CRAPMAN

So we hit our first major "snag" with the house this last week. We thought it would be a good idea to have the septic tank pumped, since we found out it had been well over a year since it had been done last. When the guy from "P.U. Septic Service" went to do "his thing", he informed us that there were tree roots that had grown into the septic tank, and they were now getting in the way of him pumping his "stuff" out. The tiny roots inside had grown together like a layer of grass/sod, and he had to bust through it to get his hose down there. He managed to get most of it, but said something would have to be done, or we would need a new tank altogether. He told a story of a guy who had the same problem and how he got down into the tank with a chainsaw and cut it all out. Then there was a long silence as he looked at Dustin and said, "but I won't do that. I just can't do it." Not even the poop pumping guy would resort to that!! It may as well have been a dare to Dustin...and thus was born a new superhero....Crapman.

Here his trusty sidekicks prepare him both physically and mentally for the mission ahead....(yes that is a double layer of Hefty bags and duct tape......

I don't even know what to say to this.......

The battle begins. Equipped with a Sawsall and a 12" blade, Crapman lowers himself into the Pit of Despair and goes to work cutting through all the thick roots. ***WARNING*** this next picture is not for the weak of heart. Please feel free to skip to the end......

Believe it or not, the smell wasn't bad. It was mostly mud....or so it seemed. Ethan helped the whole time, lowering a big bucket, then when Dustin filled it with big root balls, he would lift it back up and dump it. When I came out to take pictures, Ethan was having so much fun and couldn't wait to tell me, "Dad is Crapman One and I'm Crapman Two"!!!........

Crapman Two....

Some of the roots......

Here's the big, pretty culprit of whose roots are lovin' our septic tank......

All I can say is Dustin has always been my superhero but he went up a bunch of notches in my book that day. I know it wasn't easy for him.....bravery is a fine quality to have. Thanks Babe!

Entry Doorway

Here's an update of how the entryway is coming along (I know, it's the "forever project"). In this picture below, you'll notice at the top of the stairs a wet patch of drywall mud where we took out a metal doorway. (By the way, I have since put a nice coat of black paint on the stairway too)........

Here's a "before" picture of the really ugly metal doorway unit we took out.....

So, every time I walked passed this doorway up to the kids rooms, it would bug me.....it was just so ugly! One night I started unscrewing all the screws and then chipping away at it, pushing, pulling, back and forth. I realized it was all one unit and I got determined to blow the whole thing out....hoping Dustin wasn't going to be mad at me. After about 45 minutes of this back and forth action with hammer, screwdriver, and crowbar, Dustin comes up asking what the heck I'm doing. Within two minutes he had the whole doorway out and thrown away! Oh to have big muscles!......

Here, you can see the old lathe and plaster wall......

I just have to add this comment here....EVERY SINGLE wall, doorway, or old molding we have taken out of this place, we have found one or more hidden treasure(s) (mostly toys, pencils, stickers, etc). This recent uncovering revealed a jackpot....the most we've found ever. There was 33 cents in coins, legos, bandages, and a school picture. I'm so curious why the person putting in this metal doorway wouldn't just take a minute to sweep away the junk. Maybe they did it on purpose? Mystery!

Here's the little treasures......

Notice the history of the wall color.....light green, yellow, and bright red!.......

Here's a close-up of how we used the pegs on the wainscoting. This was Dustin's idea and I think it looks so great. I'm so happy that people have already put them to use when they've come over!......

Here's a good look at the staircase doorway.....

I'm on my way today to pick up 3 old black & white pictures from the Eagle Historical Museum. They are pictures of how this church/school looked way back when. I'd like to hang them in this entryway. I'll post them as soon as I can!

Old Church Pew

We've always talked about how cool it would be to get a church pew for our home. Well, how appropriate to finally get one and use it in this old church house!!

