To Fargo and Back

Twice.

It is hard to believe it is a day short of two weeks since our heavy rain and Nancy's battle against the rising waters. She wrote quite a bit about that, so I won't add any more. I just wanted to throw up a few pictures and explain the problem and our solution.

This is the shallow trench that Nancy and Jason dug to channel the water away from the egress window well. It worked great as we found out again the next day when we had downpours on and off throughout most of the day. If you remember, I had gone to Fargo for a week of survey work and because rain was forecast for the rest of the week I came back on Tuesday to try to take care of the problem.

We moved in this house in 2000 and never had a problem with water until we modified the east side a couple of years ago with the egress window and the deck. I suppose we never noticed or thought about it at the time but now you can plainly tell that a combination of the steps and the window well interrupt the grading that previously allowed the water to flow to the back yard.

The east side did not have rain gutters. This is part of the issue but not as much as the above mentioned problem. It could rain all day in the window well and I don't think it would fill up with water. There is at least twelve inches of pea gravel in the bottom with sandy earth below. However, with the pooling around the well the dirt would eventually wash away a bit from beside the well and allow the water from the whole east side to run in almost unimpeded or else the water would get high enough to run over the top. According to Nancy, both happened that evening.

The best fix was to no longer allow water to come off the east eave. My dad also came up to Bismarck on Tuesday and helped with putting up a vinyl rain gutter on that side. What should have been a job that took about three hours instead took over twice that. The joints are joined with PVC glue and water is a big no-no when applying that product. Since it was raining on and off, it was sort of a hurry up and wait situation. I did work in some light rain putting up the hangers but otherwise we did a lot of sitting around. Finally after supper we were able to finish up. I went back to Fargo on Wednesday to finish my inspection work.

Now I just need to a good heavy rain to see what happens! We were not home on Saturday evening when we got heavy rain and wind, but when we got back there were no signs of water in the house. So that's good. We'll see.

In the rush and commotion that evening Nancy forgot she had her cell phone in her pocket. The phone functions but the keypad is messed up - she can only receive calls. Time for a new phone!

Aleah's Room

Bruce checking in for duty. How is everyone?

I've been negligent in posting photos of the remodeling of Aleah's room. Fortunately, Nancy hasn't let me forget.

Before we finished the basement this was the bedroom for our three oldest children -- Gerrit, Aleah, and Donovan. When the bedroom downstairs was done Gerrit and Donovan moved into that and Aleah then had her own room. They moved out in December but we left the room as it was until late July. While we were working on the room Aleah moved in with Samantha. It was August 2 when she was able to move back into her now extremely pink room.

Amazingly enough, we didn't take any pictures before starting the project. We couldn't find any old pictures, either. I did find a video I took of the kids while in the room and that shows some of the room. Here be that video. The best part is you get to hear my silky smooth voice. Please try to limit your swooning. Ha!



What a bossy girl, right? A bit annoying at the very least, anyway. The video was taken three years ago.

Here the walls were primed and the carpet was ripped out. We also primed the window trim in preparation to paint them white. We removed all the other trim so we could prime and paint those in the garage.

Found out the base trim, aka mop board, was installed before the carpet and was right on the plywood subfloor. That is unusual -- usually it is nailed on with a space so the carpet can be tucked underneath.

The carpet was glued down and was very easy to remove. I used a scraper to remove as much of the pad as I could. There are a lot of stains, aren't there? I'm sure our kids are responsible for some but I think most were there before we moved here in 2000.

Some pink has been applied here. I think Nancy did three coats of white primer and one coat of pink.

Painting is done and I am starting with the wood laminate floor. Hi, kids! Front to back that is Donovan, Samantha, and Gerrit.

The kids were usually in the way very helpful. Samantha often set up her chair to watch.

It took me 1-1/2 evenings, after work, to finish the floor. This was the end of the first evening.

I loved working with this flooring. It is the Tarkett brand from Menards. It went together so easy and fit so well. I used Shaw laminate in the basement and didn't like working with it so much -- for the opposite reasons I liked the Tarkett.

This and the following set of photos are after the room was all done and ready for all the stuff to be moved back.

