Frugal Farm Renovation

Big Progress Week

2010-08-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

I didn't get a picture posted after we finished the grout of the backsplash tile. After it was dried and sealed, we installed the faucet. (you know that when I say "we", I mean Frugaldad, right?) We left the supply lines turned off since the drains weren't connected. Which was the right decision, because the first thing more than one child did when they noticed the faucet was turn it on!

Last weekend Frugaldad finished all the wood trim on corners of the island and the trim on the edges of the tile.

Look at all the layers in the island! We started with a 2x3 wall.

It looked like this at the beginning.

Then it got some drywall around the dishwasher bays and a cabinet in the middle.

Add some more cherry wood, the countertops and the sink. All that was left was the top of the wall.

We always knew we wanted a substantial piece of wood to be the top of the back wall of the island, kind of like a mini-bar to belly up to. Frugaldad found a nice piece of 8/4 cherry at his hardwood supply place and spent several hours jointing and ripping and chopping and routing and hand-planing. And now we have this. (excuse the plugs that have not been trimmed off yet)

Quite a transformation, wouldn't you say?

In addition to finishing the island woodwork, he also finished all the electrical in the new kitchen. He ran a 220v wire for the stove and connected all the wires for the previously-run outlets and the dishwashers/disposal down at the panel in the basement. Look how neatly he has wired the panel.

We finally decided not to buy a new garbage disposal for the new sink. The one we have works fine and we hardly ever use it. I don't put anything down the sink intentionally. All the food scraps and peelings go to compost or chickens. Only small crumbs and bits of food go down the drain and I only run the disposal when the drain starts getting a little slow. It takes about 3 seconds and things run fine again. I did put my foot down and demand a new rubber drain gasket thingy. (you know, the thing in the drain hole?) The one we had was dried out and yucky looking and for only a few dollars we replaced it. From the top, the disposal looks new. For a few dollars in pipes we re-plumbed the current sink without the disposal. When we start using the new kitchen and move the dishwasher over (and add the second one as well), we will just have to replace one tailpipe for another and both dishwashers will have a place to drain.

What's next? We still haven't ordered the pot-filler faucet fixture for over the stove. When it comes, we'll install it and then finish the tile backsplash on the wall. Then the kitchen will be fully functional (we'll have to move the stove, dishwasher, and fridge from the old space) except for the lack of doors on the cabinets.

Island Backsplash

2010-08-07T15:50:00.001-07:00

This morning we installed a glass tile mosaic backsplash on the new kitchen island. It took me a long time to find the right tile, but I think I did well, don't you agree?

a close-up. it is glass tiles and natural stone. I haven't picked a grout color yet but the mortar still has to dry, anyway.

more kitchen progress

2010-07-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

Frugaldad finished the back of the island this week. Well, it's not actually finished, it needs to be wiped down with a tack cloth and rubbed with oil like the rest of the woodwork in the kitchen. We'll put a coat of polyurethane on everything when it's all done. The very top of the back of the island is going to get some pretty piece of wavy cherry or fiddleback maple or something equally interesting.

The drawer fronts are all done and one of these days I will go pick out hardware.

I did finally find a glass tile mosaic that I liked for the backsplash.

like I always say....slowly but surely...

some kitchen progress

2010-06-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Every weekend Frugaldad makes some progress on the new kitchen. Some weekends are more productive than others. Today we crossed a major milestone. We had Silestone countertops installed. We had pretty much decided on one of the quartz products (Silestone, Zodiac, or the like) for the countertops. Quartz countertops have all of the advantages of natural stone counters like granite, but none of the disadvantage. They never need sealed, won't absorb stains, and are much less prone to chips. I had had my eye on a certain color of Silestone at Home Depot but had never brought home a sample. One day we were in the store and noticed that the color was on sale for about 20% off, which is a great deal. I brought home about 4 more samples of the various quartz products to make sure that color was the one, and had the template guys come and today we got our new counters. They look fabulous.

The installers were very impressed with the cabinet construction, and told me to tell Frugaldad so. Most of the cabinets on the market today are flimsy and the guy said it was a pleasure to work with nice cabinets. They were also impressed with the layout of the kitchen and how much work space I will have. They were also glad there were no seams or backsplash (I want a glass tile backsplash), because it was their last job today. (and they were done by noon!) They also liked the new sink, which we ordered online and got a great deal on. It is huge, commercial-grade stainless steel. I can't wait to wash dishes in that thing!

Before we had the countertops installed, we had to get the lazy susans into the corner cabinet. We ordered maple lazy susans online to set on each shelf. It was cheaper and I think it looks better than the "spin around on a pole" lazy susans that you can order from the home centers. Plus, since our cabinet is a custom size, the sizes available in the home-center special-order books weren't quite right for us. This picture shows the lazy susans holding what they will hold in the kitchen when it is done--baking supplies.

One more drawer, drawer fronts, and doors are next on the to-do list. We haven't bought a microwave yet and the electrical work needs connected at the panel downstairs. But countertops are a huge step towards my new kitchen!

(click on the pictures to be taken to flickr and see more shots!)

How we fixed the washing machine

2010-03-10T21:22:00.000-08:00

This post has nothing to do with the addition to our house, but it is a story about how we fixed something ourselves. It is on my regular blog but I thought it was appropriate to post here as well.

Back in December I blogged about how my washing machine was broken. I am putting this post up full of keywords and links in hopes that it can help someone, because I certainly never found anything that would have led me to the answers that I needed.

