What I did at my house today...

[Willa]

[quote="Olson185"]We used the same daltile in all three of our bathrooms; only the grout colour differed. We would have preferred if the squares were black but that's okay.

I think this tile will be everywhere for awhile. It looks fine, and works with many different styles from historical to contemporary. For $ 3.00 sq/ft (before installation) I can deal with this. I'll get a light - medium grey grout. I can deal with this flooring for the long term.

[TexasRed]

Started tearing out the 80's kitchen. Yay! The floor has been covered with multiple layers of plywood and vinyl or linoleum over the last 35-40 years. It is about 1-1/2" higher than the adjoining rooms. All of this will be removed down to the original wood - then we'll see what the condition of it is.

The multiple layers are not under the existing cabinets, so got a glimpse of some old sheet vinyl. It fortunately was installed over a type of "cardboard" with that black adhesive. So thankful they didn't apply it directly to the wood flooring. My enthusiasm for adding any more scraping projects is getting weak.

[Olson185]

We used the same daltile in all three of our bathrooms; only the grout colour differed. We would have preferred if the squares were black but that's okay.

I think this tile will be everywhere for awhile. It looks fine, and works with many different styles from historical to contemporary. For $ 3.00 sq/ft (before installation) I can deal with this. I'll get a light - medium grey grout. I can deal with this flooring for the long term.

Forgot to mention, I'm thrilled you found & got a replacement part for the sink. I thought it would take more time and effort but things seemed to fall into place quite well. How'd *that* happen?

[Willa]

The multiple layers are not under the existing cabinets, so got a glimpse of some old sheet vinyl.

That is some fine sheet flooring you have found there. Why isn't today's flooring fun like this anymore ?

[Willa]

Forgot to mention, I'm thrilled you found & got a replacement part for the sink. I thought it would take more time and effort but things seemed to fall into place quite well. How'd *that* happen?

As far as I know I was just super lucky, cross your fingers. The final verdict will be from the plumber who installs the sink. If bitter tears are yet to fall with regards to this they will be reported here, sigh.

[Lily left the valley]

Forgot to mention, I'm thrilled you found & got a replacement part for the sink. I thought it would take more time and effort but things seemed to fall into place quite well. How'd *that* happen?

As far as I know I was just super lucky, cross your fingers. The final verdict will be from the plumber who installs the sink. If bitter tears are yet to fall with regards to this they will be reported here, sigh.

I had a joke in mind about protecting you from those tears, and my poor brain lost it before I could type it.

It is an amazing find. Here's wishing your luck holds out!

[Lily left the valley]

Aside from moving more stuff, today was all about windows. Although it was/is definitely warmer here than at the apartment (with the thermostat set lower, I want to add), I just felt like the boiler was cycling a little too often.

I did get some more curtains up in a few, but any general public sort of room, it hasn't been a priority except for one I'll note below.

So I found out that most of the windows didn't have both storms in place, either not in winter postitions on the track, or plumb missing. After hunting around the house for any I could find, I found an assortment of sizes, two with broken glass, one of which still had broken glass bits in it. The one without was in the basement and I almost stepped right on top of a piece of plate glass that had been laid flat on the ground next to it WHO DOES THAT in a poorly lit area of the cellar--and on a dirt floor to boot? That glass wasn't even window glass, it looked to be a modern furniture glass door. I still put it with the small glass stash I had found in the white cabinet down there. (None of the glass in it is big enough for any of the single panes.) I also found what seems to be a spare storm for the screen door, and now I'm wondering if maybe they had two of them at one time, and the other was for the porchlet door. Maybe I'll find it. I also found a huge single screen for a screen door (modern frame), but have no idea what door it goes to because it's black and doesn't match anything I've found yet.

Out of the storms I found, I did manage to seal up all but two windows, both in the office. It seems both broken glass panes fit in there but they could also fit in others, so I guess they just made sure the FOH windows had both at least in the frames for the showings. (It was still pretty warm here in the fall.) So I made sure we at least had heavier curtains in there for now. It is helping a wee bit. Of course, both unbroken storms in the office are the same size, so maybe I can try what I did in the bedroom without a radiator, leaving the other stormless. Not sure if that's better or worse.

There was one room with zero storms in it--the only bedroom without a radiator--and I found two that I sort of made work in that window, although the seal isn't tight because I had to reverse them (the one that should go on top on the outermost track had broken spring locks (probably not the right term), so it wouldn't stay in place, so I let it rest on the bottom, and then cheated one the same size by having the top track pegs in the farthest out spot at the top, and then using the very working spring locks to "set" it in the second wider track. I couldn't fit both in that window properly because they were the same track width, so that cheat was the best I could do.

There was one storm I found that was not like the others except it was also aluminum. It was also too wide for all the windows in the house. I think at some point it was a curb pickup for the glass (or they had no idea if it would fit or not), and they just never cut the glass down to fix either of the two missing it. I plan to use that glass to fix one of the remaining that should fit in the office, but I'm not sure if I should do the south or the west one. We have a house very close to our west side, so that does buffer to a point. Although now that I'm writing this, I'm realizing that side is rattling more than the south, so perhaps west will be best once I find time (and the right tools somewhere in these boxes) to do that.

