Wrangling with design

Well, now. It seems i have a lot of catching up to do.

Last month we lost our little car-girl, and earlier this week i got hung up on sorting through my photos to see what i needed to catch you up on. Going through the photos was easy; figuring out why they aren't synching across devices and the universe (iCloud) was a rabbit hole Dan finally dug me out of. I haven't solved the problem yet and discovered a new one in the process, but screw it! My fans are dying for news of progress!

When we first got access to the house in January, getting started on renovations was hampered by the "help" we got when we started asking for estimates.

Our original thinking was to get the house habitable and back on the rental market ASAP. We talked to several contractors with the intention of finding out what what possible and not possible in our original designs.

The first contractor basically sneered at our ideas and mocked them rather than explaining why X wasn't a good idea; not suggesting that if we were trying to achieve Y, maybe do Z instead? He flat out said that we should just get an exterminator and slap a coat of paint on the interior and sell or rent. Utterly unprofessional and unhelpful. I was feeling so helpless without some sound, reasoned advice from an expert.

The neighborhood is what might be called working class and expectations seem to be very (very) low for rentals (holes in the walls are ok) and equally low for the types of renters you can expect (trying to light a fire with wood in the furnace). Still, we have pride, and i have a hard time charging rent for a shithole. And, if you read and saw pics in earlier posts, you know our renters left us a shithole. Besides, i am in love with this house!

The second contractor raised more questions than he gave advice and put me in a bit of a tail spin. Why are you keeping the house if you're moving to Central America? If you're keeping it to move back to if things don't pan out as ex pats, why don't you fix it up the way you'd want to live in it. As expensive as the renovation is going to be, go all out. Hmmm.... food for thought.

So why were we keeping the house instead of selling it? If we come back to the US after retiring overseas, we don't have to live here. We can find another place and would have the profits from the sale in the meantime.

If we are keeping it to live here part time and part time elsewhere, who will care for it when we're gone? Maintaining two households? Pets moving back and forth? Does a divided life work for me? I don't think so.

Should we keep it to live here full time? I adore the house, even without remodeling, and the town is very laid-back and friendly as hell. I'd miss the international groceries from the mid-atlantic, but stores 3 1/2 hours away have enough to keep me supplied. Just a monthly trip to see family and friends in San Antonio and restocking. We have some friends, great neighbors, and lakes, state parks, and the AF base.

Still. We have wanted to explore overseas since we got married. We're not too stubborn to admit that might not be the right thing for us anymore, but i don't think that's true. And living here and just traveling a lot precludes getting a dog. My heart breaks at the thought.

Where did all this soul searching take us? We want to keep the house for rental income and because i stinkin' love it. We won't remodel as we would if we were staying or planning on coming back because of, well, expense. So here are the existing layout, fantasy layout, and eventual layout.

Back in January i posted video walk throughs of the house 
(http://dandsliving.blogspot.com/2017/01/finally-in-san-angelo.html). 
Here is a very-much-not-to-scale sketch of the layout:

 There is a legend posted at the end to help you discern what the colors and codes mean. (good luck)

When we thought to make the place awesome for us to return to, 

we came up with this design 

(remember that it's a pier-and-beam house; moving plumbing is easy as pie):

But when it came down to it, it's a rental house we are keeping for the income. *sigh* 

Here is the final design, but you'll need to read on to get an idea of what's changing 

(cuz, damn, it's a lot of work!)

You'll notice that the "as is" and "final" aren't all that different. So what have we been working on?

• Stench removal: everything from baking soda, to chlorine, to Nature's Miracle. I still get a whiff occasionally, but it's not a deal breaker.
• The former recreational room is now a bedroom with a closet and door. (Although to get to the back yard from the house, you have to pass through this room)
• The oversized sliding glass door is now a lovely french door with shades in the glass.
• The front door, back door, and garage door are all new and secure!
• Wall paper is either removed or mitigated (a 3 week process) so that most of the interior can be painted "white metal" from Behr. The kitchen and hall will be "upbeat" yellow.
• The kitchen cabinets, stove, and dishwasher are scrubbed within an inch of their lives. With clorox and abrasives. I will need to refinish the kitchen cabinets.
• There will be a new kitchen floor and counter.
• The full bath is all new down to the studs....including some of the studs!
• All of the interior doors have been scrubbed (no small feat!) and will get new knobs (most are missing). 
• Most rooms are getting new lighting/ceiling fans.
• Ceilings are being washed and/or painted.
• Hardwood floor is being scrubbed and stained.
• Exterior trim is getting painted (Behr iron mountain)
• There is a new HVAC, heat pump, and water heater.
• All new windows, shades, curtains.

