Ceiling fan

After the 103 day last week, my bedroom was quite warm (southwest exposure) and the air conditioner just couldn't cool it enough.  I decided a ceiling fan was in order. I've been looking for some time and haven't found just what I wanted, but finally found it... bought it... and got an in-the-wall transmitter that controls the fan and light so I don't have to use the chains or add additional switch and wiring in the wall and ceiling.  Sounds great, right?  I start my project very excited on Saturday morning.  By Saturday night, I was finally complete.  With some over the phone help and email pictures to my dad, I was able to get it done.


What I've learned in working with an older home, especially with this project, is that no matter what you think a project is, it will ALWAYS be more difficult, and take longer than you would ever expect.


I start by taking down the light fixture.  Hoping to find at least an electrical box secured to a joist, but I found this:

Well, how exactly am I supposed to attach a ceiling fan to that, or even work with that wiring?  I take a closer inspection, and come to this:

There is old wire, and new wire. The light was attached to both.  I continue to dig around, cutting away plaster - which by the way is very dirty and has a very distinct smell...one that is very familiar to me these days.

I wanted to see what wiring there was in the wall switch.. again, an old wire and a new wire, but this time the new wire was blue.  Hmm, what to do?  Keep going! The power is turned off and I can't possibly get shocked!  I continue to dig out the ceiling to see what I'm working with:

Ok, the wire is drilled straight through whatever joist or support that is, and there was no electrical box.  Back to Menard's to get a "pancake style" (thin) electrical box to secure directly into that wood. After some more cutting away plaster and lathe to make it fit (and making an even bigger mess) here it is secured in place:

I quickly realize through a test fit before I get too far that the canopy for the fan won't be able to secure to the bracket for the fan because it is below ceiling level, and I kind of made a mess with all that cutting I had to do.  Hmm, what would be a good resolution? After some quick reference to This Old House website (I've become very fond of this and the magazine) I determined a ceiling medallion would do the trick.  Back to Menards.. Nope, I didn't like those, so off to Lowe's. After that trip and a quick dinner, I put the medallion up:

Yay! It solved two problems for me at the same time.  That white box up there is the transmitter that will allow me to control the fan and light, which I installed the switch into the wall:

The switch will give me 3 speeds on the fan, and allow me to dim the lights. Just a little minor patch job to repair the damage from removing the electrical box.  I will get to that in due time.  I put up the fan motor, then the blades, then the lights.  All would appear good to go...time to flip the power back on.

But first:  Dear Lord Baby Jesus, please keep this fan where it is and don't let it come crashing down on me. As I flip on the electricity, let it flow smoothly and safely as it is supposed to do.  Amen. (PS, I can sleep on the couch tonight if you need me to.)

With that complete, off to the basement to turn the electricity back on.  Let there be light!

Woo hoo! There's light. But wait, it doesn't dim, and the fan doesn't work either. Well now what?  After another conversation with dad to try to problem solve, I start taking the light down, then the fan. I check the wiring, then ta-da! The transmitter for the switch wasn't set to the same code as the actual switch in the wall (kind of like a garage door opener needs to be programmed correctly. I put the pieces back together and turn the power on again. Woop, there it is!

The dimmer switch works for the light, and the multi-speed fan switch works too! May this stay in place for millenia (or at least until I sell the house) and give me cooling in the summer, and warmth in the winter. Amen, thank you baby Jesus. 

**Please note, no animals were injured during the duration of this project. This content has been edited to remove the large amounts of vulgarity that took place during this project.

Scrub a dub dub!

Ok, so it's been a while. I've been contemplating what to do on the house. Spring is in the air, and I want to do something!  Next weekend is "Project Make the Closets Useful" with my sister, brother-in-law, and kids.  More to come on that next week.

For this weekend, more like today, I contemplated re-grouting the bathroom shower or trying to do something with the dirty grout on the bathroom floor.  Well, it was getting late in the day to start trying to re-grout the shower because I do want to take a shower tomorrow. So, I opted for the floor.