The background and the problem

Let's start with the specs. I have a Whirlpool Duet front loading washer. I bought it in November 2003. I still have the receipt. Its model number is GHW9100LW. For three weeks or so prior to the washer's sudden death, things were iffy. I have a pretty set laundry schedule and I am pretty good at keeping up with it out of necessity. On Mondays I wash bathroom towels. This is usually two loads, lights and darks. On Tuesdays I wash clothes. Since we are a large family and I am pretty picky about mixing colors, I usually do 5 or 6 standard-sized loads. Wednesdays I wash any sheets that need changed. I try to take Thursdays off. Fridays I wash clothes again, and since it has only been three days since I washed everything, there are usually four loads. I wash diapers about twice a week, squeezing them in when I need to, and I wash kitchen/cleaning towels whenever I get a full load. So I do a lot of laundry. We bought this washing machine because it used about 1/3 of the water of a regular top-loading washing machine at the time. We were trying to preserve both the life of our well and our septic system. Leading up to the demise, since it is my big day, every Tuesday at the end of the day on the last load of the day, the washing machine would stop in the middle of the load and give me a F 02 error. I keep the manual handy so I was able to look up the code. This is a drain error. My friend Tami has a similar washer and we both use cloth diapers. A few years ago in a discussion about washing diapers, she mentioned that she had burned the pump out twice on her washer because lint from very ragged diapers had clogged the holes down in the drain pump assembly leading to the pump and drain hose. After the second pump had been replaced by a repairman (under warranty each time), the repairman showed her how to clean out the pump assembly so as to not burn out the pump. She told me how to do this, so a few times since that discussion, when I would get a load that wouldn't spin all the way dry, or I could see water sitting inside the gasket of the washer in front of the holes that drain the drum into the pump assembly, I would unscrew the front panel on the bottom of the washer. Then I would put towels down on the floor, unscrew the cover on the pump assembly, catch all the water as it drained out, and clean out the hard water deposits or dog hair or other gunk that had clogged up the holes leading right to the pump. For 6 years I had checked under the gasket of the washer door after each load to make sure that things were draining properly.

When I starting getting this F 02 drain error every Tuesday night I knew that something else was up. Nothing was blocking the drain holes. I would usually end up just letting the last load sit in the washer overnight, then I would run it again in the morning and things would be fine. But sometimes after letting it sit, it would give me a SUDS error, which is when the washer thinks you have used too much or non-HE detergent and the insides of the washer and all its hoses are full of bubbles. Having actually has a true SUDS error when the washer was new and I used a little too much detergent, I knew that there were no excess suds anywhere. There were not bubbles in the pump assembly, in the washer drum, or in the drain holes inside the door. Something was making the washer think that there were suds in there.

Finding some answers
Finally, the washer had had enough of my antics. Despite sitting overnight, I was unable to get the washer to finish a cycle. It would give an F 02 error, then sit, then give me a SUDS error. I got online to google the problem. Every single site that I found had just copied from the Whirlpool repair manual, like this one:

Press PAUSE/CANCEL twice to clear the display.

* Check the drain hose and make sure it is not plugged or kinked.

* Check the electrical connections at the pump and make sure the pump is running.

* Check the drain pump filter for foreign objects.

* If the above does not correct the problem, replace the pump.

And some had more explanation like this:

"F02 is long drain.
Just because it came up doesn't mean there's a problem, it simply means there was a failure during the cycle, if it returns on a regular basis, you have a problem.

F02 error could be caused by the over use of soap, you need to make sure your using 2 tablespoons of HE soap, 1/4 cap at the most.

Over sudsing, could cause the water pump to run longer, the pump is designed for 15 min duty cycle which means, 15 minutes on to 45 minutes off. The computer may sense too much soap, and continue to pump. HE soap will cure that, along with SUD error, possible F09 (overflow condition), you may also notice the timing is wrong, HE soap works well in these machines and F/l washer go hand in hand

if the F02 returns the remove the 3 torx screws from the bottom kick panel, and remove the kick panel, right there in the middle you will see a big round handle, turn it and then slide it out, have some towels ready, there will be some water in there, and check to see if you have any thing in there that will slow water flow, tooth picks and other "floating" items may jam the impeller"

DIY Syndrome--I have it, and I have it bad

I set out to fix this problem. My first step was to make sure that nothing was clogging the drain hose. So I pulled the washer out from the wall, disconnected the drain hose, took it to the tub, and cleaned out the most disgusting slime you have ever seen. It was like charcoal colored jello, which I imagine comes from six years of using earth-friendly biodegradable detergents and a minimal amount of bleach. I put the drain hose back on, and my problem was still there. As far as I knew, everything was draining just fine to get out of the washer, but the washer still thought there was suds and/or water and wouldn't finish the drain cycle and move on to the spin cycle. After calling Tami to consult with her to find out if a burnt-out pump sounded like a healthy pump, and getting the green light from my husband (it is an expensive part!), I went ahead and found the cheapest place online and ordered a new pump and paid for expedited shipping. This was Wednesday afternoon. I had found an appliance repair forum that said how easy it was to replace yourself. Then the next day I took all the laundry to the laundrymat because that last load of whites was still wet (and not clean since the load stopped mid-cycle) from two days before, and every single rag and towel I owned was wet from sopping up water every time I checked the pump assembly. I had also switched to disposable diapers the instant I realized the gravity of the situation, and needed to wash the cloth diapers that were dirty.

The new pump arrives

The expedited shipping that I paid for wasn't nearly as fast as I thought it would be, and it was Tuesday night before the pump arrived. Despite the fact that it was 5pm and time to fix dinner, I parked myself in front of the washer, switched out the old pump for the new one (it really was quite simple, just some screws and a plug for the wiring) and put a load in. The first load ran like a charm! I was on cloud nine, knowing that I had diagnosed and fixed the machine all by myself (with help from the Internet, of course). I put in a second load and things went south. I got the F 02 drain error and I was back to square one. Obviously the pump was not the problem. I ignored the problem for a while, fed my family and put the kids to bed. Around 11pm when I was back in front of the machine, my husband took pity on me. Up until this point, I hadn't bothered him about it because he was busy with work and his other projects. We worked together until about 2am trying to make sure we had covered all the bases. We took the back and top off the washer, removed the drain hose that is completely inside the washer and cleaned it out (it was full of slime just like the drain hose on the back of the washer). We removed the rubber boot on the bottom of the drum that leads to the drain hose and made sure it was clean (it had some fuzz in it but was generally clean). We thought that perhaps the float inside that boot wasn't telling the washer that the machine was empty of water. At 2am I was sent to bed and my wonderful husband dialed up the www (does anyone else remember when David Letterman used to say this when the internet was just getting popular? but I digress) and read the actual repair manual put out by Whirlpool for repair techs, plus a bunch of links online. I don't even know how he arrived at the solution, but he decided that the pressure sensor switch was the culprit. (I asked him about this, and he doesn't remember. He thinks he found a blog post somewhere mentioning the pressure sensor switch, and had also read the manual. I read the paragraph in the manual as well, and it describes how the pressure sensor switch is what triggers the SUDS error. Since we had that error despite the lack of suds in the system, it was a natural progression...) He read that the small hose leading to the switch can become clogged with suds, causing it to malfunction and not be able to sense that the drain cycle had finished. A simple solution was to blow gently in the end of the tubing to reset the switch. He tried it out, and lo and behold, the washer finished a cycle. He rolled into bed and around 4am, told me the good news. The next day I ran another load and found that the switch needed to be reset during every cycle, however. So I took 8 loads to the laundrymat and continued to use disposable diapers. We needed some more diagnosis to fix the problem. Either the pressure sensor switch needed to be replaced (also not cheap, but half the cost of the pump). That night when he came home, we pulled the tubing off the pressure sensor switch and found that it was also clogged with slime. We cleaned it out, and the washer has run like a dream since then.

