good fences make good neighbors

We already had pretty good neighbors, so the fence is really more to keep the kiddos inside and the random dogs (like the two pit bulls that came right up to us in the yard a few weeks ago or the crazed pug that chased my friend into a neighbor's yard this week) out.  It's one of those wonderful examples of DIY goodness--my parents, Brandon's parents, and my sister and her husband all turned out to share their miscellaneous knowledge and muscle power, and the result?  Better than we ever expected:

This shot shows the finished fence, including copper caps on the posts (and we added another one this weekend to the mailbox, to match).  We tried to stain it this weekend but it was too soon, and the wood wouldn't absorb the stain.

I like to call this one The View from Inside Baby Supermax.

We used the existing chain link fence poles on all the corners.  This weekend, we painted the metal posts brown with shiny copper caps.  Hopefully they'll match the cedar stain we picked out for the fence.

We had two estimates on having the fence done professionally and they ranged from $700-1400!  I've decided that nothing spurs me into physical labor like a free estimate.  The fence you see ended up costing approximately $335 and two days of manual labor.  The stain will probably add another $50 to the cost.

We managed to get a lot of work done on the house this weekend, although most were little jobs that we didn't want to do but that needed doing.  We put a latch on the gate to help make sure the girls can't escape so easily, and finished up the copper caps on the posts.  Brandon's mom came to visit and watched the girls while we climbed up in the attic to pull all of the insulation away from the eaves.  We got a ridgeline vent last summer with our new roof, and ever since the a/c unit can't seem to keep the house cool when it's very warm outside.  We realized part of the problem might be the fact that we shoved the insulation all the way to the edge of the roof, so we went up on Saturday morning to remedy it.  There was a lot of light showing around the edges (more than I remember before the new roof, hmm...), so I'm not sure what we did actually did a lot of good, but it did feel nice and cool in the house on this relatively warm weekend, so here's hoping.  We're not sure there are actually holes where the soffit vents are, so that might be the next step.  We're worried that the P.O. put vented siding over the eaves but that it's solid underneath!   We had a solar vent before the new roof and it worked just fine...the roof guy talked us into the ridgeline one and removed our solar vent (which we kept).  And now the house is hot.  Hmm.

We also noticed a spot where a support wasn't actually attached and the roof is sagging a little.  No idea how long it's been that way--2 weeks or 20 years--but we don't remember it being that way before, so we'll have to look into repairing it soon.

In other news, we've turned The Room of the Visiting Family Babysitter into an office again, with lots of bookshelves and the old futon.  We had a twin bed in there when Nana Reece and Aunt Kathy were so graciously helping out (we owe you forever!), but since I became a full time stay at home mom in January, we figure they can sleep on the futon when they visit.

And--you probably figured this one out already--in January I quit my job at the library and started staying home full-time with the girls.  It's been wonderful and I think it was definitely the right thing to do for us.  Much less stress...and much less money, but so far we seem to be doing okay.  Look for future posts on exciting things like menu planning, home made bread, and meatloaf recipes.  Woo hoo!  ;)

evolution of a room

Back in March, we moved the girls from their old room off the kitchen (even though days of work into making it a nursery to begin with) to the den in the back of the house.  I posted something about painting "soon," which apparently meant October!  Yes, we finally got it done last weekend, thanks to a lot of help from my parents and Brandon's parents.  We spent the whole day painting, installing a storm door (since their room has an exterior door), and putting in a closet organizer (I won't discuss the level of difficulty this always entails, but will direct you to previous posts here and here).  Brandon also caulked where the walls meet the floor and around the windows, as well as removed the pipe and patched the wall where the old gas heater pipe vented to the outside (the gas line was a dead end and had been cut before we bought the house).

I searched the blog for old photos of the den/nursery and thought it was interesting how the room has evolved over the last few years. 

 

   

Next on the horizon is hanging stuff on the walls, painting the trim, and putting in some insulation in the floor and ceiling.

the warm fuzzies

We have lots of projects in mind (but no money!) for the near future, but one of the more pressing ones is the fact that the girls' room is poorly insulated.  We got through last winter with an oil-filled space heater, but I'm guessing that before the end of this winter, the girls will be out of cribs and into toddler beds (pray for our sanity), so a space heater won't be a viable option any more.  We think their room used to be an old porch, and it doesn't have a brick exterior or a basement under it; the rest of the house has both.  So...what are our options?

