houseofcosy

[houseofcosy]

Some door progress! I'm struggling to get the wood filler to actually stick and not peel right out of the divots when I'm sanding it down. Fresh sandpaper + generous application of the filler seems to help.

That might be a little too generous.

This thing is going to be more filler than wood by the time I'm done. The photo on the right shows just how beat up this door is. I was pleasantly surprised that the filler seemed to do better on the parts of the door that already had a layer of primer. So I can prime the whole thing and then touch up any spots that bother me.

I have never been this covered in dust in my life. This is not a process I'm going to be able to use on the interior trim!

[houseofcosy]

I'm still here, just mental health + work stuff interfered with house progress. It'll be back... Eventually... We all hope.

In the good news category, the plumber looked at the un-trapped shower drain and came up with a one-way valve that he shoved down the pipe. It does the job as long as we keep the window cracked as well, which isn't ideal, but whatever. The house smells much less like shit now.

[houseofcosy]

Phew, *that* was satisfying. A few more for your viewing pleasure:

I had no idea how deeply textured that doorknob was until I started picking the crud out with a toothpick. I still don't think it's all the way clean, but if I can't get the remaining grossness out with a scrub brush and repeated boiling, I don't think it will come off on my hand. It's a pretty design but not a very practical one for a doorknob.

I have slightly less seething hatred for whoever painted the door plates. The finish (plating? lacquer?) Is utterly wrecked. Not sure what to do about them. I'm sure replacements are available, I'd get some if I owned the place. However, my seething hatred has been replaced by a vow of vengeance against whomever did this:

That cut in the stem of the doorknob isn't part of the design, it doesn't connect to anything. At some point someone decided to cut it off the door. They got less than a quarter of the way through and then gave up. I am not sure if I am more offended by the fact that someone decided to cut it - there's a perfectly functional screw on the other side of the knob! - or that they gave up.

[houseofcosy]

Welp, I filled a lot of dents, but apparently there's a shitton more. Now we find out how well filler sticks to primer! I think I'm going to have to accept quite a bit of imperfection here lol.

In better news:

Now to figure out how to get the paint off without burning my hands. 😆

Progress on the door today! 99% of the paint is off, and I've filled and sanded part of it. I'm waiting for it to dry from its final wipe down, and then I'll hit that section with some paint and see how it looks.

At this point we have tried every paint removal technique I'm aware of, and are slowly sorting out what's most effective and when. Our plan for the next door is citristrip + mechanical scraping + sanding + filling + more sanding. We're going to set the door upright to mimic the interior trim - the goal is a minimally dusty process for use inside on door and window frames. It's kind of fun tbh. Mr. Sunny is good at big messy destructive stuff and I'm compulsive enough to actually enjoy the painstaking detail work.

I'm also taking advantage of the cool weather to boil the door hardware and remove that paint. It looks like there's only one layer of paint on it - the renters before us were the only people stupid enough in the 140+ year history of this house to paint hinges. So hopefully it won't be too difficult.

There's paint dripping inside the key hole and on the actual goddamn door latch. Wtf people.

The only thing they didn't coat in paint was the doorknobs, but they did at least manage to drip on them. Ugh.

Results later today!

[houseofcosy]

Progress on the door today! 99% of the paint is off, and I've filled and sanded part of it. I'm waiting for it to dry from its final wipe down, and then I'll hit that section with some paint and see how it looks.

At this point we have tried every paint removal technique I'm aware of, and are slowly sorting out what's most effective and when. Our plan for the next door is citristrip + mechanical scraping + sanding + filling + more sanding. We're going to set the door upright to mimic the interior trim - the goal is a minimally dusty process for use inside on door and window frames. It's kind of fun tbh. Mr. Sunny is good at big messy destructive stuff and I'm compulsive enough to actually enjoy the painstaking detail work.