This is the water from cleaning ONE door:

Every square inch of this house must be touched, cleaned, scrubbed, painted, refinished, replaced in some way. My heart really breaks a bit not to honor this house as it should be. The first owner was a carpenter and built several shelf units, paneling, and details that show a lot of love. I feel that love and hate to give this treasure over to someone who just wants a roof. 

The Legend!

Paws for life or pause for death

This isn't about renovating the house or traveling or adventures. This is about one of those things that happens in life. You know it's gonna happen, you even anticipate it, but the reality of it still sucks.

We're not the only ones to go through a pet's illness and death; we've been through it before, and this, by far, isn't the worst thing that could be happening to us. But. It. Sucks.

So, i'm writing this as a way to grieve.

Haley was a young rescue, covered in scars, no tail, and a heart full of love and hope. She chose Dan. She followed him like he was the moon and the stars and the sun. Like he had liver treats in his pockets. Food was everything to her, and yet she loved Dan more.

Waiting for Dan to come home:

She was accident-prone but always a good healer, through injuries and illnesses. A few years ago, her kidney values were wanky, but there was no explanation for it. We started a kidney-protective diet. It was hard to deny her some of the foods she loved, but she ate well.

Her kidneys continued to decline and we realized, for real, that chronic kidney disease is a progressive disease, fatal, as in not-gonna-get-better-ever real. Just when we started this journey, the disease pushed her blood pressure up to the point that we needed to start treating it. Her hind legs were too weak to get her in and out of the car, but she would not be picked up. We got creative.

She was brave and good during the endless days stuck in a car, being man-handled in and out for pee stops, staying in strange places (hotels), and learning to use puppy stairs to get on and off of the bed. She cooperated with vet after vet along the trip to get her blood pressure monitored.

Hotels, hotels, hotels!

Then she decided to stop eating the prescription kibble. I couldn't revert to her favorite foods, they're all verboten for kidney patients. So every fews days there was another subtle change in the mix of prescription food, people food, and regular food--canned and kibble.

She was doing well, even though muscle loss continued to weaken her hind legs. It was sweet to see her excitedly stumble across the street from apartment to the house to see Dan. She was so impossibly cute when she would get excited and try to bound up the few stairs from the patio into the house. When we left her there alone with her big cushion and treats, she would wiggle and prance and run from me to Dan, relieved that we had returned and not abandoned her.

Then the soft stools started. After a week, diarrhea. I tried giving her only prescription diet. Then i tried plain white rice, hoping to bulk things up. One night she ate a whole bowl, the next day she wouldn't touch it. She was now 35 lbs, 10 lbs below her prime weight. This dog LOVED food her whole life; fuck it, i was gonna feed her whatever she wanted (with a bit of white rice to staunch the diarrhea).

On 2 March, Thursday, we decided her diarrhea had gotten too thin: it was yellow and frothy. Quick Google search = parasite or liver problem. Gotta see the vet. We are new in town, she didn't have a vet yet, and most vets are closed for the weekend. No one could see us on Thursday, but Green Meadow Animal Hospital double booked us for Friday afternoon.

Thursday night, no one slept. Every 1 to 2 hours we were out walkies. Mostly to relieve gas and discomfort, sometimes to dribble a bit. She looked at us, and it was as though the light had gone out of her eyes. Friday, she perked up when awake and ate, but otherwise napped a lot. Vet was considerate, listened, and responded. We got meds for her tummy pain and possible parasite infection.

Definitely not feeling good:

Friday night was awful. Every 20 to 40 minutes we were out walkies. She could not rest. We walked and walked. We walked in circles around the vacant lot from 6 am to 8 am, when she finally passed out in bed. When she woke at 10:30, she would not take any meds or eat. Not even her favorite favorites.

Vacant lot where we walked (and walked):

Saturday, she dozed on her cushions at the house while Dan worked and i ran errands. Late that afternoon, she was shivering with pain. We thought about the vet, but the vet was closed. I melted cheese and wrapped it around her pain meds. She took it and relaxed and went back to resting for the evening. Relaxed so much so, that we were sure she would die in the night.

Dozing at the house:

We tucked her in bed between us and were prepared for a vigil or a wake. She slept for a few hours, then asked for water. Then asked to pee... and walked out on her own to do it! She slept then in her own bed for several more hours, another pee, some water, and back to her bed.

