I never thought it would happen, but hell as frozen over. Well, maybe not. But my hallway project (with exception of one corner's light touch-up and the remounting of a new light) is complete. Because this wasn't a necessary project (like fixing a leaking toilet), it was more of a labor of love. And here's what we did to get the "hallway project" done.
The initial problem was the wooden paneling was that it was, well, wooden paneling. I can't see any real justification for it. My childhood bedroom was a child's wood paneling fantasy, and that was in the 70s and 80s, so maybe this remodeling project is about escaping my childhood bedroom for something more "grown up." The panels graced the stairwell as nicely as any 1970s cheap plywood could, attached by nails and glue, made to look more like wainscoting than an actual wood wall because it only went partially up the walls. It was both cheap and incomplete. Coupled with tacky eagle-encrusted light switch plates, my husband and I think we bought this townhouse simply to rectify my 1970s flashbacks.
And so we tore down paneling, sanded down the remaining glue, patched holes, painted walls upwards of 16 feet in spaces (the stairwell itself soars up two storeys), and at one point I was teetering at the top of a ladder, inhaling fumes, trying to be a perfectionist and getting the job done right. It was a one-time-only study in perfection for me. I don't think I'll go back to that soon.
I think the most important thing about home improvement is that the job actually improves the home. I go up those stairs at least ten times a day, and before the redo I could feel my blood positively bubble over to boiling when I wondered why it took me three years to get to the job. But now that I have completed it, I wonder what I can do next. So if you read this, answer the poll above. I promise to tackle the job that gets the most votes!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Association...
One thing that homeowners might have to deal with while working on home improvement projects is the dreaded homeowner's association. The purpose of that association is to keep your neighbors (and you) in line. They take dues (ours is double--we have a neighborhood association and the Reston Association [RA]) for things like garbage and landscape maintenance, management of parking issues, and basic oversight of each home. When a home gets into disrepair the homeowner's association (in our case, RA) can put a lien on the owner's property, which requires the homeowner to fix the problem or pay a penalty before they can sell the home. RA actually did this to a neighbor of ours because her front porch light wasn't the right shape. Unfortunately the acceptable light design was discontinued years ago and RA hadn't updated their documentation. $120 dollars later, the lien was finally gone. But talk about bad blood...
The purpose is protection, one guesses, from crazy neighbors who might bring down the value of other properties with trashy front yards (think 50 garden gnomes) or tractor trailers parked on the lawn. But what we have experienced with our neighborhood association is a partnership with predatory towing companies, an interest in cheap holiday decorations (which have only come down last Sunday, four months later), support for the local solicitors such as the ice cream truckers, who blare horrible calliope music in the form of the repetitious "Music Man" in the neighborhood every day at least twice a day, and a general interest in unrest.
There are sites on the web that are out to help homeowners learn the real problems with these associations. For example, the American Homeowner's Resource Center attempts to shine a bright light on the real legalese that these associations can use to take power from homeowners. The goal of these associations was once a good one: support your neighbors and community, keep the neighborhood clean, and everybody's property will benefit. Short of starting a revolution, however, I don't see what we can do to remove Reston Association from our lives other than moving. However, with the way the housing crisis is looming large in our neighborhood (at least 6 foreclosures or short sales at last count), that isn't a possibility.
So what are homeowners to do? Maybe all one can do is fix up their property to code and neighborhood standard and wait it out while maniacal neighbors snoop and intrude and just plain make nuisances of themselves. In the meantime, I'll be buried up to my eyeballs in paint.
The purpose is protection, one guesses, from crazy neighbors who might bring down the value of other properties with trashy front yards (think 50 garden gnomes) or tractor trailers parked on the lawn. But what we have experienced with our neighborhood association is a partnership with predatory towing companies, an interest in cheap holiday decorations (which have only come down last Sunday, four months later), support for the local solicitors such as the ice cream truckers, who blare horrible calliope music in the form of the repetitious "Music Man" in the neighborhood every day at least twice a day, and a general interest in unrest.
