Days 127-131: May 23-27

I worked mainly on Martha's trim this week. The baseboards all over the house got an additional two caps. This helped hide the electrical lines that were installed where an old cap had been.

I also did a couple of smaller jobs, such as installing two basement windows, getting the hot water heater running (it needed a new thermocoupler and relief valve), and got the shower mixer working.

Mark and his friends mainly mudded. It seems like an endless job when in the middle, but now we're on the downward slope. He and Jessica should be ready to paint soon.

Days 117-124; May 14-21

The week flew by, for more reasons than one. But the final push is on.

Started out the week by putting drywall on the dining room and kitchen ceilings. By the end of the week, Mark and his friends had the living room ceiling done as well, and a good start on the mudding.

The bathtub surround is now finished and the tub installed. It was tough to see the final two access holes to the tub drain----through the wall in the stairway and the ceiling in the living room---boarded up with drywall. All safety nets are gone. It's time for the systems to perform.

We also agreed on a final price this week. The transition of ownership is starting to harden like a thick coat of mud (that analogy is for the drywallers among us).

Day 116: May 11, 2011

Got the final batch of insulation installed. Altogether, Martha took 36 bags of blown-in insulation. She should be set for any weather.

Day 115: May 10, 2011

Another good day. I got some of the final portions of the electrical work done and started on building the shower surround in the bathroom. Mark go the first coat of mud finished on the upstairs.

We intend to insulate sometime this week and have the upstairs ready for paint by this weekend or early next week.

Day 114: May 9, 2011

Got the flashing around the chimney replaced----just in time since, according to the weather man, there will be rain the next 10 days.

Getting this job done is important for several reasons. Now we can put in the rest of the insulation, which means we can finish installing drywall downstairs. And it's the last of the big jobs that take up a day or more. Psychologically, having it out of the way gives us a boost.

Day 111: May 6, 2011

Nine hours of mudding. Not my favorite way to spend a Friday.

Mark couldn't work today because of a commitment at his job. He plans on working some on Saturday.

Day 110: May 5, 2011

Very good day. Mark taped all the butt joints (no laughing, please) upstairs, then moved downstairs and got much of that done, as well.

I finished the outdoor light circuit, got the ceiling fan in the bathroom vented through the north side of the house, and made the hot air run to the kitchen through a register in the toe kick of a cabinet.

Day 109: May 4, 2011

Good day. Mark, with the help of a friend, got the horizontal drywall seams taped upstairs. I finished the kitchen drain and water supply (we've now got water!) and worked on the last electrical replacement circuit---two outdoor lights.

Day 108: May 3, 2011

Short day today. Both Mark and I had afternoon commitments.

Mark prepared to begin mudding the drywall tomorrow. I worked on the cold air plenum for the furnace and the plumbing in the kitchen.

Day 107: May 2, 2011

Woke up to the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. What we're doing at Martha pales in comparison to the larger changes in history now taking place.

That said, we kicked some butt today. Mark has all of the drywall on the walls downstairs finished. Only the ceilings and a small strip to allow for more blown-in insulation remain. Nice, clean walls give Martha a whole new attitude.

I've been spending my days in the basement, working on the house's different systems. The water was turned on today, which again seems like Martha is stirring back to life after a major operation. (So far, no leaks.) I'm currently building a wooden plenum to consolidate all the cold air returns.

Day 104: April 29, 2011

We're making progress. Mark has the living and dining rooms virtually drywalled, and the kitchen ready to receive drywall. I got the water supply and gas supply systems hooked up, and started on the furnace installation.

Here are some photos:

Day 103: April 28, 2011

Got the gas line run to the furnace and hot water heater, complete with a shut-off valve.

Finished the running water "command center." Now all that needs done is the PEX lines run to it.

Built the chase in the dining room.

Mark continued drywall work in the dining room.

Day 102: April 27, 2011

Got the bathtub drain finished. Once the surround it built, the tub can go in.

Started making a PVC "command center" for hot and cold running water.

Mark is continuing his assault on the downstairs drywall. He got everything he could up in the living room and is starting on the dining room.

Day 101: April 26, 2011

I continued work on the kitchen drain (finished) and the bathroom drain. Mark worked on the living room drywall.

Mark reported dampness on the south living room wall, above the fireplace. It appears we have a leak in the flashing around the chimney. When the rain stops (IF the rain stops), we'll get up on the roof and take a look.

In the afternoon, Mark and I picked up the bathtub, which had been on special order from Menard's. I also placed orders for two basement windows.

