TV Room Space Heater
2004-2008
On February 21, 2008, the space heater in the TV room died. It was the first space heater Michael bought for the house, and it served us well, wherever we needed it. The space heater would heat the bedroom, sometimes the bathroom, until we decided it could be used to the best of its ability in the TV room. Together with a blanket over the doorway, the space heater kept the TV room warm and cozy so that we could enjoy our five channels of programming or the latest DVD from Netflix. As much as we appreciate everything it did for us, though, we're done mourning and will purchase another space heater as soon as possible. It's really cold in here.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
First Floor, Part One
Here's what our first floor looks like. These first pictures are of what used to be a kitchen; it will be a kitchen again when it's finished. This room of the house is not part of the original structure. We think it used to be a deck, based on the foundation and the floor joists—it looks like the floor for the kitchen was put on top of a deck.
The picture above is the kitchen's ceiling, which is supporting our bathroom on the second floor. But the roof of the kitchen wasn't made to support anything more than a roof, so there's no structural support for the bathroom. It's hard to tell in that picture, but the bathroom floor is made of a hodgepodge of materials, as if whoever built it used whatever material was leftover. I wouldn't be too surprised if the bathroom collapses one day; I just hope one of us isn't in there when it happens.
Off of the kitchen is a bathroom and a laundry room. The bathroom was a full bath but will be just a half bath when we're done with it, and we'll put the new systems in where the laundry room is now. We haven't decided where the laundry will go; it could go in with the half bath, or we'll convert our current bathroom upstairs into a laundry room.
The shower used to be under the stairs; how anyone over four feet tall managed to bathe in there is beyond me. It was also the filthiest shower I had ever seen. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures to share. It took up a surprising amount of room, too. Both of us were amazed at how much space we have now in the bathroom.
The picture above is the kitchen's ceiling, which is supporting our bathroom on the second floor. But the roof of the kitchen wasn't made to support anything more than a roof, so there's no structural support for the bathroom. It's hard to tell in that picture, but the bathroom floor is made of a hodgepodge of materials, as if whoever built it used whatever material was leftover. I wouldn't be too surprised if the bathroom collapses one day; I just hope one of us isn't in there when it happens.
Off of the kitchen is a bathroom and a laundry room. The bathroom was a full bath but will be just a half bath when we're done with it, and we'll put the new systems in where the laundry room is now. We haven't decided where the laundry will go; it could go in with the half bath, or we'll convert our current bathroom upstairs into a laundry room.
The shower used to be under the stairs; how anyone over four feet tall managed to bathe in there is beyond me. It was also the filthiest shower I had ever seen. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures to share. It took up a surprising amount of room, too. Both of us were amazed at how much space we have now in the bathroom.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Brushes with Nature
A bird was trapped in our house the other day. How did a bird get into our house, you might ask? The giant hole in the ceiling that's been there for three years may have had something to do with it. I'm just guessing.
We found a pile of feathers in our TV room Sunday morning, and with two cats in the house, my first thought was that there was also a dead bird somewhere nearby. We looked around for a bird but couldn't find one, so we gave up, but keeping mind that there could be a bird, dead or alive, somewhere. Then Tanga becomes very interested in the tiny space behind the couch, so we pull the couch out. Still no bird. Michael walks to the other end of the couch. Out comes a bird, crashing into the window and then flying right at me. Tanga is going nuts, trying to catch the bird, so Michael scoops up Tanga and throws him in the bedroom. The bedroom door doesn't shut, so I stand against it while Michael opens the window to let the bird back out. Tanga spent the rest of the afternoon looking for that bird.
This isn't the first time an animal's been in the house. We had a bird get in a few weeks ago, but it stayed in the room with the hole in the ceiling, so opening one of the windows solved that problem.
But a bird is a nothing. About a year ago, before I had moved in with my cat, Michael used to keep the window in the upstairs kitchen open for Tanga. The window opened out onto the roof of the addition, and Tanga would go out there to play. Michael noticed one day that all of Tanga's kibble was gone and his water bowl was a mess. Thinking that he just had a pig for a cat, Michael cleaned up the mess and thought nothing more of it. The same thing happened again. Kibble all gone. Water bowl a dirty mess.