I bought some grout cleaner and a brush. Now, I've scrubbed that floor before with Mr. Clean, but it just didn't work. I needed something more intense. So, I started... on a test patch, which is supposed to be in a hidden area, but I opted for the dirtiest part, right in the middle!  Heck, if it doesn't work, I will end up ripping out the grout and putting new in - and sealing it! (I'm guessing whoever did it last didn't seal it.) But then again, I'm noticing many of the improvements previous owners have done have been less than stellar craftsmanship.

Here's a before picture:

Now, there are a lot of many different shade of the grout on this floor, ranging from a cream color to a gray, to this nasty stuff.  Some spots are dirtier than others.  So, I mixed the solution, and started scrubbing away.  I let it sit for 5 minutes, then cleaned it off.  Here's how it looked:

Some improvement, but as I thought, I'd need another shot at it. I did it again, and this time left it work its magic longer.  Here's after the 2nd try:

Better, but not the result I'm looking for. I guess I could do a few more tries?

I think my options at this point are: leave it like this, scrub a few more times, buy a stronger acidic cleaner, or re-grout.  Each has it's pros and cons.

What do you think?  Any other suggestions?

Still working...

Still working on the house... just when I think I'm making progress another room gets messed up.  I feel like nothing is getting done, but it really is.  Progress is slow, but at least it gives me something to do!
Cleaning out the apartment this weekend and checking out.  maybe I will take one last nap on the floor there.

Hard work...

Wow, what a weekend!  Mom came to town to help me unpack and clean, and we even ended up building things!  What a team we were... who woulda thunk the two of us would have done all of this ourselves in such a short time period.  We just about worked from the time we woke up until the time we went to bed.  Although we did manage to get some great Italian food! :)
Here's what we accomplished... hopefully I won't miss anything!
Mom unpacked boxes upon boxes.  Installed wireless door bells at the front and back doors.  Washed windows.  Cleaned, dirtied, cleaned, then dirtied the house yet again. Caulked a few widows. Installed privacy film on the front door and stairwell window. Put cold weather film on a bunch of windows.  Installed the dryer vent cover.  Built a kitchen island. Trimmed down the bathroom door so it could close better.  Removed the bathroom shower door.  Installed a new curved shower curtain rod.  Installed a new shower head. Put curtains up in the kitchen and living room. Tried to put cabinet and drawer liner in... again and again and again. Put an AC cover on the central air unit outside.  
Hmmmm... I think that's it?
Thanks mom for all of your help!  Love ya!