Sunset across the parking lot:

When she woke at 7 am on Sunday, i prepared her meds, each in a different disguise: pain meds in the melted cheese, tummy meds in the scrambled egg, and blood pressure in a canned-dogfood ball. She ate all three! I prepared a plate of lean boiled beef, egg, canned food, and topped it with cheese. She ate it all and asked for more. But even after going for a short walk and getting settled on the couch, her look clearly said she was done. She could not endure more.

At the emergency vet's office, she said goodbye at 12:10 on 5 March 2017.

RIP, little bamboozles baby.

We know we did the right thing for her. Now it's a matter of knitting over that hole in our lives where she used to be. We won't be remembering her last days, but instead thinking about her mischievous antics and mishaps, cuddles and quirks over the past decade. Rescuing another pup in her honor might help, but it would not be practical for any of us so close to our move overseas. It might be a while before i care to update the blog again, but i will.

Delays, Distractions, and Derailments

So, as of my last post, on 10 Feb, i meant to tell you all about our design ideas for the house renovation. And then life happened.

Delay: The floors need to stay torn up for the plumber... who has yet to arrive (all the plumbing is run under the house, which sits on beams laid across concrete piers in the ground). Dan persuaded the guy across the street (plumbing journeyman) to come help him, but he has been sick, so a little delay.

Bathroom and laundry room floors

Delay: The fuse box needs to be replaced with a circuit breaker box and the lines to garage need to be raised (extreme electrocution hazard for anyone over six feet)... and the electricians keep not showing up. Dan recently blew a fuse and now something-Dan-has-explained-to-me-that-i-still-don't-understand has happened to one of the outlets, which now requires an electrician. Have a new electrician lined up for 27 Feb. Little delay.

On the right, you can see the low-hanging wire:

Delay: One of the reasons we couldn't stay in the house when we got here was the lack of functioning HVAC. Nights are cold in the winter, and Dan does not do cold. A couple of companies came by to give estimates, but they kibitzed about our plans for the house more than anything else (more on that when i get around to a post on design). Got a new guy coming on the 28th of Feb... and getting him required several follow-up phone calls to schedule. Delay!

Dead.

Delay: One of the easiest and first things we did was order new windows. Several of the single pane windows are cracked, others have no latch or lock, a few have rotting casements and sills, nearly all lack so much glazing that it is a miracle the glass doesn't fall out in a light breeze. But these windows must be made to order and take time. They finally arrived, but the installers are backlogged. Delay!

Distraction: I finished cleaning the upper kitchen cabinets, though i did manage to knock a side of one out. Minor distraction and already fixed.

Distraction: Umm, and we got the wrong sized range hood... 6 inches too small. A return and an exchange. Minor distraction.

Distraction: The guys at the apartment building who weed whack the dusty puddles of grass growing in the parking-lot potholes offered to cut our grass every two weeks and pick up the large piles of leaves left by the tenants. Halfway through the leaf pick-up, they discovered that the leaves were incubating years' worth of large dog poop. They left saying that they would come finish later... By my calculation, that was two weeks ago, and i have since cleaned the rest of it myself ("poopie leaf bag" reference in the last post). Distractions. By the way, what is this stuff? I'm finding it all over the yard and see it in neighbors' yards. It looks like a sofa exploded.

Distraction: Don't want to buy a lawnmower for the short growing season here (and our short stay here), but we may have to at least get a weed whacker. "Every two weeks" mowing works for the front yard, which is bathed in hot southern sun all day, but the backyard garden area (overgrown with grass) and patches of grass in the rest of the yard, grow much faster. Distraction. 

Distraction: The weather is lovely and i want to get started in the yard. Just tidy it up, weed the beds, put drought-tolerant plants in the front yard, fill the never-see-sun spots in the back with shade-tolerant ones. I want to gather all the random rocks (some of which were used to fill in an old pond) and put them to some landscaping use. Grass can't go in until April... until then, maybe i can put the rocks in the dusty areas the feral cats use as a litter box. Distraction.

Derailment: Old dog poopie piles + feral cats and their time spent in (using) my yard + warm sunny days = Fleas.  All work on everything stopped while for several days we:

• Sprayed the apartment
• Spent hours per day at the laundrymat washing everything we own
• Vacuumed every surface
• Bug-bombed the house
• Sprayed insecticide in the yard (for which i'm going to hell since as soon as the spray brought the bugs to the surface, the neighborhood birds swooped in en masse and dined heartily, putting their young and eggs at risk)
• Poisoned the dog with a topical flea remedy
• Tortured the dog the following day when we put her in the tub and soaped her up to smother the greatly increased number of fleas on her -- during which time she peed blood from the additional stress the poison put on her already diseased and damaged kidneys (yes, i am going to hell)
• Started trapping feral cats to be relocated to the shelter (humane traps baited with sardines, except on Fridays and Saturdays because the shelter is closed Saturday and Sunday) - an ongoing distraction since the traps need to be baited, the cats transported (after 10:00am), and traps cleaned... five times a week.