Day 100: April 25, 2011

Day 100. It seems fitting for a milestone to fall on a day like this. It seems as if possession of Martha is slowly flowing from our hands to Mark and Jessica's.

I spent the day installing new pipe to supply gas to the water heater and furnace, and working on drains in the kitchen and bathroom. Mark and a couple of his friends were busy pulling in trailer-loads of possessions, which are now stored in the garage. A child's slide appeared in the backyard, like a spring flower.

Day 97: April 22, 2011

Tied up a lot of loose ends today.

Mark finished the cleanup, caulked cold air returns and installed the bathroom hot air duct.

I finished the garage electrical, fixed the basement stairway light fixture and re-installed the baseboard.

Day 96: April 21, 2011

Worked on the garage electrical. Picked up the furnace and air conditioner from Carter's in Corunna.

Mark did a massive cleanup. It gave Martha a different feel.

Day 95: April 20, 2011

Worked for a while again on the new bathroom hot air duct, but hit a snag where it will make a turn under the bathroom floor. Decided to look for a solution among the different sizes of duct at Menard's.

Refocused on other areas. Got the west bedroom closet (through which the hot air ducts run) ready for drywall. Almost completed electrical work in the garage. (Since the power lines to the garage do not have a ground wire, we're sinking a rod into the ground and running the wire to it.)

As I left for MacKenzie's tennis match, Mark was pulling nails from the kitchen walls and getting it ready for drywall.

Day 94: April 19, 2011

Worked on the hot air ducts. Had hoped to reuse the old duct to the bathroom, but after messing around with it for a while, decided it would be easier to replace it. Mark made a path for it in the living room wall.

Got a good start on the garage wiring.

Day 93: April 18, 2011

Finished the cold air returns in the basement and got a start on the hot air ductwork.

Here are the promised photos:

Day 92: April 17, 2011

Dave, Betsy, Mark, Jessica and I met for lunch at restaurant across Wayne Street from Martha. Discussed details of loan and storing items in garage.

Day 90: April 15, 2011

Worked on cold air returns. Had to move some earlier electrical work, but otherwise went smoothly.

Day 89: April 14, 2011

Leveled and installed a new sub-floor in the bathroom. The room now has an entirely different feel.

I'll try to get pictures tomorrow.

Day 88: April 13, 2011

I had a caricature gig today at Pokagon State Park, so didn't work on Martha.

Mark and a buddy removed the furnace. That first big basement room now looks even bigger.

Day 87: April 12, 2011

Began the process of removing the old furnace. May be tougher than first anticipated. Lots of cast iron that will need to be hammered out.

Got a cold air return nearly completed.

Put three ceiling fans out on the curb for anyone to take. (It's Scavenger Week in Angola.) I went down the basement for about 1/2 hour. When I came back up, all three fans were gone.

Ordered the new furnace and central AC unit today from Carter's in Corunna. Should be in yet this week.

Day 86: April 11, 2011

The plumbing vent system is now all done.

Completed the electrical circuit for the dishwasher and put up a new porch light.

Mark got all of the cold air returns on the second floor made airtight, and has started on the downstairs runs.

Day 83: April 8, 2011

Worked more on the plumbing vents.

Day 82: April 7, 2011

Worked on the plumbing vents. Installed the new living room window.

Day 81: April 6, 2011

Great day. Replaced the old cast iron soil stack with PVC, including a new boot for the vent pipe through the roof. The kitchen sink had not previously been vented (which must have made it drain slowly), so that problem will be solved.

This was the toughest part of the remaining plumbing work. The end is within sight.

Day 80: April 5, 2011

Finished the electrical in the kitchen. Mark took up all of the subfloor in the bathroom.

Day 79: April 4, 2011

Mark removed cement from the bathroom floor. It was at least two inches thick. We surmise that in a past renovation, or possibly over TWO past renovations, the cement was used to level the subfloor. We've decided to remove the old subfloor for both quality of the new floor, and also to allow full access for the new plumbing.

I finished the electrical circuits servicing the living room and dining room. Only the kitchen, bathroom and basement to go.

Day 76: April 1, 2011

Did lots of recycling and cleanup on Friday. It now feels as if there's more room to move.

Insulated the west bedroom closet and installed outlets upstairs. The electrical work upstairs is just two or three outlets away from completion and the work downstairs is more than half done.

Mark finished drywalling the west bedroom closet. Except for the bathroom, the upstairs is ready for mud and trim work.

Day 75: March 31, 2011

On Wednesday, Mark and I were both busy outside Martha, so no work was done. Four Angola High School students died in a car crash on Saturday, and the whole community---the high school in particular----is reeling. My sophomore daughter, MacKenzie, can't wait for this week to be over.

