He just made me a yarn box from wood from a set of shelves my dad made me as a teen! He knew smooth was vital for the yarn. He's all self-taught, but he had 2 step-grandfathers who were carpenters, and their work inspired him. ♥️
Fingers joints by hand. No nails or screws. Made it to my specifications. Inside you can see a vertical "scar" left from when it was a shelf. I asked him to leave it as a reminder. Dad would be proud. Dad threw the shelves together quick - not his finer work. So this was a good use for the wood. Hus made a 2nd one for my sister who also knits and crochets. ♥️
I'm going to add some rubber feet and nice handles.
Thank you. He said he learned a lot from making it, so that's a nice plus. ♥️
😂He's mostly working on the house.
WIP. He's converting all doorways & windows to look "fancy". He's also replacing all baseboards and crown molding, and eventually the stairs. Nothing is square in this house, so every cut is custom.
Those shelves were once a second doorway into the guest bathroom. There were just too many doors. Since we ripped out the nasty cabs, we needed the storage. We opened space bet wall studs to add more shelves & make it feel more open.
It's all messy atm. This weekend he will finally put up the new door. We're replacing all the hollow doors with solid paneled doors.
We had a plumbing issue that required removal of the old giant double sink. I said NEVER AGAIN. 😂
This house has a lot of storage. Almost excessive. We figured we could do without some cabinets. Besides the giant double sink cabinet, there was another huge floor to ceiling one next to the toilet. We found mold on the ceiling when we pulled it out. 🤮
Doors were constantly in the way of each other, too. Super annoying.
@Agatha @Coffee_and_Salt @fernfren Ooh, can I join this conversation? We’re getting our bathroom renovated in about two weeks!
@Agatha @Coffee_and_Salt @fernfren Yay! I don’t want to steamroll over someone else’s story, so please stop me if I do!
But we have a double-brick flat from 1960 and there’s a bit of galvanised iron pipe SOMEWHERE between the sink and the shower/bath that is gradually rusting closed so we have no hot water pressure. They have to take out an entire section of wall to find it so we figured we may as well do the whole thing!
@Agatha @Coffee_and_Salt @fernfren Of course, that’s just the main issue. I’ll gladly regain you about everything g else that’s wrong with it 😅
@fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt @Agatha For example, this place has never had a proper exhaust fan. The previous owners DRILLED HOLES in the window to allow some steam out, and when we moved in there *was* a crappy little fan in the window, but because it was an after-though, it meant the bathroom couldn't have a fly screen and we need one so that if the window is open, the cats don't slip and fall out.
@Nimthiriel @fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt
What is up with people and fans?? Texass code says if you have a window nearby, builders aren't required to put in an exhaust fan. That's NUTS considering 9+ months of the year it's too hot and humid outside to open a window!
Some genius here put in a regular ceiling fan in the primary bathroom - the kind you'd put in a den. 😬😭 (We remedied that already.)
@Agatha @fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt First thing we did when we bought the place was get rid of the old gas heater and install a split system. How it’s legal for any residence in Australia to not have air conditioning is beyond me.
@Nimthiriel @fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt
It's funny when southerners make fun of people who can't take the heat. Take away their A/C and they start SCREAMING. 😂 😂
@Agatha @fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt Next nightmare: WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THESE EXPOSED PIPES???
@Nimthiriel @Agatha @fernfren popping back in here…
The drilled holes in the window. Helped with a few remodels in my day and I have to sincerely say, that’s the first time I’ve over send holes drilled in window framing to let steam out. I just… I mean that’s a needs must solution.
@Coffee_and_Salt @Agatha @fernfren This whole flat is one massive kludge istg
@Nimthiriel @Agatha @fernfren and I had two sips of coffee and reread my post. So. Many. Typos. But you understood so that’s something!
Our home had some issues we’ve discovered along the way, and some still to be discovered that I know are just waiting for us to find.
What’s your end goal for your remodel design?
@Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel @Agatha hey y'all-- i just caught up, is it my turn? lol my house was built in 1952. it was a rental for a while, and then went up for auction-- bank repo, i'm guessing. so a flipper bought it, reno'd it (some of it half-assed, of course, and i bought in 2018 as my first house. it's got great bits, and crap-- like they just sheetrocked over the bathroom window and surrounding tile. cool. fan was venting into the attic insulation-- so much mold!
