Eastridge Redux

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

Fun with fences

2011-07-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

We recently decided to extend the privacy fence on the south side of the house -- of course it was just by chance that it coincided with the moving in of our new neighbors! We're thinking of making a small shady fern-y garden back there..

Fun with water

2011-07-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's summer time and with months of no significant rainfall and the ground shifting awkwardly our main water line to the house cracked. We're extending our fence alongside the house (updates on that shortly) and when the post hole magically filled with water we knew something bad was going on. Luckily a visit from a nice guy at John Moore pointed us in the DIY direction after his $500-ish quote. It was a pretty minor deal - a crack in the elbow though sadly the pipe couldn't have been that old. About $10 and some easy digging later, all is well (for now!):

Gurgle!

After cutting out the bad section

Crispy!

2011-06-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

We're still around...! While everything is drying up around us (just about no rain for five consecutive months!) we're keeping busy indoors and making the most of the hot and dry weather outside (using up what's in the rain barrel to water plants in vain, hanging out at the beach mostly!). House updates to come soon!

More numbers...

2011-01-30T21:45:00.000-08:00

...for the house this time, though. I'm still working on them but this is a progress report:

Kitchen tile (in the melody of stained concrete)

2011-01-25T19:49:00.000-08:00

Since the stain (i.e. paint) was a major failure, and most contractors wanted aprox. $1500 minimum for any stained concrete job, we put it off for a future home hopefully far from Texas. In the mean time we found some gray tile that had a "stained" look from L.M. Tile ("Miles of Tile!") for a mere fraction of the cost (aprox $1.79/sq ft). With some major help and 2 weeks later, 250 sq ft of tile is laid and grouted. Hopefully all that is left is the cleaning with the acid salt.

Progress Week 1 (almost a cross shape; unintentional and somewhat frightening):

(Clover Jean as ghost dog)

Week 2

(Brini--black dachshund in background)

And finally, a view of the entry with Lauren's favorite door. (lol) Soon to be replaced by a Crestview! Rapture!

Till next time, peace!

Around the house...

2010-12-20T23:00:00.000-08:00

The custom stencil (starbursts will get a redo soon):

and phase 1 of lights:

Pyrex!

2010-12-18T22:30:00.000-08:00

A slow collection:

Unknown design - brown on tan, tan on white

one of the many "decorator" casseroles from 1958

Summer Impressions mugs - green on white

Measuring cups and beaker

Snowflake bowls - blue and white

Constellation/snowflake divided dish - black on white

Town and Country bowl - orange on white

Old Orchard bowl with cradle - brown on orange

Old Town butter dish - navy on white

Another update

2010-11-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

It's been kinda quiet around here (the blog and the house) but we plan on getting back to work this winter. In the meantime, we've been gardening (previous post), made some custom house number stencils, and are going to try out a new rain barrel:

Garden update..

2010-11-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

A couple small harvests and hopefully more to come:

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

With some power tools we ended up with a night sky/sputnik pumpkin:

Fresh paint + furniture for front office

2010-08-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

Almost a year since we moved in and about 6 months in the making, I finally finished my personal office space. This includes fresh paint on the walls (Behr's "Cloudy Day") and white paint on the trim and baseboards (~ $60 in materials), 3 new custom fit doors (~ $75 each with hardware), 3 new knobs (~ $15 total), some new minimalist (read: easy to clean) furniture (about $250), 3 sets of 2" faux wood blinds (~ $45 each) and a pretty cool vintage table my mom hooked me up with via a coworker ($10). 6 months and about $700 later, hopefully I have added some value to this shack - and have an updated, creative space to work in. There is nothing on the walls yet but an original 11 x 17 Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" advertisement will soon be the main attraction.

before:
\

after:

before:

after:

Floor stripping, part 4 of 24,102

2010-08-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a really fun process judging by the work I've already put into it!!

Before & after (not weight loss related)

2010-08-07T23:42:00.001-07:00

Dusty Miller on the patio that we resurrected... So folks, apparently resurrection is scientifically possible, the evidence is right here!

Celosia reseeding rather "abundantly"... kinda like the human population

Blue elf aloe vera... good stuff.

The harvest. (lol)

Re-seeding in the cracks.

Chalk rose I pulled from the ground after all the rain we got in July. Succulents don't like that much water, Weather!

Floor stripping, continued..

2010-07-23T00:30:00.000-07:00

Inch by inch...

Plant updates

2010-07-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Another round of tiny tomatoes:

Reeds and jasmine filling in:

Front and side beds (lost two outer green celosia):

>

and a tiny frog:

Floor stripping, take 2

2010-07-10T16:51:00.000-07:00

Floor stripping - again. We're using Citristrip which is working well and smells pretty decent, too:

Test areas:

Landscaping (Part 1) & the Patio Garden

2010-05-13T20:16:00.001-07:00

In between converting my home office (soon to be completed and posted) we got a little crazy with the whole plant thing. Buuuut, this past weekend we knocked out the rest of basic landscaping we planned when we bought the house late last year.

