Kitchen Floor

Kitchen Floor Problems (Nov. 14, 2016)

So after removing the tile floor in the kitchen we discovered a few problems.  The kitchen floor has several different levels and is very unlevel. The floor is much worse than it looks in these pictures.  This is part of the original house.  The sub-floor boards run in two different directions with the top of a cement wall in middle that has been patched on top with plaster to try and bring it to the level of the floor.   The wall is part of a cold storage room which is under the right hand side of the floor.  It is about 10 x 10 and is accessed by a floor hatch.  You can see the hatch next to the right side doorway.  It still has brown tile on top of it.  We want to put cupboards all along that wall so we want to move it to the wall on the right side.
   

Also when the cold storage room hatch was put in, floor joists were cut and not supported correctly.  So the only thing to do to fix the multitude of problems was to pull up more floor and to replace the joists and correctly hang them.

So off they came.  Don't you love the 2x4 support for the sawed off joists?  And yes that ladder is how you access it.  My grandmother had a ladder like this into her cold storage room when I was little.  Her room was dirt walled and floored.  It used to scare me to death to go down it.  Later, proper stairs were put into hers but it still wasn't my favorite place to go.  I don't know if this room was originally dirt or was added as an afterthought by subsequent owners.  

Still have a little left to go and then when this half is done we will expose the left hand side and see what needs to be done to level it.  This is all the basement we have.  Can't wait to use it for long term food storage.  I tell Perry it is our bomb shelter!!  When we get it all in shape, Perry will build me lots of shelves and a several hundred pounds of wheat will go down there along with other food storage items.  

*****After this trip we haven't been down to do anything except once to  check that the furnaces were doing their job to keep things from freezing.  All was well.  Now that the holidays are over we plan on going down this week to keep working on this floor.  I have high hopes that soon we can start some framing and building instead of tearing things out.   😏

More Demo!!

More stuff to take care of . . . . . .  A dormer had been added some time ago and had never had siding added to it.  We wanted it sided before winter came.  It had been tar papered and roofed but nothing else.  At our big demo party we had rented a power tile remover tool.  When we got to the house, the blade for it didn't fit right and it just didn't do the job.  We didn't get the tile removed.  Perry took the tool back to the rental business and they gave us a credit.  Perry was able to go back and get the right blade this time for it and they gave him a hand held one more like a jack hammer.  They said when he brought them back they would only charge him for the one that worked.  So we headed out for another Saturday at the house.  Miah and Brady came over from Ephraim to help.  We really appreciated it.  (Oct. 8, 2016)

Kitchen tile - To the left is another door not shown in this picture but we found tile laid over tile.  This kitchen area is in the original part of the house.  It is all adobe brick walls with plaster over the walls and then in some places sheet rock glued over that.

All cleaned up.  The square of tile on the floor  in the back is the trap door to our cold storage room.  Going to be moving that as we want cupboards and stove on this wall.  

This is the dormer in the roof.  It is in a small room put into the attic above the kitchen.  The room contains washer and dryer hook ups with the vent going out the side of this dormer.  We removed the vent, sided and added soffit and facia to it.

The next Saturday (Oct. 15) we went down to do some general clean up.  It is so hard to stay away!!!  We wish we could just spend all our time down there but real life carries on.  The laminate flooring in the family rooms and down the hall had to come up and we needed to take out more of the wall in the master bedroom/bathroom area.  

Family room

Master bedroom/bathroom area.  Shower stall still needs to come out.

Family room all cleaned up.  

The wiring in the whole house has been replaced which is nice because there is no dangerous knob and tube left.  HOWEVER . . .  whoever wired it did some really weird things.  For example,  the east wall of the family room is on the same breaker as the west wall of the office.  About half the rooms are on multiple breakers instead of being on the same one.  We have a bedroom and a garage with no power to anything so we knew we would have to do some rewiring.  So Perry decided the whole addition needs the sheet rock removed so we can see exactly what is going on with the wiring.  We only want to remove the sheet rock on the interior walls as we wanted the extra insulation for the walls over the winter.  So the next trip (Oct. 29)  we started that process.   Alex and Leslie were our helpers for this portion.  Leslie and I loaded the truck and made trips to the dump while they removed sheet rock.  We made 3 trips.  