@fernfren @Nimthiriel @Agatha sheet rocked over the window?!? But why?? And and did they seal the window before? So many questions!!
@Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel @Agatha i KNOWWWW i didn't realize it for a year or so and then i was out on that side of my house and realized i had an extra window outside that i didn't have inside. and then i realized how thisck the walls are and how i couldn't drill in to hang the shower curtain rod in one spot -- bc i hit ceramic tile. there's a plastic shower insert.. it's just ugh.
i can't bring myself to crawl under the house to see if there's water damage/leaking
@Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel @Agatha just reread that & it's very disjointed and possibly incomprehensible, but you get it. i have feelings about the bathroom that i've been repressing.
i really should look into it... but i'm instead focused on a deck and catio LOL, --water damage and slowly rotting bathroom be damned
but now that we've had this convo and i've said it "out loud" i have to face it. so there. *sips coffee and breathes*
my trim is a mess too + wiring issues, etc.
@fernfren @Nimthiriel @Agatha all made sense here.
Have similar issue. I know a wall is going to have to come down and be replaced. But now it’s a matter of can we afford this… like ever?
One step at a time right?
I’m still spinning over things like holes drilled in window frames and windows entirely sheet rocked over! There’s ways to figure out an answer and then there’s… well, I suppose those were solutions.
@Coffee_and_Salt @fernfren @Nimthiriel
Sheetrock is doable. Messy, but doable if you can diy. We need to remove all sheetrock on exterior walls downstairs. Old damage, but mostly we need to put in new insulation and sound proofing.
Some genius did wiring here. Couldn't fit all the wires into a couple of the junction boxes, so he just cut the back off the boxes. Kinda defeats the purpose there, bucko.
That is when they used a junction box at all. I'm truly shocked this house didn't burn down.
@Agatha @Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel the overhead light in my living room flickers so much i can't use it. The bedroom ceiling fan was dripping water during the last hurricane and i never did find out why... went in the attic and did not see any water where it shouldn't be... laundry room door is too narrow for anything but a stacking dorm-style combo unit, which is enough for me, tbh
but also it's mostly original hardwood floors, new windows, and the kitchen is big & sunny. solid bones.
@fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel
That's what we saw - solid bones.
But narrow doorways here, too. Each bathroom and closet. God forbid someone with a walker or wheelchair needs in?? We're widening the ones we can.
I'd LOVE old hardwood floors. 😍
Definitely replace that light fixture, or rewire it if it's worth saving. That flickering could turn out to be something dangerous.
We lived in a house w/a ceiling leak. Turned out it was the chimney, which was 10' away. Water ran along beams.
@Agatha @Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel couldn't find water running anywhere-- pulled all the insulation out.
but thanks for the warning re: flickering light-- i probably need to rewire the entire house, that's why i'm afraid to investigate. Next time my deck-builder is here tho, I'll get his help looking into both ceiling fans.
@fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel
You mentioned hurricane - which reminds me! 😂
We had a storm come through that blew the rain sideways. Only time our den ceiling leaked - not a big amount. There's a second story above. I figure the water found its way in through some flashing & ran along the wood. It's only happened the once, so no big staining.
My neighbors had water that came in through their eaves. Their gutters were clogged and the water came in sideways.
@Agatha @Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel
when I went up to look, I was checking for pipes between the bathroom to the fan, didn't think then to check the other side from the eaves to the fan. i flipped the breaker off to the bedroom for a couple weeks before I worked up the nerve to try it again.
the funniest part was that i first noticed the leak bc the walls were dripping in a horizontal band abt eye level & i was just utterly mystified --fan was on and slinging water around the room. bizarre
@fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel
Oh crap that would NOT make me happy!
I found out when our a/c line (attic) clogs up the water runs down the outside of the plumbing, goes sideways past the 2nd floor, & onto my sewing room ceiling.
Guess who found the ceiling sagging & had to drill holes to drain 5 gallons of water so it wouldn't collapse?
Got the ceiling repaired. Found out our a/c "emergency drain line" is tied into the regular drain line, so that's bloody useless. GENIUS. 🙄🙄
@Agatha @fernfren @Nimthiriel ahh this list of shared trauma. this is community. being able to share this pain.
@Coffee_and_Salt @Agatha @fernfren Maybe it’s the wine talking but I’ve never felt so close to a group of online people before
@Nimthiriel @Agatha @fernfren likewise. The commiseration and support is just different from other places. *hugs*