Closet Lights and Ceiling Fans (Oh My!)

Its funny how you think you know what you want... until you realize you have no idea what you need. 

Since we've decided to move full steam ahead with finishing the master bedroom before anything else I started looking at fixtures and hardware for the room.  This seems like a simple enough process right?  Pick a ceiling fan/light, some outlet and switch covers and that should about cover it. 

NOPE!

So much done... So little to show

Its amazing. The first few weeks it felt like every little thing was a huge improvement and you feel like you're making tons of progress. Then... you get to the point where you spend 2 hours turning this:

Why is everything nice so expensive!?

Becky seems to think that I just pick out the most expensive thing anywhere we go and decide that I want that. The truth is that I just like well designed high quality items and it seems that the most simple item is always the most expensive... this is especially true when it comes to fixtures for the house.

We put the "no vacation" in renovation...

 Hi there, Becky here again.

Another productive and exhausting weekend is behind us and I think we're both starting to appreciate Mondays as restful back-to-the-office days!

Emilio already posted a bit about the progress we made, but while he was working on all that stuff, Sully and I had our own agenda.


First off, hiking in the woods.  I've found a nice little dog park near the house and they have trails through the forest where people look the other way on the whole local leash law thing.  So, luckily, the weekend started with Sully getting nice and tired.  Oh, and MUDDY.  Did I mention muddy?  So, the second thing on the list for Saturday wound up being bath-time for Sullivan.

Then, to work!

Asbestos is the Bestos!

ASBESTOS WILL KILL YOU!

Seriously, it will..  in about 40yrs and with prolonged exposure to airborne fibers.  That said, I am of the camp that isn't really scared of Asbestos but strongly believes in proper abatement of friable Asbestos based materials.  Now, for those not in the know, there are two types of Asbestos containing materials.  There are friable materials that can easily allow the Asbestos particles to become airborne by just touching them and non-friable materials which contain Asbestos but are generally not going to release the Asbestos fiber unless you're grinding the stuff up. 

All of that said, I am going to cover my A** and say that I am not an Asbestos abatement professional and anything I write here (or say in person) should be taken as pure conjecture and that you should consult an EPA certified abatement professional when dealing with any form of Asbestos or Asbestos containing materials.  In other words.. I am talking out of my butt. 

So... what does this have to do with our house?  Well, when our house was built Asbestos was a VERY common material to use to insulate steam pipes.  In the form of pipe wrap it isn't necessarily a huge issue.  If the wrapping and underlying materials are in good condition you can just leave it be. 

Unfortunately, our pipes looked like THIS

Gifts from the House!

When you buy an old house you hope to find neat things left by the previous owners.  Sometimes the things you find make you sad... like a horrific excuse for an electrical system and Asbestos pipe wrap.  Other times you find awesome stuff! 

When we first looked at the house I noted that there were some doors up in the garage attic.  At some point I went over and confirmed they were the Pantry door and the swinging Kitchen door that lead to the dining room. More on that later... 

The "find" if you will came about when Becky and I were standing in the basement trying to figure out where the rest of it was.  The basement isn't quite as large as the footprint of the first floor and we were trying to figure out why.  This lead Becky outside to try and figure out where that missing space was.  The next thing I heard from her was, "There are doors under the porch."  This confused me quite a bit as we weren't really missing any doors.  So outside I went to take a look.  I was presented with this..

 The side opening of the front porch with the guard thing removed.