Back to work on Thursday. Got the GFCI circuit run in the kitchen. Mark and I both worked on drywall installation in the bedroom closets. Then Mark finished two on his own. Next we'll concentrate on the bathroom.

Day 73: March 29, 2011

Started on the kitchen electrical. Found lots of goofy wiring from years past.

Mark completed drywall in the west bedroom and removed more of the bathroom floor, which should now be ready to plumb.

Day 72: March 28, 2011

Got the three-way switch in the hallway and the outlets in the living room working, Got a good start on the dining room electrical.

Mark finished the drywall in the south bedroom.

Day 69: March 25, 2011

Because of the huge mess created by the blown-in insulation, we spent all of our time today in clean up. Although it didn't advance the remodeling of Martha at all, it felt as if we accomplished a lot. The old girl looks better now than she has since the project began.

Here are some photos:

Day 68: March 24, 2011

In the morning, Mark and I finished drywalling the ceiling of the west bedroom closet.

In the afternoon/evening, we conducted the first session of blown-in insulation. Old Martha took 19 bags of the stuff, and we figure we're only half done. The difference should be huge. I already noticed that when upstairs, outside sounds seem muffled.

Day 67: March 23, 2011

Ran out of drywall, so worked on a bunch of little things today. I got virtually all of the electrical lines run in the living room. Mark removed the bathtub and the wall behind it. (The wall was hiding a strangely-shaped space created by the dramatic slope of the dormer roof.)

Day 66: March 22, 2011

A milestone has been reached: Moved the scaffolding downstairs!

Started work on the living room electrical and may begin drywalling the ceiling tomorrow.

Am also considering doing blown-in insulation in two sessions, rather than one. This would allow us to finish drywalling the upstairs and yet leave the attic open for changes until the very end of the project.

Martha is taking on elegance as the blemishes disappear.

Day 65: March 21, 2011

Finished drywall in east bedroom closet (except for outside walls). Finished ceiling in the bedroom and got a start on one wall.

Put up drywall in the hallway.

Talked about plans for the bathroom. I told Mark to make a list of things he'd like to put in the bathroom and then we'll present the plan to Dave and Betsy.

Day 62: March 18, 2011

Got electrical in east bedroom finished. Put up drywall in that bedroom's closet. Ordered window for bottom of stairway from Menard's.

I've been delinquent in posting photos, so here's a few to catch up:

Day 61: March 17, 2011

Put drywall up in hallway down to landing. Can see the first floor from here. We're making progress.

Got three-way switch in hallway wired.

Day 60: March 16, 2011

Put up drywall in hallway. Worked on electrical in east bedroom.

Day 59: March 15, 2011

Met at Leslie Remenschneider's office in Fort Wayne and signed a sales agreement. I was surprised at how official it was. We're committed now.

Day 58: March 14, 2011

Worked on electrical in east bedroom.

Day 55: March 11, 2011

Big day. Mark's father, brother and friend stopped by to help. We got a lot done.

The south bedroom closet now has new drywall, except on the outside walls. It also has a working switch, light and outlet.

The west bedroom is also ready to mud, except the outside wall.

The bathroom is now cleaned up and ready to be renovated. Mark seems to have settled on a plan that will keep the plumbing in virtually the same place, making that part of the job easier.

The basement is now clear of debris, which makes it a lot nicer to navigate.

The biggest change, though, is in the dining room. Mark's father and brother widened the doorway in both directions. The difference is striking. It makes the flow much more natural between the two rooms. One pleasant surprise was how much light now comes into the kitchen from the south windows. The feel of the both rooms has completely changed.

Mark and Jessica now have the bank's pre-approval in hand, so we can set up a meeting to formalize our sales agreement next week.

Mark and I have discussed several trade-offs. In exchange for my finishing off the wider dining room doorway, Mark will fix the stucco on the outside foundation. In exchange for my framing in and drywalling an extension of the downstairs closet (for eventual use as a bathroom), Mark will install the walk-in door in the garage.

Day 54: March 10, 2011

I got the circuit for the west bedroom hooked up, so there is power and light in the room. Mark and I finished drywalling the bedroom (except for the outside wall). There's also now a working light and switch in the south bedroom closet.

I took down the trim around the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. In exchange for Mark taking on the responsibility of fixing the foundation stucco and the side door awning, I said I'd widen the kitchen doorway. Now is the time to do it: when Martha is a mess and the walls are receiving new skins.