I'm also taking advantage of the cool weather to boil the door hardware and remove that paint. It looks like there's only one layer of paint on it - the renters before us were the only people stupid enough in the 140+ year history of this house to paint hinges. So hopefully it won't be too difficult.

There's paint dripping inside the key hole and on the actual goddamn door latch. Wtf people.

The only thing they didn't coat in paint was the doorknobs, but they did at least manage to drip on them. Ugh.

Results later today!

[houseofcosy]

House still smells like shit. Landlord still happily helpless to the plumber's schedule and saying we can move out if we don't like it. Husband still saying not to pressure anyone. (Husband has chronic sinusitis and can't smell anything.) I'm freaking out.

[houseofcosy]

Replacing the fill valve did the trick. I’m proud of myself. The other toilet in the house is running intermittently, I now have the knowledge (and tools!) to figure out what it’s doing and take care of it.

The smell from the shower drain got exponentially worse with the 100 degree weather streak we just finished. I cut a chunk of foam to match the drain size and put it down with the shampoo bottle on top of it, which took care of the bowel movement smell but left a weird other smell. It’s sweet/sharp like cut grass but one step towards mustard and puke. The smell is very noticeable both in the bathroom and outside along the bathroom wall, I can’t tell where it’s coming from. I’m hoping the plumber recognizes it. It’s not infiltrating the bathroom nearly as much now that the weather is down to merely 90 degrees, so I can hang in there while the plumber takes his own sweet time getting to us.

(He hurt his back recently, I shouldn’t snark. And I’m told good contractors are worth waiting for. Still, this literally stinks.)

With the recent streak of hot weather, we have a breeze and a very foul odor coming up the shower drain. It's probably a broken p-trap, a prelude to a blocked sewer line, or both. This is thankfully the landlord's problem. (And I'm certain there's a p-trap issue. Using the toilet should not cause echoing trickling noises from the shower drain.)

I spent today cleaning up all the things he could conceivably blame it on, including bleaching the shower to death, and fixing the toilet. It's been trickling water since we moved in, and I've been ignoring it. I've never fixed a toilet before, it's always kind of fun to move something from the black box of "don't touch that" to "yeah, hand me the hacksaw."

Yes, a hacksaw was involved. The nuts on the tank bolts were corroded solid, and WD-40 did not suffice. My back and arm may hurt tomorrow, but the thunk when the bolt finally falls out is satisfying as fuck. The replacement flush valve kit comes with new bolts, and the tank itself was shaped so I could get the hacksaw in there. This is apparently a common problem!

Going to make dinner, finish putting the toilet back together, and then go work on a tutu. I've gone from zero tutu orders to five in the last week. Apparently it's that season already!

[houseofcosy]

With the recent streak of hot weather, we have a breeze and a very foul odor coming up the shower drain. It's probably a broken p-trap, a prelude to a blocked sewer line, or both. This is thankfully the landlord's problem. (And I'm certain there's a p-trap issue. Using the toilet should not cause echoing trickling noises from the shower drain.)

I spent today cleaning up all the things he could conceivably blame it on, including bleaching the shower to death, and fixing the toilet. It's been trickling water since we moved in, and I've been ignoring it. I've never fixed a toilet before, it's always kind of fun to move something from the black box of "don't touch that" to "yeah, hand me the hacksaw."

Yes, a hacksaw was involved. The nuts on the tank bolts were corroded solid, and WD-40 did not suffice. My back and arm may hurt tomorrow, but the thunk when the bolt finally falls out is satisfying as fuck. The replacement flush valve kit comes with new bolts, and the tank itself was shaped so I could get the hacksaw in there. This is apparently a common problem!

Going to make dinner, finish putting the toilet back together, and then go work on a tutu. I've gone from zero tutu orders to five in the last week. Apparently it's that season already!