This is an area in the hall off the garage.  It almost looked like it was a cooking area for another apartment.  Hotplate maybe?  When we removed the sheet rock we found yet another set of washer dryer hookups in the wall.  We think it is the one the neighbor told us that the drain went into the ground under the house?!?!  We are going to put a mudroom type area here; bench, cubbyholes, hooks, etc.

Family room sheet rock coming off.  We are also opening up the wall above the doorway.  We removed the door and plan on leaving the hall open.  The hole in the wall was a decorative?  cubby in the family room.  There is a gas line by this wall so we are planing on putting in a gas fireplace here.  This wall is one of our lovely walls that are 2 separate 2x6 walls back to back.  Plenty deep for the fireplace without it sticking out into the room too far. 

Sheet rock removed, door header out.

Mudroom area.  Room behind it is one with out power.  Plugs and lights and electric heater in it but no power getting to any of it.  You can't see the washer dryer hook ups.  

This was our surprise for the day.  Found it in the room behind mudroom area.  No idea what it goes too or if it is hooked up.  It's on!!  😁

So just to explain.  The first addition was added in 1994?  It was the two family rooms. Originally they were a family room and bedroom.  This was added directly onto the back of the original house.  The exterior wall of the old house was partially removed, a load bearing beam added and the rooms added.  This made the kitchen open to the family room.  Next in about 2000 a garage and utility room was added onto that addition.  This left a U shaped opening in the west side of the house which it looks like was some sort of patio.  Some time in 2005 the u shaped opening was closed in by framing inside the existing exterior walls therefore giving us 2 walls with 2x6 double walls.  And then we have no idea when it was all turned into apartments with more interior walls and doors added.  

And so it goes!!  See you next post!!  I'm almost caught up to real time!!!  One more post to go!!

         

Demolition . . . Before and After Videos

Click on this to see a BEFORE Demolition video


Click on this to view an AFTER Video


Please let me know if this does not work!!  Thanks.   Enjoy!!

Demolition!!!

     Have you watched those shows where they are doing renovations and thought that it looked like fun to tear out cupboards and knock out walls??  Guess what . . . it is!!!!
    Our children had mixed reviews on us moving and buying such a fixer upper.  Some thought it was awesome,  some thought we were a little crazy,  some couldn't believe we were moving farther away, some were sad to think that we would be selling the only home that they had ever known.  BUT  all were excited to tear things apart!! We scheduled a demolition day for the next Saturday and told them to come join us.  We packed the tools and bought and rented a few more.  We rented a very large dumpster and had it delivered the day before.  We  packed a cooler with lunch fixings and everyone's favorite drinks and went south for a Demo Party.  Wahoo!!!  
        Our son, Zach, our daughter, Leslie and her husband, Alex came.  Our teenage son, Chanse and his friend, Bryson came to help also.  Chanse and Bryson went down Friday night to spend the night in the house and do a little gun shooting in the hills.  I gave them the key to the house and they loaded their vehicle with sleeping bags, cots and treats and off they went.  When they got there I had given them the wrong key and they were locked out.  They tried all the windows until they found one they could wedge open and climb in.  We were glad to know which one needed reinforced.  The house had a few uninvited visitors in the previous weeks and we thought we had it all secured.  Anyway, several minutes later the sheriff showed up at the front door (good to know he was watching).  They explained what the situation was, he checked their ID's and told them to have a good time.  
    And the demolition began . . . . 

                          Wall between the 2 family rooms . . .

                                             

                                                                          still trying to learn to manuever these pictures :(    








                                      Kitchen ...

Existing wall between family room #2 and en suite  and between en suite and bedroom. . . 

