More deck destruction.....and it's NOT good!

We had a leak.....heard that one before haven't you? The leak was coming from the new roof that was installed on the underside of the 2nd floor patio (follow that?). Tom & Mandy removed the fascia to determine where the problem was, felt wet underneath the drip edge...what the heck??? When they started lifting the drip edge, the tiles & concrete backer board were coming with it!!! The Hardie board was separating & crumbling just like slate coming off in layers! The tile & grout are still attached & it's just popping off in chunks.... Mandy could pick them off with her fingers!

They are removing all the tiles & backer board down to the plywood and it's all just trash now. You can definitely tell there was a leak & apparently it's been there for quite awhile, you can visibly see where the plywood was wet & where it wasn't... 2/3 of the floor from the outside edge in was wet & the 1/3 close to the house was dry. Where it was dry it was a b#@$h to get up!

What I don't understand is this Hardie board is made for this, they even advertise it sitting in a tub of water!

I think these pouts are more to humor me since I was about ready to cry :( 

Sure looks pretty doesn't it???

The exterior of the patio needed to be tarped so it could start to dry out & then remain dry so we can redo the whole damn thing!!!

Well....here's our old patio...what a mess.....

Re-Cap of the Beginning-5 yrs ago & we're still not done!!!

The house continues to be a challenge. May I show you the picture of what is going to be our new abode in less than 8 days?

Please note the blue tarp, it’s all the rage in Florida now, soon to be in Mississippi & Louisiana too.

So we'll be moving into a home with part of the roof missing & some of the walls not quite all there (kinda like me right now) and a blue tarp flapping in the breeze.

But I continue to pack with no place to move anything just yet..

Does this sound even remotely like the plans I had?

On a positive note we do have running water (cold only at this point), it was hooked up today & we do have electric. The septic tank is in but not hooked up yet. So we hold it....

NiMo assured me we'll have gas by the time we move in. This is a good thing because the only heat source will be one vent free gas fireplace for the four rooms we'll be living in. The radiant heat flooring can't be started until the house is totally buttoned up.

The floors are concrete & will not be able to have the hardwoods put down until sometime close to Thanksgiving, since the radiant heat needs to run a few weeks to be sure all the moisture is out of the concrete before you lay the floor. The floors are covered with construction debris, mud, drywall goop & who knows what else. How the heck do you clean them? Barefoot will not be an option for awhile I'm thinking.

But none of this is as bad as the fact that I now have to cook dinner. Every night!!!!!

Can you believe it??? I can deal with the rest of it, but cooking?

I foolishly in a moment of weakness offered to help with dinner, since Tom doesn't get in until 7 most nights & by the time he has a cocktail, makes a few phone calls, showers & makes dinner, it’s getting quite late. “Help” is quite a subjective term. Somehow dinner every night is now MY responsibility!

So being the trooper that I am, I went out & bought a crock pot & a crock pot cookbook.

Well the “Dinner meal time solution for the busy cook” is a crock of s#%t

(no pun intended), someone has to get up every morning & chop & slice & dice & brown & assemble all those “Quick & Easy “ ingredients in to the damn pot. So we can have a “Quick, Easy & Tasty Meal on the Table in Minutes”! Poppycock!! My husband is still alive & 20 pounds lighter. I rest my case.

Other than that, nothing terribly new or exciting. Doesn't look like we'll be celebrating Columbus day anywhere this year but in our own new world.

We miss you guys & love you~stay in touch; we'll update you when we can.

Lots of Love & Hugs & Kisses-

Martha the Crotchety Crock Potter & Tom the Tool Man

Have been for over a week now, moved in last Thursday, the 29^th of Sept. We spent the night with no heat, no hot water and no doors. It was a crisp 49 degrees when we got up Friday morning (INSIDE), the day of our closing.

We sold the house on my birthday, closed on Tom’s birthday. Quite the presents this year!

New address is 208 County Route 37 Central Square, NY 13036.

Same phone number.

