEE!!!

So, the replacement of this floor has been a long time coming.  Our plan is simple:

1. Pull up hardwood flooring as carefully as possible so as to not damage the tongues or the grooves... check!
2. Lay down 3/4" plywood sub-floor and fasten with deck screws to keep it from ever loosening and thus separating from the joists and creating a potential noise location... check!
3. Lay down laminate flooring underlayment as a noise-reducing/gap filler.
4. Reinstall the hardwood flooring.
5. Sand and refinish.

While I had the floor open, I went ahead and added some electrical outlets to bring it up to the "two per wall" standard that you see in most new construction.

It's exciting getting this room close to completion.  We've renovated almost the entire house, in and out, and all the while we've slept in a bedroom that had had all the wallpaper scraped off and had been given a fresh coat of paint, but had been void of any other renovations.  In a couple weeks, we should have the floor back in, all the walls and newly-drywalled ceiling sanded smooth and painted, and all the trim put on and painted.  The only thing left to do will be the floor refinishing which will likely be done right before we put it on the market.

Stay tuned for future photos in the coming weeks.

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