Michael was studying one night at his desk in one of the rooms on the third floor. Michael looks out and sees a pair of eyes looking back at him. The eyes belonged to a raccoon. Guess what else the raccoon had been up to. That's right. Eating cat food and washing his dirty paws in Tanga's water bowl. But this didn't stop Michael from keeping that window in the kitchen shut. Even after Michael found the raccoon hanging out in the sink, with Tanga chillin' in the kitchen with it, he wouldn't keep the window shut. Surprisingly, when I moved in, I put a stop to that. First, I didn't want Kirin getting out, because she might take off, and second, I didn't want the raccoon to come back and visit. Call me crazy.
We found a pile of feathers in our TV room Sunday morning, and with two cats in the house, my first thought was that there was also a dead bird somewhere nearby. We looked around for a bird but couldn't find one, so we gave up, but keeping mind that there could be a bird, dead or alive, somewhere. Then Tanga becomes very interested in the tiny space behind the couch, so we pull the couch out. Still no bird. Michael walks to the other end of the couch. Out comes a bird, crashing into the window and then flying right at me. Tanga is going nuts, trying to catch the bird, so Michael scoops up Tanga and throws him in the bedroom. The bedroom door doesn't shut, so I stand against it while Michael opens the window to let the bird back out. Tanga spent the rest of the afternoon looking for that bird.
This isn't the first time an animal's been in the house. We had a bird get in a few weeks ago, but it stayed in the room with the hole in the ceiling, so opening one of the windows solved that problem.
But a bird is a nothing. About a year ago, before I had moved in with my cat, Michael used to keep the window in the upstairs kitchen open for Tanga. The window opened out onto the roof of the addition, and Tanga would go out there to play. Michael noticed one day that all of Tanga's kibble was gone and his water bowl was a mess. Thinking that he just had a pig for a cat, Michael cleaned up the mess and thought nothing more of it. The same thing happened again. Kibble all gone. Water bowl a dirty mess.
Michael was studying one night at his desk in one of the rooms on the third floor. Michael looks out and sees a pair of eyes looking back at him. The eyes belonged to a raccoon. Guess what else the raccoon had been up to. That's right. Eating cat food and washing his dirty paws in Tanga's water bowl. But this didn't stop Michael from keeping that window in the kitchen shut. Even after Michael found the raccoon hanging out in the sink, with Tanga chillin' in the kitchen with it, he wouldn't keep the window shut. Surprisingly, when I moved in, I put a stop to that. First, I didn't want Kirin getting out, because she might take off, and second, I didn't want the raccoon to come back and visit. Call me crazy.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Welcome
We created this blog so that our friends and family can see the progress as we renovate our house in the Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond. Built around 1880 (we think), the original structure was a mansion that was split down the middle, and we own half of it. When Michael bought the house in 2004, it was a duplex, and we are converting it to a single-family home. The first floor was one apartment, and the second and third floors comprised the other apartment. We're starting with the first floor while we live in the upstairs apartment; then we will switch to finish the second and third floors.
Not too long after Michael bought the house, Tropical Storm Gaston sat on top of Richmond for a few days, dumping a lot of rain—so much rain that it caused the ceiling in one of the rooms on the second floor of our house to fall through, leaving a very large hole in the ceiling:
Not too long after Michael bought the house, Tropical Storm Gaston sat on top of Richmond for a few days, dumping a lot of rain—so much rain that it caused the ceiling in one of the rooms on the second floor of our house to fall through, leaving a very large hole in the ceiling:
Whenever it would rain, the roof would leak in that room. Michael called this experience urban camping. Even though we're not using the room with the giant hole in the ceiling (yes, it's still there), the term "urban camping" still applies because the house doesn't have a good heating system. Right now we have our own system of space heaters and sheets and blankets covering the doors to keep us warm in the rooms that we're using, since the furnace heats only the first floor anyway. So the hallways and stairs can get quite chilly. We also have two fat cats to help keep us warm.
The progress so far? The house has a brand new roof, and the first floor is being gutted. We've found throughout the house that previous "improvements" were really just giant band-aids—layers upon layers of flooring, walls, and even ceilings to cover up mistakes or poor judgment. For example, this picture shows the layers of flooring in what used to be a bathroom:
One of the first steps will be putting in all new systems. The house was built before indoor plumbing and electricity came standard with new homes, so those systems need updating, along with a new HVAC system. So next winter, the house should be nice and toasty. Once work on the house starts to pick up, we'll post pictures as we go, so please check back soon.
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