GimletBlog

First, by way of a mental health break: spring is here! The camellia is finally in bloom, and the lilacs should follow. Pretty! Okay; back to work.

While we’re not as far along as we had hoped to be, we’re happy to report that most of the projects on The Gimlet’s task list are complete or well underway. The family room, laundry room, hallway and staircase are fully wired, plumbed, insulated, and drywalled, plus The Gimlet built some nice shelving in the laundry room. The original homeowners left behind some sheets of water-resistant drywall, so we used that in the laundry room (hence the green wall).

The family room’s gas fireplace insert was installed earlier this week, much to our delight. Not only is it wonderful to have one fully functional, lovely appliance in the midst of the piles of construction debris, but we’ve never owned a remote control that shoots flames before, and are unsure how we lived before possessing such a device. Speaking of flame throwers, rest assured: there will be a new look to the fireplace area and there will be a large high-definition, plasma screen television mounted above the fireplace, but the Man-Cave Monster Television Faction and the Attractive Mantle and Surround Faction are still in negotiations over details.

Back to the list, we decided to drywall the workroom last so it could be used as a staging area for the rest of the remodel, but it is wired and insulated. Yesterday the east bedroom was demolished to the studs and today The Gimlet is adding framing support where needed, updating the wiring, and adding insulation. We only have about one week left before we must return our friend’s panel lift, so the race is on to install as much drywall as possible.

Once the drywall is in place, another friend, The Sheetrocking Swede, has very graciously offered his expertise to mud, tape, and in all ways cover up our mistakes and make the walls look as nice as we’d like them to be. Carpet for the family room, hallway, bedrooms and staircase is on order as well, to be installed after the rooms are painted and finished with crown molding and baseboards to match the upstairs. Our goal is to have the paint, trim and carpet in place by early May to greet our expected houseguests. We can dream, right?

PS: Check out the bar sink. Obviously meant to be.

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I spent the last month wiring lights and pulling cable for outlets. The first project was to put the can lights in place. I wired them together on a 15 amp circuit using 14/2 WG cable. That circuit also has lights for over the bar and will have lights for the hall (likely the last bit of wiring I will do). We have surrounded the rec room with outlets on two 20 amp circuits (12/2 WG). There is also a specific circuit for the future plasma screen TV (15 amp 14/2 WG ) over the fireplace, and two additional 20 amp circuits for the wall common between the rec room and the laundry room. (Your usual narrator has quite a thing for large fish tanks, and I am just planning ahead for a project set for my future.). (more…)

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Since our last posting I finished framing the stairs and the wall in the laundry room. I have two half walls to finish framing in the work room and the laundry room. However, I ran out of lumber and decided to take care of a few other items. With the wall framed in the laundry room, I was able to move the washer and dryer next to each other. Moving the appliances is the easy part. Getting the water, drain and electrical in place is the difficult part. (more…)

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Saturday afternoon the home improvement store delivery truck delivered lumber and insulation for the next phase of our basement remodeling project. One of the delivery men asked if Thing One would like to pull the air horn on the truck. Thing One was very excited to do it. Thing Two does not like loud noises and started to cry.

The first task in the plan was to fix the stair case. Monday after work I pulled out the 1×10 boards out of the wood pile and cut them to fit as risers. I glued the risers in place and then used screws to tie the risers to the treads from underneath and above. Screws on either side of the riser finished it up. I continued until I ran out of screws. I thought I would run to the store to buy more, until I looked outside and saw ice on the roads. (more…)

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Thanksgiving weekend meant I could move forward with the basement remodel. On Thursday morning I pulled down all the ceiling tiles and began to pull down the furring strips. This went rather quickly. On Friday morning, after hitting the big box home improvement sales for supplies to be delivered Saturday, I finished pulling down the furring strips and began to pull down the paneling. Saturday involved renting a large truck and filling it with the refuse that had been pulled down. Uncle B came to help, mainly to move the concrete sink into the truck. Uncle B, Thing One and the Gimlet then finished pulling down the paneling and removed the bar that was anchored to the floor in the rec room. Uncle B and I then took the refuse to the dump. We cleared out 60 lbs short of a ton — 1940 lbs. Now it’s time to rest up for the framing.

(Editor’s note: Since this post was written, the Gimlet has nearly finished remodeling the staircase and has begun framing! More details to follow as time permits.)

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With the plumbing finally, really complete, The Gimlet’s thoughts have turned towards remodeling the basement. Our plans include the following:

• Update the electrical system and add lighting where needed
• Stabilize the staircase, and make the bottom “drop-off” step safer
• Create separate laundry and work shop rooms
• Insulate, drywall, and either carpet or tile rooms, depending on their function

Anything else? Yes, I’m still hoping for a dream reef tank, but all in good time. Patience, little pseudochromis.

Earlier this week, The Gimlet removed the old water heater pipes that had been bolted to the staircase and other pipes that would interfere with the drywall. Two of the galvanized pipes broke off in his hand, indicating that he didn’t finish the plumbing a moment too soon.

Follow our progress in the Gallery, where a new album now shows the basement in its “Before” status. Another new album documents The Gimlet’s one-man home makeover, as he renovated the main floor in the course of one month (February 2005).

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After returning from one of my business trips, your usual narrator mentioned (at midnight) that there was a lot of water in front of the house just under the front hose-bib. Assuming I must have not installed the front hose-bib correctly I figured this problem would be easily corrected in the morning and elected to sleep.

In the morning I looked over the problem and used my nifty Manabloc to shut off the water to the front hose bib to let the water drain. In the evening I again looked at the front of the house and noted that there seemed to be more water than there had been in the morning. I then ran to the water meter which was a blur, spinning as fast as it could go. At this moment all of the clues we had noticed over the last week came together. (more…)

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(Editor’s Note: Just as Gaul was divided so neatly into three parts, so was The Gimlet’s successful foray into plumbing. Veni, vidi, Vanguard!)

The plumbing has been completed. The final switch over took about seven hours. In the morning I hung the ¾” tubing between where the water supply comes into the house and the Manabloc. I then put the pex tubing and flex copper tubing in place for the water heater. It was now time to shut off the water and make the switch. I cut the galvanized pipe over the shut off valve and then used a couple of pipe wrenches to remove the pipe from the valve. After a little bit of Teflon tape and putting in a pex adapter I was ready to crimp some pex rings.

There was one moment of panic when, after attaching the water heater to the Manabloc and turning on the water, the tubing into the Manabloc popped off. (more…)

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