Ceiling and attic

After i get the bathroom ceiling done I'm going to go up to the attic to see what the electrical situation is. May need to rerun some while we have the kitchen ceiling open. If it looks ok then I will hold off until after the kitchen is done.

Yard work and Ceiling

I managed last weekend to get about half the ceiling up in the bathroom and i put mulch around the plants in the front.

I have mixed emotions about the mulch. I like the fact that weeding will be easier and less needed and that I will not have to water as much. I guess I'm just not used to the look of it.


I will post pictures when i get some taken so you can see what it looks like.

Window Installation

Saturday Morning Troy came out to install the window that we ordered back in May. It took him about 2.5 hours and he took care of rough finishing for the inside and the outside. He also repaired one of the boots on our waste stack.

Before:

After:
The smaller windows do make things a little darker in the kitchen but the benefits far outweigh the costs. We'll be gaining some much needed counter space and we got rid of one of the vinyl windows to boot. I just don't care for natural wood trim up against a stark white window I don't think it looks very attractive.

The Aftermath

Steadily through the course of this project we've cut off all the sources of light in the back hallway. First we lost the light in the back hall back in March, then we lost the outside light and the pantry light in June. And then finally we lost the light at the bottom of the basement 2 weeks ago when we started this project. Unfortunately, every step forward involves a couple steps back. As of last night the hall looks like this, but hey at least most of the lights work properly.

I made a small error with the 3 way switch that Chris corrected when I was at work Sunday afternoon I mixed up the common with one of the travelers.


Do you see the little yellow wire nuts in this picture? That cable will go to the light by the back door. Back when our house was built it wasn't necessary to have lights mounted to an electrical box now it is... I didn't forsee it but this has been one of the most problematic parts of the wiring project. I needed to find a 4" round old work box with tabs on the front to screw in to. All the old work boxes I was able to find locally were either too small or just had the wings attached to them. The wall is too thick for those wings to be a viable option. Fortunately I found one online but it has not arrived yet. I'm hoping it will arrive soon in time for installation next weekend.


There is also the matter of the light above the back door. The fixture that was up there was a porcelain bathroom sconce which still had all of it's original wiring and original socket. I removed the socket thinking that it would be simple enough to find a new one to complete the rewire. It's proving quite difficult as it is just a touch too narrow at the top to fit the modern sockets. So far I've gone to all of the major home improvement stores, an electrical contractors supply shop, a local hardware store, and a local antique dealer. I've also talked to an online vendor and so far nobody has anything that will fit it. If any one knows where I can find a socket that is slightly smaller than 1.2 inches in diameter please let me know. Here is what it looks like. I'd really like to make this work if it's at all possible.

Bathroom and Plumbing update

Surprisingly we've made a good amount of progress in the last month or two. Here is a picture of the kitchen ceiling after the plumbers got done with it they replaced all of the galvanized piping plus the drainpipe for the upstairs bathroom. The main drainpipe is in good condition so it will be staying in place.


We've also made some good strides in the bathroom . I got all of the woodwork shellacked and we got the paint on the night before we left for camping. The bathroom is pretty close to finished we need to finish up the ceiling, get the drawers and cabinet doors for the built in stripped and shellacked, paint touch ups, grouting of the replacment tile and faucet installation. The door also needs to be stripped and stained but that is most likely a ways off as I want to minimize the amount of time we have no bathroom door.


Here is a little closer up picture of the trim. The shellac was a bit hard to work with it dried almost too fast I was trying to apply using a cloth but I plan on doing some experimentation with various brushing techniques before I do it again. Fortunately when I applied the poly it evened out things a bit.


I'm really happy with the color we chose for the walls I think it complements the trim and tile well. Before everything in this room just kind of blended together now I really like it.

Here is the ceiling in progress


I realize that a drop ceiling isn't the most attractive thing in the world but we are planning on replacing the vanity with a pedestal and replacing the tub in the next couple years and will most likely need to get back to the electrical at that time so we didn't want to spend a lot of time with drywall.

Will post more tomorrow including pictures of the new windows and pictures of the back hall electrical aftermath.