We also started growing some potted vegetables on the back patio but yet to finish our cage (to protect from vermin, birds, and the homeless). But we realized the cage is too small already so we have to do some serious modification - and soon, as evidenced in the photos! Now I just hope some of this dramatic, week-long cloud coverage actually brings some rain this weekend.

Lessons learned:
- To this day, my folks continue to teach me new things when I thought all that ended in my early twenties.
- Inflicting mass insecticide toward a grossly infested ant population requires double duty with both ant sprayer and granules.
- Putting mulch around our jasmine brought it back to life and it is now "thriving."
- We used newspaper on the front bed (new) and side garage bed (new) under the mulch / planting soil to prevent weeds. The white rocks in the front bed haven't had any pop up, but the ones that do elsewhere around the house are really annoying. So we'll see how this goes as a preventative measure!

Front / Left side bed - Some concrete block alternating positions with "blue elf" aloe, surrounded by red lava rock ($4/bag, about 3.5 bags). It's more Beetlejuice-y looking than your regular aloe plant... Horse tail reed framed by some spare bricks we found in the backyard that match the house. Got these at MAAS Nursery in Seabrook.

Side garage bed with some plant that was already planted and survived the FREEZE OF 2010!!! so we decided to keep it. This bed has regular aloe vera surrounded by white rock which has since been covered completely with white rock.

The Patio Garden

The birth of a banana pepper....

The birth of tomatoes....

The birth of a bell pepper...

The birth of a jalapeno...

And some random pecan I found in the yard!

That's all for now... Soon to come: Dramatic office makeover #1: From Pepto-Bismal Pink Splattered Walls to Super-mod Office in 9 weeks or less!

More plant/beds updates..

2010-05-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Front bed completed

Other front bed done, too..

Horsetail reed in the square where water tends to pool

Side bed almost completed...ran out of rocks!

and mosses are growing..

Door handles of the rich and notoriously famous

2010-04-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

A while back I saw this story about the auction of the (hideous) house of a local drug lord - and lo, the pictures of the front door revealed a set of handles matching the very (flamboyant) handle I pried off our front door last month.

Our door:

Million dollar druggee door:

Succulents and pseudo patio gardening on Flickr

2010-04-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

We're trying to photograph a recent obsession with pseudo gardening and succulent plants. The close-ups show perfect geometric patterns. Click to see the photo set!

It's bed time!

2010-03-28T19:29:00.001-07:00

We worked on two of the three front beds and one back bed..

Garage bed before:

and after (moss should eventually grow together to form a complete green):

a front bed before:

and after (without plants, but soon to come):

both together:

back bed before:

and after:

close up of succulent in back bed:

and some new potted plants..

aloe (to be planted), bell pepper, strawberry:

rock plant and fenestraria (baby toes...eek!):

Painting part 1 - Living Room / Kitchen / Hall

2010-03-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

We started with one half of the house which proved to probably be the most difficult. Apparently the previous homeowners though it necessary to put at least 65 electrical/cable/blank plates outlets on each wall. A lot of time was spent mudding and taping the drywall to reduce the infestation of wall plates.

All baseboards in the kitchen and living room were pulled up, painted, and replaced. Naturally, the hardwood floors were only sanded to the quarter round so we replaced that too, in the living room. I spent a significant amount of time caulking because I had no clue what I was doing until.... I watched a couple of youtube videos on it. Windex/glass cleaner works wonders! Spray on both baseboard and lower few inches of painted wall, caulk, and wipe with MOIST rag/towel and caulk is left only in the crevice. This was a lot easier! Duhhh.

The main color for the three sections is a color match to Glidden's "Misty Moonstone" or as I like to call it, "Misty Moonshine". The accent wall color is "PUDDLE" by Behr. Both colors were a satin finish. Trim and baseboards were Behr' ultra white semi-gloss interior. Special thanks to my folks for all their expertise, hard work, and help in getting this accomplished!!

In Progress:

Could not resist this one. Sorry dad.

4 weeks later:

Last but not least, we put in a black Hunter 52" 5-blade fan (note obnoxious green one in first photo):

next up: my office, Lauren's office, and the bedroom...

New stove...finally

2010-03-23T00:30:00.000-07:00

The old one was taken away:

The old gas line had to be replaced (and beware of the -now obsolete- scary plug):

New GE gas range:

and what we salvaged from the old:

Thanks, Behr - but where's the pain and suffering?