So what did I learn?

1. Since the cause of the problem was the blockage in the pressure sensor tubing, the machine worked when I put the new pump in because it had had a week to dry out. The machine malfunctioned on Tuesdays because I did so many loads that day and there was so much moisture in the system. It would work the next morning because it had dried out a bit.

2. Maybe with my super-hard well water, biodegradable detergent isn't the best option. The drain hoses and pressure sensor tubing were full of slime. I am pretty sure that the lack of harsh detergents and bleach contributed to this problem. We also lack the chlorine in city-treated water. I have switched to plain old Tide for now. I might, as time goes on, experiment with other detergents, but for now, it's the caustic, environmentally unfriendly option for us.

3. If you are going to attempt such troubleshooting and diagnostics yourself, make sure that you take precautions. Every time I took the washer apart, it was unplugged. Water and electricity don't mix. Also, make sure that you correctly reassemble everything that you take apart. I made sure that when I took off hose clamps and unplugged wires, they went back on securely and in the proper orientation.

4. It really helps to have prior experience with electronics and circuits. My husband knows how to fix just about anything. He is probably the best troubleshooter on the planet. Because the repair manual was available, he was able to get out his volt meter and test the pressure switch to see if it was functioning properly. Had I not had him to help me, I would have had to pay a repairman to come at that point because electricity is not my thing. He, however, wired our entire addition and passed the inspection on the first try.

5. As soon as we realized that the old pump was actually still good, we put it back in and packaged up the new one in the box it came in. We didn't send it back, though, just labeled it and put it on the shelf to be "in stock" should the current pump ever die. I am confident that had I paid a repairman to come and diagnose the problem from the beginning, he would have also had me replace the pump. When that didn't solve the problem, I bet he would have had me replace the Central Control Unit, which is about half the cost of a new washer. Add to that the cost a service call, and I would have been out literally hundreds of dollars and my washer would have still been broken. I called the local parts supply house and their cost on the pump and the pressure switch we significantly higher than I could find online, even including expedited shipping. To buy parts from a repairman would have been very expensive. Even though we spent around $100 on the new pump that we didn't need, we considered ourselves lucky. I also spent about $20 washing over a dozen loads at the laundrymat. I brought home the wet things and dried them in my own dryer.

6. I'm sure glad that I had my husband around to help me with this one. In fact, he is fairly confident that he can fix the broken dishwasher. (I guess I never updated, but after 5 months of a broken dishwasher, a couple months after the baby was born, we gave in and bought a new one. Too hard to wash dishes one-handed. Good thing, since that was 14 months ago and the new kitchen is still a couple months out.) He is so confident, in fact, that I approved a two-dishwasher plan in the new kitchen.

So that is the story. If I remember any other details that I think may be helpful I will definitely add them.

slow and steady wins the race

2010-02-19T10:05:00.001-08:00

Can you believe we started this project 31 months ago? What a transformation from this...

to this

then this

this...(can you believe I've never taken a picture of the outside since we primed the siding and painted the soffits and gables?)

and inside

to this...

While the project is certainly far from finished, there are really tangible results to enjoy already!

as always, more pictures in the addition set at flickr!

what are we still planning on?
finish the kitchen
rip out the old kitchen cabinets and faux brick walls, lay bamboo floor
remove old pantry to expand laundry room
convert play space into master bedroom and bath
finish basement into playspace/media room, storage room, 2 bedrooms and bathroom

thanks for hanging in there with us!

business

2010-01-28T15:45:00.001-08:00

I have enabled comment moderation on posts older than 14 days. I have been getting spam comments on old posts. Thanks!

kitchen cabinets

2010-01-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

I love how you can tell by looking out the windows through out the series of photos, that they really were taken over the course of the day. Here's the morning,

late afternoon...

night.

it's beginning to look like a kitchen

2010-01-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

There are 45 screws holding this corner cabinet carcass together. Go to my flickr set to see all the progress pictures. (I arrange them in date order, so the end is the most current).

I should be canning in the new kitchen this summer! I am really getting excited!!!

building cabinets

2009-12-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

Frugaldad "gets" to take 2 weeks of vacation over the holidays. What better thing to do than build a new kitchen? He's been building cabinets.
Photos that come before today's progress are at the end of the Addition set at flickr.
here's a little preview (look at the fog!)

CARPET!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-31T20:18:00.000-07:00

I never showed you a picture of the trim board on the edge of the bamboo floor.

Then the carpet guys came!

Then we started moving toys into what will be a really big playroom until we finish the basement and turn it into a really big playroom, and the upstairs becomes a master suite.

What amazes me is that I know that we have so many fewer toys that a lot of families. Yet there are still so many!

counting the minutes....

2009-05-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

until the CARPET gets installed in the morning! Only upstairs, but you'd better believe we're moving stuff in there as soon as we can!