Home Ownership

So it's been a while since I've posted.  I guess it was fun for a while then it sort of wore off.  So, I'm here to start up again.
I closed on the house on Friday and quickly moved on Saturday with the help of 4 very great friends who worked their tails off!  I couldn't have done it without them.  I went quite smooth actually.  I still have some things to move from the apartment, and clean that yet, but that will get done later this week and weekend.  Of course, there is still a lot of unpacking to do here!  In due time I guess.  There's so much to do - I'm not one that likes to wait for any of that, so it's kind of driving me nuts.  I guess I will learn some patience.  
My first priority was... setting up the living room and getting the tv/internet going.  I'm canceling my cable and cable internet.  I bought a digital tv antenna and that works great.  You can watch most shows on the internet anyway, so why should I pay for cable?  I then went to Sprint and got their 4G wifi hotspot.  Works great, and it seems faster than the cable I had!
I slept on my air mattress the first night (or tried to anyway).  The cats were going crazy exploring and all that.  And it was freezing.  Because I put priority on tv I didn't know where the extra blanket was.  I wasn't about to get up and see what awaited me downstairs in the dark.  (I'm a bit of a scaredy cat - who knows what the cats were getting into).  
After my sleepless night, I decided bedding was a priority and set up the bedroom on Sunday.  I slept much better last night - in fact I don't think I moved, I had the heavy blankets and one cat on each side of me.  I think they're a bit timid yet in this house as well.
Today after work I made what will be one of many trips to Home Depot.  Priority today was weather proofing materials:  window insulator film, water heater insulation cover, outlet insulation, air conditioner cover, caulk, foam, and what else...hmm...
Oh, so my first home improvement project:  replacing the standard lightbulb in the back porch fixture to a compact fluorescent that will go on at dusk and off at dawn.  A bit of a safety thing for me I guess.  Success!
Second project on the list tonight - install the dryer vent cover.  Failure.  Wrong size pipe.  Back to Home Depot later.
Third project attempt - wrap the water heater with insulation.  Failure.  Some pipes are in the way so I need some additional advice, and just didn't feel like putting in that effort tonight.
Fourth project - pushing some steel wool into some cracks to help keep the mice out.  Success (at least getting it in there, we'll see about the mice later)  I will have to do some more in daylight with some caulk and foam to complete this task.
Speaking of mice... I'm really afraid that at some point I will come across one.  After the above projects, I headed back down to the basement to search for evidence of mice.  None found, but let's be honest, I didn't look that closely for fear I would find something, and knowing they're there may just be worse for me than letting them be in peace as long as they stay away.  So, I turned on the dryer, just incase they were in there.  Nothing so far.  We shall see.  Wishing me luck on that front!


Will keep you posted on progress on unpacking, setting up, decorating, and all those adventures!

House

So it's been a while... quite a while.  I just haven't been up to blogging for some reason.  Anyway, the summer went by quite quickly.  Fall is quickly approaching, and the crisp air put me in the mood for two of my favorite fall comfort foods:  chili, and sour kraut casserole.  Yummy!  So, I've made them both today.  Now, what will I eat first?  hmm...


Anyway, I've been house hunting.  I know, I really wasn't expecting to, or even planning on buying a house, but when you see rates at 4.25% and the housing market depressed, price-wise, not emotionally :) I started to think it may be a good idea.  Especially because I could essentially buy a home for what I am paying in rent, or in my case, less.  


I've looked at dozens and dozens of houses, and I think sniffing so many basements filled with musty air, mold, and whatever else has put my allegies into hyperdrive, and I've since been battling a sinus infection that just won't go away.... it's exhausting.


So, I went looking last weekend, and added a new listing to my see list last minute.  It ends up it's what I've decided to go with.  I put an offer in earlier this week, and followed by accepting their counter offer!  (they countered with what I was expecting, and fully prepared to pay) They are paying all of my closing costs, and a home warranty too.  The city of St Paul is contributing 2% down payment assistance through a first time homebuyer program (it's been more than 3 years since I owned my house in Texas, so I'm a born-again first timer!)  


The inspection was next.  They wanted it very quickly in case I backed out they could still put it on the market this weekend.  I did inspection the very next day.  Nothing very out of the norm, for a house that was built in 1914.  Mechanically and structurally very sound.  Just a few minor things to take care of - I asked them to do, and they agreed.


So, after all that, we were scheduled to close Oct 15.  But, I asked if I could close Oct 8 instead, because Thomas is supposed to be here that weekend, so that would be great.  So, we're shooting for Oct 8.  Oh boy, that's less than 3 weeks away now.  didn't I just move last year at this time too?  Well, at least this one will be ours and can do whatever we want!  


Here she is... 

More to come later.  I've got the "oh my, I have to get so much stuff now" syndrome.  The list is already long:  new toilet seat, cleaning supplies, shovels, rakes (a big beautiful oak tree in the back) hoses, lawn mower, snow blower, a kitchen island, plus some work to do on the house like an exhaust fan in the bathroom, additional electrical outlets in the bedrooms, and.... 

Not to mention furniture... until Thomas moves in in June, I have furniture for the bedroom, and living room.  Oh well, that will come in due time.  More updates later!