FREE - For the taking!

That's right, absolutely FREE to anyone with the gumption to help me haul this monster to the first floor and out the door! You haul away, of course though local delivery could be arranged if the "Beast" is up to the trip! You would have to help get it on the "Beast" though. Despite appearances I AM NOT Superman (though I wore underoos that indicated that I was once!)





It is a cast iron shower pan with a seat and a drop front on one side. Here is what is stamped on the bottom.



It appears from the bottom stamp that it was made in 1954. I suspect it was installed around that time too! There were two of these that came with the house. The first floor one went out the door and some scrapper hauled it away. This one is on the second floor and is a little more difficult to remove. It weighs more than a claw foot tub. We have a claw foot tub and I was able to maneuver it around the same room this one is in. I can only drag this thing across the floor. It is truely the heaviest bath tub I have ever come across.

The thing is some 38" X 39" and around a foot deep. It was made in U.S.A. (a rarety these days) by good old union workers no less (probably long since dead and buried). Wow, a good solid piece of American craftsmanship that is over 50 years old and in great condition. Perfect for those tight spaces and absolutely FREE! Even comes with this warranty - If it isn't going, going, gone in two weeks it will go, go, went via a sledge hammer in pieces on the back of some scrappers truck! Go on, take a chance, you know you want it!

I Can't Name That Tune!

I thought that there would be 8 trash bags of pigeon poop infested rockwool in my attic. I was wrong. There were 15 bags. I wouldn't wish this job on anyone. Here is a picture taken in the attic;

It is 16 feet X 16 feet in area and has about 3 feet of height in the center. There were 9 rows between joists and each one had around 3 inches of compacted rockwool insulation covered with either pigeon poop or raccoon poop. There is one just like it on the other side of the chimney but no access and minus the pigeon poop. There is a mummified squirrel over there though. I left it there when I had the roof off and was running an electrical line to the center of the room for a ceiling light.

In order to get this stuff out, I had to spend the better part of two days sitting on boards laid across joists and scoop it into a bucket with a cedar shingle. When the bucket was full, I had to dump it out into a garbage bag. At the edges I had to lay across the same boards. The rockwool was bad enough but beneath it was a layer of soot and plaster dust, the result of decades of coal powered industial processes at the turn of the last century. This stuff was black and very fine. It managed to get through the mask and I spent a good hour hacking the stuff up after working each day. Black goobers, yummy!

The rockwool has an R value of 3 per inch. So I have just removed the only insulation on this side of the house. I wonder if that soot layer had a higher R value? Maybe I shouldn't have vacuumed it up....

When you scoop out the rockwool and thus loosen it up, it takes up more volume and so fills the garbage bags more quickly. If you use a shop vac on the stuff it really expands because all those little glass fibers separate and clog up the filter. My arms have been itchy for days, too!

After all was done, I had to get those garbage bags down from the attic. So, now I have a room filled with garbage bags of rockwool insulation. 15 from this project and another 9 from when I did the kitchen four plus years ago! I think it is time to start moving them to the garbage can. Maybe I should wait until I do the other half of roof so I can say I have a room that is packed to the ceiling with insulation!

If I left the bags in the alley I wonder if the dope boys would try to smoke it. I could make a small fortune selling this stuff to frat boys as itching powder!

The Pigeon-be-gone kit, 2006.

Just to re-cap; back in 2001 when replacing the roof, I removed the plaster and lath ceiling to the balcony because it was held together with panelling and atmospheric pressure, was in very bad shape and was alot easier to remove from above with the roof removed and a good downward stomp! Eventually I wired the beams to accomodate two lights and a ceiling fan, though the fan will end up close to my head! Besides the odd raccoon getting up into the attic and crapping systematically along two of the ceiling beams (It was quite tidy really, little turds all in a row!) we had no real problems until last year.

So we had to invest in a pigeon-be-gone kit! Coke cans on a string weren't working. Pictures of owls in the window did nothing and my threats were idle because I couldn't fly. This Kit comes in three styles. It could have be the economy model (green drywall boards), the popular model (imitation beadboard plywood) or the delux model (actual beadboards). Since we plan to live here for a long, long time, we opted for the delux model (around $300 total material cost) since the cost of labor is affordable.... (ha,ha,ha joke here somewhere!)

Well, I finally did it! I got the ceiling finished on the balcony! It took the better part of two days but I even rewired the lighting to eliminate a splice box and put the lights in AND I didn't fall off in the process. Take a look at this!



Just some edge trim work to do. I even shellacked the soffit vents so you wouldn't notice them. A couple of hammocks up there and you would think you were on a yacht!