(I realized it isn't actually finished in the picture, the trim piece at the edge wasn't installed so you will get another picture later)

we are far from finished, but this is a big step! We'll put trim in the windows soon so we can hang blinds. That evening sun from the west is blinding! And we'll install baseboards before moving large furniture.

Two years is a long time to cram everything into one living area!

3.78125

2009-05-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

You might call it dumb luck, but we like to refer to it as careful planning.

The stairs are on the south edge of the room, and the factory-manufactured stair nosing had a groove in it. So the floor had to be installed starting at the north edge of the room, because you nail into the tongues of the flooring. But how, pray tell, do you make sure that the flooring meets up with the stair nosing in the right place? If it was off, we would have to rip down an entire course of floor the length of the entire room.

So we measured. And measured. And did some math. And measured and did math again. We laid out a few boards and figured that each joint added 1/32" to the boards themselves, which are 3.75". So we multiplied 3.78125 by the number of courses of floor (it wasn't actually that simple), and then snapped a chalk line where the first course should be nailed. And then we hoped for the best.

This is the line that we have to meet up with, see it a few inches from the edge of the stairs?

It is where the factory stair nosing ends.

So we got 3 courses away from the stairs, and stuck in some scraps, and it is going to be perfect. ...to the 32nd of an inch....perfect.

and that, my friends, is what happens when an engineer builds his own house.

floor progress

2009-05-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

So we've been working on installing the bamboo flooring. Er, well, Frugaldad has been doing all the installing. I am really good at holding the other end of a tape measure, though. Here is the room before. Just in case you forgot, this is going to be our dining area for a while, and then we're going to put our kitchen here and turn our old kitchen into a really big dining room.

Here it is after a couple courses were nailed down.

and a few more courses

after the first day

the Frugalbaby has learned to speed army crawl...

Frugaldad took a day off work and worked on the floor some more and got to here:

We think we are really going to love this floor. And have already decided that with kids and pets, we're not going to stress when it gets dinged and scratched.

Every single hardwood and laminate floor brochure I've ever seen has a dog in it. So we had to take this one.

Status report

2009-04-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

We passed our final inspection!

While the certificate says complete, it doesn't mean the project is finished! We have bamboo flooring sitting in the house acclimating. We're pretty sure we've picked out the carpet. We need to install window and door trim and baseboards.

Then begins phase two, in which we move our kitchen into the addition and start remodeling the old house.

Twenty-one months and counting....

2009-04-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

We have passed our final plumbing and electrical inspections. We've picked out carpet and other flooring. The final inspection ought to be done in a week or so once we get things wrapped up.

We've been busy little bees!

Got color?

2009-02-25T12:51:00.000-08:00

We've been painting, and wanted to put some color on one wall in what will be our family room. We thought we had a great one, but now that it's on the wall, it's a little bright and we think we'll paint over it. I picked a really calming blue for the other room, and another greener blue for the bathroom.

I realized that the far wall is still only primed in this picture (click to see the whole thing). We did the back wall of the plant shelf as well, the theory is great behind tying the two rooms together with the same color but that color is just too much.

painted

The blue on the left is more purple that the bathroom and is in the south room. The lighter green is the tinted primer and the bright green dropped in it is the actual paint. Flourescent, huh?

the bathroom

More deals

2009-02-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

We've really been blessed with good deals lately! In addition to the toilets...

12x12 marble tiles, regular price $4.87, bought for $1 each (these will be backsplash around the tub and maybe a bathroom countertop)
bathroom vanity/cabinet, regular price $79, bought for $39
outdoor light fixtures, regular price $10, bought for $2.50

and I never did mention the Trex decking, but we really wanted to use Trex on the decks outside of each exterior door but the cost is so much higher than wood. Frugaldad was in Home Depot one day last fall and found a discontinued color marked down more than 60%. So he bought enough for both decks.

He also found some PVC trim marked down 90% to trim the basement windows on the exterior.

When you are doing a project the way we're doing it (long and slow), you can often postpone purchases until you find a sale or a clearance special. As long as you know what you're looking for, and what you need, you can buy and save a ton of money. Just don't buy something just because it's cheap, buy it only if you love it.

potty talk

2009-01-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

We're getting close to the end, and that means fixtures. We've been shopping for the prefect toilet (who knew there were so many options?) and had decided on the brand and model. One day Frugaldad was walking through Home Depot and came across some toilet bowls, almost the exact model we had already decided on, with one of the features missing (if you're really curious, we were going for the "right height" model and this one wasn't) and it was marked down on clearance from over $80 to $13.80. It seems they are changing only the model name, nothing about the toilet bowl itself. So he bought two, one for the addition and one to replace one of the old toilets in the original house.

Now that's what I call frugal renovation.

My Christmas gift to you

2008-12-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

an update!

We decided to hire out the tape and mud portion of the drywall.

Wait, did I even tell you we were already to drywall?

During September Frugaldad hung the drywall on the ceiling with his friend Jack.

In October we hung the drywall on the walls together. I put the first two screws in most of the sheets while he held them up. Also in October we moved, widened, and heightened the opening from the main house into the addition.

Then we had a baby! He built decks outside each door and started on the stair railing. We decided that it was worth it to hire out the tape and mud and texture, so the crew started work this past Monday and will finish up next week. We spent the weekend cleaning up tools and drywall scraps getting everything clean for them.

A peek at the progress. More pictures in my Flickr Addition Set.

From sill plates to sheetrock--a year of construction

2008-09-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

We have a posterboard on our kitchen wall on which we write down the major milestones in the construction of the addition. For my own curiosity, on Monday, which was September 1, I looked back a year to see what we'd been working on. On September 1, 2007, we installed the sill plates. (yes, we're cheap. look who we hire for labor)

And on September 1, 2008, Frugaldad finished putting drywall up on the ceilings and started on the walls.

(this is the last piece of ceiling to get sheetrock. Tune in soon for the explanation of how one man and a very pregnant lady got drywall on the ceiling of a stairwell all by themselves without too much work.

Getting pregnant and breaking my ankle at the same time really derailed me from regular updates on this blog. Sorry. Baby is due in 6 weeks so I will try and get the rest of the photos in Flickr at least.