Things were a bit of a rush since we are about a month behind schedule on the new house, the last couple of days before the move, everything that was packed in boxes was shoved anywhere in sections of the new house that were dry. Can't find a darn thing now. 

Today is the 8th and we still have no heat, no hot water and only a couple of doors. But we're in!

The couple that bought our house is wonderful & we've been showering over there. They've had us over for dinner twice now. They start with cocktail hour @ 5 & dinner @ 6, anyone that knows us knows that’s a bit early for us (like right after lunch); but it’s a small sacrifice for a home cooked meal and hot water to wash your hands in.

There are still sections of the house that the walls & roof are not finished yet. It was a brisk 55 degrees in our bedroom this morning.

I've hung old curtains over the door ways in the section of the house we're living in, which helps. The biggest problem with no doors (besides the fact that it's cold) is the neighbor’s cat coming to visit in the middle of the night. He & MJ do not seem to get along. So take a couple of peacefully sleeping people, throw in two hissing, spitting cats at 2 or 3 in the morning and it doesn't make for such a quiet night. We've had 3 of these so far.

On a positive note, we do have a gas stove now, the gas was installed yesterday. So we may have heat & hot water by Monday if everything gets hooked up. More good news….my new washer & dryer were delivered, I can't use them yet, but they're here & I can look at them!

On Wednesday we had quite the experience, we brought in a scissor lift. I wish you could have seen the crew driving this contraption in thru the front door (one of the ones that isn't installed yet obviously) and down the hallway & into the family room. The lift goes 26 feet in the air. This picture gives you a good idea of what I'm talking about. Along with a visual of the section of the roof that’s missing. The weather men were predicting up to 2 inches of rain yesterday so the framers tarped the roof.

Well that's the update for now, we'll keep you posted. I'm sure you'll hear me no matter where you are when we get the heat & hot water on.

In the mean time, don't hesitate to stop in for a "House-in-Progress Tour" & feel free to bring a hot cup of coffee or a hot meal. "Hot" being the operative word here.

Martha & Tom

Punch list begins!!!!!

About a year ago, 

Tom asked me to do up a list of what needed to be finished;

to be honest & in his defense, 

I don't think he realized who he was asking at the time....

BUT WHAT WAS HE THINKING?????? 

If I could have gotten away with the type being smaller
& they could still read it I would have in a heart beat.
But I figured saving a marriage was worth just 1 page for my "Punch list".
(besides...you can always add to it ;)
If you don't know what a punch list is,
it's a detailed list of  items that need to be addressed  before construction is considered completed.
Oohhh Baby....did I have a list.....and there it sat:(
And Now A Year Later....We're Tackling "The List"

 

Mandy diligently working on the "Punch list".
 I know it looks like she dozed off after one of Tom's really good lunches,
but she really is working hard at finishing painting the outlet covers to look like the back splash.
Check..another one off the list!






Tiles finally installed, just needed the 3 partial to finish the threshold, remainder of the floor has been there since the summer of '06. No one has any idea why they weren't installed when the floor was done.
Probably no one even noticed but "the Anal One".

Finish grouting...a little sealer...then....

Check..another one off the list!

The cove molding  for the sliding glass door in the dining room installed 

& the edging caulked.

Check..another one off the list!

Do you know what this means????

There is a bright shining light at the end of the tunnel!!!

Progress on "The Pavillion"

The shingles have been removed & the majority of the plywood on the roof is still in good, reusable condition, those will come off when the excavator is here. No need to have all the drywall & insulation become saturated from rain & pay for extra weight in the dumpster:) Hopefully in the next 2 weeks or so......

Sure looks a whole lot better in Black & White!!!

Back Patio Pavers

So we picked out the pavers for the newly enlarged back patio,
they'll go great with the stone walls, we've got 2 pallets to be delivered...
YIPPEE!!!

So the pavers are delivered & I'm all excited until I start to see what Tom has so far laid out....umm...not lookin' quite like the display now is it??

Why the hell can't anything be simple???

Not only is Martha not happy...Tom is not happy!