2010-03-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

After our failed concrete "stain" incident I thought it best to let Behr know how craptacular their product was and request a refund for all of the stain and etching products (around $122). Luckily, we kept all receipts so they honored the request:

So it's not much, nor will we ever get those pain-staking hours back that we spent prepping the concrete... but we learned a valuable life lesson: Don't stain anything with a product that is not a stain. And if you experience something similar, don't hesitate to ask for your money back, just keep your receipts.

In other Behr news, their paint is decent. Photos coming soon of living room/kitchen transformation....

So long, fare well

2010-03-08T17:26:00.000-08:00

For sale - Our beloved, 1969 Frigidaire Custom Imperial Double Oven Electric Range... now on Ebay!

We set up shop to paint about 1 week ago, cooked some lasagna in it for the last time, and it hasn't worked since. The heating elements are not making an electrical connection, though the lights that are on and in the stove work fine. A technician from Hornet Appliances came by (via our home warranty program with Old Republic). He said that some of the wires fried and needed to be replaced but he didn't know if they had the parts. Boo hoo. It's such a pretty oven too... great for a collector or anyone who does vintage appliance restoration!

We must move on.

Painting (and unpainting) progress

2010-02-27T23:44:00.000-08:00

Phone thingie with minimal paint off:

Phone thingie a little further along:

Hall:

Kitchen:

Living room:

Paint prep, round one

2010-02-24T20:59:00.001-08:00

Living room, kitchen, and hall are first in line...next up, bedrooms.

First round on the front beds...

2010-02-21T18:56:00.001-08:00

It was nice today (70ish and no rain!) so we were able to make a first pass on the front beds - dead (and a couple salvageable) plants were removed, some dirt transplanted to low spots in the back yard, and the rest turned.

Next, more yucky dirt will be removed and new dirt put in and maybe some sand for areas beneath the square concrete spacers that will go in (thinking about 12"x12" in the narrow beds and either 16"x16" or 24"x24" in the one by the garage)..

Front left bed:

Front center and garage beds:

Long narrow side bed (which got half weeded and needs to be turned and have the plastic liner taken out):

and a pile of weeds and plants:

Mud pit turned flower bed...

2010-02-10T00:15:00.000-08:00

...is what we're hoping will work out here. No gutters on the house so the rain makes a nice line in the grass along the eave, pools in a low area, and makes a small pond where the house and patio roof meet.
Plans are for a rock bed with water loving and durable plants along the back of the house (with a spot for the composter), even out the low spot(s), and turn the ponding area in to a rain catchment area. Work will get started as soon as it doesn't rain for more than one day in a row!

Composting..

2010-02-09T01:30:00.000-08:00

We finally got the kitchen container to store compost before it heads out to the big 'un in the back yard.
And next up - a new bed surrounding the bin to offset the rain/mud issues..

Temporary knob on the temporary door

2010-02-08T01:30:00.000-08:00

We hope to have a plain door soon that can be Crestviewed or maybe we'll run across an appropriate door ready to go. In the meantime, the pitcher-handle knob is history..

Target practice!

2010-02-07T15:52:00.001-08:00

Dead grass and unpainted shingles won't stop us from sharpening our skills!

The little (big) things

2010-01-20T20:09:00.000-08:00

Those tall vertical blinds are outta here...!

Up next still - painting and more painting..

Stay tuned!

2010-01-11T23:30:00.000-08:00

It is finally warming up a little (not freezing at night at the moment!) so we should have some action soon.

Next up projects include painting the interior, finishing the side flower bed, creating a new bed out back where the water from the roof hits, taking that satellite dish off the roof, and fantasizing about taking a sledgehammer to the green bathroom.

The front bed will be a xeriscape and the back one rocks + water loving plants.
Take a look at these pictures to see a little of what we had in mind:

http://www.eichlerforsale.com/xSites/Agents/eichlerforsale/Content/UploadedFiles/landscaping%20-%20towards%20house.JPG

http://www.greenhouserealestate.net/uploaded_images/DSCN0835-753426.JPG

http://retrorenovation.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/westlake-tree.jpg

http://retrorenovation.com/2008/07/25/printer-piemaker-hannah-catalogs-topiaries-in-the-san-francisco-area/

Too cold for much!

2010-01-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

The holidays were pretty busy so we didn't accomplish much except getting a new couch for our living room (thanks mom & dad) and a new gas grill. We have bought a hell of a lot of stuff in the past few months for our yard - a mower, wheelbarrow, rake, shovels, etc etc but have only been able to put some dirt out back to level out the fence line. Eventually Clover will be back there when the weather is dryer and not so damn cold and I can finish "repairs" to the yard i.e. level the fence line and some holes around the yard. Lauren also set up our yard composter in the backyard so while the weather is so bleh we should take advantage and get started painting in the next month or so!. Tonight is supposed to be 29 degrees F! Happy new year!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

A few simple decorations..

and the smallest tree ever - but it's alive (for now)!