We PASSED!

2008-06-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

Our electrical inspection, that is. On the first try! Think of it like this--the electrical code is a huge college textbook that is updated every three years and you walk in and pass the final without ever going to class or meeting the professor, who can change or enforce the details of the code at will. Go Frugaldad!

And what a pretty, neatly wired sub-panel!

We also passed our structural (framing) inspection on the first try as well!

Ahhhhhh.......

2008-06-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

You might remember that we broke ground for the addition back in July 2007. That was almost 11 months ago! Since the old air conditioning unit was in the path of destruction, we bought a little window a/c unit. Combining the little window unit with about 5 strategically placed fans, we were able to bear the summer heat until the weather cooled.

We've been lucky enough so far this year that until the 2nd week of June, the temperatures stayed below 70. Not so good for my garden, but great when you don't have any air conditioning. Until now. We're now the proud owners of a shiny new heat pump and air handler and I don't even feel that guilty when I turn the thermostat down to 75 so the kids can get some sleep without sweating.

There's still a lot of work to be done, but every little thing is one step closer to completion!

Siding

2008-06-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

After we did the blue foam insulation on the outside of the building, we hired someone we know to come put the siding up. I just realized I don't have any finished pictures, so this one will have to do! It is currently raining or else I'd go snap some.

In the trenches

2008-05-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

While we were in the midst of all this addition craziness, we decided it would be fun to add another element. Since we ran new plumbing and connected it to the existing sewer, it was the perfect time to run an extra water line out to the pasture for a future barn. We'll also put an electrical line in the trench so there is power out there, too. We rented a trenching machine and dug a bunch of trench.

Teach them young...

The trenches

Electricity and siding

2008-04-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

Frugaldad decided that he is going to do all the electrical work himself so on Saturday we did some attic cleaning so he'd have access to run wires. Yesterday he drilled a hole through the top plate of the garage wall to run the wire for the new a/c unit. It's the old wire, just moved from its old location. Then he'll run new wire for an electrical panel in the addition.

We hired a guy we know to come and put the siding up, and it is being delivered tomorrow. He is also doing the soffits, so we'll be officially closed in sometime in the near future!

It all sounds so easy, but after the wire is run, it's insulation and drywall, and then it's basically finished space! There might be a place for the new baby to sleep after all!

Exterior foam insulation

2008-04-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

We are putting foam insulation on the exterior of the building to help with efficiency since there are so many windows. We are finished with the south wall so far.

HVAC

2008-04-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

Last week the HVAC guys came and did all the rough ductwork in the addition. They haven't tied into our existing system yet. We are replacing our 30+ year old furnace as well as putting in an air conditioner to replace the one we got rid of last summer, and we don't want dust in the new equipment, so we'll wait until the drywall is finished before we install the new stuff.

The main trunk in the basement that feeds all the vents

Ducts in the joist bays

Air vent in the basement ceiling for one of the future bedrooms

Air vent on first floor

Air return in south half

Air return over the stairs (serves the north half and basement)

Basement perimeter walls

2008-04-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

Frugaldad framed the perimeter of the basement when I was laid up on the couch with a broken ankle.

Our #1 and #2 Priority

2008-03-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

We passed our plumbing inspection on Valentine's Day. The inspector was very impressed with Frugaldad's DIY job. Then the following Saturday, Frugaldad cut into the existing septic line and tied the new plumbing into it.

In case you missed the news, I fell and broke my ankle on February 13 so I haven't been outside to take pictures or even see the progress for almost 3 weeks. But Frugaldad assures me that the progess is great. He framed all the perimeter walls in the basement so they can be insulated and now that most of the snow is melted, he and the kids cleaned up most of the rest of the debris around the site.

The last door, finally

2008-01-31T10:43:00.000-08:00

I'm not even going to apologize for the lack of updates.

We ordered the last door on Dec 14, it came in 4 weeks later (2 weeks late) and wasn't even what we ordered. So we ordered again and less than 2 weeks later the right door came and was installed on Saturday Jan 26. It is very nice to be able to get into the addition on both sides of the building now, instead of having to walk around.

We're also almost done with the plumbing. The drain side is finished except for the vent out the roof, and there hasn't been a snow-free day to get on the roof yet. A couple weeks ago, an entire Saturday was spend tapping into the supply lines of the house and all the supply lines to the addition are run, supported, and in the walls ready to be attached to fixtures.

The dirt pile out back, once the bane of my existence with it's ability to migrate into my house, is now quite a fun sledding hill.

Windows!

2008-01-07T12:46:00.000-08:00

We finished installing all fifteen windows over Christmas break. He and I were able to do 13 of them alone, and we got some help with the other two that were too big for just the two of us. The last door is supposed to be here but I haven't gotten the call yet. Over the weekend we cleaned out the garage so Frugaldad can access the water heater to start the supply side of the plumbing. I think he has acquired all of the supplies now.

Sorry for the lack of updates, but it's hard to get a minute to blog when the kids are around. The three older ones went back to school today so I making time to update!

Applying flashing tape to the window sill.

Rolling out the flashing tape.

Smoothing out the corners.

Almost ready for the window.

I didn't actually take pictures of the window going in since I was assisting in the lifting, but you'll see one eventually.

Family Time

2007-12-28T16:04:00.000-08:00

The weather's been iffy and it's the holidays, after all, so we've been spending some family time together and not getting as much done. Slowly but surely, though, it will get done.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-23T19:58:00.000-08:00

Since we didn't really have time to put up many outside decorations, we decided we could have the world's largest luminaria.

I realize there hasn't been much updating lately, but most of the work has been hard to document. Frugaldad has been working on the rough plumbing in the bathroom and our windows were delivered. Yesterday we installed 5. There are 10 more, and the other door is on order but not due to come in for a while. The first door was installed a couple weeks ago.

The French doors

The first window opening

You can see two windows on the edge of this picture, but this was a failed attempt to take the first picture, because I thought the flash was off.

That's a wrap!

