Let There Be Light!

I continued my streak of unproductivity yesterday and most of today, but finally broke it with what should have been a 20 minute fix. Why do I always assume that anything I do will take just as long in this house as it would in new construction? You'd think I would have learned by now.



As it turns out, it took about twice as long as I thought it would. After expanding the living room out I decided that I needed to upgrade the light fixture to one with more bulbs. I bought a three bulb, brushed nickel fixture some time last week and finally got around to hanging it up. I know that it isn't a 'historically correct' light fixture, but I think that buyers will like the brushed nickel look when I go to sell in a couple years. I also like the cleaner look it gives vs. brass.



Here are the before and after shots of the light.






...and this is the reason it took longer than I'd imagined. At some time in the house's past, somebody drywalled over the plaster ceiling in the living room. They didn't bother to cut the hole for the light fixture big enough, so there's problem one. Problem 2? Well, there are a lot of old wires going on in that box! It was hard to be able to push them around so I could hang the new fixture. Try sending screws up into that mess and still holding onto some form of confidence in what you're doing!





As I started connecting the wires I glanced down at the entry table at the copy of my insurance policy I had received earlier in the day. Covered for fire? Check. Let's hope it works. Flipped the breaker back on, said a short prayer, and BAM! We have light! 3 bulbs! As I sit here at 11pm typing it is still bright enough in the room, unlike the light from the old, single-bulb fixture.



The only problem with it is that there is a small dent on the fixture above where the glass is. That would be from when it, as well as all of the tools and hardware, fell from the top of the ladder. Whoops! Luckily I didn't have the glass with me at that point!



It's only small progress, but I'm happy about it. It sounds like Dad's coming up again this weekend to finish drywalling upstairs so I can get the taping done and my roommate can move into his room. That's going to be such a great feeling for me. I really don't care if I sleep in the living room for a month, just as long as my roommates are comfortable.

Staples & Wires

Grandpa came back today and finished up the wiring for me, and I pulled up all of the tack strips and staples in the upstairs hallway. I also started cutting up carpet to take to the dumpster (which was finally emptied). I took a little trip to 'the Depot' to buy some light fixtures. I chose some brushed nickel ones that had a cleaner look to them, but followed more traditional lines that will look good in the house. Baby steps, ladies and gentlemen. Tomorrow is going to be a huge work day so there'll be more significant progress then. For now, I have staples and wiring off the list.

Lets Build Walls!

First of all, let me just say that this post is extremely difficult to write. I'm sitting in the backyard with an extension cord running to an outlet on the side of the house! I'm mooching a wireless signal off of one of my neighbors because I don't have wireless yet in the house, and I can't stray far from the house because my battery is just about dead! I'm sure I look like a huge dork!

My dad, grandpa, and brother came over yesterday to work on the house for me, which was a huge load off of my mind. Grandpa tackled the wiring from the living room wall that I busted out while Dad and my brother worked on framing in the closets and bedroom wall upstairs.

Photos of the progress:


The walls upstairs are just about done being framed in and Dad's coming up to Fargo after work to finish them off for me. Grandpa's coming back Friday to finish up the wiring and I have the weekend off to get everything in liveable order before school starts Tuesday.

I'm heading out to Menards in a few minutes to exchange the mis-matched locks, then jetting off to the ReStore to pick up some doorframes for the bedroom and closets. I'll pick up some of the old hinges they have there that match mine. They're the pretty standard old house hinges, ball on top of the pin and on the bottom of the hinge. I figure as long as I can get the old ones, I might as well do it up right!

BTW, I've developed some sinus issues due to all of the dust (I should have known better) so I've been blowing my nose a lot lately. Because I'm stuck in the backyard I just attempted to blow my nose in an elm leaf. Don't try it, it doesn't feel good.