Chanse and Bryson literally cut this hot tub apart with two sawsalls . . . 

             

Chanse just taking a moment to rest after dumping some stuff in the dumpster!!

We had fun!!!!

                             

AND SO THE PLAN BEGINS:

          So we had several things that we wanted in our plans for this house but weren't sure whether they were even possible.  This home when it was owned by a person instead of the bank had been added onto 3 times.  We went to the city and got copies of all the plans that had been submitted to the planning commission so we could see what had been done to it.  (Side note:  the plans submitted to the city were pen drawings of walls, no other details.) When that owner decided to move away he turned it into 3? separate apartments.  We have 8 exterior doors, 4 sets of washer dryer hook-ups (one hidden in a wall), possibly 3 kitchens, a weird little exposed gap between the bedroom and the hall, two interior walls that are double framed 2x6 and a myriad of other odd things.  
       As part of our plans we wanted to open part of the wall between the two family rooms and expand the bedroom and en suite for a master suite.  The ceiling in those two rooms is vaulted but the wall between was not right on the peak it was off-centered.  We thought it odd that it was off centered. We knew that to open it up would probably require an engineered beam.  $$$$
       Perry wanted an auto lift in the shop and needed 220 volt power.  We didn't see any existing and there was a lot of concrete sidewalks and porches between the house and shop.  $$$$ but we budgeted them in and went on.
        We went to the house to set up our city bills and do more investigation a couple of days after the sale was final.   We were told by the city water guy that we had a leak between the water meter and the house that needed the line to be replaced to fix it.  He gave us a number for a local plumbing guy who could fix it.  $$$  We went to the house to do more investigation.  Perry cut a hole in the sheet rock so he could see into the ceiling above the vaulted part.  Guess what??  They were scissor trusses which bear their own weight.  No beam needed.  More investigation into the shop discovered that there was 220 v power already out there!!!  Oh Happy Day!!! 
       Now we just needed the water line replaced.  I called the plumber several days later and he said he would call me back after the weekend and we would set up a time that I could meet him there so he could check it out.  We had plans to go back on Saturday to start tearing a few things apart and make a run to the dump.  On Friday night I woke up in the middle of the night with the thought to take the shovel with us.  Why???  I had no plans to do anything outside.  I had no need for a shovel.  Then I remembered a wet spot in the grass in the backyard that we had seen earlier in the week.  We had attributed it to a low spot in the yard where the recent rain had pooled.  The thought came to me that this was where our water leak was.  When we left Saturday I put a shovel in the truck.  When we got there I got the shovel and asked Perry to come take a look.  There in the weeds was an outdoor faucet and sprinkler head we hadn't noticed before.  (weeds were too tall)  It was still wet.  Perry started digging down and found that the pipe was broke and leaking.  He capped it for now.  I called the city water guy, told him what we had found and asked if he would check our meter a couple of times over the next few days to see if it was still using water.  (The water inside the house was turned off.)  He called a few days later to say the meter hadn't changed.   Another happy day.   We have found several more minor things that have run in our favor as we have begun our renovation.  We have felt blessed and grateful.
       So here are the existing floor plan and our plan for renovation.  These do not include the upstairs floor above the home teacher room, office and kitchen.  That area is another 2 bedrooms, bath and playroom.  
                                                                             

Existing plan

Future Plan

We think it will be amazing!!

Next Demolition!!!

 AND THE STORY CONTINUES ......