2007-12-03T13:16:00.001-08:00

edited 12/7
This weekend Frugaldad framed up the walls for the first floor bathroom, and the doorway in the main wall upstairs.

In this picture you can also see that all the doors and windows are blocked by Tyvek, so to get into the addition you have to go down the ladder in the window well, and then go up the stairs.

He also wrapped the addition in Tyvek home wrap.

The next step is doors and windows! They are ordered and will get installed in a couple weeks.

Today's chore is starting the rough plumbing.

Stairs!

2007-11-21T21:47:00.000-08:00

We no longer have to use the ladder to get down into the basement! The stairs are finished.

The roof, however, has been rained and snowed on, but it's nearly done.

The jig is up!

2007-11-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

(edited to add a couple more pictures of the stair jigs)

This is how we currently "get down in the hole." It's a ladder, if you couldn't
tell. In the window well. Until last Saturday, the stair opening was covered by sheets of plywood so no one would fall down. Frugaldad framed the walls that go on either side of the stairs and took up the plywood. (For all of you worried about safety, there's still a piece of wood blocking the entrance to the stairs, and strips of wood across the stud walls to keep people from slipping between the studs) This week the main project was the stairs.

Frugaldad took a day off work this week to work on the house, and he cut the stair stringers. Here's the first one of three. He built two jigs to help him cut all the stairs the same.

One of the jigs

The jig in place to cut the next step

Saw on the jig

The other jig

Jig in place

Saw on the other jig

Three stair stringers ready to be lowered through the stairwell window.

Then today, he worked on building the landing of the stairs. There will be a long run of stairs, then a square landing, then two more steps. An aerial view of the framed landing.

The landing from downstairs.

We've been lucky to have my friend Jessica's husband Cliff helping with the roof. He has roofing experience and he's pretty fast! Frugaldad is able to do these other things while Cliff works on the roof. Unfortunately with the time change, there isn't much daylight left at the end of a workday, so work can only be done for a little while each weekday, but I'll post pictures when the roof is all done.

Sheathing and tar paper

2007-11-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

The day the trusses went up, it rained and rained, and rained some more. Like four-tenths of an inch. Here in the desert. We put some tarps up over the roof decking and the rain stopped. Inside.

The next day was Saturday, and Frugaldad was able to get almost all the sheathing on, except the rim board and headers over the doors and windows. It was supposed to rain again so he didn't want to risk uncovering the roof and not being able to finish the tar paper if the rain started again. Of course, it ended up being clear all day long so he did the tar paper on Monday instead.
Frugalboy loves to climb on the roof, and he loves to help his dad. Probably in that order. And he's pretty good at banging nails.

Here is the sheathing and tar paper.

The progress this week hasn't been really visible. Frugaldad installed hurricane strapping on the trusses to help keep the roof from lifting off in a windstorm. We've done a lot of clean-up. Tonight (Nov. 1) he framed the first interior wall.

Walls and trusses

2007-10-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 13th Frugaldad and his brother and their buddy from work tipped up the walls.

Later that day, Frugaldad removed the rest of the roof from the "subtraction."
The finished walls
Monday the 15th he took off all the shingles where the roof trusses would need to go. Then he took off all the eaves and soffits. But rain was in the forecast so he tar-papered the roof. Then I put some 2x4s up to try and divert the rain away from the places with no eaves.
Wednesday the 17th we got a Dumspter and put all the debris in it with the aid of the tractor bucket.
The day dawned ~~bright and clear~~ dark and rainy but work must go on. This is what they call "flying in the trusses."
The trusses went up amazingly fast. I was making muffins in the kitchen and in the time I was turned around filling the muffin tins, about half of them went up. This is the view from on the roof.
From inside the addition sans the decking.
From my kitchen window. It rained the whole darn day and until we put tarps over the roof, it rained inside, too. As soon as the rain quits, we'll roll out the tar paper.

Updates

2007-10-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

Before we could set the rest of the floor joists, we decided that the "shelf" next to the house that caused all the trouble with the compaction should be filled in with concrete to make a good storage place in the basement. Frugaldad decided this was a good time to practice laying concrete so he brought home a new toy.

He set forms to do about half at a time. The first day he did 4 blocks and the second day he did 3 blocks.

It was raining but it needed to be done anyway so we could finish the floor. So we made a tent.

The kids' handprints and a print of a huge maple leaf.
Then we could set the rest of the joists in place, and deck the rest of the floor. We put some extra OSB over the stair opening so nobody would fall through by accident. The stairs won't get built until the roof is on to keep them from getting wet.

Before Frugaldad left for Singapore on a business trip he started framing the exterior walls.

Now the exterior walls are all framed with window openings and the trusses are ordered and will be delivered next week. We decided to have the truss company install them and deck the roof because the weather has been so rainy! They can get it done in less than a day.

Working together

2007-10-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

The rest of the story

2007-09-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

After the slab was poured, we started getting lumber delivered as we needed it. We have a local Ace hardware that delivers for free and they are giving us a contractor's discount. It is much nicer than trekking to Home Depot or Lowes every time we need lumber. The first lumber delivery was the sill plates and the lumber for the load bearing wall in the basement.

Of course, it RAINED the afternoon of the first lumber delivery. Plus it's been raining the last couple days and it's still in the forecast. I'm all for ending the drought, but can't it wait until we have a roof and some house wrap?

The load bearing wall will support the floor joists for the first floor. We decided to do a load bearing wall, rather than span the entire width of the addition (28 feet) because the joists would have had to be 18 or 20 inches tall instead of 9 1/2 inches. That would have meant we would have had to dig deeper or have shorter ceilings, because the floor of the existing house and the floor of the addition WILL LINE UP. It was a step down into the "subtraction" and that was annoying and slightly dangerous for babies and the elderly.

The kids helped install the sill plates by putting the washers and nuts on the j-bolts.

The sill plates all installed.

Then Frugaldad started building the wall. He built it in two pieces. This guy is amazing! I can't believe he knows all this stuff. He knows how to build a house, write amazing software, work on cars, you name it.