There are sites on the web that are out to help homeowners learn the real problems with these associations. For example, the American Homeowner's Resource Center attempts to shine a bright light on the real legalese that these associations can use to take power from homeowners. The goal of these associations was once a good one: support your neighbors and community, keep the neighborhood clean, and everybody's property will benefit. Short of starting a revolution, however, I don't see what we can do to remove Reston Association from our lives other than moving. However, with the way the housing crisis is looming large in our neighborhood (at least 6 foreclosures or short sales at last count), that isn't a possibility.
So what are homeowners to do? Maybe all one can do is fix up their property to code and neighborhood standard and wait it out while maniacal neighbors snoop and intrude and just plain make nuisances of themselves. In the meantime, I'll be buried up to my eyeballs in paint.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Home Improvement's Not Always Been So Pretty
As I was priming the stairwell walls this week, I was thinking about the turn to "hipness" that home improvement has taken. It's now considered a cool thing to do to take a house in disrepair and to do all those fixer-upper things (painting, carpentry, drywalling, plumbing, electrical work) that we used to hire out for ages ago. There are even titles for people who do this as a career: "flippers," who fix up dilapidated homes in the hopes of a big payday. But, back in the day, those jobs related to home repair were solidly blue-collar. You didn't do them because you wanted to make a lot of money, but you took those jobs because there wasn't really anything else available.
One of the many people involved in home repair was my grandfather Bernard (a.k.a. "Pete"). Pete was a WW2 vet who came back from France and Germany scarred, grumpy, silent, but ready to work. He took a job as a painter and worked 6-day weeks until his health deteriorated. Some of it was from a youth of smoking and blowing up cherry bombs in friends' cars. Then there was the war. The years of painting (I remember the most famous building he painted in Worcester, MA, was the Polar Bear Cola Co. building, and it must have taken weeks). Every night that I spent in his presence I can remember him drinking a beer and pouring a pat of salt on his hand, in the space between his thumb and index finger, to replenish all the salt he lost as he sweat through 10-12 hour days of painting.
It was not glorious work. It was strenuous, backbreaking: when Pete died he was inches shorter than when he was young, with a stooped back, replaced knees, arthritic hands. And then there was the emphysema. Of course that wasn't all from painting, but who knows about what fumes he breathed in for 40 years during his work? When he came home, he was covered in paint, smelled like paint, and just wanted a smoke or two or five. On his days off, my mom remembers that during the summers he would drive his wife and daughters about an hour to get to the beach. Even on his days off he wasn't off: coughing, hacking, curling under the strain of making people's homes and workplaces brighter.
And so while I was painting my one small stairwell, I thought about how Pete handled doing it, day after day, month after month. It had to have gotten monotonous, ingratiating, irritating. To deal with unfair practices and health issues, Pete had joined a painter's union (does this explain why I'm so pro-union?). But in the end all his health issues caught up with him and he died in a haze attributed to emphysemic senility.
Why am I reminded of this? When I was at Home Depot the other day, after I had my paint mixed (Ralph Lauren's "Architectural Cream"), I wandered over to another aisle in which "environmentally safe" paints (called Freshaire) were being sold. Of course I was lazy and just kept the paint I had mixed, but a part of me wondered what damage I might be doing to not only me but future people who buy my place. What ingredients are in the RL paint? What is better about the environmental stuff (more on this in another cross-over post)? Could these technologies (even in paint) have helped my grandfather have a better end-of-life? If I breathe in this stuff, what will happen to me in 10 years?
So maybe this is silly, or over-exaggerated, but I continue to wonder ...
One of the many people involved in home repair was my grandfather Bernard (a.k.a. "Pete"). Pete was a WW2 vet who came back from France and Germany scarred, grumpy, silent, but ready to work. He took a job as a painter and worked 6-day weeks until his health deteriorated. Some of it was from a youth of smoking and blowing up cherry bombs in friends' cars. Then there was the war. The years of painting (I remember the most famous building he painted in Worcester, MA, was the Polar Bear Cola Co. building, and it must have taken weeks). Every night that I spent in his presence I can remember him drinking a beer and pouring a pat of salt on his hand, in the space between his thumb and index finger, to replenish all the salt he lost as he sweat through 10-12 hour days of painting.
