Mid-Week Exhaustion

Here it is Wednesday already and I have only shared one post from our stay-at-home-and-work-on-on-the-house vacation. I can explain. It is called “EXHAUSTION”. I found muscles I forgot I had, and some I never knew existed.

The goal for Monday morning was to remove the old roof and lay the insulation. The roofers were to be here Tuesday so we had no time to waste. I had already alerted Jim that I would do my best on the roof but even the 12 foot roof above the deck gave me the willies. Jim, oh my courageous Jim, diligently climbed the ladder to the roof. I heard him shuffle across to the other side, and then …nothing. After seeing him remove the chimney the day before I was  only concerned with my own fear of heights. The loose stone from the chimney mortar caused him to pause a moment, then, with a wavering voice, he called me to the bottom of the ladder and said “I don’t think I can do this”. To which I replied, “Thank goodness you have come to your senses. Now get down here, there is no shortage of work to be done.” 

I heard Jim’s phone ring while he was up very high on a ladder. First delivery of the day was just around the corner. A box truck carrying our four new doors pulled up and quickly place the doors neatly against the wall. One down, one to go.

It is good to have someone tall in the family when trying to paint the exterior of the house. If you didn’t notice in the photos from Part 1, the very peak of the house was not painted. We had to wait till Ethan was available to reach the spots us people of average height cannot. Luckily he showed up Monday morning. Ethan and Jim wasted no time slapping a coat of primer on nearly the whole house. Oh darn. Both ladders were occupied and there was none for little ole me. I figured I would just have to find something to do where I could keep both feet on the ground. 

Donning a face mask, gloves, and steel toed shoes I set to work clearing out drywall and debris we had demoed on the second floor.

As I was tossing debris out the window from the top floor I witnessed a very large truck trying to make a very sharp turn at the end of the street. Second delivery had found its way. This time Ethan had to come down from the porch roof to move his car. The truck went from corner to corner of our driveway. The driver was very intrigued and impressed with our little cottage. After placing the insulation in the garage he wished us well and went on to his next delivery.

 

 Just as we were rapping up I got an email from Rock Bottom Brewery, “$10 Beer and Burger Special”. I didn’t have to ask the guys twice. After cleaning up and securing everything we enjoyed our sweet reward.

Tuesday was more of the same. Scraping. Priming. Painting. Tossing. Cleaning. Jim did get kudos from the Duke Electric Project Manager. He came to give Jim a preliminary inspection of the new electric service Jim installed. He said it was better than a lot of contractors and we would have no problem passing the city inspection scheduled for later in the week.

The roofing company called to let us know they would be out in a day or two to get a signature on the new Statement of Work so that they could remove the old roof before installing the new one. $2,800 is a lot, but definitely worth it to avoid any injuries or visits to the ER.

We had intended to participate in a fund raiser for Queen City Bike that was taking place at Rhinegeist Brewery on Tuesday night and felt we should not disappoint those counting on our contribution. So, after cleaning up we drove downtown once again for a little well-deserved refreshment.

Wednesday, May 25^th and all is well. Jim and I did more scraping, priming, …you get the idea. I believe Jim would have made the Hofmann’s proud.

We had a lot of discussion about what type of ceiling we want in the bedrooms, now that the insulation will be on the inside of the house, as opposed to the exterior of the roof. I think we settled on planking or bead board to stick with cottage theme.

I felt I should avoid any libations the third night in a row. We decided a good German meal at Ron’s Roost was in order.

We made it past the middle of the week. Here’s hoping we can endure another several days of physical exertion. With all the back-and-forth getting rid of debris and up-and-down on ladders we both achieved nearly 15,000 steps, according to Garmin.

Time for the Heavy Lifting

Starting Friday, May 20^th Jim and I are both on “vacation”. Honestly, we will be pulling off a roof and ripping out drywall. If anyone has any pent-up anxiety and needs a release, message me. I will give you the address and put a sledgehammer in your hands.

Saturday and Sunday was mostly prep work for the new roof. The insulation that we are laying beneath the steel roof was to be delivered first thing Monday morning. We wanted to get a few particular spots painted before the new roof was on. But, before we could paint we had to scrape. And scrape. And scrape.

Jim scaled the old ladder and slapped on the paint like a regular Hofmann.

                                 

Next Jim climbed up to check out the old roof and decided to go ahead and remove the chimney. There wasn’t much holding it in place so the bricks came tumbling down, one after another. Luckily no animals were hurt in the filming of this episode. The only fatality was a can of bright red paint that Jill was using next door. The plastic lid of the sample jar was no match for the weight of a falling brick. Thank goodness we weren’t planning on keeping that deck.

We managed to salvage about 75% of the bricks and two of the flues. We had said we wanted an outdoor brick oven on the patio. I guess we know where the brick will be coming from…

 

Stay tuned for updates this week.

April 2016 - Sorting through the Memories

Things are moving slow at the Hofmann Haus. Jim is focused on starting new projects. I, however, am still stuck on trying to bring closure. It seems every corner I look in reveals another pile of letters or a collection of photographs. In a way it makes me feel bad for the next generation. They will never have this experience because everything is digital now.

We have demolished more of the upstairs walls to make way for the larger bathroom and built-in closets. Oh my goodness, what a crazy mess. The walls didn’t reveal much, just an old brass plumb bob that was left in the bathroom wall.