It sure is hot in that attic! Especially with a rubber respirator mask on! I have four inches of pigeon and raccoon poop-infested glass wool insulation to remove next so I can put some clean fiberglass batts down. I'm estimating that it will fill at least 8 contractor garbage bags. Go ahead, name that tune!
I had 10 gallons of poop on the balcony floor to scoop up in case you were interested. Again, absolute proof that there is little I won't do..... at least I won't be getting any more sh*t from those pesky pigeons!

I Love a Parade!

I got my arm twisted into participating in a local parade on Saturday by the missus! She works for Key Bank and they wanted to take part in a parade. She figured that Elizabeth would have fun marching down the street. I got to take part too! Wanna see a picture of me?



That's right! I'm in the "Key Toon" suit! Absolute proof that there is little I won't do. It is pretty sad when the guy in the character suit doesn't even work for the company...... and wasn't even paid..... You can see how happy I am?

I Read the News Today- Oh Boy!

The photograph is larger than the article! Must be a slow news day here in the "Gem City". Here is how it reads;

Neighbors take the initiative to spruce up Wyoming Theater
The Walnut Hills Association grew tired of looking at the rundown building and decided to paint it.By Helen Bebbington
Contributing Writer
DAYTON In the early 1900s, the old Wyoming Theater, which faces the intersection of Wyoming Street and Gunckel Avenue, showed silent movies. The arrival of the "talkies" ended its use as a theater. It was a restaurant for a while, and after that, a bar.
However, for about the last 20 years, it's been vacant and has become dilapidated.
Neighbors who live in Walnut Hills appreciated the architecture, but not its neglected appearance. So, armed with paint, brushes and the building owner's permission, neighbors have spent the last two months giving the old theater a fresh, colorful look.
"The only way we're going to get anything done is to do it ourselves," said Gary Leitzell, president of Walnut Hills Association.
Leitzell approached the owner more than a year ago. When nothing happened, Leitzell decided that, rather than complain to the city of Dayton, he would round up a dozen or so people and use $260 of association money to buy paint and equipment.
"It's a matter of community relations, and a sense of pride," said Leitzell. "It wasn't going to get done. This could be done throughout the city. (People need to) take the initiative."
"It looks great; they did a fabulous job," said building owner George *********** of ***** ***********.
***********, has owned the building for three years and is planning on fixing the roof and flooring. He has no definite plans but envisions using the building as offices, or a photography studio. He plans to compensate the Walnut Hills Association, which is a nonprofit group.
"We're tired of looking at everything in Dayton that is dilapidated," said Walnut Hills neighbor David Sparks. "All day long when we worked on it, people came up and thanked us. It just feels really, really good."
The picture is me of course, with your favorite little "munchkin". When she saw it she said "That's me with my daddy at the building!"

There is a reference to this blog so I am seeing lots of local traffic today! Guess I can run but I can't hide.... not that anyone is looking for me.

UPDATE. November 6, 2012. I have been asked to remove the name of the building owner from this blog. He has a problem with it being Googled and associated with a blog named "This Old Crack House". The building was demolished by the city this year. It would appear that the owner who does not wish to be named who planned to fix the roof and floor let the roof and rear wall collapse and the tax payer foot the bill.

The Birds Have Flown!

My 7 pigeons have gone! They have been gone for a few weeks now but I didn't want to celebrate in case they ventured back! Why did they all leave so abruptly? I'm not sure but I think a raccoon may have been involved. The scattering of feathers in the attic crawl space doesn't suggest a case of premature molting in fledgling pigeons. I would be more inclined to say that a severe case of trauma along with the demise of one juvenile and an undisclosed number of pigeon eggs was the real reason our birds became abrupt refugees.

In case you were wondering about the personal hygene of a flock of pigeons, or how much poop a pigeon poops in a year. Here is a picture of the balcony.



Can you say fertilizer?

To answer the earlier question about all the beadboard. It will be going here

A Shellacking Great Weekend!

If you think that all I do is neighborhood projects these days then you are mistaken. I spent the better part of three days, count them, one, two, three, shellacking a floor AND 35 pieces of 12 foot beadboard! After inhaling all those alcohol fumes from 1.5 gallons of clear shellac applied to the parlor floor to produce this;



I got to use another 2 quarts of amber shellac on these;



and these;



When that was all done, I got to put two coats of spar urethane on all this beadboard.

What is all the beadboard for? I'll elaborate in the next post. If you need a clue though, how about this "Got Pigeons?"