Day 52: March 8, 2011

Mark and I finished drywalling the ceiling in the west bedroom. Later I got some wiring done and filled the dumpsters for Thursday pick up. (I'm working in Indianapolis tomorrow.)

Day 51: March 7, 2011

I did some electrical work and marked the ceiling for receiving drywall in the west bedroom.

Mark and I put up drywall in the south bedroom closet and the first two big pieces of the west bedroom.

In the afternoon, I got the south bedroom electrical circuit hooked up. There's now light and power upstairs!

Day 47: March 3, 2011

I just realized that if Martha's renovation is really a 90-day project, then we've passed the half-way point. Lot of work still to be done . . .

Mark and I installed drywall on the south bedroom walls. The only wall left bare was the outside wall, which will receive blown-in insulation before it's zipped up.

Because the walls are so thick with plaster, lathe and now drywall, conventional remodeling electrical boxes won't work, so I have to buy some extra-long screws. Once I do, then I can get the south bedroom circuit hooked up, and we'll have our first working electrical outlets and lights upstairs.

I insulated the south bedroom closet ceiling, so it is now ready for drywall.

I'm out of town on Friday, so that's it for posts this week.

Day 45: March 1, 2011

We found a realtor to create our official sales agreement: Leslie Remenschneider. She gave both Dave, Betsy and I and Mark and Jessica a couple of small steps to take care of, then we'll meet with her at her Fort Wayne office.

Day 44: Feb. 28, 2011

I rewired the west bedroom today.

While up in the attic, I noticed that there's a nice new fan for venting the attic on hot days. Right now, it's hooked up to a switch that is located inside the funny half-closet in the bathroom. While at Menards, I got a temperature-sensitive switch made specifically for these fans. I'll install it in the attic and set it so that the fan kicks on whenever the temperature gets above 100 degrees.

Venting the attic reduces cooling costs and makes the roof last longer.

Day 43: Feb. 27, 2011

We have a verbal agreement to sell Martha.

Dave, Betsy and I met for lunch today with Mark and Jessica. We intend to make a creative sales agreement that allows Mark and Jessica to remodel Martha to their tastes and needs.

I just realized how crazy the above paragraph sounds, so before anyone calls the police on us, let me state for the record that Martha is a house.

Our next step is to find a realtor who will make our agreement formal and serve as a guide in transferring ownership.

Day 41: Feb. 25, 2011

I got frustrated working in the dark of the basement, so I installed a new circuit that includes all the basement lights, plus the lights in the hallway to the basement. I kept the hallway switch where it had been, but moved the basement switch down to where you turn on the landing to head down the stairs.

Doing the installation required a lot more deconstruction, so the basement is a mess again.

Day 38: Feb. 22, 2011

I just took a quick tour back through the blog. It's fun to see the progress and changes in plans. I have to keep up this blog: it will be a priceless reminder of the Martha experience.

You may have noticed the "Day" count in this blog's title jumped. I was only counting workdays, but that didn't make sense. So I changed the count to reflect the number of days since we received the keys to Martha. When I have a chance, I'll go back and change the other blog titles. My goal is to make this a 90-day project. (Who just laughed?)

The play is over, so I have my evenings back. Now the snow is with us. An ice storm Sunday night closed schools on Monday. This morning, there's more snow coming down.

I was making great progress on heat runs when my reciprocating saw died. Instead of putting the runs in the living room wall (and making a chase necessary), I decided to put them in the kitchen wall. This makes a straight run from where the new furnace will be located, through the west bedroom closet, and into the attic. The other wall in the kitchen already has a chase for a cold-air duct, so I'll simply put 45-degree angled ceilings on opposite walls. No one will know they hide ductwork. Plus, this lets me put some electrical wiring outside the walls, making the electrical work easier.

The route through the bedroom closet will bump out the wall behind the door a good 6-8 inches, but once it's dry-walled over, I don't think anyone will be able to tell it wasn't an original wall.

Anyhoo, after the saw died (may it rest in peace), I spent the rest of the day working on wiring the kitchen. I almost finished, so that feels good. I'll have to make a trip to Auburn to buy a new saw. (I'm a tool snob, so I have to buy them at Home Depot.)

Right now the house is virtually without electricity. I made a temporary circuit to give my tools power and to run the furnace. Other than that, I've torn out so much old wiring that I decided not to try to determine what is on which circuit, etc. Instead, I'm just tearing it all out and starting new at the box.

PM

I spent most of today cleaning up so that I had two trash bins full for collection tomorrow. The basement now looks much bigger (and cleaner).

I also finished running wiring for kitchen lights and lights in the hallway leading to the basement.