It was not glorious work. It was strenuous, backbreaking: when Pete died he was inches shorter than when he was young, with a stooped back, replaced knees, arthritic hands. And then there was the emphysema. Of course that wasn't all from painting, but who knows about what fumes he breathed in for 40 years during his work? When he came home, he was covered in paint, smelled like paint, and just wanted a smoke or two or five. On his days off, my mom remembers that during the summers he would drive his wife and daughters about an hour to get to the beach. Even on his days off he wasn't off: coughing, hacking, curling under the strain of making people's homes and workplaces brighter.
And so while I was painting my one small stairwell, I thought about how Pete handled doing it, day after day, month after month. It had to have gotten monotonous, ingratiating, irritating. To deal with unfair practices and health issues, Pete had joined a painter's union (does this explain why I'm so pro-union?). But in the end all his health issues caught up with him and he died in a haze attributed to emphysemic senility.
Why am I reminded of this? When I was at Home Depot the other day, after I had my paint mixed (Ralph Lauren's "Architectural Cream"), I wandered over to another aisle in which "environmentally safe" paints (called Freshaire) were being sold. Of course I was lazy and just kept the paint I had mixed, but a part of me wondered what damage I might be doing to not only me but future people who buy my place. What ingredients are in the RL paint? What is better about the environmental stuff (more on this in another cross-over post)? Could these technologies (even in paint) have helped my grandfather have a better end-of-life? If I breathe in this stuff, what will happen to me in 10 years?
So maybe this is silly, or over-exaggerated, but I continue to wonder ...
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Day of Two Jobs
Well, we've begun early. And added another home improvement job to the list today. Because it was beautiful, sunny, and in the 60s, I decided to go ahead and reseed and dirt the front lawn, take the panelling to the dump, buy paint and edgers, and sand the stairwell walls.
Here are a few things I've realized about home improvement jobs. One has to be really patient and do things perfectly to get the job done right. I am neither patient nor do I care about perfection; that would explain the so-so paint job in the kitchen. But this time I let my husband take the home improvement lead. He sanded while I had the glorious job of holding the vacuum. An hour later, it's 90% done (batteries died on the orbital sander and are recharging).
Even though I didn't do all the work, I have been reading up on Internet home improvement sites so that as I move along this semester, I can learn and tackle as many jobs as I can.
The first great site is "Hometime" by the PBS home improvement gurus. What's great about this site is not only the written text, but the buried videos and purchase lists that come along right on the main page. Talk about navigation ease. In addition, the Do-It-Yourselfers have great tips on painting our tricky stairwell. What's nice is that you can also view videos on this site, or if you have cable just turn on your trusty DirectTV and watch shows like "DIY to the Rescue" and "Sweat Equity" because really, there are two fundamental reasons to do these renovations: enjoyment of having a nice home, and resale value.
References Cited
DIY Network. (2008). Home Page. Retrieved April 1, 2008, from http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/tv
Hometime. (2008). Drywall. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from http://www.hometime.com/Howto/projects/drywall/drwl_8.htm
Here are a few things I've realized about home improvement jobs. One has to be really patient and do things perfectly to get the job done right. I am neither patient nor do I care about perfection; that would explain the so-so paint job in the kitchen. But this time I let my husband take the home improvement lead. He sanded while I had the glorious job of holding the vacuum. An hour later, it's 90% done (batteries died on the orbital sander and are recharging).
Even though I didn't do all the work, I have been reading up on Internet home improvement sites so that as I move along this semester, I can learn and tackle as many jobs as I can.
The first great site is "Hometime" by the PBS home improvement gurus. What's great about this site is not only the written text, but the buried videos and purchase lists that come along right on the main page. Talk about navigation ease. In addition, the Do-It-Yourselfers have great tips on painting our tricky stairwell. What's nice is that you can also view videos on this site, or if you have cable just turn on your trusty DirectTV and watch shows like "DIY to the Rescue" and "Sweat Equity" because really, there are two fundamental reasons to do these renovations: enjoyment of having a nice home, and resale value.