Finally, after continuing to get flea-bit at the house, we called in the big guns. A professional killer: Rex the bug guy. In true Texas style, the two men began the bonding process by chatting about bass fishing, ex-wives, and boats. Eventually, they get to the matter at hand. The house and yards have now been so throughly saturated with poison, i fear for my own life.

So while we do boring stuff like continue to remove wallpaper (ugh), patch holes, and wait (oh, so patiently) for windows, and heat, and a circuit box, and a plumber... I'll give you an idea of what our options were for the renovation and what we are going with.

Wait! This just in...
The ease with which the living room wallpaper was removed was a fluke. Large swaths of the rest of the house have water/steamer-resistant "paper" that has defeated me. I *could* remove it all, but this 8' by 36" section was four hours worth of work... and you can see there is still some stubborn paper on the bottom left:

Looks like we might need to reassess our plan of attack; the strategy is to get the house done, livable, and rentable ASAP. What are our options at this point? Back to the drawing board?

Bonus! Two new borders and a new wallpaper:

*sigh*

A little progress

If destruction looks like progress, we got it going on in spades!

This is the dumpster this morning, after the bathroom gutting with a few bags of poopie leaf bags (another story) tossed in.

So, after some renters bugged out in the middle of the night 20 years ago, the disconnected water line for the ice maker flooded the kitchen. All of the stunning, original hardwood floor boards cupped. Dan drove from San Antonio where he was stationed at the time to San Angelo over a weekend to repair it. That involved cutting out as much as he could (around the cabinets) with a circular saw, tossing down some plywood, and covering it with linoleum tile. Here you can see he's pulled up the linoleum and cut out the plywood. Now, how to get the rest of the hardwood floor (2" to 3" around the cabinets) out so that we can install a level pergola floor?

Here Dan has cut all the way back to the base of the cabinets (with his new 

oscillating whatchamagig saw), ready for a new backer board and floating pergola floor. 

Also, there were apparently issues in the corner behind the fridge at a later date, and the "handy" man covered the damage with concrete patch and laid another layer of linoleum sheeting.  Here the bandaids have been removed to show the damage. Will shore that up before putting in new flooring.

After seeing the pecan shells, Dan was sensitive to finding evidence of a mice infestation. He found one... but, upon closer inspection with glasses, it was a steel wool pad.

 In the kitchen, Dan also cut out an access point for the plumbers to assess whether our design was possible or not -- design post coming soon. 

Here is the fun in the hall behind the bathroom/laundry room. Unchecked leaks for months! Beams supporting the house on joists were rotted, somewhat repaired, the plumbing workmanship barely passable. The house sunk almost 1/2 an inch here, cracking walls in the dining room.

After some clean up:

On the other side of that wall, in the bathroom/laundry room, the floor looks like this:

After some clean up:

 Here we (i really did sledge out part of it!) are tearing out the tub and 

exposing bathroom water damage. Halves:

Now quarters:

Destroyed in quarters because it really is that heavy:

Again, mister "handy" was not. Squishy floors, unsupported pipes--including a lead pipe splitting under it's own weight. Only the beginning of exposing the water damage under the tub -- the electrical lines in contact with a pipe rusting from water leaks! EEK!

 Then Dan ripped out the tile and all the subfloor so he could see the extent of the 

f'ed upness and discuss it with our plumber neighbor (handy, eh?). Clearly, when Dan installed the floor, he never intended it to come up:

While Dan is in Destructo mode, i'm washing the kitchen cabinets on the patio.

Reward -- Pork chop dinner!

 

Bonus: Three more wallpapers!

 

Next: Design discussions and random thoughts.

Taking a step back.

I promised a description of the kitchen and laundry floor damage. Dan identified several spots that need joist repairs, but we also need a plumber to assess the kitchen and bathrooms before we can go further on those projects. I'll save that for one post once we get a plumber.

For the next week or so, it will be all about finishing the bathroom demolition, continuing with the wallpaper removal (it's boring, which is why we are dabbling in other projects), and washing out the kitchen cabinets (the weather is warm and dry right now).

The stench faded from most of the house and seems localized by the front door... i hope that it is, in fact, NOT a man slathered in bear fat, wrapped in old raccoon fur trapped in the crawl space.

