Somebody's been Busy!

Somebody's been busy! 

I've got more pictures than I could probably ever share, but here are a few to give you an idea of what's been happening @ Woodrow lately. 

We cut the radiators to get ready to move them. 

After moving the first one - and getting it outside for our friendly neighborhood metal collector.....

He asked why we hadn't taken it apart to make it easier. 

WHAT?!?

Needless to say - John & Steve were thrilled to try the new plan. Cutting the bolts and knocking the radiators apart with the sledgehammer was SO much easier than lugging those big heavy beasts out intact! 

While they were getting the rest of the radiators out, I was busy in the basement.

I decided to use a paint sprayer to brighten up the dark ceiling. 

I originally bought 5 gallons of primer and thought that might do the trick. 

When that was not enough, I bought another 5 gallons of white and added that layer. 

Still not satisfied, I added 5 more gallons. 

This was not speedy. Each 5 gallon bucket took a couple of hours - and no matter how much I covered up, and the end of each day, I was still covered in paint!

Again - while I was focused on the basement ceiling, John and Steve were tackling projects upstairs & outside. 

Little by little the yard is looking happier. 

During one of the yard clean up days, John came across this ( surprisingly lifelike) baby hand. Still wondering...What in the world??

I was so thrilled to come up from the depths one day to find that Steve had cleaned everything up. It looked so nice and clean it literally made the bright smile sound of a toothpaste commercial in my ears! 

I was glad to get some company downstairs when John came down to Jackhammer the random brick & concrete slab. 
His arms are probably still vibrating - but Steve & I enjoyed the show :) 

After working by yourself for that long, it is always nice to have a little bit of company :) 

Walls in the front bedroom ( and all of the rooms) finally clean. 
I might have heard Steve say something about ...if I ever buy another house with layers of wallpaper he will not be willing to help. 
Can't blame him. That paper was everywhere - and it was a ...oops - I almost failed on one of my Lenten promises! 
Let's just say it was not an easy job. I am so appreciative of all of his effort! 

Sidewalk was all cracked up - so Steve pulled it out. 
(Between the two of these guys - I find myself running around saying - 
HERCULES! - HERCULES!)

All this while I was still painting...now on the 4th 5 gallon bucket.

I was trying to be careful to  around to the coal chute. I love the old original details of this home, and I was daydreaming about the days when coal would have been delivered through this door, when I looked up and saw...

Coal - still stuck in the rafters!
 In the daydream the coal delivery was a neat and orderly event, but in reality it must have been thrown in, flying everywhere to have been stuck up here! 

20 gallons - getting brighter, but still needs more

Here's where we had Stuart move the closet in the back bedroom. We had to move it to make room for the hall bath. 

Here's Stuart - demonstrating how the door works for us. 

After trying to sand and strip the door unsuccessfully, John took it down for me to make it easier. 

Surprisingly - I was still unsuccessful :/

Looks like the natural wood will be enjoyed on the inside only. We will find a nice paint color for the outside. 

At least it is a whole lot smoother. 

Our neighbor across the street has a family of cats. Most of them stay at  home, but this guy loves to come visit. 

He follows Steve around like a puppy 

It took a little while for him to win Steve over...

but eventually the cat won :)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

The master bathroom ( well the only bathroom - now turned master bathroom ) is gutted. There was water damage under the tub and sink - so we had to get down to the subfloor and start patching from there. 

Chicken has been coming over to work at the house with us. She is not at all happy about the pesky cat! 

This whole side of the house was overgrown with weeds and ivy. It is looking so much better now. 

Longer /warmer days have made us stay until sunset - but we were still struggling without power. 

Renovating with only a generator for the last two months has been rough!

Steve attacked the gutters for 2 full days!
 They actually all have gutter helmets installed - but we have a willow oak  who's  thin  leaves that seem to weasel their way into them magically. That - or maybe just the fact that they had not been cleaned in 30+ years left them clogged. 

The cat saga continued when he decided to try to win me over! 

Highly allergic ( to the point of hospitalization more than once) I am not an easy sell, but....

Look at this guy! 

I was scraping the railings, and he wanted no part of it. 

He could not understand why I would not play. 

Here is where we closed up the old "Skinnys Only" bathroom door. 

Closed off the closet to steal the space for the new hall bathroom. 

Framed in a new closet for the bedroom. 

And - all the while I continued to paint the basement. ( so although I said "we" it was really John, Steve & Stuart on this part. ) 

John and Chicken got tired of my basement ceiling painting. 

Drylock on the walls - more than 25 gallons on the ceiling 

Now it's looking brighter!

Dominion - finally bringing power to the house! 

It took a little bit longer because we wanted to bury the lines. If you get to choose...why have the wires draped across the yard? Right?!?