[houseofcosy]

Greetings! if you are still in the depths of decorating your house, may I suggest a black chandelier - like one of those super ornate ones with black gems. I also stumbled across rainbow chandeliers... Don't know if they are your vibe, but they reminded me of you

Thank you, you may indeed make such a suggestion. I'm currently trying to find something for my new office that's a little gothic floral too, so if anyone has any suggestions that'd be welcome!

[houseofcosy]

Apparently the house used to be this color. (Mint green, in case your screen isn't showing it well.) Almost makes me glad for the tan.

[houseofcosy]

Mr. Sunny is done with school for the summer, so that means it's painting time. Which first means paint stripping time. Starting with the inside of a closet door, which is conveniently the worst painted surface in the house.

It was bubbling and peeling BEFORE the previous renters slathered it in beige.

After the first pass with a heat gun and scraper. Still a lot of work to be done. Best we can tell there are three different colors of acrylic paint on there, and a bottom layer of something blue/green that is not coming off easily. Mr. Sunny says it keeps grabbing the scraper, which is resulting in gouges all over the door. There's going to be a lot of filling and sanding in our future. And it's plenty old enough to be lead paint, so we get to do it all while wearing respirators.

The door hardware only had one layer of paint on it. The previous renters were the ones who decided to paint over brass. There's paint drips inside the key hole. Augh!

[houseofcosy]

It doesn't look like much but that was two fuckin' hours of work. The bed frame was assembled incorrectly the first time, so I pulled it apart, put the headboard up, and rebuilt the bed. The walls are concrete block, which I love because we're in the middle of a city and there's zero traffic noise. And also I HATE because it's a solid five minutes of leaning my entire body weight on a drill to make a single screw hole. So "put up the headboard" (which is just an upholstered board hung on the wall) was rather more an ordeal than you'd think to look at it.

I'm going to reupholster the headboard and recover the lampshades. They were never particularly attractive but they're really eyesores now. The plan for this room is to paint a light silver-gray color and make fuchia curtains to match the rug. I may do the headboard in fuchia as well. Not sure about the lampshades yet. Given an unlimited budget I'd replace the lamps entirely. And the TV tray night stands. And the bed frame tbh. Oh well. Maybe in my next life.

I think I want to put my bow and a couple of pictures up on the wall next to the bed, but that means more holes in concrete block. (It's far too textured for adhesive approaches.) So we'll see.

I also put up curtains in both bedrooms today. So that's one more job done for now.

[houseofcosy]

Progress. Also took some craft supplies to a local craft/art themed thrift store, and oh dear I have found heaven. They had a full set of ironing accessories, some of which aren't really made any more. I grabbed a couple and am debating going back for one more.

That white mummy in the corner is tubes of fabric. A couple of them are headed for that thrift store, most of the rest will (hopefully!) be used up making curtains. Hopefully no more rolls in a couple months.

My sewing room became the dumping ground for tools and random crap, so yesterday's goal was to get stuff up on the walls and make it usable. I got most of the way there.

Then I realized my massive tactical error... I want to put the rug I inherited from my grandparents up over the cutting table, but it's much too heavy and awkward to hang by reaching over from the sides. I can't stand on the table. I have to move the table and everything under it to get the ladder in there. This would be easier were it not actually two tables taped together, and up on risers that absolutely do not permit sliding. Aaaaargh. I may try putting the rug elsewhere...

I have been at least moderately successful at getting things to thrift stores. That was a massive problem at the last place, to the point where I was afraid I was developing hoarding tendencies. But it's been much easier here. I suspect I always thought of the last place as short term - what if I was going to need the extra shower curtain at the next place we lived? Well, now we're at the next place, and we don't need the second shower curtain, so it's off to someone else who will make good use of it.

Now if only I could find a thrift store that will actually accept what they tell me in advance that they will accept.... 😠

[houseofcosy]

My sewing room became the dumping ground for tools and random crap, so yesterday's goal was to get stuff up on the walls and make it usable. I got most of the way there.

