Funmurphys: the Blog

Home Improvement - Begin Again

For the last week I've had a nice concrete floor for the room addition, and nothing else. Work was halted because the roof trusses had to be re-ordered because of the measurement snafu. Today, the framers are supposed to show up and start. I have no idea what will greet me when I get home tonight. I guess that's the exciting part of home improvement. The giant ruts in the yard from the bobcat hauling concrete for the frost walls and floor is, I suppose, the lousy side of home improvement. Now I can relate when I read histories of WWII that talk about the overwhelming tide of mud in the Russian spring, since my backyard has turned into a vast expanse of churned up mud. I just can wait to get out there and re-grade and re-plant (hah!).

Yesterday work started on the bathroom. We are having putting in a new shower, new floor, and new countertop in the master bath. When I got home, I had a shower without walls and a floor of nothing but plywood. Frank Bielec would paint the tiles right on the subfloor, but I'm foolishly paying to have tile installed. Last night we began taking the old wall paper off the wall, mainly on the theory that with the toilet in the tub and the mirrors taken down, we could get to places we couldn't ordinarily get to (nor want to, for that matter). I have come to hate stripping wall paper off the wall so much, I have sworn to never again put any up. The prior owner put up some sort of plastic paper that has to be taken down twice - first the plastic front and then the paper backing. No doubt this was felt necessary because it was going up in a damp bathroom. After 3 and a half hours, I have a majority of the paper off. Needless to say, it's mostly the paper that's hard to get to or that stubbornly clings to the wall that is left. Tonight I have a cub scout leader's meeting, so I'm off the wall paper hook for tonight. I have a feeling the remaining paper is going to remain up until after the room is finished and I've regained my good humor enough to continue.