Crazy random stuff

Since we bought the house a couple of interesting things have happened.  Two hours after the closing Tom's parked, completely still truck decided to roll down the driveway.  Along the way it knocked me down and almost ran me over.  I hope that wasn't an omen..... anywho here are the culprits:

Then Tom decided to clean out a drain outside the basement:

 Yup that's a purple light saber...

Then there was the night we went over and a bird was in the basement.  Yup, just a random bird hanging out in our locked house.  Not sure how he got in, but he pooped everywhere.  So thanks for that stranger bird.

Skim coating like a boss

Hello dear readers!

We're back!  We've been super busy at the house and in the process neglected our lovely little blog.  After several panic attacks (we're moving in less than a month and the house is a disaster) I decided the 1st floor needed a little love.  So, since I work from home my office was at the top of my list.  I mean as awesome as this room was....

 Batman and Robin made the move with the prior owner's.....

 As you can see above, where they tore off the murals it left a noticeable indentation.  Sooo, yours truly got the pleasure of putting a skim coat of dry-wall mud on the abused wall.  I added a pretty good amount, as smooth as possible then let it dry overnight  Once dry, I strapped on my mask and used a drywall sanding block and sanded until my arms hurt.  I also kept running my free hand over the area to feel for any bumps or ditches I couldn't see.  You can also use drywall mud to correct any dents, dings or nail holes.  The mud itself comes pre-mixed in several sizes and the knives range from $2 to $30 depending on size and material.  I prefer the steel ones over plastic, they cost more but last forever and unlike plastic can't chip or break.

Here I am adding the first coat to the top mural, I didn't do as well on the bottom and had to do two coats.

 I also had to sand the black strip on the wall, the top and bottom of the strip protruded out and once painted the lines were really obvious.

  

Don't mind me just removing the smallest staples known to man from the floor!  We'll have more posts on that later, trust me.

Here is a sneak peek of the wall color - Tangerine Cream.

And I found this guy hanging around outside.  So cute!

We should have known!!!

Hello friends.  Well, we're back again.  When we last posted we had just begun working on our basement which, as you can recall, had a beautiful "earthy" coloring on the walls...mold!!  We weren't really bothered by the mold though, because it was only on the bottom 2 feet or so of the walls.  We were thinking, worst case scenario, we just have to remove the bottom 4 feet and replace with new drywall...but we should have known!!!

Here's a picture of what we found (or didn't find, should I say) as we removed the drywall...

That's right, no insulation or moisture barrier.  If we were living in Arizona we probably wouldn't have an issue but, in Pittsburgh the simple equation is Basement + Drywall - Moisture Barrier - Insulation = Tom and Chrissy have A LOT of work to do.

So, instead of just replacing the bottom 4 feet of the walls, this happened...

 and this...

This is the start of us gutting the basement.  The only way to be sure we won't have another moisture problem is to rip everything down and put it back together the right way.  We're going to remove all of the studs (which the prior owner inexplicably glued the old drywall to...FUN!!) and even the bar so we can completely rebuild.  We'll then put up a foam water barrier, new studs, add some insulation, and then finally put up the new drywall.  There's already a sump pump so at least we've got that going for us.

Next time your hear from us it will hopefully be time to rebuild.  Until then, here's a little something to hang on your refrigerators at home...

Terrifying!!!

A View from the Hilltop...What???

Hello dear friends of the interwebs!!!

Let's jump right in and tell you a little bit about us, shall we.  My name is Tom Jones and my wife is Chrissy.  We are currently renting a home in the historic Mexican War Streets neighborhood of downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with 5 cats who REALLY think they own the place.  Trust me, I'm sure you'll get to know the cats very well if you follow our posts. But I digress.  Chrissy and I work for a software company and get to work out of the house which is just about the greatest thing on earth.  The only problem is that sometimes you feel the need to wear your pajamas....a lot....all day....and night.

Our story together begins in 2005 when Chrissy and I got married.  We said our vows in the beautiful rain forests of Costa Rica...pretty much the most perfect day ever.  I still have some worries, though, because our marriage certificate is in Spanish and the extent of our knowledge of that language is "taco" and "uno."  I may have legally married a goat.

Anywho, when we got married we were living in a house in Bellevue, PA right outside of downtown Pittsburgh.  It was a nice house but, unfortunately it was in a not-so-great town.  In 2007 we took the jobs that we currently have but that required us to move to Raleigh, North Carolina.  It took about 14 months for us to sell our house and, trust me when I say this, we did not make any money on it.

When we moved to Raleigh we lived in a great apartment in a very popular section of town, the only issue was that it was a one bedroom apartment (note the 5 cats mentioned above).  After a year we made the easiest move of our lives...we moved into a two bedroom apartment right next door to where we were living.  It was literally 7 steps from the front door of our old apartment to our new one.  We loved North Carolina except in the 3 years that we lived there it never felt like home.

So, in May of 2010 we moved back to Pittsburgh AND got to keep our jobs...SCORE!!  We found this great house in the aforementioned Mexican War Streets.  It's got everything...convenience, great views of the city, and a whole lot of character (and "characters" walking around).  But, again, it still doesn't feel like "home."

Chrissy and I have always had this vision of what our dream home will be like.  Picture just about any painting by Thomas Kinkade and you'll be in the ballpark.  Our dream home is going to have a pond, a barn (so Chrissy can get MORE cats), a great wraparound porch, and, most importantly, a phenomenal view (6 paragraphs later and I finally get to the subject of this blog....you'll find I'm long-winded).

Even though we know exactly what we want in a home we also know that we still have a ways to go before we get it.  In the meantime, we've got to live somewhere, right?  So, we came up with an idea.  We decided that, until we find our dream home, we're going to move into a house that needs a little TLC.  Our goal is to live in this house while we fix it up.  Then, once we're ready to sell, if we haven't found our dream house yet we'll find another house that we can live in and maybe make into a dream home for someone else.

The reason that we've created this blog is so that you can take a ride with us on our path to our dream home.  Along the way we're going to have some ups, some downs, some victories, some defeats, some ideas that really work, and some that need work.  We want you to share in all of them with us.  As we move forward we're going to post our stories, pictures, helpful hints, products and services we recommend, and maybe some other little tidbits to keep you interested.  We want this to be not only entertaining but educational as well.

So, dear friends, sit back and relax as we take you on our journey....our journey to our home with a view from the hilltop.

Numero One-o

Hello everyone!  Well, here she is.  The first step on our way towards the dream house.  This is a little 3 bedroom ranch we bought in the small town of Zelienople, PA.  As you can see it's got some great potential but it's missing the charm. 

Over the next year or so we're going to transform her from her current moldy state.  We bought this house for several reasons.  First off the price was right but it is need of some serious TLC.  The great thing about this house, though, is the potential.  It's the ugliest house in a great neighborhood so whatever we do to it can only add value. Before we can even think of moving in though, we have a lot of work to do.  This brave little house sat vacant for well over a year, enduring the hot summer months and endless days of Pittsburgh winters.  Because of this the basement is a total disaster.  Here's a little taste...

Yes folks, that is mold!  We're assuming it's because the utilities have been turned off for over a year and the sump pump was not running, but I guess we'll find out more once we start ripping it apart.  

Here's a shot of the bar. We should probably keep it fully stocked as we work on the basement...I think we're gonna need it:

And a nice close-up of some more mold, personally I think it adds character:

Needless to say, we have a lot of work to do.  Stay tuned for our progress!