Second half

Two pieces put together

Then in the midst of the wall-building, we had some plumbers come out to give us bids for the rough plumbing of the bathroom in the addition, and also some HVAC guys come because we'll need a new air conditioner and furnace and ductwork in the addition. We had a concrete cutting company come and cut a big hole for the ducts. Frugaldad spent a couple nights framing the opening to support the joists. And he dug out under the foundation so we can run plumbing to the septic tank. We're doing this stuff now while the access is good, before we cover up that area with a floor.

The piece of pipe is just for size reference

You've seen what the wall looked like when it was finished and the rim joists were installed. Next came floor joists.

About half of them set into place but not fastened.

We are glad to support a local business.

All the joists in place, looking up from below. It was really cool to be in the basement under the joists. The ceilings are the highest in the house, which was built in the energy-efficient 1970s. When the floor and ceilings are finished they will be around 8 feet high.

Monday night we got almost all of the floor decking installed. It's been rainy so I don't have a good picture yet. Check back soon!

A weekend's work

2007-09-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'll fill in the details soon, but for those of you who just can't wait, I took this picture a couple minutes ago. Frugaldad and Frugalboy finished in the dark last night after a 12-hour day.

And for the record, this is what it looked like on Saturday morning. The rim joists were installed the day before.

Hey! I thought this was a frugal renovation blog!

2007-09-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you're starting to wonder--if you are going to save so much money by doing this addition yourself, how come all you've done so far is hire people?

A valid question, my friend.

The work that has been done so far has been the stuff we couldn't do ourselves because of the complexity. We don't have a backhoe, nor the skills to drive one, for excavation, and while we probably could have called in the concrete pumper truck ourselves, we don't own concrete forms for walls and such.

From here on out, most of the work will be done by Frugaldad with assistance from me and Frugalboy, who, at not quite 9 years old, has already proven himself worthy of pounding nails and moving sheets of plywood. The girls are quite adept at fetching water for the workers.

When we had the hole dug, we had to take out the valves for the backyard sprinkler zones. Once everything was all backfilled, Frugaldad rebuilt the sprinkler valve box. If he would have purchased a ready-made manifold, it would have cost about $40, plus it wouldn't have fit into the largest access box that they make. Instead, he went to the plumbing aisle and spent less that $10 on bits and pieces and built a custom manifold for the 5 sprinkler zones and a hose bib.

We were able to locate all the pipe for the zones, it was just a matter of reconnecting them to the new manifold and valves.

Backfilling

2007-08-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

Before we backfilled, Frugaldad painted tar on the outside of all the walls. What a hunk!For about half a day we had both crews, concrete and excavation, working at the same time. our excavation contractor was really anxious to get the house supported by dirt again.

Starting to fill in the hole

There had to be a way to smooth out the basement floor, and backfill the void between the house and the addition.

May I present The Flying Skidsteer!

Jose dropped the gas can and a shovel in the window well, so he and Greg lifted Miguel by the legs and retrieved the stuff.

The rest of the concrete

2007-08-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

First the floor needed to be prepped. The slab is thicker in the middle to support the load-bearing down the middle of the floor. We dug it out and lifted the dirt and gravel over the short wall to Frugalboy, who dumped every bucket in the tractor bucket.

The concrete guys set up forms for the stem walls, the walls that connect the house to the addition. We were finally able to pass the compaction test after several tries, despite the fact that we didn't change anything. I think the guy who did the testing was incompetent.

The pumper truck and concrete came about 7 am.

They started pouring and smoothing.

Before he started smoothing, I asked him how he planned on getting out. He stood in the window well to finish.

Today. I promise.

2007-08-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I'm behind in the updates! I have updated the timeline but the pictures are still on my hard drive. I promise I'll get to it by the end of the day!

On solid ground

2007-08-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

Frugaldad sleeps better at night now that the empty space under the foundation of our house is backfilled.

The city inspector has required that we have a compaction test done on the soil between the basement and the original house to make sure it will support the walls that connect the house to the addition. Since they native soil was disturbed, he wants to make sure we put enough dirt back in.

A company came and took a soil test yesterday and are supposed to come and do a compaction test on it today.

Jose, can you see?

2007-08-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist when Jose was looking over the wall...

Basement walls

2007-08-07T08:56:00.001-07:00

Vertical rebar installed, forms brought down into the hole
Cutting the rebar for the window
The east wall--against the house
Putting the first window in
Panorama of the forms after the first day of installation. Total time to get ready for pouring was 3 days.
The morning before the pour
Pouring the walls

Footings for basement walls

2007-08-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

Forms laid out for footers

Concrete pumping trucks.....taken from way out in our pasture looking towards the house

Pump truck

Concrete poured, installing vertical rebar

Digging the basement, or digging to the tune of Primary songs

2007-07-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

I looked out the window and what did I see?

This might look wrong to you. See the dirt under the footings? Me neither. For a WEEK our foundation was unsupported.

The wise man built his house....

Oh what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

It's kind of a funny (?) story. We didn't know how far out we could dig without undermining the footings. The main excavator boss actually had surgery so he wasn't on site all the time. The morning they began digging, he told the trackhoe operator to start 6 feet out from the house and not to go closer than four and a half. He got a little overzealous because the dirt seemed so solid and he talked with a bunch of people on the phone and went ahead and dug next to the house, then underneath the foundation. The main boss was so drugged up on painkillers that even when we expressed our concern, he didn't seem worried. The concrete guy was supposed to show up the very next morning. His vacation ran long and he didn't return our calls and John, the excavator boss, upon emerging from his drug-induced stupor, came over apologized profusely for recommending that concrete guy (apparently he'd never flaked out like this before) and went out and bought some huge 4x8 posts and he and his son and Frugaldad put them up underneath the house to help support it through the weekend.

Today (July 30) the new concrete guy is laying forms as I type and we'll have footings by the end of the day and walls tomorrow.

D-day

2007-07-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

Like I mentioned before, the existing family room in the house was an addition to the house around 1978. We decided that the best place to add on to the house would be in place of the family room. It was poorly built, and the floor was about 6 inches lower than the rest of the house (a realtor would call it a feature--the sunken living room).

