Picking Up the Marble Slabs (Part 2)

We had this whole huge ordeal with Enterprise Rent-A-Car last weekend and ended up with a Silverado instead of a G5. I woke up not feeling well and ended up calling in sick. Around 10 AM, I realized I had to still return the truck! Instead, we drove to East Star to pick up the marble. I changed it to the light travertine, since it looks better. It all fit pretty easily in the Silverado. I guess it worked out.

Drywall...

Remember the drywall I picked up? All that purple board? Guess what? It's 5/8's inch! I can't use it! It's 1/8 of an inch too thick to be used in the bathroom! What sucks about it is that we spent a whole lot of time sizing it and cutting it, only to discover once we laid it on the wall that it was too thick!

Time to go get some green board...

Big, Giant, Gaping Hole in the Garage

There was a big, giant, gaping hole in the garage wall. The contractors (Kevin), cut out seven wall panels to get to the wiring for the doorbells and releases for the gate.

Harry connected the electrical for the gate release to both of the buttons inside the units. It took him about 20 minutes. Once he finished, I started figuring out which pieces went where, lined them up, and drilled them in. To make sure we could get to the electrical box whenever we needed to, I cut a corner out of the panel where the box was placed, and put a blank electrical cover over it.



I have to remember to take pictures of things before I work on them, so I can get before and after photos...

Picking up the Marble Slabs

Or not...

We went to East Star to pick up the tiles, toilet, and slabs today. They had a light travertine there that wasn't there before. Now, I want to switch! Which one looks better?

This is what I currently have on order:


Here's the light travertine. I think this one looks better because it's a little darker.


Anywho, the travertine pieces are too big. The long one wouldn't fit in the van. I need to come back with a truck!

WTF...

Got to the house today after work, and once I opened the door, it stank. It smelled like a gym locker room! I was trying to figure out why, when I traced the smell to the bathroom.

The floor was all wet! Apparently, when they removed the upstairs toilet, they poured the water on the floor, and it came through the ceiling. I have piss water all over my floor!


I don't know why, but they also lifted floor boards.


And someone thought they should open the window.


And put another hole in my ceiling.

Primer!

Sandra started applying the primer to the front bedroom with a roller. I touched up the edges with a brush. It took about 2 hours, but we finished the room!

Dimmer Switches Finished

I finally was able to get the wall around the dimmer light switch even enough so that there aren't huge gaps between the plate and the wall. We got this make your own kind of plate from Lowe's.

I picked up a tool that keeps the switch level while screwing it into the wall box. I used this to keep the dimmer switches level. I had to make sure to now screw them in all the way, or they'd end up really uneven once the plate was mounted.

In the picture, you can also see the plaster texture around the plate. Took a few tries to get it right, but it blends in pretty well.

Looks good, works great.

Replaced the Latch on the Window

The latch to the center window in the living room is broken, and the window won't stay shut.


The back part of the latch had snapped and needs to be replaced.


Home Depot doesn't carry pieces like this, so I went to True Value Hardware on Noriega for it.




Even with the new latch, there was still about 1/4 of an inch of space between the bottom of the latch and the wood frame on the window. The spacers from the old latch were too small for this latch.


True Value Hardware was closing when we went back, so I got picked up bolts and longer wood screws today.


Bam! The latch works!


For the first time in who knows how long, the window is closed!

Repairing the Floor

Remember when the appliance movers delivered the appliances? Remember how the floor got damaged when they brought in the fridge? Clyde from REM Construction came to fix the wood floor. He sanded and refinished the area that got dented. It was pretty quick, too. I met him at the house around 9 AM, and he was done before 10.



He took a look at the holes in the walls that I was plastering, and he said I could use a roller to apply plaster, and that would put the texture on it to match the walls.

Paint Supplies!

We went shopping for paint stuff today. Kelly-Moore had everything we needed for like... twice as much or more as Home Depot. We made the drive out to Home Depot to pick up rollers and a brush. Who knew there were so many different kinds!

I got one 3/4 inch roller to texture the plaster (pre Clyde's recommendation), and we bought a three pack of 1/2 rollers for paint.

Primer!

We went to Kelly-Moore to check out the primer. It's like $160 for a 5 gallon bucket! F-That! We went to Home Depot and got the recommended one. It's supposed to work well with just one coat. We were going to start applying the primer today to the front bedroom, but because it's cold and rainy out, we decided not to. Sandra taped up the windows and stuff instead.

Craigslist>Free (Part 8)

I guess this weekend, I was meant to get couches! We picked up another couch from Craigslist>Free today. It's pretty nice. One rip on a cushion, but it can be hidden by turning it upside-down. It didn't really fit in the van, so we had to tie it shut.



It looks good, too, but I want to steam clean it, just for good measure.

Craigslist>Free (Part 7)

Got a love seat off Craigslist today. Free is pretty good. It always surprised me how well maintained some of these things are, especially since they're being given away for free!

We had to carry it down from the second floor!


It pretty much filled up the van.


Looks great, though!


I think we should steam clean it, just in case...

Craigslist>Materials

Every now and then, I check out the Materials section on Craigslist. Today, I happened to find a posting for sheets of purple board (mold and moisture proof drywall). The asking was $45 for 5 sheets. I responded, offering $20. The seller accepted! We picked it up after work over near the Mission District.



Clare was opening up a deli, and she had some leftover drywall that the contractors overbought. For $20, I got five sheets of purple board, one sheet of fire wall, and a few scraps of both!

She's opening in about two months, so be sure to swing by!


Everything went into the garage for now.