The rest of the story.....
Do you remember me telling you about the house next door to my residence? How the owner paid some morons to put vinyl siding on it? Well, about three weeks after that was done, the tenants moved out. The house has been empty since and has a "For Sale" and a "For Rent" sign in the front yard.
Tonight I noticed something strange as I was cleaning out the litter boxes at 10:00PM. There was water in my basement filling up the north west corner. I filled two buckets with water and was looking for a source of the leak when it became apparent that the water was seeping in on the entire north side. This is unusual. There is snow on the ground and it hasn't rained in a while. I thought for a moment and then went outside and looked between the property line to see if the snow had melted away. Then I heard the waterfall. The house next door had obvious problems with their plumbing. Having had similar problems at the "Old Crackhouse" I knew the sound of burst pipes!
I left a message on the owners answering machine, then, realizing that my basement was still oozing water I called the water department. They came out and tried to shut off the water. This isn't easy with 3 inches of snow on the ground. The first time they tried, it was my water that got shut off. The second attempt was a gas line. At this point we thought that if we could get permission to go in the house via a lock box key then the water could be turned off inside. I called the owner again. No answer. I decided to take a bold step. Noticing a 4 inch gap at the top of the plexiglass sash window on the porch, I stuck my hand in, unlocked the sash lock, lifted the window and went in. The water department employee could not follow me since this could be construed as "property damaging" but he was willing to lend me his flash light. The lights would not come on in the house so, using the flash light I found the door to the basement avoiding the torrent of water pouring from the kitchen ceiling. I went down two steps and then stopped. The water level was up to the 4th step. That means it was almost 3 feet deep! By my estimation, that is 1875 cubic feet of water and that equates to about 1200 gallons! In order to shut the water off I would have to go into this cesspool and look under water for the shut off valve. Screw that! I don't even know if the electric is shut off! Can you say frazzle dazzle?
See, there is never a dull moment around here. Plumbing continues to be the bane of my existence. If not mine, then the nearest immediate neighbors! I think when I see the owner later today, I will offer him $6000 for the place which is the lot value. He wants something like $48,000. It used to have nice oak floors, not any more. The panelling in the kitchen is now warped and the ceiling is gone. I could demolish the place and have a double lot or sell the two properties as a package deal and let the new buyer demo it or rehab it. Unless of course, any of you want to be my neighbor! For a short while at least, until we move three blocks away into the "Old Crackhouse".
Look at it this way. The house has an indoor swimming pool.........
Thứ Ba, 13 tháng 12, 2005
Thứ Hai, 12 tháng 12, 2005
Nothing to do with a house blog but...
I see that one of the pop idols of my childhood may be spending some time in the "Big House". Thats right, Gary Glitter has gotten himself in trouble again. This time with Vietnamese authorities. I have no sympathy. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, well, you know how that goes.
Well Gary Glitter, it looks like you will be singing less "Do you want to touch (me there)" and more of "Leader of the Gang (I am)". Start practicing.
"Do you wanna be in my gang? My gang, my gang? Do you wanna be in my gang? Oh yeah!"
Well Gary Glitter, it looks like you will be singing less "Do you want to touch (me there)" and more of "Leader of the Gang (I am)". Start practicing.
"Do you wanna be in my gang? My gang, my gang? Do you wanna be in my gang? Oh yeah!"
Thứ Bảy, 10 tháng 12, 2005
The Ugly Truth about Brick Houses
It is nice to own a solid house made of brick but it is certainly wrought with problems.
For starters, where insulation is concerned, brick has an R value of 0.2. This means that our 8 inch thick walls with 1 inch of plaster has an R value of 1.8. The recommended insulation in walls is R-11. This means that the resistance to heat flow is pretty piss poor! In fact heat transfer is quite slow but it still occurs. The advantages in the summer are that our first floor stays relatively cool as long as the shutters are closed on the windows. Also, if it gets cold outside, it will be warmer inside for a few days. If you get a warm day or two though after a cold spell, well, the reverse is true. If you open the windows to warm the place up then you get condensation on the interior brick walls that are colder than the air that hits them. The outside temperatures this week have been as low as 10 degrees. The inside temperature on the first floor hit 32 degrees on Friday this week. If temperatures rise above this, it will take several days for the inside to catch up. It could be 60 degrees outside but will be 40 inside for several days and if I open the windows to let the warm air in then my walls will sweat and the acrylic paint will blister.