References Cited
DIY Network. (2008). Home Page. Retrieved April 1, 2008, from http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/tv
Hometime. (2008). Drywall. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from http://www.hometime.com/Howto/projects/drywall/drwl_8.htm
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Beginning of Improvement?
We've decided on a project to complete: the "stairwell job." It's not that complicated, we've started already, and if we don't finish the job my home will look like the underneath of a highway bridge. Here's what we have done so far: We've already removed the wooden paneling (still waiting for removal to the city dump), and on Saturday Dac (the Mr.) patched all the holes that came into being from ripping the panelling off the walls. The next few steps in the process will be:
- Sand all new patches and old glue blobs that still appear on the walls;
- Purchase a nice, neutral nonwhite paint. My options are from the Ralph Lau
ren
collection: Cream stone, Sailor's Knot, Modern Studio, and another sample I just lost; - Prime and paint the stairwell, which extends up at least 16-17 feet in places. This might make us use some tricky ladder combinations to get that done; and
- Sit back and enjoy a nongraffitied stairwell.
About that graffiti'ed wall: Apparently there were at least two men
living in this
house in the 70s; one is named Bruce. The other, interestingly,
is Manino Jr. Maybe it's Bruce Manino Jr., but the handwriting is different. You see, we found inscriptions on the wall from those responsible for the fake wooden panelling, and so I'm dedicating this job to Brucie, wherever he might be now.
Costs
1. One can Ralph Lauren paint: $26
2. Sander from Home Depot: approx. $20
3. Patching adhesive: $5
Full cost of project: about $50.
Timeline
1. Sand down spots Friday, April 4
2. Purchase paint Friday, April 4
3. Paint: Hopefully by April 15
Let's see if I can now stick to the schedule!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Examples of Summary, Synthesis, Analysis: The Matrix
Summary: “In the near future, a computer hacker named Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that all life on Earth may be nothing more than an elaborate facade created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence, for the purpose of placating us while our life essence is ‘farmed’ to fuel the Matrix’s campaign of domination in the ‘real’ world. He joins like-minded Rebel warriors Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) in their struggle to overthrow the Matrix” (Gittes, 2006).
Considerations of Synthesis: Think about how the Matrix was filmed (there is a short on the DVD called “bullet time” in which the Wachowski brothers explain this new filming technology). Now consider how this bullet-time technology has been manipulated, in both music entertainment (music videos from Rascal Flatts) and parody (think the Scary Movie franchise). These entertainment venues are taking an idea that became quite popular from The Matrix movies and expanding it out to other genres. This keeps The Matrix in the news and shows how this particular technology evolves in mainstream media. Ways for us to synthesize “bullet time” (see “Bullet Time … Sort Of” on YouTube).
Think of ways to combine ideas from multiple sources to further your position on any topic imaginable. Using multiple sources to come up with new ideas is the main goal of “synthesis.” Could we now write an article on how technology (specifically “bullet time”) has allowed for new conceptions of the use of special effects in entertainment, using as sources not only The Matrix but Scary Movie and music videos?
Analysis: James L. Ford’s article “Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema” in The Journal of Religion and Film, Vol 4. #2, 2000.
References cited
Ford, James L. (2000). Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema. Journal of Religion and Film, 4(2), 2000. <<http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/thematrix.htm>>
Gittes, Jake. (2006). The Matrix—Plot Summary. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from http://imdb.com/title/tt0133093/plotsummary
Considerations of Synthesis: Think about how the Matrix was filmed (there is a short on the DVD called “bullet time” in which the Wachowski brothers explain this new filming technology). Now consider how this bullet-time technology has been manipulated, in both music entertainment (music videos from Rascal Flatts) and parody (think the Scary Movie franchise). These entertainment venues are taking an idea that became quite popular from The Matrix movies and expanding it out to other genres. This keeps The Matrix in the news and shows how this particular technology evolves in mainstream media. Ways for us to synthesize “bullet time” (see “Bullet Time … Sort Of” on YouTube).