Being a die-hard DIYer, Brandon suggested pulling down all of the drywall, installing insulation, and replacing the drywall.  My brother suggested we get someone who can cut holes in the wall and spray in foam insulation, which sounds expensive, but we haven't checked yet (not even sure where to start).  Brandon's mom suggests insulating from underneath and just dressing them warmly ("They survived last winter," she says, "when you didn't put enough clothes on them and they were tiny."  One of those times when "I told you so" is totally warranted...as per the books we kept the girls' room at 69 degrees and dressed them in light layers to reduce the risk of SIDS.  Later we realized they probably woke up so often because they were cold!)

We're open to suggestions and advice, so throw us some ideas!

*update:  Here's a description and photo of what we're considering.  This Old House says that foam is the most expensive, but best for air quality. 

new year's resolutions

Okay, so maybe it's more like a to-do list...whatever.

• Install a trap door to the basement, so we don't have to go outside during a tornado warning just to get into the basement. It was hard enough when it was just us and the cat, but impossible when you add in two babies!
• Organize the basement--again!
• Plant grass in the front yard to replace the sod (installed--poorly--before we moved in) which has now converted entirely to weeds.
• Put up a gate across the driveway to keep the rugrats in (and scary dogs out).
• Figure out a way to keep said rugrats from crawling/rolling/walking/falling off the front porch.
• Finish installing the storm windows.
• Finish painting the exterior trim.
• Insulate under the back room. Brrr!
• Figure out where the small leak in the basement is coming from. It's under the kitchen, but the actual source has us baffled.
• Have the fireplace and chimney inspected.
• Replace the siding under the back room.
• Install a vent fan in the half bath.
• Move the girls' bedroom door to the hallway (where we think it was originally) so we can cook dinner without tip-toeing around!
• Many other things that I've forgotten and probably won't get done, anyway!

insulation: yet another view

I didn't take any photos after we were totally finished, because I was simply just too tired. Maybe one day I'll climb up there and take another photo. If you're that interested, next time you come over, just let me know and I'll get you the ladder ;)

attic insulation: before and during

This is a photo of the attic with the existing insulation. It was the blow-in kind, and once upon a time was probably fairly sufficient. Over the years, though, it looks like it has gotten compacted down into a layer that's only about 1-2" deep.
At this point, we'd hauled the insulation up into the attic (thank goodness for the way it comes bagged now--we never would have gotten the old roll-style though the tiny attic door!). You can see the boards on the floor that have probably been up there since the house was built. Some are nailed down and some aren't. You can see on the left where we've installed some of the new insulation...on the right is still the old fill insulation.
The project took us about 9 hours over two days. Probably about 8 hours of actual time spent in the attic. Lots of cutting and figuring in some places, and making sure that the old wires (some of which don't go anywhere but might be live!) didn't get covered up.

End of day 1.

attic insulation: part 1

Brandon getting ready to climb into the attic...and temporarily blinded by the camera flash. Oops.
Six bags of insulation. I took this photo thinking this was ALL of it...silly me, there were ten more packages in the garage!

We ended up spending about $650 for enough insulation to cover 1200-1500 square feet. I wasn't sure how to measure for it without getting up into the attic (the common-sense but more complicated approach), so I measured the outside of the house!
A closer look, anyone?

neither did we!

"I didn't know insulation cost that much!" exclaimed the cashier at Home Depot.

settling in

Other than the break-in, there's not much to report. We've been working in the yard, trying to keep the very back of the yard from returning to the jungle that we hear it once was. Brandon cleared a lot of vines, and cut down some more small trees (privet is EVIL), and on Sunday we hauled a lot of them to the street (finally).

Our pending projects include putting attic/roof vents back in, and then adding more insulation to the attic (we have less than an inch of blown insulation up there right now!). On Friday, the alarm guy comes to add more glass break detectors.

Fall is off to a gorgeous beginning, however, and we've been trying to get screens in all the windows so we can leave them when we're at home. Hoping to get some screen doors soon as well. Gecko's been enjoying the open windows, although we had to nail in some of the screens so Fat Boy won't push them out when he stretches out on the window sills.

In other Gecko news, he seems to have acquired fleas from somewhere--we're guessing from his vet visit last month. He's been becoming friends with JB (Jet Black), the cat from next door, but they only see each other through the window glass. They've only had cat to cat contact through the screen once, and I don't think that was enough to transfer fleas. When I say friends, I mean, they spend a lot of time yowling and puffing up their fur at each other. Kinda like when you put a mirror up to a beta fish. Well, most of the puffing was on Gecko's part; JB seems more laid-back.

Exciting times, these :)