The following photos show what the east kitchen wall now looks like (baring the studs was necessary to get the hot air ducts up to the second floor). The second photo shows how I ran wire outside of the kitchen wall. (It will be covered up with the 45-degree chase that is necessary to allow the ducts to go through the second story floors.) The third photo shows the holes in the bedroom closet floor where flexible duct will be used to get the heat into the attic (the flexible ducts will then be connected to the heat diffusers in the bedroom ceilings). And the final photo shows the attic access, which is in the back of that funny half-closet in the bathroom.

Day 21: Feb. 14, 2011

Worked on installing hot air ducts to the bedrooms. I may have to make a small chase in the living room floor, but it will be in a corner and shouldn't attract attention.

My posts will be short this week. I got involved in a local theater production and we practice every evening. My blog time will be limited.

Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011

Dave, Betsy and I toured Martha with Jessica and Mark Compton (and their son).

Day 20: Feb. 11, 2011

Mainly worked on electrical today. Made holes for placement of ceiling fixtures in the bedrooms and upstairs hallway. Because the bedrooms are so wide, I decided to go with two fixtures instead of one. The same thing in the hallway: there will now be a light above the upper level of stairs, and one around the corner to light the hallway.

Day 19: Feb. 10, 2011

Put up the first piece of drywall up in the south bedroom. Getting full pieces of drywall up the stairs is going to be tricky. To make it easier, I completed demolition of the hallway and took down the hand railing.

I was in such a destructive mood that I continued into the bathroom. Another surprise: behind the bathtub was a hidden 6-by-8 foot space. Like in the closets, its a space made virtually unusable by the slope of the roof. I'm not sure we can do anything with it. (It could either be added to the bathroom or make a gnome-like storage space for the east bedroom.) But opening it up certainly makes the bathroom look different.

Speaking of the bathroom, I'll start on it once the bedrooms are done. We should make plans of what we want to do now. The toilet and sink should probably remain where they are. The plumbing is new and in good shape. Locating the shower or bathtub or whatever will be the challenge. I found a 3-piece walk-in shower unit at Menard's that seemed pretty classy. Perhaps because of the strange space, a shower AND a bathtub? We can talk about it when you visit.

Showed Martha to a young couple who arrived just as I was finishing up for the day. They seemed to appreciate Martha even though she's stripped down to her underwear at the moment.

Day 18: Feb. 9, 2011

Cleaned up the south bedroom in preparation for drywall. I want to "finish" this room to test whether the methods of running electrical, ductwork, insulating, prepping the walls is being done efficiently. I won't finish the outside wall since it will receive blown-in insulation and I'll do the insulating all at once (or, more realistically, in two big steps).

While I was at it, I cleaned up the closet, too. You might remember this closet as being so large, and decorated in such a way that we wondered if it had been used as a nursery. I stuck my hands down between studs and found, much to my surprise, that there were no headers (diagonal 2-by-4's). In other words, the wall cavities extend from the second floor all the way to the first floor. This will make insulating easier.

Day 17: Feb. 8, 2011

The electrical work is really coming along.

Now here's a question: should I put in any cable TV wires as long as I'm running wires? Right now there are cables, but they run along the floor and are in the way. Putting them in now wouldn't be much work or expense.

And, I don't know how you feel about this decision, but I've ripped out all of the old telephone wires (which, you might remember, were also running along the floor every which way, mostly under the carpets) and I don't intend to replace them. In my view, the days of wired phones are very limited. But I understand that some potential buyers, particularly older couples, might want land lines. So if you'd like me to put phone lines in, let me know (soon). They won't be any more trouble or expense than cable lines.

Day 16: Feb. 7, 2011

Worked more on the electrical today. Found some really dangerous wiring up in the attic. I think I said this earlier, but I'm probably going to rewire everything. This will be much more efficient than trying to decide what to keep. For example, much of what now appears to be new wiring actually gets its power from old knob-and-tube wiring. Not only is this unsafe, but there's no way to know what's grounded and what isn't. Plus, the holes in the walls for ductwork make the electrical work easy.

I will put each room on its own circuit. I may have said this earlier, too, but even though there are 20 circuits, all of the upstairs and a good portion of the downstairs are on just one circuit. This is probably due to the previous renovator not knowing exactly which wires went where. A whole new system will be a big improvement.

Day 15: Feb. 4, 2011

Got ALL the way down to Muncie this morning just to find out that school had been called off. Grrrr. I'm sure I'll get lots of apologies from the program organizer, who promised to call me BEFORE I left if there was a delay or cancellation. The apologies, though, will do little to make up for the nine hours I've spent on the road in two different trips.

