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 @Agatha We can only afford this thanks to my spouse’s family being extremely generous and helping us with the money. The thing is it’s got to the point where we really can’t put it off any more :(
@Nimthiriel @Coffee_and_Salt @fernfren
We tried to address the most immediate issues with this house first - basically anything that leaked for starters. (hheeeyyyy new $13k roof! That was painful. Took us 2 years to save up the money.) Leaking valves inside, etc all needed addressing.
So now nothing is leaking, but the siding is rotten and the windows have failed. So that's next...
It's exhausting. We save up money all year long only to have the house & medical bills eat it all.
@Agatha @Nimthiriel @fernfren growing up my dad taught me a lot about plumbing, basic carpentry, I can do basically most thing in terms of appliance and fixture install and replacement myself (if I can lift it I can install it), my partner tiles cause I’m sloppy. I cannot square a door to save my life though. Between us here doing our own repairs we have saved I’d say 50k in labor over the years here. And we are no where near done. Siding and windows. It’s always the siding and the windows…
@Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel @fernfren
We DIY everything that we can learn/do safely. He does woodworking & plumbing. I do electrical & most painting. He did the floors, bc I was injured at the time. But I've tiled a house. I installed the range. He repaired the washer.
So yeah, we've saved a LOT in labor. I will not replace the main breaker panel though. I know my limits.
He's going to practice windows & siding on the garage. If that goes well, he might do the house - or at least some if it.
@Agatha @Nimthiriel @fernfren oh man if you can do the labor on your windows/siding you’ll save so much money and have the knowledge that it was done properly. That’s priceless.
It drives me mad that so many home owners pay for crappy labor to do small jobs that many really are smart enough and capable enough to do. Then the next buyer is stuck with whatever weird shortcuts that cheapest bid bought.
And hell no to the main panel. I’ll swap out a single breaker. beyond that I’ll fork the cash.
@Agatha @Nimthiriel @fernfren to clarify, I hate that many are unaware and feel like they are unable to do these repairs (if physically able) and that the cheapest labor usually involves corners cut without the clients awareness.
People are often more clever than they give themselves credit for.
@Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel @fernfren
After my sister divorced, there were a lot of smaller things either her ex did, or they hired out. I've been helping her learn to do some of it. If nothing else, it's a big confidence boost!
@Agatha @Nimthiriel @fernfren so so much. And a solid way to vent some stress. Few things as therapeutic as a solid demo.
@Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel @fernfren
Except carpet. Removing carpet is just nasty af. 😂
@Agatha @Nimthiriel @fernfren I don’t know if some folks are aware how much carpets sieve dust and silt into the pad and areas below.
@Nimthiriel @Coffee_and_Salt @fernfren
In my last house, the fools carpeted the kitchen AND bathroom. In my current one, they carpeted the bathrooms, even flush around the toilet in one of them. 🤮
@Agatha @Nimthiriel @fernfren I mean I suppose for someone who is a permanent fall risk? But that’s… that’s not hygienic. That’s just. That’s unsafe.
@Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel @fernfren
We put in vinyl "wood" plank flooring (Houston floods - no hardwood flooring on ground level!). I was concerned about slipping, but it's not been an issue *at all*.
@Agatha @Coffee_and_Salt @fernfren Yeah, we have the same sort of thing. I love it :)
@Nimthiriel @Coffee_and_Salt @fernfren
I worried it might look cheap (despite it costing so much). I was pleasantly surprised. I've laid a house of tile and vowed never again. This stuff was SO much faster and easier - and way less cold.
@Coffee_and_Salt @Agatha @Nimthiriel there are other ways to keep from falling that do not involve such unhygienic measures as carpeting a bath/kitchen. carpet in general is just so gross, even in dry rooms. one of humanity's worst ideas, IMO
@fernfren @Agatha @Nimthiriel I was trying so hard to stretch my brain as to why. I have pretty severe plantar fasciitis so soft flooring is super important for me, like when getting out of bed in the morning, but nothing rugs can’t handle. So honestly no clue as to why the whole house. Maybe they got it insanely cheap?
In a previous home we did the snap laminate (not this new fangled vinyl snap) right about the time it all got recalled for formaldehyde. We went tile there shortly thereafter.
@Coffee_and_Salt @Agatha @Nimthiriel i think it was a trend in the 80s-- i've seen several instances of it on McMansion Hell-- y'all remember when carpet was a sign of modern luxury, yeah? "wall to wall carpeting" ha!
and i'm pretty sure that's what preserved the original wood floors in my house-- they were covered, protected, and preserved by carpet for decades!
@Coffee_and_Salt @Agatha @Nimthiriel ha-- i just popped over to https://mcmansionhell.com/ & the very first house a the top of her blog is a "dictator chic" mansion in Wisconsin with beige carpet in the bathroom, and a host of other crimes against aesthetics, taste, humanity...
@fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt @Nimthiriel
50s, 60s, AND 70s did that! It was a sign of wealth and leisure that you could keep a bathroom carpet clean...
@fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt @Agatha Carpet when you have two cats and one of them pees in a corner ONE TIME and you can never really get the smell out. Ask me how I know.
@Nimthiriel @fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt
When we moved in we had 3 dogs (one with IBS) and 2 cats (1 a diabetic who dribbled and also had IBD).
One weekend the dogs got something and all 3 were exploding from both ends.
This was on top of the fact that this house had been a rental before, and the previous people very clearly had pets.
So SO bad.
@Nimthiriel @fernfren @Coffee_and_Salt
On a positive note: We did NOT have a robot vacuum at the time. So, yay?
@Agatha @Nimthiriel @Coffee_and_Salt BAHAHAHAA this was at the top of my notif feed and i knew EXACTLY what was coming below it
@Coffee_and_Salt @Agatha @fernfren Getting rid of our carpets a couple of years ago was THE BEST decision since we got the dishwasher (which was its own saga!)