On top of the storm issue, some of them also weren't sash locked, so if they had slipped a bit from the top, then those had cold air seeping in for days because, again, so few had both storms in place. One sash lock was apparently being fixed before someone either forget they were in process, or they just gave up on the stripped screw that was barely holding one half in place so the top half didn't go crashing down. Two perfectly good brass screws were right there on the sill, waiting to be put in place. That's all fixed up now. Only one window had a secondary lock that seemed to be the main just to the right of same, but I didn't stop to wonder what was wrong with the original. (I was too mad at the time that I hadn't checked the windows sooner.) Of course the newer one is -just- off, but way better than none! There was one sash lock that some joker had gone out of their way to jam it to the point where the thumb push was touching the lip. I was scared I would bash the window trying to get it unstuck, but I didn't!

HOLY COW--what a difference. The boiler went from firing up every 20 minutes or so to maybe once an hour even when the temperature started dropping. We just got back from our second to last run a bit ago, and after it fired up when we brought stuff in, it hasn't yet--so at least an hour again and outside it's 28°F and the wind is 22mph with gusts up to 28 mph. So not too terrible wind wise. It's supposed to go down to 3° tonight, so I am really, really glad I listened to my gut and checked the windows. [Edit: boiler just kicked in, so almost home an hour and a half. Which reminds me. We have to go get stuff out of the dryer and quick grab a few clunky but light things after I finish this note.]

The window with the barely screw on half of the sash lock, actually, induced the first injury at the house. A very mild one, thankfully, as it was one of the smaller 4 over 1s. I'll have a nasty bone bruise for a while to remember it, but barely any broken skin and that hand is still only the sleightest bit tingly so maybe a nerve glance? Sean had gone ahead to pack up the ridiculously-too-heavy-for-me-and-he-knew-it book boxes while I was trying to make space for them in the dining room (our "landing" zone). So I didn't know I'd be in that situation because I thought it would take me longer to clear the area, and hadn't even mentioned the storm/sash search to him. However, I surely will not do something mildly not so safe alone "just to get it done" here again!The sash cord on that one was shot. So I was holding both sashes up while I was trying to encourage the front aluminum storm to go all the way up the channel. At one point I lost my grip on them, and both sashes came crashing down on my raidial of my right arm. Stung, but I've had worse.

One of our bedroom windows, the track isn't right...it narrows at the top, and that was a struggle and a half. I also did that one middle pane up as a work around. Someone had tried at some point to silicone the gaps with the outer pane up but not tight to top, and somehow, despite using what looks to be an entire tube, they failed. They must have waited until it was too cold to set right. I barely had to try to peel it off.

So very good results to an unplanned fix, despite the ouchie that was the cost of not following common sense when so many cords are shot.

[Ireland House]

You are luck to find what you did with your storms. All my original storms are gone and most of the replacement storms. Funny thing though, the new windows leak a lot more than the original ones do. We made 1x2 frames that just push into the outside of the window and covered them with plastic. This turned out to be a good temporary fix for the worst offenders. Mostly windows that either open side to side like a door or are leaded glass. In our window/door search we found most of the missing interior doors and a few storm doors. Our front door has a small entry airlock complete with a small radiator. Both of those doors originally had storms and I am looking forward to having my front door open with screens.

[Lily left the valley]

You are luck to find what you did with your storms. All my original storms are gone and most of the replacement storms. Funny thing though, the new windows leak a lot more than the original ones do. We made 1x2 frames that just push into the outside of the window and covered them with plastic. This turned out to be a good temporary fix for the worst offenders. Mostly windows that either open side to side like a door or are leaded glass. In our window/door search we found most of the missing interior doors and a few storm doors. Our front door has a small entry airlock complete with a small radiator. Both of those doors originally had storms and I am looking forward to having my front door open with screens.

I really do feel like fortune's fool with the storms. We had a rental house once that had none, which is why I was happy to find what I did. I was mostly irritated with myself for not checking sooner. When we did our final walk through on the 1st, our oil tank was at just below 1/2. This morning we were already down to just above a 1/4. If I had used my head when we closed and came over to change locks, and thought to look, I'm fairly certain we would not have used nearly as much oil.

We talked about exactly what you did, but we don't have enough spare lumber around. What we think we might do for the office is take the two storms with the broken glass, clean them out, and put the plastic on them until we can do otherwise. We figure it's better than nothing too. I've also been trying to keep an eye out for one craft box that might still have some felt in it. We can use that to help with sash gaps too.

I am right there with you as to the replacements being worse than the originals. When we were at the apartment packing up more stuff and doing laundry, some of the panes were a sheet of frost still in the afternoon. I can't say enough how happy I am to have found a home with all its original wood windows. When they get fixed up over time, they'll be even better than now.

We did jury rig a two sided draft dodger for the front door today with an old towel. The screen door doesn't seal, and there was a gap under the door itself. There's still some cold air coming in there, but it's much better than before. The side door, fortunately, has a decent seal.

Right now, any of this wind and cold that we can block is a huge relief. We're due to drop below zero tonight, and although the overall wind will be calmer, the gusts won't.

When the weather finally turns to spring, I'll also be happy for all the screens we have. Most are in good shape, and I think I still have a patch kit somewhere for the ones that aren't. Of course by then, the budget crunch should be eased a bit too. (My biggest reason for being so anxious--not a lot of cash sitting around to buy oil.)

[Willa]

I'm getting ready to paint the dining room. This is a typical wall in that room - with an extraordinary amount of dings and holes. Who would just paint over them without filling first ? The PO, that's who. Why ? Why ? Why ? I filled them, that's what I did today.

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