Another disadvantage is that if your gutters get clogged and water drips on the brick, the brick will suck up the water and transfer it to the inside plaster. This causes paint to peel. We have noticed that since we have bought the house and are slowly sealing it up that old paint is peeling where walls used to be continuously damp and wood molding is shrinking from drying out. This causes gaps between it and the plaster. Another thing to note is that houses built prior to 1920 or so had a high lime content in the mortar. Old brick is quite soft and mortar is supposed to be softer than the brick. Old recipes for mortar were varied and many had no Portland cement. I suspect ours was something like one part lime to 3 parts sand. Often the lime leaches out leaving just sand between bricks. New mortars are harder than old brick and should not be used unless you add lime to them. For my tuck pointing I have added about 1 part hydrated lime to one part masons mortar. It seems to be holding quite well. It is something people should be aware of though because using modern mortars will cause your old bricks to crack eventually. Many contractors who call themselves "masons" don't even know about adding lime to mortar so beware if you need to get a chimney fixed. They will coat it in a Portland cement mortar and ten years from now your bricks will be crumbling. I know because this was done at this place! Any way, whether or not you have a brick house, now you know the ugly truth!
For starters, where insulation is concerned, brick has an R value of 0.2. This means that our 8 inch thick walls with 1 inch of plaster has an R value of 1.8. The recommended insulation in walls is R-11. This means that the resistance to heat flow is pretty piss poor! In fact heat transfer is quite slow but it still occurs. The advantages in the summer are that our first floor stays relatively cool as long as the shutters are closed on the windows. Also, if it gets cold outside, it will be warmer inside for a few days. If you get a warm day or two though after a cold spell, well, the reverse is true. If you open the windows to warm the place up then you get condensation on the interior brick walls that are colder than the air that hits them. The outside temperatures this week have been as low as 10 degrees. The inside temperature on the first floor hit 32 degrees on Friday this week. If temperatures rise above this, it will take several days for the inside to catch up. It could be 60 degrees outside but will be 40 inside for several days and if I open the windows to let the warm air in then my walls will sweat and the acrylic paint will blister.
Another disadvantage is that if your gutters get clogged and water drips on the brick, the brick will suck up the water and transfer it to the inside plaster. This causes paint to peel. We have noticed that since we have bought the house and are slowly sealing it up that old paint is peeling where walls used to be continuously damp and wood molding is shrinking from drying out. This causes gaps between it and the plaster. Another thing to note is that houses built prior to 1920 or so had a high lime content in the mortar. Old brick is quite soft and mortar is supposed to be softer than the brick. Old recipes for mortar were varied and many had no Portland cement. I suspect ours was something like one part lime to 3 parts sand. Often the lime leaches out leaving just sand between bricks. New mortars are harder than old brick and should not be used unless you add lime to them. For my tuck pointing I have added about 1 part hydrated lime to one part masons mortar. It seems to be holding quite well. It is something people should be aware of though because using modern mortars will cause your old bricks to crack eventually. Many contractors who call themselves "masons" don't even know about adding lime to mortar so beware if you need to get a chimney fixed. They will coat it in a Portland cement mortar and ten years from now your bricks will be crumbling. I know because this was done at this place! Any way, whether or not you have a brick house, now you know the ugly truth!
Thứ Tư, 7 tháng 12, 2005
You know Christmas is coming when.....
You see an increasing number of ads for these;
AND the words keep ringing in your head. Chi chi chi Chia!
Interesting web site. They also sell the OV- Glove and Chimney Sweeping Logs that are increasingly advertised every December. Oh, and let's not forget the (Clap on(clap,clap), clap off (clap, clap)) The Clapper!
Please Santa, please! Do NOT give me any of these things this or any other year! Especially the Chia Pet or head!
AND the words keep ringing in your head. Chi chi chi Chia!
Interesting web site. They also sell the OV- Glove and Chimney Sweeping Logs that are increasingly advertised every December. Oh, and let's not forget the (Clap on(clap,clap), clap off (clap, clap)) The Clapper!
Please Santa, please! Do NOT give me any of these things this or any other year! Especially the Chia Pet or head!
Sunday at the Auction
We went to another one of Woods Auctions on Sunday. We were interested in these two pieces of furniture.