A little Friday snow

2009-12-06T21:22:00.000-08:00

It snowed Friday but didn't last long!

Buyer Beware of BEHR Concrete Stain!

2009-11-17T07:05:00.000-08:00

As posted previously, we took the road of uninformed DIYers when staining our concrete, and while the results of our stain look good for now (less some peeling in the corner and where the appliances were placed), I anticipate a long term problem. With that said, I've gathered all receipts and plan to recuperate costs from Behr.

If you experience the same type of issue, please contact Behr and ask for your money back. Damn them and their misleading advertising. "Siliconized 100% Styrene Acrylic" should have given it away. Another lesson learned the hard way; go ahead and spend the money on a true professional with professional products rather than be sorely disappointed.

Beware of Behr!

2009-11-16T21:09:00.000-08:00

So the floor looked pretty good...but...we found out that the Behr "stain" is not actually a stain, but more of a watered down latex paint. It has already scuffed and while we'll touch up and reseal with something else, down the road we'll have to redo it.

We feel let down but it's a lesson learned:

on 1/26/2009 dagnew21 wrote:

Is your Behr latex paint still on your concrete floor? If not, don't feel bad. As a professional concrete resurfacer, Behr is keeping us busy! Both Behr (Home Depot) and Quikcrete (Lowes) concrete 'stain' is nothing other than watered down latex paint, and it will peel off your concrete in a matter of months, just like ANY paint you apply to concrete. Avoid these mis-labeled and mis-leading products at all costs. Our company has a portfolio of failed concrete where the homeowner used these two products. It is a film-forming latex acrylic coating, not a stain! Oh, for truth-in-labeling in this country....

If you really want to stain your concrete, there are a couple decent non-acid stains that look great, but I believe they are only available to contractors. Anyone can dump acid on their concrete and see what happens...but if you want to do it well, its very tricky

found here:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2050061_stain-interior-concrete-floor.html

Stained floor!

2009-11-14T19:37:00.000-08:00

After second coat of stain:

and after the sealer:

Clean concrete!

2009-11-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Lessons learned when prepping concrete for staining...part 1

2009-11-07T21:27:00.000-08:00

1. Be prepared to invest a lot of time and hard work, especially when you run into a thing called "cutback" aka black mastic used in the olden days to lay vinyl or asbestos flooring.
2. Instead of using old towels to sop up oily mess from tar residue, or from cleaning, use Oil Dri, or the equivalent to the stuff at Home Cheapo. Don't waste your time, money or heartache on anything other method.
3. A wide, flat putty knife is a hell of a chisel when removing mastic-soaked thin set concrete.
4. Look into something called Bean-E-Doo by Franmar. It's a soy-based mastic remover that helped a ton.
5. If you don't feel like BSing with enviro-friendly products, look into Strip Klean Mastic Remover for the first part of the job and for touch ups
6. Never underestimate the power of help from others!
7. Don't lite a match

I hope this helps someone else with this godawful, but rewarding process. So if anyone tells you it can't be done, well it can... at a laborious cost.

Bean-e-doo!

2009-11-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

Bean-e-doo application - it's a soybean based solvent:

post Bean-e-doo, pre etching:

Frigidaire - GM range, take two

2009-10-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a better picture of the avocado "Custom Imperial"

Under the tile

2009-10-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

Working on getting up the nasty glue - slowly but surely:

Pre solvents:

Frigidaire - GM range

2009-10-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

The house came with a fully functional Frigidaire - GM avocado electric stove. It has four wide coils on top and two side-by-side ovens. I *think* it dates to June 1969 and is the "Custom Deluxe" model.

If anyone knows anything about this appliance, please drop a line!

Major task #1: Kitchen/entry floor

2009-10-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

The goal is a simple one - to remove the vinyl tile, clean the concrete, and stain it.

The kitchen and entry way floors were covered in self-adhesive vinyl squares and while the tile looked like a quick-fix, the adhesive was determined to stay. One long night later the slab was finally exposed but an old layer of black adhesive remains.

Kitchen before:

Kitchen during:

And we found a surprise under the entry tile - real red tile, reminiscent of old McDonald's floors:

To do list

2009-10-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

Pre move-in

~~Remove vinyl floor from kitchen~~

~~Have hardwood floors refinished~~

~~Have backyard privacy fence installed~~

Pre or after move-in

~~Kitchen floor~~

L office - in progress!

Bedroom

Landscape/xeriscape border grassy areas

Ongoing/wishlist/projects for later on:

New kitchen counters

Partial gutter installation

Install island in kitchen

~~Garage door openers~~

New mail box/mail box alternatives

Redo bathrooms

replace replacement metal columns on front of house