santa beware this aint your mommas chimney

this year we decided to drop a stove pipe down the chimney so as to make it a little more user friendly. cleaning the old chimney was not a very efficient, it took many passes with the brush and you could not see the results. being the paranoid person i am i feared that the creosote would be building up in places the brush wasn't getting(i was right).

when i pulled out the fireplace insert there was an inch or two of build up not very safe. so after a good cleaning and a not so nice dusting of the black sot all over the place(should have cut off the fans):( Malia later was hanging out in her walker and her white started to wear off her feet.

i then went out the the handy dandy home improvement store and picked up some supplies. when we got home me and Malia put together the exhaust pipes with ring clamps(bad idea, wasn't thinking) i then got on the roof and slid them down the chimney. they got stuck so as i tried too pull them out you guessed it they came undone mother #@*&^&%. i was able to get 2 sections out but the third was a lost cause but it came out with a Little persuasion. the pic shows the completed section and the bent up piece.

me and Malia then went back to the man cave and screwed them together using sheet metal screws(thumbs up). good thing i had picked up a extra section, back to the roof and down the chimney they went this time with out a hitch. next problem is the exhaust doesn't lineup with the port on the stove and only a 3inch gap too work with. but being the engineer that i am back to the store we went and picked up 2 air duct pieces and with a bit of trimming and some screws, hooked them together.

then i attached to the already in place exhaust pipes(as in pic) then slid up into place. now just to push the insert back in place align and hook up. here's a couple of pics of the pipes coming out of the old chimney, and a Little smoke to test her out. then trim her down and put the cap back on

done diddly done.

put that in what in where?

just a quick pick of one of the new home improvement projects to take place in this up coming month. down the street from the house a bank remodel is taking place. one evening as i drove by. i saw a stack of insulation that looked to be disposed of, so after a quick inquirer i was told too help myself. so not being one to want to waste some perfectly good insulation i loaded it up and took it back to the man cave, were it was not so neatly stacked but out of the weather. after 3 or 4 trips and a serious fiberglass itch, there it sits awaiting to be installed under the house.

yep i said under the house. through out all these cold NC winters we have came to notice a mean cool air, arising from the floor. well with closer inspection i see we have no insulation down under. and with a new addition 2 the family(Malia) my lovely wife informed me that we(i) might want to address this before the cruel winter is upon us, and i agreed:) so with this new project on the horizon, and a pricey cost of new insulation i opted 4 the affordable price of free 99.

4 the fun to begin i will have to move all the insulation, carefully through an outside air vent.then crawl under and install(easier said then done). so i look forward 2 many trips down under and many sleepless itchy nights. good times

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snake in the grass

just trying to finish up some of the little projects around here. here is one for Holly's class my wife found a snake skin in the grass outside the house and i thought i would glue it to a board and put some polyurethane over it.

so i glued it and put a first coat on and then cut out a snake shape around the snake skin. as the pics show the finished cut out now just a bunch of coats left to go, and maybe add some beady eyes.

my names not hank this blogs about that tank

yet another home project is yet under way. me and my sweet old lady bought a new propane tank and had it hooked up, so we could get rid of an unwanted annual bill and eye sore. here is a pic of the gas tank retrieval man and his mission. he has too pull the tank across the yard as not to damage the delicate shrubs(he was not a happy camper). you can see the new tank already hooked up and userfreindly against the left corner of the house.

under some advise the tank man decided to try and pull the tank from a different angel(smart move) less distance and less impact on the fine greenery(grass) and walk. so here is a couple pics of the drag.

i can see why the guy was not happy look at all the hard work he is doing, if you zoom in 8x you can see him start to think about sweating. all and all he was a good sport.

all said and done the tank removal was a success no loss of life, damaged property or unhappy customers. here is a last pic of the tank on the truck getting strapped down. the pic is a Little shady

Another attempt?

Maybe the 3rd times the charm here?
Things have gotten a little busy, but looking back, im ashamed to see that my last post was way back in December! Shame on me! my poor hubby has done a tremendous amount of work since then and i havent talked about it!
Since December, as most of you well know, we have had our baby girl :) and here we are 4 months later! Time really flies!
All the drywall finally got hung, then started the Bathroom reno.
Most of you know how SMALL the bathroom was at one time! David had been talking for sometime about making it bigger. We had wasted space in the hall to expand. Since we were expecting, then was the time to do it. So, he did! starting out it seemed like and easy enough job. (Im coming to think thats how all these projects start!) Just make a new wall, bust out the old, lay new floor, and POOF! new bathroom!! if only it happened that way! The wall went up without a hitch! Thanks to some fatherly help! Then came time to take out the existing walls, made of cinder block! I thought this would be the hard part, but little did i know!
Starting from the old chimney in the attic, David made his way down with wall #1. Then the next, then the next. This went a lot faster than I had anticipated! great! this should be done in no time with time to spare for baby prep!! not so much! after ALL the plumbing...fixing the hotwater line, figuring out why the hotwater heater wasnt working, moving the drain pipe, replacing all the hotwater lines all together etc...lets just say for a little while i was peeing in a pot due to no toilet, and showering at the Y due to no bathtub! Long story short, the bathroom is now complete! (minus a few minor details!) and our baby girl is here with us! these will be memories we will never forget!

getting there!!

After MUCH hanging, sanding, painting etc...I am happy to announce that the largest part of the drywall project is complete!! we were walking around in a winter wonderland of sorts! there was white stuff EVERYWHERE! We really tried our hardest not to track it through the house, but it didnt work to well! especially with a dog who doesnt understand! but that part is behind us...now, our dining room is in the living room, so we are still all moved around. The only one who seems to mind is Barkley...he gets very nervous and doesnt understand what the heck is going on, and why do we keep moving his bed around!

Now David is in the dining room hanging away. The same process, just another room!

After this, he is going to attempt to patch the kitchen ceiling. It is not tile like the others, but it is popcorn. He plans to try and scrape it and patch some obvious mistakes from the previous owner. Hopefully it will go as planned! otherwise he will have to take down the old drywall and replace it with new...

In other news, we got the new hallway wall painted! now it blends in with the others and looks like its always been there!

it continues...

Well, the master bedroom is now finnished, and has become our makeshift living room for the time being...

Now, the hallway (which has also had quite a few changes) and the livingroom ceilings are being drywalled.while all this is going on, the big bathroom renovation has begun!

It all started a few weeks ago...here is what the hallway looked like before...there was a lot of wasted space here that lead you into a closet-like bathroom. most of you know just how small this bathroom is. just enough room for the bathtub, toilet and sink. it serves its purpose, but its time for an upgrade! Its also a good idea to get yet another (and possibly the final) big project done before the new addition to the family comes :)

The plan is to take just about all this unused space, even the old linnen closet and make a nice big bathroom.

David started by removing all the trim, baseboards, and linnen closet doors down. This was all the "prep" needed before framing out the new wall...for that he called in some professional help from over in Shelby to assist him.

Once the help came (aka Dad!) all the big work started. first with some assesing of the situation, then with a trip to the local hardware store to get all necessary supplies...Wood, screws etc...

They completely built the frame before actually having it in the hall. Before the end of day 2 the frame was built, put in place and drywalled!