Anyhoo, since I was going by Ashley on the way home, I stopped at Carter's Lumber. They gave me estimates of $2,500 and $2,200 for 95% efficiency furnace/central AC units. I'll keep looking, but either of those options sound good to me. The furnace is the same brand I put in my house 15 years ago. It's still chugging along.

I'm heading over to Martha right now, so will post more later.

PM

Even though it was a short day, I made good progress.

I've decided to use one bedroom as a test case for how to attack several problems. Since I intend to cover the walls and ceilings with 1/4-inch drywall (to avoid having to remove muliple layers of wallpaper and deal with other blemishes), any holes I make in the plaster will be covered.

I think I hit upon a way to run electrical wires. I removed just the top part of the baseboard (it's original wood, but since it's been painted and other bad things have been done to it, I don't feel it's worth saving.) Then I run new wire along the outside of the wall just above the remaining portion of baseboard. Where an outlet will go, I make a hole. The wire goes into the wall for a short distance, then comes out of the outlet hole. The photos should explain.

Finally, the wires will be covered with new pieces of molding on top of the old baseboard.

This method makes the work go quickly. Despite fooling around in finding this method, I almost rewired completely one bedroom in a couple of hours.

Day 10: Jan. 28, 2011

I finally posted photos with the previous blog (Day 9). I haven't yet figured out how to move the photos around, so they make for a pretty clumsy layout.

I started running electrical wires yesterday afternoon and almost got one bedroom completed. All of the work in making paths for heat and cold air should now pay off.

I spent today working on art for a local theater production and am leaving tonight for a weekend job in Muncie. I'll be back in touch on Monday.

Day 9: Jan. 27, 2011

AM

All of the holes for cold air returns are made.

The hole for the bedroom above the living room is most efficiently located right above the cold air return serving the living room. As a result, I've opted for a gravity cold air return instead of creating a chase alongside the front door. My reasoning is that it avoids the question of what shape the chase would take (and how might break up the living roo

m in an unpleasing way). It might lose some efficiency in drawing cold air out of the bedroom, but it will also allow warm air from the living room to filter up to the bedroom. The trade-off should be a wash.

Day 8: Jan. 26, 2011

AM

Made more holes. The going was so slow, I took a break and cleaned up a little bit.

It looks as if I'll have to put a small chase in the dining room, but it will be near the ceiling and on a corner that will only be seen when someone is exiting the kitchen, so it should be almost unnoticeable.

Instead of putting a chase behind the refrigerator, I put it underneath a cabinet, then into the wall cavity, then in a chase on the ceiling.

If I can get all of the pathways created this week, I'll be happy. As I said earlier, the pathways will also help with running electrical lines, so those should go more quickly.

I found a 1948 calendar. Nearby, inside the wall, was a board with a name on it (I can't remember the name right now) and "USA Army." Drawn in a childish hand on the board was a picture of an airplane shooting. I would guess that the veteran's little brother drew it. Anyhoo, I'll save it for the "museum."

PM

I forgot my camera, so will post photos tomorrow.

I've removed wallpaper from a fairly large area in the living room to try to determine how long it would take to do the whole room. The test extrapolates to 12 hours for the walls and another 12 hours for the ceiling. Doable, but time consuming.

I've decided instead to cover the wall and ceilings with 1/4 inch drywall. It should cut the time in half and will produce a better result.

Day 7: Jan. 25, 2011

A slog-it-out day. Made a lot more holes for cold and hot air runs. The old lady (Martha) is currently quite a mess. It's trash day, though, so I'll spend some time getting both bins filled up.

Betsy: give me your input on making those built-in bookshelves by the front door, versus a simple, small chase. I had a friend stop by the house and she remarked that the bookshelves would break up the room. But she also said she liked the idea of having a little entryway area. (So in other words, she was no help at all.) I like the bookshelves, but then I wonder what the north part of the room would be used for. I need some design advice.

I'll take my camera and get some pictures today.

Day 6: Jan. 24, 2011

AM

Roll, Pack!

I've come up with a plan to get heat and cold air returns to the second floor.

I found a hole in the dining room floor for a cold air return in exactly the same spot I would have made one. When that's hooked up, the downstairs ductwork is finished.

To get heat upstairs, I intend to go through the living room wall into the attic by way of the half closet in the bathroom. Once in the attic, the heat will enter the three bedrooms through registers in the ceilings.

Cold air will return through a variety of paths. All of the bedroom returns will be in the floors to draw the warm air down from the ceilings.