We had an idea of what we were willing to pay for them. $600 for the couch and $1000 for the display case. Well, we didn't get either. The couch sold for $850 or something like that. Which was fine because it really wasn't a practical piece and we would have to decorate the room around it. The display case sold for over $1300. we'll find another one some day.
We didn't get off scott free though. Deborah got these for $45 a piece. There is always room for an Eastlake parlor chair.
Then she bought this for $65. Now this is going to be a fun plaything for Elizabeth when I rig it up but I doubt that the neighbors will agree. My trusty 4' level is there for scale. The thing weighs close to 100 lbs. Elizabeth will certainly know when dinner is ready!
I bid on this.
It is a folk painted sausage stuffer. I will probably strip it of paint and hang it in the kitchen along with the assortment of old knives, slaw cutters and implements that we are accumulating. Hey, for the $5 it cost, I can throw it at the squirrel on my third floor or fill it with play-doh and start my own shape factory!
We had an idea of what we were willing to pay for them. $600 for the couch and $1000 for the display case. Well, we didn't get either. The couch sold for $850 or something like that. Which was fine because it really wasn't a practical piece and we would have to decorate the room around it. The display case sold for over $1300. we'll find another one some day.
We didn't get off scott free though. Deborah got these for $45 a piece. There is always room for an Eastlake parlor chair.
Then she bought this for $65. Now this is going to be a fun plaything for Elizabeth when I rig it up but I doubt that the neighbors will agree. My trusty 4' level is there for scale. The thing weighs close to 100 lbs. Elizabeth will certainly know when dinner is ready!
I bid on this.
It is a folk painted sausage stuffer. I will probably strip it of paint and hang it in the kitchen along with the assortment of old knives, slaw cutters and implements that we are accumulating. Hey, for the $5 it cost, I can throw it at the squirrel on my third floor or fill it with play-doh and start my own shape factory!
Chủ Nhật, 4 tháng 12, 2005
Installed and working!
By Saturday night these lights were in place. I know they don't look as good as the Rejuvenation fixtures but they certainly are period pieces.
Now, a word of advice for anyone deciding to buy one of these downward pointing bulb type fixtures. When you re-wire it, you need to put a socket on the top portion and leave it "loose" so that a candle type bulb lays flat on the top making it less visible to anyone looking at the fixture. The purpose of this bulb is to reduce the shadow that will be cast on the ceiling if you don't install it! The other trick is to install low wattage bulbs so you aren't fixated on the glare produced by bare light bulbs. I used 40 watt bulbs and they are too bright but I have a dimmer switch on this light so I can dim them to around what 25 watt bulbs would generate. The light emitted from 25 watt bulbs today is about equivalent to a 50 watt bulb from the 1930s. The other solution is to make glass bead shades to hang over the bulbs and dangle down like the headress of the woman in the poster. That would break up the glare. General Electric used to make art deco bulbs for these fixtures called GA bulbs. Once in a while you will run across them. They have a flared yellow tip to diffuse and direct light downwards but the top of the flare and the neck are white to cast light up to the ceiling. They are shaped like a long necked wide bottom vase. They look kind of neat but are actually a product of the 1950s.
Now all I have to do is install the Rejuvenation fixtures in the "Crackhouse" BUT the temperature here is below freezing. The basement of the "Crackhouse" is at 43 degrees, the first floor is 38 degrees, second floor is 33 degrees and the third floor is close to whatever the temperature is outside. It may be a few days, or weeks before I put them in. Let's put this into context. I don't know about the rest of you but I hate working in the cold. It does strange things to my body. My fingers shrink, my feet lose all feeling, my nose runs and my balls shrivel up. That is not a pretty site. You know what prunes look like? Well, my balls look like the stones in those prunes!
Now, a word of advice for anyone deciding to buy one of these downward pointing bulb type fixtures. When you re-wire it, you need to put a socket on the top portion and leave it "loose" so that a candle type bulb lays flat on the top making it less visible to anyone looking at the fixture. The purpose of this bulb is to reduce the shadow that will be cast on the ceiling if you don't install it! The other trick is to install low wattage bulbs so you aren't fixated on the glare produced by bare light bulbs. I used 40 watt bulbs and they are too bright but I have a dimmer switch on this light so I can dim them to around what 25 watt bulbs would generate. The light emitted from 25 watt bulbs today is about equivalent to a 50 watt bulb from the 1930s. The other solution is to make glass bead shades to hang over the bulbs and dangle down like the headress of the woman in the poster. That would break up the glare. General Electric used to make art deco bulbs for these fixtures called GA bulbs. Once in a while you will run across them. They have a flared yellow tip to diffuse and direct light downwards but the top of the flare and the neck are white to cast light up to the ceiling. They are shaped like a long necked wide bottom vase. They look kind of neat but are actually a product of the 1950s.