So we take our photos, along with the pics of their outdoor display; which has been exposed to the elements for about 3 years & is, we assume, sufficiently weathered for an accurate visual; into the the sales office @ Barnes & Cone (they are an architectural masonry store) for a discussion.
The sales rep gives us this song & dance about the efflorescence which is inherent to all masonry products, they sell the cleaner, yada, yada, yada. Tom tells him these stones are unacceptable, the amount of efflorescence is excessive, he's gotta talk to his boss...comes back out.. this is what it is, the cleaner will remove it, might take a couple of times. Tom strongly "encourages" the sales rep to go for a walk to the yard & look at the product out there...no where do you see any pavers that bad. The sales rep agrees, but says he'll deny anything he said...he needs his job...so you can't believe him anyway, who's butt is he kissing & what's the commission?
Bottom line.....they couldn't give them to a contractor who spends $50 thou a year there, so they pawn them off on the walk in customer. It just happened to be our lucky day!
We could, if we'd like, have returned them for a 25% restocking fee & ordered more with an add'l delivery charge.
So almost 4 gallons of efflorescence cleaner (@$28./gal) and a minimum of 5 separate cleanings for each paver, some needed as many as 12 cleanings, (OK, I exaggerate..about 10% of them did not need cleaning!!!) you brush it on, wait for it to stop foaming, scrub, hose it off, let it dry & start all over again (hey wasn't that a 1930's song....And pick yourself up, Dust yourself off, Start all over again...)

So Tom is just about done, only a couple of pavers left to install and... did the whole job with out any help from Mandy or any hindrance from me mind you....
Now the polymeric sand needs to be put down-this is the coolest stuff!!!!!
It's a sand that you sweep across the pavers into the cracks, blow off the excess with a leaf blower, sprinkle it with water & it sets into a rubbery type cement!!!
It still looks like sand between the pavers though...How cool is that??

 They'll just need a final cleaning & we're back in business for Happy Hour!

The boat take 2...

Had to end up replacing the starter & the alternator, but OK...to be expected when it sat for 4 years. The boat got a basic cleaning from Tom & Mandy...We all know the anal one will be doing the detail cleaning....& she wasn't going to do the detail cleaning until the canvas was cleaned & ready to cover the boat after "The Anal One" did the detail. So the canvas needs to be cleaned since it's been stored for a period of time (guess how long?) no problem, until you see the little holes from the mice who spent very happy winters in cobalt blue canvas. Did a basic clean but it's going to go to the " Happy Canvas Shop"  (so called 'cause it'll make me happy not to do it) for more repairs than I'm willing to tackle....

But Summer's not over...that boat may still see the water this year....and this will be the view of Oneida Lake from  the back of our boat instead of the neighbors!

(Not only am I anal, I optimistic!)
 

Front entrance way

We've spent months (OK- years really) trying to figure out what to put in the cut out section of the front entrance way. The original plan was to create some type of medallion, but it was really just a vague notion. Tom knew he didn't want just solid concrete in front of the front door. Between Tom, Mandy & I, we brainstormed off & on over the years, didn't come up with anything & the project went on the back burner repeatedly. The ideas were endless...stampcrete, a medallion, cobble stones, I would buy samples & bring them home...nothing hit. Then one day I was in The Bargain Outlet, saw these tiles marked down to $2.99 sq ft & just knew!!! So I bought a few boxes (there were 9 4x4 tiles in the box, approx. 1 sq ft) brought them home to see how they'd look with the stones & the concrete (which is supposed to be brown...but that's another story). Perfect! Now to get Tom & Mandy to agree...... Tom laid them out in different designs, the diagonal was the layout of choice, the color was perfect so I ran out & got another 40 boxes before they were all gone on clearance! (Mandy liked them so much she called her fiance & had him run out & get some too!)

Doesn't look like much now but wait 'til you see them cleaned up!

Let the tiling begin:)

Beautiful.........Definitely worth the wait!!!!!