The family room addition--now known as the "subtraction."

Ironically, this is the room that we had made the most improvements too since moving in in 2003. We replaced the carpet before we even moved in. It was the original 1978 orange shag. Since our couch is green we decided the color clash was too much. There were no overhead lights in the room so we ran wires and installed a ceiling fan and two other lights. Frugaldad also ran computer network cables through the walls. The windows were covered in atrocious brown and orange shade and the trim around the windows was unfinished. We put wood blinds on the windows and stained the trim to match the door trim.

The fireplace in the room also sucked warm air like a vacuum so we sealed it up the best we could with foam board and put our entertainment center in front of it.

Inside the family room

Looking into the kitchen from the family room. We hadn't moved everything out yet, obviously.

We took out the windows, ripped out the carpet, took down the light fixtures, and made a saw cut up the walls and across the roof to disconnect the subtraction from the rest of the house.

Getting the room ready to demo.

All ready to tear down

Our own little version of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. We all sat on and around the swings and watched the demolition.

Next up: excavation of the basement!

Digging a new drain field

2007-07-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

For those of you unfamiliar with a septic system, when your house is too far away from city sewer services, you have a septic tank. It is a concrete tank that is located underground not too far from your house. They hold anywhere from 750 to 1500 gallons or more. The drain line from your house goes into the tank (the inlet baffle), and then from the tank there is another line (the outlet baffle) that goes to your drain field. The inlet baffle and the outlet baffle are not at the same level so that the only thing that goes out the outlet baffle is liquid. A layer of scum floats on the top (like the small amounts of grease that you can't help send down the drain) and the solids sink to the bottom of the tank. The liquids that come out of the tank go to the drain field, which is some perforated pipe embedded in small rocks that causes the liquid to be filtered and eventually end up back in the water table as clean water. Every few years you have the tank pumped and the solids and liquids removed so, hopefully, it is like starting over. Every so often, though, the drain field will fail because the soil stops draining, or the drain lines become clogged. According to a few of the people we talked with, a drainfield's lifespan can be as little as 15-20 years. Ours was 32 years old, but we have fantastic sandy soil about 6 feet down because our land is old river flood plain. We decided to install a new drain field because the old one was too close to the location of our new addition. We oversized it by over 50% so we can add extra bedrooms down the road (the health department gauges the size needs by number of bedrooms, not number of bathrooms).

This is the location of the new drainfield before the digging began.

Sorry for the fuzziness but I took this through the window screen. Just beginning the digging.

Working their way west to finish digging the hole. They put the drain rock and pipe in the first half before they finished digging because the track hoe couldn't reach that far, though.

Preparing the bed for the perforated pipe. It's several inches of drain rock.

Half of the drain field pipe. The other side is a mirror image but they worked so quickly I wasn't able to get a picture of the entire thing.

They covered the pipe with more rock before they put felt over it and backfilled with dirt. This picture was taken in the evening after they'd left for the day. It's my husband, me holding the baby and the camera, and my brother-in-law.

The second half of the pipe is all covered and ready for felt.

We ended up waiting for the inspector before they could backfill. So they started demolition while they waited.

Now it's a big dirt field. We're waiting to reseed the lawn until the big machinery is done driving through the yard and we had to turn off the sprinkler lines before they got munched by the trackhoe so it will be a dirty summer. Anyone want to come sweep for me multiple times per day?

The Background

2007-07-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

Back in 2003 when we were looking at moving out of suburbia into a house on some acreage, Frugaldad's brother let us know that a house on their street was going to be on the market soon. The man living in it had passed away and the widow was moving out. They didn't know anything about the house.

My sister-in-law happened to be walking by one day when the realtor was there but the house hadn't gone on the market yet. She got her business card and our realtor was able to walk us through it. Our house had been on the market for a few months already. The day this house went on the market, we got an offer on our house so we put in an offer on the house and though it was up against another offer, ours was accepted.

The drawback was we were moving from a 2100 square-foot house into a 1600 square-foot house. There were still two living areas, but one fewer bedroom, one fewer bathroom, and smaller closets. We knew, though, that with a big piece of property like this (it's about 4.5 acres) that it would be a lot easier to add on to the house than to make the lot bigger. Big lots were also getting much more few and far between, and the cost of real estate in our area was skyrocketing.

The last (almost) 4 years we've lived here, planning all the while. Frugaldad sat in front of the television with a floor plan and a pencil and sketched and erased and sketched again.

Finally, we decided it was time. Last fall we hired a designer to draw up blueprints for us. We didn't have a final set, however, because our plans included a basement under the addition, and no one knew how close we could dig to the existing house without undermining the footings and foundation. We finally decided to just draw the plans with the assumption that we'd dig a little distance out from the house and make the basement smaller than the upstairs.

The new addition is going to be in the place of our existing family room. It was actually an addition to the house about 3 years after the house was built in 1975. It was a glorified porch. It leaked like a sieve. It was always the hottest room and the coldest room. So it had to go.

As spring turned into summer, we turned our plans into the city to get our building permits. The next day, because of the permitting process, we found out that the existing drain field of our septic system was too close to the proposed location of the addition. Since the drain field was already over 30 years old we were lucky that it hadn't failed. We decided to put in a new drain field and found a good excavation contractor. And since he was going to be here with all his equipment, we also hired him to demo and excavate for the addition. His crew put in a new drain field and while they waited for the inspector to come they started tearing down the existing family room (which we have dubbed the "subtraction"). Then they finished the drain field and finished the demolition. Then they came and dug a big hole for the basement.

I'm working on uploading pictures but it takes a while, even with a fast internet connection. The Frugalkids go back to school tomorrow so I hope to have a little more time before the concrete contractor gets here on Thursday.

The thing about renovation...

2007-07-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

Is I'm actually too busy to make any updates. I am in the process of uploading pictures and will try to get them on here soon.

To make a long story short, so far we have had our septic drain field replaced, our family room knocked down, and a gigantic hole dug in our back yard.

Stay tuned!

Under construction....

2007-07-17T14:43:00.001-07:00

Check back to see updates to the addition at The Frugal Farm.