This is obviously after Aleah had settled back in. We got the vertical blinds for $20 each from Menards. They were originally 84" long but we cut each vane to length with a scissors. I measured and marked and Nancy cut.

I hope you are enjoying your new room, Aleah! It was a lot of work but it felt good to get it done.

Aleah's room is done!

Aleah's room is done!! It was a lot of work-let me say it again-A LOT of WORK-I think Bruce and I figured we spent at least 40 hours working on it but it was worth it and it looks awesome!! We've taken a lot of pictures during the process and Bruce will post them sometime soon. Aleah got to sleep in her room last night but she felt really sick-poor girl. I took her to the doctor today and she's being treated for strep throat. She feels better already and had a good time putting things back in her room and decorating it. It looks like a girls room!!

Besides all the time spent working on her room we're getting ready to go to Williston soon and I'm cleaning and still have to pack!! I also canned nine quarts of dill pickles today-that was something I didn't plan on doing but Donovan and Bruce brought in two very full ice cream pails of cucumbers and they won't stay good very long. Donovan also went to a friend's birthday party today and had a good time but another kid slammed his fingers in the door so that kind of put a damper on it but he still had fun. They're not broken but he did request something for the pain.

Samantha's room is back to normal now as well. I want to paint that when school starts (although it's just getting paint-not new flooring so it won't take that long) and before school starts I want to go through the boys room and get that organized again. I really think they could get rid of a lot of their toys-it seems like all they ever play with is Legos anyway.

I took the kids swimming late afternoon yesterday at the Elks Aquatic Pool. They had a good time and Samantha can walk a long ways into the pool by herself and play around since so much of the pool is shallow. Aleah didn't say she didn't feel good until after we were home awhile-I suppose she knew we wouldn't have went since she didn't feel good so she didn't say anything-she was just unusually quiet the whole day.

Itty Bitty Baseball and Home Improvement

Donovan had his last session of Itty Bitty Baseball yesterday - in a gym at the YMCA. I had not seen him at baseball yet, so I ducked out from work for a bit to drive over and watch. They sure have fun and the leader or instructor was very good with those little kids.

This project in Aleah's room has been taking a lot of our time. I'll post more pictures when we are all finished. We hope to have Aleah back in the room by this Friday evening. I was on my hands and knees a lot last night putting down the wood laminate, so when Nancy came in to take some pictures the kids all climbed on my back.

Au Revoir, Roll-Off Container

I took this afternoon off from work so that I could finally finish our cleanup and get-rid-of-junk project. I thought you all would enjoy looking at our garbage, so I took some pictures of our rented roll-off container.

This was before I started work this afternoon. Many, many hours of work had already been done in sorting through boxes and piles of stuff. Much of it had to be brought up from the basement.

Samantha's little friend, Sydney, stayed with us for about four hours today. From the doorway, they watched me work for a while. Sydney loved the Monsters, Inc. slippers and wore them most of the time she was here.

Just about done here. Later I did some more sorting - working until about 11:00 tonight. I added a couple more garbage bags and a couple more boxes to the roll-off after that.

This is a 20 cu. yd. container and we just about filled the bugger. We rented it from Dakota Sanitation here in Bismarck. They were by far the least expensive of all I called. They will pick it up tomorrow morning. I won't miss it, but it sure is a handy way to get rid of a pile.

This has not occurred for about eleven months - our minivan parked in the old one-staller. We initially put things in the garage to get them out of the way for the electrician and later had to put a whole bunch more in there to be able to do the drywall work. I wish I would have taken a picture of the space before I started cleaning. It was unbelievable.

The Home Depot Report

I know you all must be waiting patiently to find out if I did indeed go to The Home Depot this morning.

Yes, I did go to The Home Depot to check out the start of the liquidation. I was there a little after 6:00 am. The parking lot was the most full I've ever seen it, but it wasn't exceedingly busy in the store.

Prices are discounted 10-30%, but almost everything is 10% off. Items such as rope, chain, pipe, fittings, fasteners, and conduit are 30% off. Flooring is 20% off. Live plants are full price. To me, this is all right but isn't that great of a sale yet. I'm sure they will ratchet prices down as time goes on, though. I'll just plan to check in periodically.

I did see quite a few people going out with push lawn mowers. Those Honda push mowers are $500, so 10% is $50 off. Not too bad.