      I was looking again on August 2nd and IT WAS BACK ON THE LISTING.  I ran to tell Perry.  He asked if I was serious about it and I said that I thought so.  I asked if he was serious and he said ya I think so.  But how do you buy a house without the income from the sale of another?  And without another mortgage?  Back to day dreaming!
      The next morning Perry said I think I know how to finance that house without taking another mortgage.  We talked about it and I said, "We can ask Doug (a guy in our ward).  He does a lot with real estate and financing.  And maybe he can find out why the sale failed."  (couldn't get financing)  We had tried to get information from the real estate agent and could get no one to return our calls.
      I headed out the door to go do my daily walking and during my walk I ran across guess who?   Doug!!  I have never seen him during my walks.  (Or since either.)  I stopped him, told him what we were thinking and asked if he could get some information on the house for us!!  He was really excited because he has wanted to redo an old house himself.  He said he would check it out that afternoon and get back to us.
     About an hour after I got back, Doug called and said he had talked to the real estate agent.  He gave us some info. and said if we were really interested he could put in a provisional offer today.  A provisional offer if accepted is good for 3 weeks during which time you can check it out, get a home inspection, etc.  At the end of the 3 weeks you can proceed with the sale or you can take your earnest money and walk away.   I said let me talk to Perry and I'll call you back.  5 minutes later I called him back and said let's do it.  So the offer went in, they countered, we accepted the counter and we were on our way!!!
      We immediately went down to the house and started REALLY poking into every corner nook and cranny of the house.  The front part of the house is the original 1914 home and the back is the 1990+ additions.  Upstairs the original house has 2 bedrooms, a full bath and a funny little room that we called the playroom (for grandchildren) that had been made out of the back attic over the kitchen.
(Disclaimer:  pictures are not the best and you really need a wide angle lens to get the full room, you can't see anywhere near all the intricacies of the rooms.  And i haven't used this program in a really long time.  Hopefully I will get better.  We will gladly give tours or share our hundreds of pictures. : )
     Bedroom 1   Bedroom 2 with door                                                                                                                                   to balcony
                                        
     Bathroom     Playroom
                                                                                              w/washer dryer hookups

 Downstairs in the original house is two rooms (We call the one directly off the front door the home teacher room and the one to the west, the office).  It also has a kitchen with a 3/4 bath off it and a kitchenette.  The addition contained a family room off the kitchen, a second family room off the kitchenette, a bedroom with an en suite and two more bedrooms.

   home teacher room          office
      bathroom off kitchen
                                                     


 



Kitchen and family room



                                   

    Kitchenette


             


               second family room

 It also has an attached two car garage and a small laundry room built off the front of the kitchen.  The house has been divided into 3 apartments so it has 6 exterior doors, 3  washer dryer hookups(later we found a fourth inside a wall), 2 furnaces and a cold storage room under the kitchen with an old fashioned floor hatch and wood ladder to get into it. There was a free standing gazebo outside one of the doors and a wood deck built onto the back porch which contained a hot tub.  It is a hodge podge of places and spaces.

 free standing gazebo to the right                 attached garage


               hot tub
\
      The original house has some structural problems.  Cracks in the brick mortar, a cement pillar poured on the exterior to shore up the walls,  a crack or two in the inside walls, bolts ran through the second story floor to shore it up.  So we called an inspector.  The next week he went and inspected it for us.  The report was very long but his overall conclusion was that it was full of little problems but nothing major.  I really couldn't see anything that did not need something done to it, inside or out but we loved it.   I asked Perry over and over if he was sure he wanted to tackle this project.  It is a lot of work and he has to do most of it.  He told me he had done some research on the computer on old house structural problems and how to fix them.  He said worse case scenario the front corner collapses and we rebuild it.  He said he was sure.  We fasted, we prayed, we researched.  We spent sleepless nights.  No not worrying - designing, tearing apart, rebuilding, decorating, etc.  So we moved forward with the purchase.
    HOLY PAPERWORK!!!!!!!   Between the financing we needed to complete the sale paperwork, the actual cash sale paperwork, the home inspection and final closing, it was something every day for a month.  Almost everything is done by emailing or attaching files to online secure websites.  We even closed on the house on line!!

    But finally we were the owners . . . . 
      of a bright yellow house with a little picket fence!!!
Stay tuned as the demolition begins!!!
   

Our Old House - Acquisition Part 1

Sorry this may get long.  But this is for my own journal as well.