There are a few things I have discovered about the Hofmann family:

   1. Grandma and Grampa Hofmann were very faithful people. I have found Holy Cards in every cabinet and box in the old house. I have kept the majority of them for the family. In addition to the Holy Cards I found pocket prayer books. A ladies book with the name Mildred Morganthal inscribed in it, the other, a man’s book, with Elmer Hofmann on the inside cover. My guess is they predated their marriage.

2.I found a few old newspaper clippings, another treasure my kids will never know. One in particular was a write up about the Hofmann Painters. I always thought my Grampa’s parents emigrated to the US, however it was on generation prior. His grandparents came to Cincinnati in 1861, settled in Over-the-Rhine, and William Hofmann started the painting business.

3. Many, many pictures evoked memories long tucked away in the corners of my mind. May Crownings, First Communions, lilac bushes, kitchen stencils, swings ands slides, screen doors, etc. I even got to know my Grandma a little better. All I had till now was what a four-year-old brain could file away.

4. Grampa threw little away, nor Audrey. Paint cans in the garage still contain the history that was the many shades of pink in the house. Bulletins announced the Memorial Day Parade and Fairmount Day at Coney Island in 1960, and a list of bowling scores for all the neighborhood business teams.

5. The days are getting warmer and the baked in scent of the old house releases a myriad of flashbacks of hot summer nights, trying to sleep on the top floor, no air conditioning, listening to the crickets outside. The rain of late provided a trickling creek that I haven’t seen in a long time. The water gurgling and giggling of the rocks as if to say “welcome back old friend”. Damn! Now I want to read “The Giving Tree” again with my new-found perspective.

 

Jim and I are on the same page when it comes to how to renovate the little cottage. He is helping me to preserve tiny remnants of the two generations before us. There will be a little blue here, a little red there (probably no pink). We intend to reuse as much as we can, from the tile on the bathroom floor to the old pipes from the plumbing to one lone existing ladder left over from the painting business.

Here we are trying different colors of paint. Hopefully May will bring some more noticeable changes in the appearance, but for now I am glad to have completed the task of sorting out memories.

February - March 2016. Let's Get This show on the Road

Up until recently not much has been taking place at the old homestead; or at least nothing too exciting. The lack of heat in the house was enough to deter me from spending any significant amount of time there. My focus has been to sort through all of Mom’s old stuff and start getting rid of what is not needed or wanted. A task that inadvertently derails me every time. The memories and curiosity always take over and what should have been an easy, breezy chore becomes an tenuous, time consuming distraction.

Jim, on the other hand, has vowed to do at least one thing everyday.

New garage doors were delivered in early February. Low temperatures did not stop Jim’s over zealous enthusiasm. He had them installed and working within a week or two of delivery. I was the one on premise to receive the doors and was a bit concerned after the driver repeatedly warned me of the dangers of installing garage doors yourself. Jim got some help from Ethan to relieve my worries a bit and all went as planned. Well almost.

 

Funny thing happened after everything was installed and ready for testing. One of the rafters was ever-so-slightly lower than the rest. Low enough to stop the door from rising. A few rail and hinge  adjustments and all was well. Beautiful!

After the successful installation of the garage doors but still pretty cold outside, Jim decided to see what was behind the old drywall upstairs. We have plans to move walls and change the layout upstairs anyway so, with hammers in hand and handkerchiefs around our faces we started to remove the old walls and insulation. If anybody needs to relieve some stress, come on down. There are two more rooms upstairs.

  

With the promise of warmer days ahead and the need to have a working bathroom at the work site,  we had the water turned back on. While planning for the worst but hoping for the best we weren’t too disappointed to discover a couple of leaks in the old pipes. This, of course, took Jim’s attention away from the drywall smashing and moved it to the plumbing.

He has decided to replace the majority of the old pipes with new PEX tubing to eliminate any soldering and to remove the chance of future broken pipes. Lucky for me he’s an engineer.

So you ask what have I been doing while he’s having all the fun? Well, while he’s beside himself researching insulation and buying plumbing supplies I have had bigger ideas. I have been spending many grueling hours scanning online auctions for useful home-improvement items. So far we have a brand new shower base I got for $17, a brand new shop-vac I picked up for $6, a bar refrigerator for $20, a desk for $9, a pre-lit Christmas tree and a 60-cup coffee maker for when all us Hofmanns get together.

January 22, 2016 - The Day We Saved a House

After what seemed like an eternity, Jim and I finally took possession of the house my grandfather built in 1931. It is the house my mother and her siblings grew up in. It is the house my sisters and I grew up in. And now it will remain in the family.

I didn't plan it that way. Jim and I wanted to find an old house to renovate into an energy efficient home and it was setting empty after Mom went into nursing care. Maybe it was meant to be.

Below is a collection of pictures taken the day we signed the deed.

The Bike Workshop

The garage is really big. Plenty of room for Jim's hobby.















The plan is to move this door to make room for more cabinets

This will be a half-bath and laundry room once the old bathtub is taken out.

YUK!

My old bedroom will be a walk-in closet

The basement bathroom need a lot of help. I think we will add a dog shower.





This will be a priority. You can't run too many power tools on that service.

The Wine Cellar

The old coal bin will be the new wine cellar.