New meaning to a "Step Up"

After more than 4 years I finally got a step in the garage!!!! Although I must say the original high step (19") certainly provided a regular butt & thigh toning:) Amazing the little things I get excited about isn't it? The garage still has quite a way to go and I don't envision my car in there this winter:(

The ugly duckling....

Becomes a Swan

The bottom half of the back patio is finally getting the attention it deserves! After looking at the exposed beams & underside of the upper patio, (not to mention the occasional spider's web) for oh say...a year or two or three or....... the underside has been covered with wainscoting, wrapped the beam with aluminum flashing, the ceiling fans & speakers went up!

What a beautiful Happy Hour spot!!!

New snorkels!

OK-So it's not all work...we did play a little....Elise & Griffin got new masks,
snorkels & fins from Aunt Martha & Uncle Tom
& what better place to try them out than in our river???
We just happened to choose a day after a heavy rain
& the flood gates were open on the dam...
needless to say we paddled like hell
& had a 100' tow rope tied to Aunt Martha, just in case somebody got tired:)
(Or maybe it was for Aunt Martha who didn't have her fins on!)
Definitely got a work out that day!!!

Then there's "The Boat"

Referred to as "The Boat" 'cause we haven't named her, any suggestions after this whole saga?

I'm thinking "Neglected"....how's that ring for you?
Since we've neglected to take time to use it
& boats don't take kindly to sitting for long periods!Tom doesn't really have 3 legs... that's the mechanic in the hole.

The poor thing had to sit for 4 years while we worked each summer:(....let's get it up & running this year! When they went to turn the winches on to lower it into the river, they found out they had froze up....pretty strange since they were designed for outdoor use. Got the parts to repair them...done. Now our boat obviously needed to be summerized, I would have said de-winterized, but my spell check doesn't like either one, I like them both because you get the gist of the story. It was winterized when we put it away....so am I de-winterizing it or summerizing it? So if they're not words I'm using my Bloggers literary license:)

So we'll finish the cleanup & tune up, then take her for a run very soon :)
Wanna Come?
Ohh she's a pretty thing isn't she?

Dance floor extension

Look.......just look at that beautiful new deck.......doesn't it just scream "Party!"

The section for the concrete pad is being stoned (no inhaling required) & leveled, then the pad is poured & smoothed. Now we just need to decide what we want to cover the pad with so it looks like one solid surface, talked to a couple of masons, to just surface coat & acid wash it...YIKES...I could buy a nice used car for what they want for 3/8 " concrete to resurface 185 sq ft! That was after Tom already poured the pad!!! So we're talking cobblestone pavers, maybe Ipe...it's such a phenomenal wood & the area is small enough that we can justify the cost, but used enough that the sturdier wood would hold up, as it weathers the color would age to a beautiful gray like the pressure treated. Or we could paint the surface with a concrete paint, the choices are amazing now... and make it look like all one surface.....and here we go again..decisions, decisions, decisions!

Why is Tom Smiling???

I figured I was in trouble when, after the walls came down on the garage, Tom dubbed it "The Pavilion" and started with "Wouldn't it be great if...."?  Uh-Oh! Wonder where this is going?? Well I have to admit the week the guys (that would be the FIRST week) started on the deck it was in the high 80's & 90's & quite humid, so working under "The Pavilion" made a lot of sense, shade, nice breeze & a place for them to get out of the heat.
So....here's what I'm thinking...."The Pavilion" is going to be here awhile....guess where the framing for the stairs ends? Yep...right up to the concrete pad in "The Pavilion".

Can't you just see the wheels in that brain turning???

Stopped Counting

Decking finally going down.......Look how bright & new it looks:)
& it smells good!

Facing completed on the deck extension & steps....Maybe it's taking so long 'cause the two thirty something workers are busy smoking & watching the fish & the 70 year old Dad (Ed) is working his butt off! Ed is baling hay tonight when he's done working here! This man is amazing!!!

Decking Day 3

Notice the row of squares at the one end of the deck....they'll have to insert support boards all the way across the width of the deck to attach the deck boards to since they're going to go in a different direction.
These guys aren't in a big hurry, they measure, cut, nail one board at a time.
Tom's description..........SLOOOOW.........completion in one week looking iffy.

