How much wood could a woodchuck chuck..

We have been woodchucks here at the house the last few nights. Chucking old wood trim up onto the wall and giving things a more finished look. Granted, I still have holes to fill and another coat or two of paint to apply, but things are looking really good so far!

The old trim we're using came from the house next door that's being demolished soon. It has these nice blocks at the baseboard level that make the doors look like somebody wealthy lives in this house instead of me :)

The molding over my bedroom door - the kitchen side.

My bedroom door from the inside. Fancy pants.



The trim around the window in the office.



The doors and windows that I know how to trim have been trimmed, and now I’m waiting for my knowledgeable reinforcements for guidance on the pocket doors and longer window “tops” to match the molding over the doors.

Aside from that, we vented the dryer and I did my first FULL load of laundry in the house. It was a very successful first run, and very nice to not have to lug a bag of clothes to a laundry far, far away. I’m also having a water softener installed. Water softeners might be more of a Midwest thing: when you talk to people out East, they kind of look at you funny. Because of the mineral content in the water here and the damage it can do to faucets and water heaters – not to mention how dry it makes your skin in the middle of winter – it’s a nice thing to have.

Otherwise, I’ve been nurturing my little Wal-Mart plants, testing out my new toaster, and getting my things organized.

And eating dinner, of course..

The garage has been taken over by sawdust and lumber again for the trim projects, so I have had to scrape the ice off my windshield in the mornings before work, but I can deal with that.

IKEA finally came through for me! BOTH lights hanging in the dining room!

The register covers I got for the hardwood floors. They have a brushed finish that doesn't come across in this picture, but I think they look pretty alright.

Things are coming along – trim isn’t as big a deal as I had made it out to be. Once the doors are finished up, we can start on the baseboard.. I bought all kinds of lumber last weekend for that project, and I’m excited to get started. What a difference THAT will make!  

Setting the Scene - as of last night

Doors in the kitchen! The (pocket) door on the left leads to the bathroom, and the door on the right leads to my bedroom.

Behind Door Number One: More doors! And trim..

...and more trim..

Behind Door Number Two: The bathroom! My mirror still has its cardboard protection, but I figure that's probably for the best right now!

Out in the living room, the bay window has been scraped and sanded down..getting ready for a fresh coat of paint.

Speaking of paint, the fireplace is looking brighter these days! This is just the primer coat..I still haven't totally decided on a color yet.. More to come!

Floor sander, why do you hate me?

Well, the disc-style sander (You know, the one that looked like a floor waxer?) was horrible! Which was really frustrating because so many people had used it successfully and even recommended it. My only guess is that there was some kind of finish on the floor that just didn’t agree with the sandpaper. With the age of the floors, it’s possible there were several layers of finish that didn’t agree with the sandpaper, but oh well. The roommates and I tried our best and stayed late into the night, but our results didn’t come close to matching our efforts.

Another option might have been a chemical stripper – this would have taken the finish(es) and gone about its business. Stripping the floor also would have “saved” the wood, because every time you sand a floor you take away a little bit.. sometimes up to ¼” per sanding. I didn’t like the idea of using a stripper, though. The chemicals are harsh and generally not good for you. Not to mention, cleaning up the stripper is sometimes, itself, a pretty big task.

So, just shy of driving off to the carpet store and scrapping the whole idea, we decided to try a different style sander from a different store. This sander was the older-style belt sander that I’ve heard so many horror stories about (“It’s too fast!” “It gouges the floor!” “It’s so dusty you can’t see!”), but I wanted something that would kick the floor’s ass and this thing did it. Not only was it aggressive enough with the finish, it wasn’t as bad as everyone said. You did have to hang onto it, but it wouldn’t drag you behind it like in the horror stories; it would really only gouge the floor if you weren’t paying attention or if you hit a spot that was significantly higher than another; and this model had a vacuum attachment like the other, so the dust was minimal. We had the floors completely sanded in a day! The better part of a day, but a day nonetheless. There are a few spots I’d like to hit with a finish sander, but all in all, we’re in good shape.

Wood floors in the living room. Leaning toward leaving them a lighter color - any thoughts?

There was also an edge tool that would take care of the area closest to the walls, door openings, or registers where the larger sander couldn’t reach. Everyone pretty much agreed that, while it did the job, it was just too heavy to use for any length of time. We’ve loaded up a handheld belt sander with the appropriate grit and it seems to take care of the edges without too much of a problem.

The other thing our “licensed electrician” (wink) has been working on is light fixtures! There are quite a few of them..or at least it seems that way when your arms are above your head all afternoon. Some of them installed without much of a problem, and some did not. Because the ones we are currently working on came from IKEA, many of them didn’t come with all the parts we need to hang them properly. So, you take the good with the bad with IKEA – super affordable, nice design, never have all the parts J

Close, but no cigar. We need all the parts, IKEA!

With the lights, we’re working on installing the rest of the outlets and switches. The outlets aren’t presenting a problem.. the fact that I’d like to have dimmer switches is. Especially where there are three way switches. If anyone has any ideas about this, feel free to chime in and I’ll pass it along!

Pendant over the kitchen sink.

Progress, progress! Every day!