On Deck

For those who experienced the adventure of walking, sitting and eating on the old deck, the new deck is a welcome addition to the Compound. Instead of casually resting on top of a block of concrete with posts nailed together in an amateur fashion, the new deck is hurricane-ready and country-strong. Anchored in 42" of concrete with braces, brackets, joyces and screws of all sizes and alloys holding it together, we'll happily throw barbecues and invite parents with babies, the aged and infirm without fear of it doing an I-35-esque collapse because Carl added one too many sausages on the grill or Treavor set out one too many empty wine bottles.

Special thanks to Andy of A&M Remodeling and the carpenters extrodinaire Artur and Kamil.


See Posting "On Deck 2" for more improvement shots...

The Color of Insanity

Shades of gray indeed...

Karen likes lots of choices when it comes to paint, though the number often proves overwhelming.

A color was settled on and the ugly orange wall, being primered in this shot, is no more. Thank God!

Changing Rooms...

Guest bedroom had some had some bizarre two-tone pink color with wax and glitter splotched on it. very, very ugly. and just stoopid. After sanding and scraping and loads of primer, it was ready for a transformation.

appetite for destruction.

We demo'd the bathroom over a 4 day span. Down to the studs. Cast Iron stack was rotted through in spots, random pipes were everywhere and one of the radiators was rotted of its post. Dust, gypsum, lath, concrete, masonry, and tile permeated the whole house. Good learning experience, but we would not choose to do it again.

Effects on us included gashes, black lungs, cuts, brown boogers, scrapes, bruises and a laceration requiring stitiches. But now we got a taste of what manual labor and construction are all about and appreciate our desk jobs a bit more.

Pre-Demo

Our house-husband, or brother-husband Carl (see Big Love) has been working hard to remove/destroy both bathrooms at 1354 Elmdale. Carl met with Charlie the Plumber for a crash course in do-it-yourself demo and has been the team leader for the project. He is rough and tough and loves a nice glass of chilled rose. 

Before and After

One fresh coat of paint, lots of hard work and about a gallon of wine and tada! It's hard to believe this is the same place. Upstairs and downstairs are speeding along nicely. Next stop for the boys - guest room. Next stop for 1354 Elmdale - deck construction starts on Wednesday, bathrooms to follow! We also found some babies in the planter. Three Robin eggs. 

Making Progress

Saturday made for busy boys at 1354 Elmdale.  Treavor and Michael put in some long hours painting the living room, trying to make it more "living" and less "room."  You can finally say goodbye to green mold, plaster dust and the smell of poop (hopefully!!).   The gays cleaned and painted their way to a whole new room.  

The day was filled with witty banter like, "You missed a spot," "Does this wall color make me look skinny?" and "If you really loved me, you paint the second coat."

The boys couldn't have gotten all the necessary work done without their fearless leader... the Dingus!  The "Little Lady" was there to provide ample moral support and impromptu wrastlin' breaks.