One bedroom return will go from the basement into the built-in dining room cabinet, then up through a wall. (I'll cut the drawers in half, but leave the drawer fronts as they are. No one will know the space is being used for cold air until they pull out a drawer.)

Another bedroom return will go through a chase in the kitchen. I'll either build out the wall behind the refrigerator about 4 inches, or else have the air go through the wall until it gets near the ceiling, where there will be a small chase.

The third bedroom will be served by a chase in the living room, right behind the front door. My current plan is to put a 12-inch chase inside a 4-foot set of built-in shelves and display area, as shown in the rough drawing. If you think this is too ambitious, I can cut it back to just the 12-inch chase.

Finally, a cold air return will be installed in the upstairs hallway to draw warm air upstairs and into the hall from the bedrooms. To serve it, I'll put a small chase in the dining room closet.

On the way home for lunch, I stopped in the library and looked in old phone directories to try to learn more about who lived in the house and when it was built. By 1923, there was a Glad A. Hendry and his wife Stella living in the house with their four children. Hendry's profession was listed as "salesman."

In both 1957 and 1967, Orval E. White is shown as the resident. No wife or profession was listed for Orval, although by the later date he was shown as "retired."

A cost accountant for Moore Business Forms lived in the house in 1977: Peter C. Garner and his wife Kathleen.

And in 1987, Harvey A. and Bernice Cunningham lived in the house.

PM

I got the pathway for the upstairs cold air return made. I'll also use the paths for any new electrical lines. We'll need several lines to the upstairs. Right now, all of the bedrooms, the bathroom and part of the basement are on one circuit.

Day 5: Jan. 21, 2011

Weird day.

I left home at 5:30 AM and made it to the south side of Fort Wayne by 6:30. Then I got a call from the Muncie school to which I was headed. School had been delayed, which meant the programs had to be rescheduled. So I turned around and headed back home.

Since I had an unexpectedly free morning, I fulfilled a promise to my neighbor and worked on art for a poster promoting a local community theater production.

After buying $40 worth of ductwork, I made it to the house in the afternoon. I spent a couple of hours looking for routes from the basement to the upstairs bedrooms. In doing so, I traced a couple of electrical circuits. They are a mess. It only makes sense to do some of the electrical work simultaneously with the ductwork, since both will be using the same pathways.

Using the interior wall between the living and dining rooms, I believe I found a path to the center bedroom. I plan to run both a heat and cold-air ducts within the wall.

I started a photo album of the house project at http://lsauer.tripod.com/martha_street_flip.

Day 4: Jan. 20, 2011

AM

I've got another handyman job this morning and school programs all day tomorrow, so won't have much time to spend on the house the rest of this week.

I intend to spend the time I do have in cleanup and looking for that elusive ductwork path to the second floor.

I looked up some history on the house, and something doesn't make sense. The design is almost certainly "Eclectic Craftsman," but the book I have lists that style as being built from 1905 to 1950. Angola was certainly behind the times, so it would take extra time for a new style to make its way here. That would put the earliest date of the house around the 1920's. But the paperwork we have on the house lists it as being built in 1900.

There's also physical evidence for a 1900 birth date being wrong. The woodwork style is too simple for a 101 year old house, and the basic structure is in too good of shape.

Do your papers have any clues to the date of the house?

PM

The house is a mess, but I'm making progress.

I opened the kitchen heat register, which had been hidden behind paneling. It still works. Same with the cold air return in the living room, which was hidden under carpeting. The only HVAC addition I plan on the ground floor is a cold air return along the west wall of the dining room. That will draw heat from the living room/dining room register, and from the kitchen.

I don't plan to put cold air returns in the kitchen or bathroom. An article on duct placement said you don't want kitchen or bathroom smells circulated throughout the house, which sounds like good advice to me.

There was one heat duct in the basement for which I couldn't find a register. I pulled up carpeting and pulled down paneling on the first floor, then did the same upstairs. Finally, while working on the bathroom floor, I looked up and there it was: a register in the bathroom wall. So there's heat in the upstairs after all!

My current plan is to add a cold air return in the upstairs hall. This will draw air up from the lower floor and out of the bedrooms and bath. I will use the chimney-to-nowhere to pump heat into the attic, where I will distribute it to the three bedrooms. (By the way, the chimney ends in that funny chase in the kitchen.) Then I'll put cold air returns in each bedroom or its closet.

I'm also considering putting the new furnace under the stairway in the west basement room. This will get it out of the way, make duct work more direct, and put the furnace next to an outdoor wall through which it can be vented. (If you remember, the current vent reaches halfway across the basement.) I can get everything hooked up and running before shutting off the old furnace and transferring the ducts.

