demolition derby, continued.

More hackery last night. As you can see, I got more cabs down- had to take that one off the back wall for the gas line guys today. The bottom cabs that jut out are proving to be kind of a bitch, but I just figured out how to get the icky laminated countertops apart, so that should help. And today I get my own drill back ($32 to fix it), so that'll help. I still have to get ALL the cabinets out including the sink, and I'm pulling down that entire ceiling "drop" and all the fluourescent fixtures and ceiling fan yuckery. Gonna make the ceiling uniformly level- I'll probably need some (semi) professional help for that.

BTW, in case anyone was wondering "where it all goes"...

That doesn't even include the cabs I hauled out to the side of the house...

Kaopectate please.

Today is gas install day.

This one of what's sure to be many "costs you didn't account for". The kitchen, laundry room and hot water heater are all electric. This was probably swell in 1963 when Hoover Dam power was el cheapo, but not so swell today when power is pricey and gas isn't. So... this is the part where I'm trying to remind myself that the $1200 I'm dropping to get gas run all over the place will pay for itself.

The good news it that the plumber guys are cool, and they're pretty much setting up the lines for my future kitchen lovlieness. They're also pulling out the ghetto gas lines for the fireplaces (which I'm gonna make "regular"). This means it'll be easier to knock down that wall over there...

Best of all, I'll get to use my new (used) dryer. I've never been so excited about the prospect of doing laundry!

Update on Friday, November 4, 2011 at 3:38PM by celebutante

The dank B.O. of Big Dudes™ now hangs in the air of my home. Ick. They're nice big dudes though.

They also informed that there are electrical junction boxes in my attic that look like duct-taped rat's nests. Why does this not surprise me?

The eve of destruction.

My kitchen, approximately 11:AM this morning:

And now, at 5:PM:

Though all my destructive friends would love to believe that this kind of thing simply entails banging the bejesus outta stuff with a sledgehammer, the reality was considerably more scientific- I don't even own a sledgehammer. I do own a rather large and wicked pry bar, but it's mostly a lot of "what the heck is holding this together" followed by unscrewing and prying, and trying to make sure nothing falls on your head (succeeded at that) and that you don't shock yourself on all the electrical in there. (fail... I thought I had all breakers off, but I missed one. Luckily the jolt was pretty minor) Also had to make sure I cut off all the wires and electrical taped them so as not to blow anything up. As I suspecting, the brown backing wasn't a wall at all, just 1/2" particle board, which I pretty much yanked off with my bare hands. Rarrr!!!!

All was going well until my DeWalt drill crapped out. Both of its batteries died over a year ago, and I haven't gotten around to replacing them. This week I got a new battery ($70!!!), but the drill was emitting a weird smell. I figured either the new battery had too much juice, or the motor was dirty from sitting. I called DeWalt this week and they assured me that it was the correct battery, and it should be fine. Well... today that smell got even worse and was accompanied by smoke, and a large reduction in speed. Which I'm pretty sure is bad. This brought my efforts to a grinding halt. Tomorrow I shall call DeWalt and see if I can get some satisfaction. The drill is around eight years old, but it shouldn't just die, right? If they don't help set things right, I'm going to explain to them in no uncertain terms that I'm marching over to Home Depot to buy a replacement DeWalt drill... the kind that says "Makita" on the side.

Actually not always better to burn out than fade away.

Since I moved in last Sunday, there's been no light in my foyer, which obviously complicates night time entry. Tonight I removed the glass from the ugly fixture and discovered three bulb locations but only one bulb present- this little compact fluorescent bastard here:

Now, I was under the impression that these never burn out, so I thought maybe there was an electrical problem (sigh). But I popped in a new standard incandescent bulb and it worked just fine, proving that CFL's do in fact burn out. Which could explain a lot of the lighting (or, non-lighting) issues in Casa Brookman. I guess I'm confusing them with LED's (which don't burn out unless you do something real stupid- like running a ton of current to them. Don't ask me how I know that.).

While we're on the topic,  this place is literally the Winchester Freakin' Mystery House of light switches. Apparently Rabbi Ba-ruchman was a somewhat harebrained contractor (according to my neighbor), and boy was he big on an extraneous outlet and/or light switch... usually not aligned properly, often with mismatched switches and plates. Anyone who knows me should know that this is my equivalent of waterboarding torture. 

As I renovate each room, I'll figure which ones actually do something relevant and leave what's necessary. Plus you can get nice two or three ganged switch things like this:

... so I'm sure I could combine some of these and fill in the holes with drywall.

Towel the people you love with love...

Today I installed this beaut, which is an Ikea double-wide towel rack I've had laying around forever. It doesn't match the massive brass array in the previous listing, but I figure it's a temporary solution until I tear into the master bathroom. You can see more giant holes where the previous brass yuckery was, as well as more evidence of the salmon/carnation abomination pink paint that surely made Rabbi Brookman feel all manly in the bafroom. These people also loved a toggle-bolt, which works great in hollow walls, but also necessitates a huge hole. More things for me to fix later.