Goodbye, The Home Depot of Bismarck

During supper Nancy mentioned that her mom had told her today that The Home Depot in Bismarck was closing. I hadn't heard that, so as soon as supper was over I went online to check the Bismarck Tribune web site for the news. Sure enough - there it was.

They are closed tomorrow to prepare for liquidation and will open again on Saturday and stay open regular hours until all is sold. The online article said that is usually four to seven weeks. I had a bunch of stuff to return so I called The Home Depot. After today, you will not be able to return anything.

I scurried to get everything together along with receipts, loaded up the van, and drove the twenty minutes to The Home Depot. It took a while because apparently other people have heard about the closing and were returning stuff as well. I was gone about two hours.

I did spend a little time after the returns to walk around and make notes of current prices of items in which I may be interested in purchasing during the liquidation. That way I can compare if The Home Depot doesn't post the old price along with the liquidation price. I don't know if I'll be there at the 6:00 am opening Saturday morning, but I do plan to stop by The Home Depot in the morning to check it out. It shouldn't be busy, should it?

Changes

I visited several home improvement centers in Bismarck today during my lunch break. We are planning to replace some windows in our kitchen and dining room and are getting some price quotes. Tomorrow I hope to get to some other building centers in the area.

If you haven't been to the Bismarck Menards for a while, you are in for a little surprise. There has been somewhat of a transformation. I saw this before but they have added a mezzanine storage area near the south side. They have expanded retail area into the former warehouse area on the south. Things have moved around some. The aisles are now wider - I think now two carts can easily pass each other in most aisles. It appears there is an expanded product line as well - more food for one thing. They have added a garden center. They have changed out the sales registers to be more like the ones in newer Menards stores. Overall it is a big improvement.

Speaking of changes, we had a big announcement at work this week. Obviously it only affects me but I thought I would mention it here. Our company has branch offices throughout most of the United States with a home office in Des Moines, IA. On Monday they announced the Denver branch manager is retiring this fall and his replacement is our branch manager, Dennis! One of the corporate vice-presidents announced it to us via a video (not live). It was a big surprise to everyone. He also announced Dennis' replacement, Marilyn. Marilyn is another manager in the office - she works under Dennis. I should rephrase that. Dennis is Marilyn's supervisor. Now there will be a round of job changes in our office as people move up and around.

I don't know what changes will come about, but I can't foresee any big changes when Marilyn goes aboard as the branch manager. I am secretly happy that my supervisor, Brian, isn't the one moving into the position. I really like him as a boss. He is a great guy. Brian is another manager on the same level as Marilyn. Marilyn is the underwriting manager and Brian is the marketing manager.

When I write e-mails to Brian I am always afraid I am going to send one with the i and a transposed - Brain. I've caught it a few times when I read it through before sending. I'm sure he has had it happen before, though.

Good times.

Carpet Is In The House

But not on the steps. Nancy explained in the post previous. Please feel free to scroll down and take a read. I'll wait. In Nancy's post there is a cute story about Samantha.

OK, like Nancy said, we have our new carpet in the living room. I'm now opening bets on how long before a food or liquid spill occurs. My guess is within the first two weeks. Can't supervise the kids 24/7, you know.

Our furniture was all in the dining room. It was a tight fit. This view is looking east to our new sliding patio door and the new laminate floor by the door that we laid a couple of weekends ago. The deck is just outside the sliding door.

I worked in Garrison today. It was very cold and windy. While driving around town I saw what appeared to be a club with exotic dancers, but it was just a guy with a sense of humor who put some painted wood cutouts of scantily clad women on the outside of his shop along with a couple of signs that said "Girls" and "Go Go." I took a picture but Nancy asked me not to post it here because of its increased level of risque-ness. I got a clue it was just a joke when another sign on the side said "Exotic Dancers - Shows Tomorrow Night Only."

Update: Just a note to confirm that there is a definite rule of no food or drink (or shoes) in the living room. But we realize it is a certainty that the rule will be broken at some point and at some point that food or drink will spill. Thank you.

Deck

I spent about two hours this afternoon moving outlet, switch, and cable/telephone boxes that our illustrious electrician did not install at the right depths on the studs. Good times. Since I put up pictures of the basement I thought I would add some of our other summer project as well. The deck was started the last weekend in April and I finished just before Independence Day.

