035 How To Remove A Monster


This is the last post about this beast. I will not talk about it any more. I will not post pictures any more. I will not even think about it again. I was able to get it down from the ceiling alone on a Saturday afternoon (my friends thank me). Some rope, some head scratching and a little ingenuity and I'm done with it. Do you want it? It's free. Really. Take it. Please.

034 Doh! Broken Window


This is what happens when you try to remove gas pipe by yourself. Next time, I'll bring out the saws-all and chop it up first.

033 Take My Heater, Please [free]


I really don't want to move this. I disconnected the gas lines, with the help of the gas company, and even that was a chore. It's bigger than it looks, and it looks big. It's attached to the ceiling by two rods sitting in eye-hooks. I guess I could strap the heater to the ceiling with ratcheting tie-downs and then remove the bolts to the eye-hooks. But then what? I could also use rope like I did on the first floor. Only downstairs we had poles to tie the ropes to. Here, we have nothing. And if the heater weighs more than I do, I'm going up as the heater comes down. I also have a ratcheting cable mechanism, but it ratchets tight, not loose, so I couldn't slowly ratchet it down. The guys at Adlers Hardware suggested finding old mattressess and just dropping the unit. Maybe. Still seems sketchy. So if anyone wants it, it's yours. You WILL have to take it down yourself, but it's free. And it heats. And it's called Reznor.

032 When, when, when...


I've taken time off again from the renovation to concentrate on my day job. Despite the mess in this picture, there's really not much left to do before we can begin framing:

  • Remove the heating unit from the ceiling
  • Finish the little bit of paint removal off the brick wall
  • Scrape the last bit of ceiling paint
  • Move two electric lines
  • Fill in the hole in the floor
  • Build up the half walls up to the ceiling
  • Frame out one last wall and install door
  • Finish ripping up linoleum flooring from the old kitchen

I can do this quickly, right? Then we can paint. We're painting the ceiling white, two coats of Kilz then a coat of a warm white. One of the brick walls is getting paint, the other polyurethane. And then we're ready to begin framing. Our architect is doing a wonderful job, we couldn't be more pleased. He's also been patient with me as I bop from one project to the next. More soon. Or maybe not so soon, but eventually. We have our first snowfall outside today. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.