Trash...

It’s late on Sunday night…Another productive weekend is about over. Many of us spent the weekend with the one’s we love. Gazing into each others eyes... Enjoying the scent of our new flowers and/or the strawberries dipped in chocolate… Others, well…. let’s not identify them. We’ll just say that we love them too… But as I sit here and ponder about my weekend, I begin to wonder, “How the heck did I get myself into this position.” I guess what I’m trying to say is “How did I end up with a house that is purely a mess?” I mean, when I bought this place, it was horribly disgusting: rugs were stained, the walls smelled, the bathroom looked to have years of grime, and a new sun roof was installed (we can chalk that one up to nature). Honestly, on a side note, I still wonder why I purchased this place, especially after what I’ve just described… Anyway, the dismal list can go on and on…I can say however, that the work accomplished thus far does present some encouraging emotions. But the root of this disappointing feeling is that the house is a mess… Not in a foul stench per say, but a mess with rubble. I’m truly referring to the second floor apartment. I didn’t realize the magnitude of this disarray until I trip over it. Yes I hit my head and stubbed my toe several times...

Before I get into that subject, I had planned to finish installing the window frames over the weekend. It was a task that was extremely fun to do, because I got to use all of the fun tools… You know the tools like a router, pneumatic nail gun, table saw, chop saw, drill, and a jig saw. But to answer your question, yes, the window frames are installed. Sorry I was jumping ahead…

Anyway, the window frames were installed fairly quickly with minor difficulty, but, there in.

Here is a picture of the window in the living room. This is before installing the window frame. Note the pink insulation...

Here is a picture of the window in the living room, now.

Here is a picture of the window frame in the front hallway; this one is located by the front door.

This picture is a close up of the same window; I’m trying to show the rounded edge… I know you can’t see it… But just trust me... its there…

Ok now back to the trash at hand… Here is a picture of twigs and branches that were found within the window upstairs… You may remember me mentioning it a while back.

Here is a picture of the trash in the living room… This is mostly empty cardboard boxes.

This picture shows the construction and demolition rubble in the dining room.

More trash in the bedroom... But I guess the good news about describing my debris problems, is that the major hurdles are completed. I’m a lot closer in completing the second floor apartment. Besides cleaning the mentioned wreckage, I just have to paint all of the window trim and a hallway. Things are certainly starting to come together… Anyway, until next time… By the way, thanks for reading about my trash…

I'm back....

Ok I’m back in business… Well not necessary 100% back, but I feel that I’m close enough. It's more like 90% back. My doctor has instructed me not to return to the gym for another 4 weeks, which sucks although he did say that I could start running again, starting tomorrow. Basically I should not do any sit-ups and/or any weight training for my down period… But that’s ok. I have to take it slow…

Since my last entry, I’ve done nothing around the house. Until today, I mean I was recovering after my surgery and having a relaxing time in Tampa, Florida…. Oh yeah, I might have left that bit of information out. I had stayed at a friend’s house in Clearwater Florida over the Super Bowl weekend. I didn’t go to the game. I mean, who is going to spend $1900 dollars for one scalp ticket? That’s not including the flight or even the hotel room… Wait, Cardinal and Steelers fans actually did spend that money… Plus it wasn’t the Patriots. Regardless, it was a relaxing and exciting trip…


Here I am at a friend’s house… Hanging out by the dock…

Ok back to reality…The apartment upstairs…
I walked upstairs and assess the situation… I still have some minor hurdles that need to be accomplish before I can rent the apartment. One of the major things that need to be accomplished is the damaged floor. In the last episode, I just need to put peal and stick flooring down. Luckily I was able to find some replacement tile. The color of the new peal and stick tiles are not 100% perfect, but close enough. However, the patterns are certainly the same. I needed to first remove the previous adhesive before installing the new tiles.

Here is a picture of the adhesive remover that I used. While that was penetrating the adhesive, I decide to install the mirror and put silicone caulk in the bathroom. Here is a picture of the mirror…

Oops!!! Looks kind of crooked… Regardless it looks good.

Ok here is a small instructional description in how to apply the caulk like a professional. Well not really professional, but better then we normally do it. The equipment you will need is as followed:

Silicone,
Painters tape
And your finger… Yes your finger...

Place the painters tape around the area that you may want to apply the silicone.

There is no real required length or width of the tape to be applied…But I usually eye ball a distance and try to make it consistent throughout… After the tape is installed, I then apply the silicone caulk between the two pieces of tape….

After applying the silicone, I take my finger and just work it through the silicone and in one direction. I try to make a smooth look throughout the process. After completing the entire length of the tape. I instantly remove and discard the painters tape. Partly because once the silicone is completely dried, it would be extremely difficult to remove the tape…

Here are a couple of tips and cautions. I usually use paper towels to clean my fingers after spreading the caulking material in place. Slowly remove the tape after applying the caulking material, you don’t want to create a larger mess when removing it… Also insure you have a bag or something to discard the tape without getting the excess caulking material all over the place… Most importantly, double check with the ingredients and warnings notes of the caulking material. I know a couple of people who may be allergic to the chemicals. So use with caution!!!! Also follow the direction of the caulking material for drying times…


Here is a picture of the finish result...
After installing the silicone, I installed the new shower curtain rod… I’m really a big fan of the curved rods…

Once the adhesive remover was dry, I used a scrapping tool to remove the adhesive residue. After that was completed, I then applied the adhesive primer and then installed the peal and stick tiles… Here is a photo showing the finish result...














The floor is now completed...I just need to install the radiator. The next thing on the list is the window frames... Well until next time...