This is the basic framework (the posts, beams, and rim joists) of our new deck on the east side of the house. This is located just south of the egress window. Gerrit was serving as the deck model that day.

Here we have the joists installed. Dad helped me do this and helped with installation of the posts. The railing posts had to go up before the decking was installed.

Part of the decking is on here. The fun has just begun.

Decking is complete. This took a long time, by the way.

Before we went any further on the deck, Dad and Duane came up to help install the sliding patio door. Now we have a way to get to the back yard without going through the front door, as previously this house did not have a back door. It is interesting that we didn't even notice that when we were viewing the home prior to purchase. Anyway, we were thankful for their help. It was a very hot day and we had many problems. The problems were with the door and not the actual installation. It is a long story but the door we installed was the third door. Basically the first door was damaged. Back to Home Depot. The second door was in good shape but was a right hand door in a left hand box. Back to Home Depot. No more doors at Home Depot. Go to UBC in Mandan. This is the door you see.

These are the stair stringers and little concrete pad I put at the bottom of the stairs. The edge of the window well is visible on the right. I cut the stringers myself. Nice work, Bruce.

The railings are up here, but not the one set of stair railings. Once again, I haven't taken a picture of the finished project. After finishing the stair railings I added a composite facade around the rim joist.

Basement work

Hey, thought I would put up a bunch of photos of the work in our basement.

This first one is of the exterior of the house where we put in an egress window for the new bedroom. This was taken last November, I believe.

This is me after most of the hole for the window well was dug. I stayed home from going to visit the in-laws in Williston so this could be done. Nancy told my brother-in-law that I stayed home to dig a hole and he said it sounded like I just didn't want to come. Ha. Jason helped me dig and move dirt to the garden. For some reason I haven't taken a photo of the finished egress window/window well project. I discovered I've missed my calling as a ditch digger. It did go relatively easy because the ground is quite sandy.

This photo shows the completed hole with anywhere from 12" to about 16" of pea gravel in the bottom. This was taken the same day the hole was dug.

This is the area around the well after the hole was complete. The window well is visible on the side - assembled and ready to go in. The remaining bags of pea gravel are to fill in around the back side of the well after it is installed. I used about forty 50 lb. bags of pea gravel for this project.

Here Jason is using the concrete saw to cut the opening for the egress window. We did this on November 24. This project took a good part of the day. We had to make the cuts on the inside and then go outside to make the same cuts. This project was done after the window well was in place. We ended up with four chunks of concrete ranging in weight from 130 to 190 lbs. Those chunks had to be hoisted up out of the well to the ground surface. Not so easy.

Here is another pic of Jason hard at work. I think the sparks from the rebar are a nice touch. In general the saw cut through concrete almost like a warm knife through butter. Well, maybe not quite but it was impressive how easily and quickly it cut. I'm glad there are no pictures of me. We sure have appreciated Jason's help.

Fast forward to, well, now. This picture was taken August 8. In between we have finished the stud framework both for the exterior walls (against the concrete) and the stud partition walls. We hired an electrician to wire the basement areas. This is the area that is planned to be office or computer space and where we plan to put our exercise equipment. Donovan felt the need to be included and make a face for our amusement.

The "after" photo. I insulated the basement concrete walls and put insulation in the partitions around the bedroom to try to muffle any noise somewhat. I also put some insulation in the ceiling of the bedroom for the same reason. I've read it doesn't do all that much but I wanted to attempt to quiet it a little bit. The drywall is up on the ceiling for the whole area that we are finishing, which is all but the back storage room - part of which is visible on the right side of the picture. We hired one of my high school classmates, Austin, to do the drywall work and we are assisting. I may attempt to do most of the walls myself and have Austin return to help with taping and mudding. I think we might be able to do texture on our own.

Before, again with Donovan. Some walls in the basement were drywalled by the previous owner of this home. We haven't done any of that yet.

After.

Well, that was a quick synopsis of what has gone down so far. Originally our deadline to be done was Memorial Day, then it was Independence Day, then it was before school starts. I'm thinking now Halloween would be a good deadline - or possibly Thanksgiving.