Besides...by this point, we were used to getting by without so -  what's a few extra days? 

Well - they got it this far. We still had to wait a bit longer. 

Ready for sheetrock!!

We had the drywall at the house but had no place to put it. Finally decided that Jesus would guard it for us for the night. 

He did a great job! (As always ) 

Everything was right where we left it the next morning. 

Another treasure ...

Steve found these hidden between the shelves in the bedroom closet. There by mistake ? Maybe not. 

The ceilings needed a lot of work - so we sheet rocked over them to start fresh.

Here are just a few more pictures ....

Our hand find seems to be shrinking away. I am thinking it will turn to dust soon convincing me that it was in fact some creepy cursed voodoo hand. 

I am excited to save the bathtub for the Master bath. 

It will fit well this way - and allow us to reconfigure the whole room. 

John - more scraping ( it seems to be never ending!) 

It really is amazing that Woodrow is in such great shape. He is 93 years old after all! 

Adding bead board to the window seat / nook 

Great news! 
WE HAVE POWER!!

So now we can work into the night :) 

Woodrow is SO handsome. I can not wait to show off all of the detail pictures as we get to the next phase of renovation. 
We are finally there. 
The fun is about to begin! 

"Ogres are like Onions"

Woodrow might be an Ogre

Lord knows ... He's got some Layers! 

Some layers are cooler than others - as you'll see in the pictures from the last week. We've almost hated to strip the poor guy - but we have to in order to bring him back to life.

4 layers on the kitchen/ hall/ pantry & bath floors.

The good news is - all of those layers kept the sub floors in great shape and they will be perfect to sand and finish.

4 layers on these walls too!

Wallpaper - paint -  papered over again -  more paint - then more....well, you get the idea.  

Pantry layers making a pretty pile of sugary sweet chips

( yes - they were disposed of properly) 

I do wish that some of Woodrow's layers could talk.

I'd love to know more about his history and what was happening during each of these home improvements and decorating projects

Except this layer 

I don't really want to hear from the brown and yellow layer - that was definitely just a paint sale!

This was a before shot of the kitchen

We really struggled with how to keep the charm of this kitchen - but actually get all of the storage & appliances that we needed to fit in there. 

The plan ....

We're going to keep the upper cabinets that flank the window, but move them up to make the countertop usable, and then have all new base cabinets for storage & appliances.

As much as we loved these ... They were not as salvageable as the upper cabinets, and no one wants cabinets that they can't close in their new kitchen. 

The dismantling process....

Ooh - and this was fun!  

We were treated to a fun surprise while pulling out radiators this week.

A treasure!

From a really big man, with really thick fingers!

We also found a new home for the window unit that Steve pulled out of the window. 

Our neighbors across the street were happy to haul it away for us. 

(We were so happy that it was out of the yard - and had to giggle when we saw it in the alley right across the street. I will definitely thank them when I see them. It really was a help. That was a heavy one, and we were not looking forward to moving it! ) 

We've also made some friends who've been great about coming by everyday to pick up radiators, pipes, the boiler, you name it! 

It is actually a huge help. Saves us time, and space in the dumpster - and they can make some money recycling. Win - win! 

Here are just some additional shots - of nothing in particular ... 

Pulling apart the bathroom 

Steve - making his point on why we should remove the 2nd doorway to the bathroom.

"Bridget - really? This door is just not big enough for an average sized person!" 

.

He's right ( of course) - and we're closing it to make additional closet space for the back bedroom.

Pipe demo day 

Give this boy a sawzaw and he can do a number on some old pipes - fast! 

He saved one or two for me - saying ...

" Here you go. I don't want to have all the fun!" 

( I think my arms are still vibrating! But it was fun! Except when the old yucky water poured out on us! Bleh 😝)

I love all of the Windows in the basement and the light that pours in, but feel like it's a bit risky - and a little bit of an open door.

So I had to come up with a way to lock Woodrow up for now.

The fork seems to be working.

All of the wood on the exterior had been wrapped with aluminum - probably back in the 70's or 80's when that was the thing to do.  It was clean, and in good shape.

I thought I'd paint it white and call it a day.

No maintenance - easy up keep...

Steve thought that was a terrible idea.

He decided to take matters into his own hands and save Woodrow from the embarrassment of my poor taste.

I was scared for what we would find lurking under the aluminum.

But to my happy surprise ...

He was right. 

( there - I said it. Twice in one post I think!) The columns are perfect and have so much more character than they did covered in that ugly armor! 

So Woodrow will be even more charming than I had hoped.

He is coming along. 

It usually takes me much longer to warm up to a house, but this guy is just so darn cute! 

( I can't even imagine how I am going to feel when we finally get the power turned on! Hopefully that will be this week. After that we can even have heat!  Fingers crossed! )