THE LONG AND SHORT OF HOW WE BOUGHT A HOUSE -

          It has always been a dream of Perry and I's to move out of the hubbub of the big city.  As Perry's job has always required him to be near the city, we figured it would be something we would do when he retired.  We have had places that we loved and that we thought we would look at then. 
         I have always had a hobby of looking at MLS home listings to see what was for sale.  I like to look and dream and see what is out there and what the possibilities are.  It is a fun hobby!!
         Perry about two years ago asked at work what the company policy was on telecommuting.  His boss said they didn't have one and if he wanted to try 2 days a week they would see how it went.  The group he works with works out of a couple of different offices across the US and they communicate 95% of everything through emails, conference calls and skype type meetings.  So he started at two days a week which soon turned into 3 which soon turned into 5.  Nobody even knew.   They now have several guys who don't even live in a city with an office.  As long as he has an internet connection, he can work from anywhere.
          So with that event and the fact that our youngest will graduate from high school in the spring and then leave on a mission, we decided to start thinking about moving sooner.  We started considering several areas and I started doing more of my hobby.  We figured we would get serious next spring.
        Our favorite area was out pricing our budget and headed for a major influx of people so we decided that maybe we would consider Sanpete County as it would be closer to my mom, it is reasonably priced, still fairly close to the Wasatch front and not too far from the grandkids.  And best of all RURAL!!!!    I started perusing the Sanpete County MLS listings for fun.  After all I had a whole year or so before we would be really looking.   Who knew?  I found some fun houses and enjoyed looking.
         In June we decided to go "WANDERING" one weekend for our anniversary (definition of "WANDERING":  to travel in the car with no real plan, maybe a destination and maybe not.  No reservations, Just drive and see where one ends up, may be for  n hour, may be for days.)   We did have a destination in mind though.  We though we would wander through Sanpete County and see if any one town seemed like a likely place to land some day.  I had found several houses that were listed for sale in different places through out the county that we thought we would just drive by and see what they looked like.  None of them were "the house"  just a random assortment of possibilities.
        Now, just as a side note,  we had a few ideas of things we really wanted to have in our next home.  Big gathering area for family dinners, shop for Perry or place to put one, a little space between us and the neighbors,  still enough bedrooms for family when they come home, along with not going into debt for it.
        So anyway, we headed off with our list of houses and blankets and pillows in case we had to sleep in the car.  The first place we stopped in Sanpete County was a little town called Fountain Green.  Population 1100, one gas station, one grill/grocery store,  Quaint, quiet, pretty.  The house we wanted to drive by was a 1914 Victorian with an addition and a separate shop sitting on a little over one acre.

 It was a foreclosure and gov't owned.  (FannieMae/Freddie Mac).  As we drove by I said to Perry, "It's empty lets go look in the windows."  So we did and lo and behold a door was open in the garage!!!  So in we went. Shhh don't tell!!!!!!  We loved it and could see so much potential.  We spent over an hour looking and discussing the possibilities.  We left and wandered on to the next town and listing.  We looked at quite a few more little towns and several listings.  We eventually stopped in Fairview, ate dinner at a local restaurant and booked a hotel room.
       Perry said, "I wish we had a tape measure."  "Why?" I replied.  "So we could go back and and measure rooms."   "The grocery store will have one."   So we went to the grocery store, bought a tape measure and went back.  We spent another hour measuring and sketching a floor plan.  We left and spent the evening planning and plotting.  Now mind you this was all very hypothetical.  We had a house and 9 months before our son graduated.  But it was so much fun to imagine!!!
       We finished the weekend with more little towns and more house drive-bys.  It was a great weekend.   We returned home with only two houses that we would even consider IF we were looking for real.  One that was overpriced for our budget and the little yellow victorian.  Neither of which would still be on the market by the time we were really ready to move!!
        A few weeks later, the victorian went off the market as an offer had been put on it.  I was kinda bummed.  That was our house.  I looked at other listings online but nothing had the character or potential that it had.  Oh well such is life and it was all just a fun day dream anyway.  Or was it?
      Watch for the next installment coming soon!