So let me tell you a little about the people here. We have great neighbors both at the house and the apartment.

Delores lives in the house to the right of ours. She lived there when Dan bought the house over 20 years ago and were happy to see him back. And i think it was more than just because his return meant no more renters for a while. She is very elegant. She recently retired; her sweetheart still works landscaping/garden care (handy, eh?) Delores has been very generous in helping us settle in. She brought a scented candle on the first day to help with the stench (i feel like that should be capitalized now). She's been able to refer us to services, like HVAC work and exterminators, and brought me some of my favorite pastries when she went up to Odessa!

Delores rents a small mother-in-law apartment to Betty and Nate. Nate is very affable and collects the kazillion pecans that fall from our trees. Sunday, he grilled... oh my, and it smelled so good! It reminded me of Belize on a Saturday. He called us over and gave us half a slab of ribs. The man makes some mighty fine ribs, i'm telling you. We only met Betty today and from afar and we were grungy, so we just waved.

The family directly across the street from us is Betty's sister, Edna, Edna's daughter Marian, Marian's two boys and two girls. We've only met Marian, and she is warm and cheerful.

Next door to them are Katie, Ed, their six children, and Katie's mom. The kitchen window in the apartment overlooks their back yard. We've only met once, but really enjoyed the chat. The kids are all very nice, and Katie thinks their daughter is interested in helping with some projects so that she can learn. Ed is also a plumber. Handy, eh?

The house to our left had renters until recently. Hooligans. The owner tidied the mess and put the house on the market. Looking forward to welcoming new neighbors.

We share a stoop with the apartment next to ours. Alfonzo often sits on a chair outside his front door to smoke and enjoy a beer. He is also a wonderful cook and has treated us to potatoes in spicy tomato sauce, chicken in gravy, chili colorado, and tortillas -- all home made. He lives with Virginia and takes care of her since she is ill. She is wonderfully sweet and charming. Unfortunately, today i learned she has been in the hospital since Saturday - i sent lemon cakes with Alfonzo to the hospital for her.

Upstairs are Tony, his wife, and their two boys (3 and 5 maybe?) Tony's here going to school at Goodfellow AFB and will soon transfer to a new assignment. His wife takes him to work in the morning, drops the older boy at (pre)kindergarten, and brings the younger back home. They are active boys who run and jump and giggle and laugh and play games with their parents. Neighbors at the other end of the building aren't so lucky... i often hear yelling and wailing from an apartment down there when i walk Haley (our little old bitch).

Now, across the alley from our front door is the back fence line of neighbor's house. They have several dogs--two Pomeranian types, one beagle-looking pup, and a larger mutt. They are outside 18 hours a day and bark at everything within five yards of the fence. It's like a doorbell. We always know when the other has returned from shopping, the house, walking Haley because our arrival is announced.

I think i'll be able to show you a little bathroom/kitchen progress next time.

Crap. The rodeo is in town.

No, really. Crap.

We were behind a truck with a rodeo trailer. The stuff that fell off was not mud. We drove through it. When you are in my car, near my car, or downwind of my car, all you'll smell is stable. Texas style.

The roaches we knew about:

The mice were a surprise. We found gobs of pecan shells gnawed and discarded under the cabinets when we were removing countertops and prepping the kitchen floor. They say get rid of the food source to get rid of the mice. We have three pecan trees. So we'll have to find another solution. On the other hand, we found no nests or other signs of mice in the 'hood, so maybe we have snakes?

Here's a little welcome note, we presume from the middle schoolers who are forced to march down our street after lunch when the weather is nice.

This is one of several window sills/casements that will have to be replaced:

Dog-chewed/scratched walls:

Finally. I discovered I've been moisturizing with hair conditioner for the past 12 weeks... no wonder my face felt sticky. This little refillable travel tube was conditioner, not "kiss my face" moisturizer.

I promised some info regarding progress. Removing the contact paper in the living room and the moon mural in the bedroom was hard. Instead, I kicked some counter ass and deepened my attack on the bathroom. 

Doesn't seem like much, but unscrewing the counter top from the cabinets was a bitch. The installer used flathead screws. This may not seem important until you are removing 43 of them, on your back, in bug infested cabinets. I worship this guy:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_F._Phillips

First I started separating the vinyl liner from the tile, so I could see what i was working with:

There was green tile (painted white):

And pink tile, painted white:

And rotted wall/wood where backerboard should have been:

Meanwhile, Dan was in exploratory mode to determine the extent of the floor/support damage from leaks in the kitchen and laundry. Something to talk about next time.