The end is near.... But also a new beginning...

For the last couple of days things have been starting to come together. Since purchasing this home, I’ve been trying to create a suitable apartment for a potential tenant. Part of the delays can be attributed to major and minor set backs. You know the bathroom roof collapsing, window Bob, the radiator sinking, and my surgery, just to name a few. But I partly felt that the apartment needed a lot of work, before accepting a tenant. I now feel that I can finally see the finish line.

Over the weekend, I started to move all of my tools and equipment down to the basement. I also completed painting the front hallway. I decided to paint the hallway the same color as the bedrooms, partly because it is a soft yellow that is soothing on the eyes. It projects a calming vision as if looking at an Aurora in the night Alaskan sky. Ok seriously, it was because I had extra paint that was a decent color. Here are some before and after pictures of the front hallway.

Before

As you can see the attic stairs were painted to match the ceiling.

I also finished painting the window trim. I had to first sand the joint compound to be a smooth surface. This left the rooms dusty once again. Here are the pictures showing the final result.



For the bathroom, I installed a wash towel rack and a toilet rack. I kind of ran out of ideas of where to install the towel rack. So I’ll most likely find a place over the weekend for the towel rack after consulting some family members. The bathroom door was also installed, at which point I realized it needs a coat of paint. Luckily I have extra “Alaskan Sky” paint. I then fixed the floor transition from the dinning room to the bathroom.

Here is a picture of the toilet rack and wash towel rack….


Here are some pictures showing that damage floor where I put the new transition plate.

Before I started to pool all of the required administrative paper for rental properties together. I gathered the application, leasing agreements, pre-leasing inspection forms and a check list. The reason for creating a check list was to help me keep track of paperwork that needs to be completed. Anyway, after gathering the paperwork, I found a company that will perform credit and background checks for potential tenants. So with all of that stuff in place, I felt it was time to place an advertisement for the apartment.

So, here it is…

http://westernmass.craigslist.org/apa/1114133655.html

Like I said, things are really starting to come together. This weekend I plan on finish cleaning and complete some minor issues that still need to be done... Anyway, until next time...

Finally some motivation....

So many of you may be wondering what I’ve been up to since my last entry. Well to be honest. Really nothing….. I guess I should clarify. What I really mean is that, I have been doing things around the house, but nothing that would constitute a new entry. Unless you’re interesting in knowing that I have been cleaning my apartment. Even that isn’t truly exciting… But the serious issue is that my motivation level of fixing things around this house had met an all time low. My activities for the month of March consisted of video games and sleep…Oh, that’s right I can not forget the Holyoke’s St Patrick’s Weekend festivities… Here are some pictures from the Holyoke Road Race...
The staff setting up the finish line...
Here is a picture showing the leaders at the start of the race.
I was told that over 4000 people ran in the race... As you can see, I stood by and enjoyed the race...
Here is City Hall looking over all of us... By the way, the beer was cold and the weather was nice..
Here is picture of people everywhere after the race...

More people after the race.. I'm standing behind Brennan's Irish Pub....

With the birds starting to chirp a little louder and the potential of actually finishing this place, something has sparked in me... I’m really starting to gain interest of completing this place, again…

So with the new flicker of enthusiasm, I finally contacted the plumber so that he can install the radiator upstairs. The reason for having him install the radiator doesn’t have anything to do with my recent iron man competition… I contacted him because when I was installing the new hardwood floors in the living room, I didn’t consider the radiator... When I installed the new hardwood floor; the floor height increased by a 1/2 inch, but the radiator pipe did not budge. So I had the plumber install a new pipe to fix my bonehead mistake, which seems to be working well. The floor looks a little damage from the steam but I’ll chalk that up to giving it character. Anyway, here are some photos of the new radiator fixes.

Here is a picture showing the new pipe and fitting for the radiator in the living room... Plus my sneakers... I also had him replace a threaded fitting in one of the bedrooms. When installing the radiator in the bedroom, it turn out that the treads were damaged. The threads were stripped, so the radiator wasn’t engaging properly.

As stated in my last entry, I was able to install the window trim. However, I wasn’t in the mood to cut custom trimming for each window. So with that said, I installed the window trim with gaps between the wall and trim. The gaps were about ½ inches in thickness around several of the windows. To be honest, it was because I was lazy and decided to quicken the processes by just buying 1” x 4”s. The gaps were excessive, so I used meshed tape and joint compound to fix the issue. It worked well. Except after sanding everything, the apartment is dusty again. Anyway, after sanding the windows, I was able to start priming the window trim and main entrance hallway. The next thing is to finish painting… I’ll post pictures when I’m completed.

Here is a picture showing the gaps around the window
Here is a picture showing the new joint compound

So with the realization that the second floor apartment is almost completed, I started to consider what to renovate in my apartment. Well in my kitchen, hallway and my weight room, I’ve been looking at drop ceiling that looks pretty beat-up. It’s the type of drop ceiling that you would find in an office. Anyway, I was looking at several tiles and wondering how they were being held up. Plus I was curious to see the quality of the ceiling behind the drop ceiling. I was initially thinking of removing them completely. So after removing a tile, I found a second ornate looking ceiling. The second ceiling looks to be painted a pale vanilla color and looks to be pealing. I scrapped some of the flake of paint off and to my surprise found what looks to be copper or tin ceiling. The three rooms mentioned have the metallic ceiling. Here is a picture of what I found...

Here you can see the paint pealing off.

Now I don’t know what to do. What I mean is, I could remove the drop ceiling and then later realize that that metallic ceiling is damaged be-on repair. If it is not damage, I could repaint it to a nicer color… I’m thinking a dark bronze color…But, I’m really not sure yet... I guess I really don’t have to make that decision today... But my options are open. I guess we'll find out together... Anyway, the things that are left for the second floor apartment are to install an electric heater, replace some plugs, replace the screen door, paint the window trim and clean… After that, I should be completed. I‘m in hopes to place an ad within the coming month… I hope to have a tenant by May, but we’ll see what happens… Anyways, until next time…

Home Improvement...

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been pretty busy with things outside of working in the apartment. About two weekends ago, I took a trip with my father down to New Jersey to visit some family. The trip was filled with both sadness and happiness. But the depressing part of the trip is for another time and place… But one of many stories that I could possibly tell from my trip, is of one story that is more relevant to the house journal.

My loving uncle, who I know is proud of my success and learning experience through life, has been sharing this wonderful story with one of his co-workers. My uncle tells me that every time that a new journal entry has been entered, he would print out a copy and share it. Apparently there was one day, after my surgery, that my uncle’s co-worker asked, “Any new entries from the Puerto Rican Tim Allen?”

I actually loved that show and Tim Allen’s character, Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor. I certainly love the reference. Thanks for the laughs… Thought you would like that story...

Ok, back to my home improvement. The apartment upstairs is almost there. This weekend I was able to remove the trash and start cleaning some of the rooms. I also had help from my mother, who cleaned the kitchen. It is starting to smell clean.

I was also able to place some decretive trim down at areas where the floors do not evenly meet.

I was also able to get the cracked radiator repaired. The crack was welded and hopefully it will work ok...I have not installed it yet… I have to admit,. I’m still a little scared to move anything especially after my surgery and all… But I can say that it looks fixed and is ready to be installed.

There are only a few things left to finish the upstairs like remove all of the tools, paint the hallway and window trim, install the radiators, switch out a couple of damaged plugs and clean. Then it’s just creating the required administrator stuff, like application, lease agreement and so on. Anyway, until next time…

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...