Decking Day 2

We've extended the deck around the tree & it looks like the bow of a boat....
unfortunately had to cut my bird bush back considerably.
(There's that whole "we" thing again.....OK....so all I did was I cut the bush & take pics...don't even have Eva for an excuse anymore")

but it certainly opened up the view........

The stairs will be framed up off the end.......

The framing for the stairs........
And it's only day 2!!!!

Looks like the brick will need some painting now that we can see it....
I can handle doing that:)

Need Destruction before Construction.....

We got a phone call on the 5th of July from the guys who were going to re-do the deck (finally, we re-did last Aug.!!!) they can start tomorrow instead of next week do we want them? What are the chances that a contractor not only wants to come early, but actually shows up?!? Or better yet.... OUR chances, you know our luck with contractors.

(Go to Blog post for 08/27/09 to see why our deck looks like this diseased thing)

They actually did show up on time, even a couple of the neighbors were taking bets....I should have gotten in on it for a change, but with my luck if I bet with the house, we'd still be waiting & I wasn't jinxing this!So all the deck furniture & plants are shoved to one side...let the destruction begin!!!!
OK-controlled destruction-because we're going to be able to reuse most of the wood.
We decided to stay with the pressure treated after we finally said "We need to make a decision!!! It's June!" We discussed Redwood,Cedar, Composite, Pressure Treated, Ipe´, Travertine tile (and boy was that one gorgeous...with this cool new installation system it was beautiful!)...a mix of two or three...maybe a design..... build a Pergola or a grill station,or both, maybe built in benches; we'd been batting ideas around all winter, looking at a multitude of planning & deck design books & still hadn't made a decision. Enough already! We're doing pressure treated! Our deck next door was great & is still there 24 years later! So our game plan.....they'll pull up the plywood, chipboard & some other old deck boards, reinforce the under decking since the boards are now going to go in another direction, then install the new deck boards. We'll also extend the decking to build stairs to the property next door...no more jumping off a 3 ft concrete wall:) They're also going to remove a 3 ft section of the deck & extend the concrete patio. 10 x 17....Just the perfect size for an intimate dance floor:) Tom figures it should be done in a week....there's 3 guys & him...so piece of cake right? I'm not betting on this one either.....

A Garage with a View.....take 2

Well...only 2 weeks to get to this point, almost all the junk is gone! It has certainly opened up the view; not only from the shade garden but also from the master bedroom! Love that river!
So I'm thinking.......... the shade garden won't be a shade garden for much longer...needs a new name & and maybe some new plants....:)

Mud Dauber Brown

That's the color we determined the stucco is, since this mud dauber nest blends right in! Apparently we have an organ pipe wasp (even though neither one of us are musical) whose nests are long and and resemble the way the pipes of an organ sit. Who knew??? They seem to like stucco, concrete or brick type surfaces to build their nests since they seem to hold better on them. Nice of us to provide them with a surface for their home:) They're not social, but they do like to be around human activity, they're not aggressive & rarely sting people. They feed on spiders...in fact the female paralyzes spiders, sticks them in the nest & lays an egg on them, then seals the chamber. Sounds like an instant meal when that egg hatches...just a quick spidey snack, hey there's scooby snacks for dogs....why not spidey snacks for baby daubers? Maybe we should keep them around to control our spider population....just a thought.....

A Garage with a View

We're starting on my Birthday present from last year, the walls in the garage are coming down, Tom has a guy who has done some work for him and he & his son are dismantling the garage & house to reuse the materials, windows, cupboards, etc.,etc., whatever is salvageable, the rest they will haul to the dump. Now the view from the shade garden is no longer ugly brown T-111 (plywood w/lines), but assorted misc.piles of junk. I'm just a wee bit concerned that since the guys doing this are doing it in their spare time, this project may take longer than Martha is going to be happy with...........and we all know when Martha's not Happy, neither is Poor Tom.