H2-Whoa!

We have a ton of water in our basement. It's pouring right now and is supposed to all day. I can see it running in the SE corner room. Steamatic is on the way to mitigate... accck.

My Hands Are Sore!!

I'll make it short and sweet (but with lots of photos because things were crazy this week) because i'm really tired.

New plumbing on the lower bathroom ceiling (plumbing for the upstairs bath.)

New drywall in the downstairs bath. You can see the shower fixtures installed.

Filled in spot where the old medicine cabinet was. New pedestal sink plumbing installed.

Replaced floorboards in the upstairs bathroom.

Removed lovely old green vinyl flooring in the kitchen.

Removed flooring - you can see where the small addition/crawlspace is.

Pulled the dishwasher out to remove flooring under there (also did under the fridge and stove.)

Called Harold again to haul a load out (hopefully the last)... goodbye kitchen floor!

New drywall going in the back stairwell.

Underlayment installed in the upstairs bath.

Framed out new wall in the bath that separates the crawlspace. New heating duct installed in the wall.

Framed out the new shower and tub deck. Also installed a decent bit of drywall.

Tub deck framed out. Later put a plywood top on here. It's ready to cut out for the whirlpool tub installation.

Framed out the new shower stall in the downstairs bath (the toilet is removed - that's not where it's going!). You'll note there is no upper wall on the left side because the window prevents it.

PETE helped me move the washer/dryer to the basement. It was a bear but thanks a million! I literally couldn't have done it without you.

Baby due date is now in the 50s. Seems like it was just 71 days away. Holy schmoly!

What a Mess

Didn't do much at the Ronalds St. house this weekend (except to discover the location of the coal chute! I have a window that i'll be retro fitting into the opening)

- have to wait for the electrican and plumber to finish up so I can get to work. I did, however do lots of stuff around our current house. As I stated in a previous post, there are water problems in the basement. Both the small spare room and the guest bedroom have wet floors. Unfortunately, i finished these rooms many years ago in the Summer not knowing that there were water problems. Upon discovering some rotten drywall and wood - i un-finished the spare room this weekend. I only took the carpet out of the guest room and think I can get away with leaving the drywall in there despite a bit of rotten-ness in the corner.

In the spare room, I had to remove all of the drywall, take the studs out of the block and smash up all of the old tile. Most of the tile is swept into a pile in the middle and i'll have to remove it later. It's HEAVY when you load up a trashcan with it and I already have enough in the can outside to give the trashman a hernia. I'm going to attempt to wire brush the existing paint off of the walls and use a masonry sealant on them. Then I will probably epoxy coat the floors and hopefully this will resolve the moisture issue. You can see the water coming in through the wall on the picture.



NURSERY
I cleaned up the nursery today and it's really looking pretty good. We need to get a baby in there! Carrie's Mom framed some nostalgic National Park poster cards for us and they look really great. The new mattress is in the crib and waiting for sheets! Word is that Dad nearly has the changing table ready as well. Exciting times are near. Last week at our class, we got to tour the birthing suites and various facilities that we'll head to when the big day is here. The hospital facilities at the U of I are really nice.

Jack Roosevelt Robinson

60 Years Ago Today: Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

A great achievement and a great human being.

GO DODGERS!!!!

Here he is stealing home in the World Series against the hapless Yankees.