Tile floors are being put down

Things are moving along. Floors are being put down this week. Cabinets are coming Thursday.
The kitchen is really starting to come together...

Oh Sh...! The joys of home ownership

I have lived in a building for most of my life. The waste disposal pipes in buildings are big enough for a roll of paper towels. Last night was a reality check for me. While doing the laundry in the basement I heard a faint gurgle from the bathroom in the basement. I tried to ignore it, but since the gurgle got louder with the sudden flush of a toilet on the first floor I was forced to investigate.*
The half bath was flooded in the basement and all sorts of "stuff" was all over the otherwise clean bathroom floor. So, Uncle John,Alexandra and I began to assess the damage. The pipes were backed up, that was pretty obvious-- Now for some professional help! Alexandra called her father, my father in law, and our contractor- Kaz. Luckily Kaz was on his way back from a party. If he was in bed we might not have received such stellar service. In a flash, the following happened:

- trap (sewer) door removed
- Kaz and John knock off first sewer line cap- nothing
- Kaz notes, " Most people think you twist these off, you knock the cap off."
- I note in my head that I am not "most people" and one of those people to would endlessly twist. I just call someone.
- Kaz knocks off cap number 2 and it's like a geyser. As bad as the bathroom looked- the "stuff" coming out of that hole looked worse
- Pipe Number One handled the run off, now if we only had a snake to find the clog.
- Well, Uncle John not only has an industrial juicer in his car, but also a whole host of tools- including a snake.
- After the hand powered snake was sent into the pipe a few times- out came "unidentifiable rag".

The water all drained out. Kaz and Uncle John made sure the pipe was clear and the clean up began. Alexandra, Uncle John, and I all cleaned up the bathroom. Estimated time from disaster and back to bed; 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Special Thanks
Kaz for coming over after a party and educating me on what to do.
Uncle John for helping with the line, cleaning up, and the tools-- They guy demonstrates on a daily basis what a great guy he is.
Alexandra for making the effort to let me sleep, calling her father, and cleaning up.
Kelly for "discovering" the problem giving us the heads up.

There was some upside:

- next time it happens I know what to do**
- Joanne got to see the basement finally

This definitely rates as one of the "crappiest" things that come up when you own a house. Also, we are now learning how to communicate things they should not flush down the toilet without pointing the finger. As Alexandra said, "It could have been one of our kids". We certainly were not going to examine the offending "unidentifiable rag".

* I am completely lying, my wife found it as I lay asleep in the bed. Realizing the gravity of the situation I got my lazy butt out of bed.
** there better not be a next time.

The Dumb Waiter

Talk about you never know what you will find till you open up the walls.
We found a dumb waiter. Pretty cool!

The Reddish Boys of Rugby Road do Stuy Town

We all went to visit MeMa today and went to one of the many under utilized playgrounds in the complex. PS 217 is insane on the weekends. The tot lot on Cortelyou varies from crowded to empty. Every once in awhile PS 139 has their playgrounds open. I just wish Victorian Flatbush had playgrounds like Stuy Town.
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These go to the 3rd Floor

The one on the left-- light. The one on the right weighed more than most pro-wrestlers.

The Kitchen!!!

The kitchen is gutted. I really did not think we were gutting it but I guess my ideas and my wife's ideas are two different ideas.
Cabinets are on order. They should be here in, hopefully, in 2 to 3 weeks. The electrician has started working. Frank plumber comes tomorrow to move the gas line for our stove and for the dryer on the 3rd floor.
I guess as a first time home owner and a first time renovator you really do not realize what goes in to doing a kitchen and how many steps are involved. You have to to follow a certain order and each steps depends on the other. Some things like the counter top cannot be ordered until after the cabinets are installed. Then we have to wait two weeks for the counter top to be cut and installed, then we can install the back splash.
You need a lot of patience to do a kitchen. No matter how good your contractor is, if you want a nice kitchen, you want nice materials (i.e. granite counter tops, etc), then you have to wait for them.
I think it will be worth it all in the end.

Just hoping it will be done for Christmas. The wife is planing a big party!!!

The Kitchen Demo Begins

So it begins, Six Pack and Uncle John (who we recurited) begin demoing our kitchen. We are taking down the wall that from the family room and making it a nice open kitchen family room.
Not fun living with out a kitchen when you have 3 kids. The dust is every where even on my keyboard. But once it's done we should have a really nice kitchen.
Now if we only had time to go to the tile store, the granite store and so many other places to pick every thing out that we need.

Thank goodness the kitchen cabinet guy is coming to our house to measure and draw everything out for us, that make life a little easy...

The Pulaski Parade Part II

The Pulaski Parade

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Alcove

Living Room

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Da Pride of Flatbush

8:21 am, Cortelyou Road

Life is Good When Your 2 Years Old!!

We got this nice leather chair on Craigs list.
I got this chair for ME!
When you have kids nothing is for you anymore.. I wish I could nap like this..

Life is good when your 2 years old!!!!!!

Never Know What you Are Going to Get

Although this picture does not make it abundantly clear but while stripping the wood detail in my dining room (I should say Six Pack stripped the wood) I discovered that not all of it was the original oak. Rather some Pine has snuck into the mix. Blasphemy! When we sat down for dinner last night we looked up and noticed the words "Prime All Cuts" displayed prominently on the wood. Beyond that-- can you believe what they are doing to my red walls... Uggh!


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Now playing: Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow
via FoxyTunes

The New Office, Home Office

Here is my home office. This is now where I work for DJEMG. It's up on the third floor away from everything. I even have a lock on my door. It's cool so far. Then again, it has only been two days.
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Listening to: Richard X. Heyman - Home Again
via FoxyTunes