Then I realized my massive tactical error... I want to put the rug I inherited from my grandparents up over the cutting table, but it's much too heavy and awkward to hang by reaching over from the sides. I can't stand on the table. I have to move the table and everything under it to get the ladder in there. This would be easier were it not actually two tables taped together, and up on risers that absolutely do not permit sliding. Aaaaargh. I may try putting the rug elsewhere...

I have been at least moderately successful at getting things to thrift stores. That was a massive problem at the last place, to the point where I was afraid I was developing hoarding tendencies. But it's been much easier here. I suspect I always thought of the last place as short term - what if I was going to need the extra shower curtain at the next place we lived? Well, now we're at the next place, and we don't need the second shower curtain, so it's off to someone else who will make good use of it.

Now if only I could find a thrift store that will actually accept what they tell me in advance that they will accept.... 😠

[houseofcosy]

Success! Drilling into concrete walls to hang shelves is The Worst, but I got it done. The grit the drill pulled out was black as night and stained the freshly painted walls. I have no idea if concrete block is supposed to do that or not. It was impressive.

The closet is narrow enough that if there are clothes hanging on the rail it's difficult to get to anything behind them. We probably won't have much to hang, and I'm planning to use the back shelves for stuff we don't use much anyway.

It took three coats of the best Killz primer to stop the stains on the wall coming through. There's still a very slight shadow. It's impressive.

According to Mr. Sunny, cast iron pipes are supposed to be painted black, so we'll probably do that. The top of the pipe is very messily but thoroughly sealed. No more wasps coming through there. I'll caulk and paint the baseboards when we do the door frame.

I'm letting the paint dry tonight and stuffing the shelves tomorrow. Can't wait!

[houseofcosy]

Oh hey, I fixed it.

Unlike all other dishwashers I've used, you have to press the start button twice. The first press turns the thing on, the second one starts it.

The interesting thing is I've run it several times before, without consciously noting this. I suspect it went like this:

- push button

- stare intently at new dishwasher trying to figure out how it works

- it's not doing anything

- push another button

- okay, now it works

And then my brain decided we're now comfortable with this machine, stopped paying attention, and went

- push button

- walk away

In summary: dishwasher okay, brain somewhat broken. In my defense, Mr. Sunny apparently did exactly the same thing this morning, just didn't hang around and conclude it was broken.

Oh great. The dishwasher isn't running.

[houseofcosy]

Closet progress. It's a strange closet - about 6' deep and 3' wide. I don't know if it was intended to be a walk in closet, but it's about 6" too narrow for that. (This is a recurring theme in this house.) It was set up with two crosswise rails and two boards above them, which someone apparently did on purpose.

So I tore all that down. I'm painting it plain white because I haven't picked a color for the rest of the rooms yet and didn't want to wait. May or may not have been a mistake, we'll see. The whole room was the same tan color as the pipes. (The whole house is that color. Including the ceilings. It is Bad.)

The last house I painted needed virtually no prep work, I just swept cobwebs. This one is an entirely different story. There was bare cement board (I think? Not sure) behind the rails I pulled off the walls, with really dark stains on it. The stains are coming through four layers of paint now. I think I need to go get some stain blocking primer.

There's also a lovely jumble of chewed up wood and spray foam where the pipe goes through the ceiling. It's generated a wasp twice now. I'm not sure how to seal it up - possibly more spray foam? I hate how the stuff looks, but I'm not sure how to do a better job short of demolishing the current wreck. Given the very high probability of a wasp nest right behind it, I'mma pass on that option. I'm open to suggestions from anyone who has thoughts here.

I don't think this house is haunted, but if you wanted to tell a story this room would be a good candidate for it. It's perpetually 10-15 degrees colder than the rest of the house. I think it's the pipes being cold and not air infiltration, but I'm not sure. There's also an old security monitor on the door. Of the closet. I don't know why someone thought this room needed to be monitored. I'm not sure if I want to know.