It's snowing outside. If the school at which I'm scheduled to give programs has a delay, the programs will be postponed until Feb. 5, so I may have another day this week to work on the house.

Day 3: Jan. 19, 2011

AM

I plan to continue demolition today and come up with a prioritized task list.

I called about a dumpster. In just a year, the price has jumped from $350 to $500. I'm going to hold off for now. Most of the material I've removed so far is recyclable. If I can find someone who will take the old paneling as wood to burn, I shouldn't have an unreasonable amount of trash. I have a second trash bin (don't ask how I got it), so I'll take that over to the house. I've currently turned the living room into a trash storage area. Over the weeks, I can slowly throw things away. Perhaps we can avoid a dumpster charge.

In fact, so far I haven't spent any money. The door closer was left over from a handyman job.

PM

Got more done than I expected.

The living room false ceiling is all down. I looked up Armstrong ceiling tiles on the web (the tiles say they were made by the company in 1997). Armstrong has a recycling plant in Muncie. Since I'll be painting in Muncie next weekend, I can drop off the tiles then.

I fit the refuse from the first two days of work into the two trash bins (along with my extra bin, I found a bin at the house). For a moment at least, we were caught up with the trash stream.

We will have lots of wood, especially paneling. If you know someone who burns wood and wants it, let them have it. I'm looking up here for someone who wants wood as well.

Since there was no school, I got my little brother, Blake, to

help. He enjoys demolition. He took down the coal bin in the basement, removed paneling from a bedroom, helped me remove the outside electrical circuit that fed one bedroom's outlets, and helped me look for a way to get heat to the second floor.

We found an interesting possibility. There's an old chimney that was blunted in the attic, so it leads nowhere. We couldn't find its bottom in the basement. My current theory is that the chimney was tied to that unusual chase in the kitchen. Anyway, it might provide us with the space we need to run something from the basement to the second floor.

My priority list is currently this:

1. Run duct work

2. Electrical

3. Insulate

4. Bedroom closet drywall

5. Bedroom wall and ceiling repair

6. Bath remodel

7. Kitchen remodel

8. Living room

9. Dining room

Day 2: Jan. 18, 2011

AM

Work starts today. I hope to install a closer on the front storm door and a programmable thermostat. I'll start demolition for the purpose of creating task and priority lists. To keep track of things, I'll put up a dry erase board temporarily.

PM

There were lots of surprises, most of them pleasant.

I got the storm door closer installed. The photos are below.

I decided not to get a programmable thermostat yet. The furnace is currently set at 50 degrees, and it's very comfortable in the house for working. I wouldn't want to set the temperature any lower at night, or paint wouldn't dry, etc.

I pulled up carpeting in all the rooms. In the living and dining rooms, the floor is in great shape around the edge, but it has obviously been refinished. In the center of both rooms, the floor is in much rougher shape. We'll have to discuss whether or not to refinish the rest of the floor. Most people would cover the center of the floor with an area rug, so the unfinished area wouldn't show.

The bedroom floors are plank subfloors, as we suspected. In two closets and one bedroom, the subfloor has already been painted, and the floors are in very good shape.

We have some decisions to make about the bathroom. The

big cabinet won't work as a shower. It's right above the stairway, so when I pulled up a board, all I saw was lathe and plaster. That leaves the only place for a shower in the corner where the bathtub is located. To make a shower in which a normal person could stand, we'll have to come into the area by the window, so we either make the window waterproof, or board it up.

I pulled paneling off in the living room, dining room, kitchen, a bedroom, and a bedroom closet. Instead of lead paint, as suspected, I found several layers of wallpaper. In most cases, I'd be disappointed with wallpaper. But I consider wallpaper a bonus in this case. Adhesive used to hold up the paneling is stuck to the wallpaper, rather than the wall, which should make wall repair easier. I took off small test areas of wallpaper in all three places. It looks as if it should come off easily.

I pulled down drywall from the basement ceiling and a bedroom closet. This will make electrical and duct work in the basement and upstairs much easier.

Speaking of the furnace, I found a cold air return in the living room. It was simply covered with carpeting, as we suspected. I also found a heat vent in the kitchen.

The kitchen walls are in great shape. I'm going to pull off all the paneling and repair the plaster.

I also removed most of the living room false ceiling. Around 60 percent of the ceiling is in beautiful shape. Around the north fan, however, there appears to have been a water leak. Still, I'm considering just fixing the plaster, rather than installing drywall.

There's more, but I'll save it for another post.