Now all I have to do is install the Rejuvenation fixtures in the "Crackhouse" BUT the temperature here is below freezing. The basement of the "Crackhouse" is at 43 degrees, the first floor is 38 degrees, second floor is 33 degrees and the third floor is close to whatever the temperature is outside. It may be a few days, or weeks before I put them in. Let's put this into context. I don't know about the rest of you but I hate working in the cold. It does strange things to my body. My fingers shrink, my feet lose all feeling, my nose runs and my balls shrivel up. That is not a pretty site. You know what prunes look like? Well, my balls look like the stones in those prunes!
Thứ Sáu, 2 tháng 12, 2005
Replacement Lighting
Several years ago, about 2 or 3 years B.C. ("before Crackhouse") I acquired some lights from Rejuvenation. Some were purchased and some were gifts. We decided a long time ago that we would transplant them to the "New" house if we could find some replacements that wouldn't come close to the $1000 replacement cost of the Rejuvenation lighting.
Two years ago we found some sconce lights at Home Depot or Lowes for $15.00 a piece so I transplanted the $97.00 each ones and stored them in the basement until this year when I put them in the dining room of the "Crackhouse" after painting the upper portion of the wall. I see that the replacement cost on these (Lafayette #w466) is now $132.00 each! The other two lights we have are the "Vincent" and the "Fremont".
These two lights are going to go in the entrance hall of the "New" house. The larger fixture going downstairs and the pendant will be located at the top of the stairs on the landing.
Well, we were out and about Thursday this week at a nearby antique mall and found replacements for both lights for the princely sum of..... wait for it.......ahem...... I said wait for it...... drum roll please....... ahem again..... cough, cough....... are you ready?
$52.00!
Here are the lights dismantled. (Yes, I have already pulled them apart!)
I have even rewired them already and replaced one socket in the single light fixture and got any pieces so that I can install them. I also bought light bulbs so the additional expense was another $20.00 but...... hey, I will feel no remorse leaving these fixtures in the house when we sell it!
Since the house already looks "Period" we wanted period lighting left with the house but didn't want to spend a fortune on it. Hopefully these will be installed this weekend!
In the meantime, I noticed this at the apex of my costly reproduction pendant light.
Do you see that splattering of black dots? Do you know what that is? It is fly poo-poo! It would appear that my light fixture has been an outhouse for flies for several years. Even our flies have class!
Two years ago we found some sconce lights at Home Depot or Lowes for $15.00 a piece so I transplanted the $97.00 each ones and stored them in the basement until this year when I put them in the dining room of the "Crackhouse" after painting the upper portion of the wall. I see that the replacement cost on these (Lafayette #w466) is now $132.00 each! The other two lights we have are the "Vincent" and the "Fremont".
These two lights are going to go in the entrance hall of the "New" house. The larger fixture going downstairs and the pendant will be located at the top of the stairs on the landing.
Well, we were out and about Thursday this week at a nearby antique mall and found replacements for both lights for the princely sum of..... wait for it.......ahem...... I said wait for it...... drum roll please....... ahem again..... cough, cough....... are you ready?
$52.00!
Here are the lights dismantled. (Yes, I have already pulled them apart!)
I have even rewired them already and replaced one socket in the single light fixture and got any pieces so that I can install them. I also bought light bulbs so the additional expense was another $20.00 but...... hey, I will feel no remorse leaving these fixtures in the house when we sell it!
Since the house already looks "Period" we wanted period lighting left with the house but didn't want to spend a fortune on it. Hopefully these will be installed this weekend!
In the meantime, I noticed this at the apex of my costly reproduction pendant light.
Do you see that splattering of black dots? Do you know what that is? It is fly poo-poo! It would appear that my light fixture has been an outhouse for flies for several years. Even our flies have class!
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