Monthly Archives: July 2012

I inherited my grandfather’s desk.  I’ve had it now for years, unused, holding old papers and postcards and artifacts of his time.  Many were momentarily interesting as I went through them, and I packaged them up for my dad to … Continue reading →

Michelangelo once explained that David had always been in that block of marble, he merely removed the parts of the stone that was not David. I don’t pretend that This Odd House contains a world treasure to be discovered within, … Continue reading →

The chained prerequisite dependencies all started from the need to repair the roof.  To repair the roof required that the chimney be repaired.  I obtained an estimate for doing so:  $2200. This seemed like a lot of money to tuck … Continue reading →

My time with the dumpster ends tomorrow.  It will be picked up and processed by the construction waste recycling center.  I wasn’t able to truly fill it, but there’s plenty of removed drywall and unneeded black and white countertops in … Continue reading →

Another weekend of dismantling the upper kitchen.  The goal is to remove the wall that creates a useless pantry and add the area to a larger kitchen with modern cabinets and counters. The unwanted wall is a leftover from when … Continue reading →

To start the remodeling of This Odd House, I had followed all of the dependencies to this single initial requirement: remove the old boiler and the asbestos-wrapped heating pipes emanating from it. One of the HVAC contractors I contacted offered … Continue reading →

I recall paging through the college catalogs of all the cool courses I could take at the university.  There were so many interesting topics, but after reading the course descriptions I would encounter the prerequisites for registering.  It often was … Continue reading →

The demolition party was an exhilarating but humbling experience.  Eager volunteers dismantled and tore down large sections of This Odd House.  They did more than I ever expected, but I learned that demolition is a lot harder and more involved … Continue reading →

Demolition day started out quietly as I contemplated how one actually goes about removing the contents of a kitchen.  My friend and remodeling advisor Poldi and I unplugged the stove and dragged it out.  Ok, that wasn’t so hard.  Now … Continue reading →

At the Before party I was surprised at the number of people who offered to help me do the demolition work in preparation for my remodeling plans.  Now maybe this was just being polite, but I got the sense, especially … Continue reading →