Think of ways to combine ideas from multiple sources to further your position on any topic imaginable. Using multiple sources to come up with new ideas is the main goal of “synthesis.” Could we now write an article on how technology (specifically “bullet time”) has allowed for new conceptions of the use of special effects in entertainment, using as sources not only The Matrix but Scary Movie and music videos?
Analysis: James L. Ford’s article “Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema” in The Journal of Religion and Film, Vol 4. #2, 2000.
References cited
Ford, James L. (2000). Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema. Journal of Religion and Film, 4(2), 2000. <<http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/thematrix.htm>>
Gittes, Jake. (2006). The Matrix—Plot Summary. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from http://imdb.com/title/tt0133093/plotsummary
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Home Improvement
Ok, so I have chosen my topic for the next eight weeks: home improvement. I can hear you saying it now, "that's a boring subject." Well, it isn't as exciting as my last forray into blogging, in which I carped on and on about my dissertation topic. That was an experience I thought would be good for me and it ended up confusing me even more. I have learned in blogging about various topics (politics, finance, composition theory, and now home improvement) that I need variety in writing, that I need to learn to use power tools, that I need to explore avenues that interest me (like making my house livable), and I think this blog can be a great catalyst for that.
So. Here I am. We're in the middle of a house project right now (removing horrid wooden panneling from our stairwell), and it's been at the ready for about 3 weeks. Another reason I think this blog will be good for me is that it will motivate me to make some positive changes in the house. We have done a lot so far: torn down an ugly overhang, put on new siding, added new lights downstairs, almost-completed the half-bath, painted the deck and fences, fixed masonry, installed a new kitchen, even. But there is so much more to do: scrape the glue off the walls (the glue that held the disgusing panneling in place), install new floors downstairs (the vinyl tiles and carpet have been abused by my dogs); change light fixtures upstairs, remodel the 1973 bathroom, down to the lovely flowery vinyl tiles, move the water heater (long story), fix closets, paint rooms, repaint deck (wrong stuff!), resod front lawn, build out small decks in front of house, and so on!
I know for a fact that all of this can't be done during this course, but here is what I can do: learn to use power tools; investigate do-it-yourself vs. expert work on all the projects left to go; attempt a job on my own, like finishing the half-bath (24 months and counting!); interview a friend who is a jack-of-all trades carpenter/plummer/electrician; and plan a budget that will let me know if these things are doable or if I'm just smoking somthing. Finally, if this isn't enough territory to cover, I can provide commentary and review on some of my favorite HGTV shows (House Hunters, anyone?). I think there's plenty of material to work from.
So now I actually have to get off my backside and do something. This is what enrages me about blogs like mine...action is required!
So, until Thursday...
So. Here I am. We're in the middle of a house project right now (removing horrid wooden panneling from our stairwell), and it's been at the ready for about 3 weeks. Another reason I think this blog will be good for me is that it will motivate me to make some positive changes in the house. We have done a lot so far: torn down an ugly overhang, put on new siding, added new lights downstairs, almost-completed the half-bath, painted the deck and fences, fixed masonry, installed a new kitchen, even. But there is so much more to do: scrape the glue off the walls (the glue that held the disgusing panneling in place), install new floors downstairs (the vinyl tiles and carpet have been abused by my dogs); change light fixtures upstairs, remodel the 1973 bathroom, down to the lovely flowery vinyl tiles, move the water heater (long story), fix closets, paint rooms, repaint deck (wrong stuff!), resod front lawn, build out small decks in front of house, and so on!
I know for a fact that all of this can't be done during this course, but here is what I can do: learn to use power tools; investigate do-it-yourself vs. expert work on all the projects left to go; attempt a job on my own, like finishing the half-bath (24 months and counting!); interview a friend who is a jack-of-all trades carpenter/plummer/electrician; and plan a budget that will let me know if these things are doable or if I'm just smoking somthing. Finally, if this isn't enough territory to cover, I can provide commentary and review on some of my favorite HGTV shows (House Hunters, anyone?). I think there's plenty of material to work from.
So now I actually have to get off my backside and do something. This is what enrages me about blogs like mine...action is required!
So, until Thursday...
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