A Friendly Reminder and Post Holiday Lineup...

This is your filter. This is your filter on crud. Questions?

Well, Jack Frost finally made his first flyby in my neck of the woods today, so I figure a helpful reminder might be in order. Be sure to change out the filter on your furnace. It will improve air flow in your system, which will improve it's ability to heat your home. It's also important because changing it regularly takes built up allergens and (worst case scenario) mold out of your system. You should be changing out your filter every three months, or every change of the seasons, but I live in the real world so I change mine once or twice a year.

Closer look at that old filter:

See that? That's what you're breathing
when your furnace kicks on.

For the love of God,
go change it NOW!

Now, as far as projects on the house go, we're pretty much at a standstill for the holidays. Between gift buying, travel, and various other things, there isn't much time for the house right now. However, that doesn't mean the honey-do list isn't growing. Here's a couple small projects I'm looking to tackle after the holidays.

Floor/Ceiling Registers

Yes, the room is pink... Very pink.

One minor project that needs tackled is the vent registers throughout the house. Some of them don't fit properly into the duct work and aren't flush with the floor. Also, there is one downstairs that is ceiling mounted and it falls out constantly. I'll be changing that one and the one across the room from it with registers that either fit better or screw into the ceiling.

Outlets

A few electrical outlets in the house need to be replaced. One happens to be where we want the computer to permanently reside, so I'm going to try and replace it with one that has USB plugs in addition to the standard electrical plugs. If that goes well, I may place one beside our bed upstairs for phones and other electronics to charge on while we sleep. This one is kind of important, because in my mind the broken outlets could be a fire hazard, but I may be over dramatizing a bit. Better safe than sorry I suppose.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, don't get bored with all these small projects and basic maintenance. There are big projects coming down the pipe, and you won't want to miss out on the action because I'm hoping to make readers of the blog a big part of it. I still have to make a few decisions about how it will work, but the new year should bring an interesting change to the blog. 

Thanks for Reading and Happy Holidays!

A New Look For Old Chairs...

Warning! You are about to see pictures of our dining room chairs. They are totally super-gross and junk. Scroll down only if you wish to subject yourself to the torture that is seeing them.

You've been Warned!

Shedding A Little Light...

Wow! Time sure flies when you're... working. :(

Freshly removed from five straight weeks on the road, it's time to get back to the house, or as with today's case, the blog. Before I started my small absence, my wife's side of the family came over to lend a much appreciated helping hand. And what was the first task of the day? Changing out some old light fixtures. My wife's sister and her husband had recently replaced their fixtures and were nice enough to donate their old ones to our cause.

The first fixture we replaced was a... Well it was kind of a... Actually, I have no clue what it was because most of it was missing. I assume it was a small type of chandelier, but given the state it was in and that it was hanging in the entryway, it had to go.

                   

The Franken-Fixture!

Much Better.

It's the little things...

Well, it's been a while since I posted but that doesn't mean there's nothing going on. Unfortunately, what has mostly been going on is a lot of planning and calling various people. We're trying to get estimates lined up for siding the house, get the fireplace inspected/cleaned, and get the new garage door opener installed. Now, I could probably do all that myself, but we have various reasons for letting pros handle them. The siding we want done for the warranty. We could clean the fireplace, but considering the condition of other parts of the house, we wanted to be safe and have it inspected and the cleaning comes with that. Lastly, we won the garage door opener at a silent auction benefiting one of my wife's former co-workers who has cancer. The pro installation came with it.

So, what have we actually been working on? Mostly small stuff. My work schedule from two weeks ago through the end of November is crazy busy, so nothing big is being started just yet, but there's a rumor floating around the house that a bathroom remodel may be coming down the pipe in December. But, for now, here's a look at some of that small stuff. Weatherstripping, toilet seats, bushes, melted candles.

Weatherstripping was needed on the door to the garage and a basement window. These places were so bad it was more like a breeze than a draft.

A little landscaping was done to the front of the house to deal with some out of control vines. With winter almost here, this will probably be revisited in the spring.

New toilet seats installed in two bathrooms. A little advice... don't be a cheapskate like me and pay a little more for the mid-range seats. These $7 seats suck.

Finally, we did a lot of unpacking. The surprising thing was that this was our only casualty. A set of battery powered LED candles with sensors in them so you actually blow the candles on and off instead of a switch. The tea pot was salvaged and cleaned. Everything else survived the summer heat in the storage unit. How? we have no idea, but it did and we are glad.

Thanks for reading!

It's Just A Hole, People!

A short video on a small issue I had with the dryer and getting it vented. I probably come off a bit too critical of Home Depot in this video. In full disclosure, their employee did present me with another option, but it was essentially a large piece of sheet metal that only dressed up the exterior of the hole and did nothing to shield the interior of the drywall. Also, when he tried to feed a piece of 4 in. duct through it, it didn't fit.

Anyway, here is a link to the part in the video if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.

Thanks for reading!

Our First Poll...

     With closing day fast approaching (if you consider taking 3 months to get here fast), the wife and I are slowly sinking into the realization that we have a lot of work ahead of us. While we already have a general idea of what areas need to be tackled first, there is still enough of that to make our heads spin a bit. That's why I wanted to ask you guys what you thought. So, in what will be the first of many polls, I'm asking what you would work on first if you were buying a fixer-upper? (assuming everything needs work)

     I think it's interesting to hear other people's perspectives on this. I myself prefer to work on the inside of the house. It's the part I actually live in. However, my wife is big on the outside appearance because it's what everyone else sees and how people get their first impression of your home. So go ahead and answer the poll on the right hand side of the page, if you picked Other or just want to elaborate on your answer, go ahead and leave a comment below.

And don't forget to subscribe!

New House, New Blog, Same Boring Me...

Welcome to the new blog!

You're probably wonder, "So what's the deal? You had to make a blog to brag about buying a new house?"
Well, kind of, but not really. You see, our house is what some people would refer to as a "fixer-upper" or what a jerk would call "a piece-of-crapper." But they're jerks and nobody likes them anyway.

Looks pretty good... out of focus and far away. - Cobb Realty Website

No, the point of this blog is to allow friends and family to follow along as we try to turn our "crappy" house into a home. And trust me, there will be plenty to share. Two bathrooms, the kitchen, a fireplace, the exterior, and the garage all need a good amount of work, not to mention all the painting and decorating that needs to be done. There's even talk about the wife jumping in and contributing, so stick around and see how crazy things get.

Much like our new home, the site is very much a work in progress. But don't worry, I won't be creating a 'crappy blog' blog to go with that. Reality would probably fold in on itself if I did.

Hang on. It's gonna be a wild ride!... And you just might see me fall off a roof, who knows. :)