Dustin bought this pew awhile back from the same place we bought the crown molding. The guy he bought it from (we found on Craigslist) lived behind an old Catholic church and had a bunch of them he was selling for cheap so Dustin couldn't resist. It came painted brown, peeling, and quite ugly, but Dustin spent a couple of hours getting all the old paint off and sanding it down to the natural oak. I stained it and applied a couple of coats of polyurethane, and it turned out beautiful.....

I think I'll add some more comfy pillows and I just bet we'll get a lot of use out this pew.....

Of course, what would an authentic old church pew be if we didn't leave all the pieces of gum stuck to the underside?......

The Secret Compartment

Fairly soon after moving in, we discovered a little square in Ethan's room where the floor boards lift out to reveal a secret compartment. We didn't think much of it until recently meeting the previous occupant of the property. I had such a great talk with her as she told me all kinds of tidbits about the house that we didn't know. Evidently this little compartment was used to hide the church offerings way back when.

Today, is it also being used for a very important purpose. Ethan is so clever hiding all of his various packs of sugarfree gum . He thinks he's even being trickier by putting all the packs of gum in a Bionicle box. He says, "Then, if someone finds the secret compartment, they'll just think it's Bionicles.....they won't guess there's all kinds of gum in there!"

A Little Of This & A Little Of That....

We got a burst of energy this week, painting and finishing little details here and there. We've gotten lots done and it seems like things are really coming together....it's starting to look like a real place to live and not a construction zone/storage unit. Here's a look at some of the miscellaneous things we've accomplished....

Thanks to our great friend/neighbor Sally, who wanted to swap out her old chandelier for a smaller one, we were lucky enough to inherit their "old" one! Dustin was able to do the swap but we still need to figure out a way to pay them back since they won't take any "moola" :o) Thanks Sally! I think it looks really nice and has a cool, amber colored glass ball in the center......

Just had to add the pretty flowers that came into full bloom right at our front porch and brighten my day every time I walk by......

We found some cool light switch plates for our entryway at Iron Works in Utah. We were driving home from California and stopped off the freeway at Thanksgiving Point.....

My little boy Ethan shot this picture of me painting some pegs that are going on the top of the wainscoting in the entryway.....

I think the painting in the entryway is getting closer to completion. We still need to do the trim and staircase........okay, maybe not so close to completion! Here's me in a very precarious position trying to hold the paint tray and roll the very far corner of the entryway. It's a good 14+ feet up there!.....

This is a "Before" picture of the fire bell (below) that is in the entryway. If you look at the picture of me painting (above), it's behind the hanging light. We wanted to keep it (it's very loud and could come in handy some day :o)), but I didn't like the gray color and it was all scuffed up. Our friend, John Green, suggested we paint it gold to match the center of the bell and also the green and gold carpet on the stairs. I thought it was a great idea so we grabbed a can of gold spray paint, covered the center and sprayed the rest! Here's the "BEFORE" picture (taken before we even moved in)......

And here's the "AFTER"......

We did a lot more but I'll wait to post until we can get the "AFTER" shots. Thanks so much for reading!!!!

Hardwood Floors

A couple of weeks ago, Dustin decided to conquer the floors in the main room (living room? great room? chapel?....still not sure what to call it.) He rented a sander at Home Depot and it took ALL stinkin' day! It was hard work but worth the savings....
Here's some of the issues we had to deal with.....
Remember the castle fort with carpet underneath? Layers of paint, glue, staples, and pieces of old industrial carpet remnants. The sandpaper kept gumming up and we realized it would be better to strip off as much as we could before we finished sanding it. Here's what it looked like....


We used paint stripper to take off most of the junk. It would bubble up nicely and scrape off pretty well. A dirty job and guess who ended up doing most of it? Yep, I've become quite the pro stripper.....


We were then going to have a professional guy stain and finish the floors while we spent last week in California (by the way, it was a great vacation celebrating Dustin's 40th birthday!!). We were excited to come home and see the finished product but this is the first thing I saw when we walked into the entryway.....different glosses between the entryway and main room!!!.....What the heck?


Anyway, the guy apologized profusely and came back this week to correct his mistake (all supposed to be satin, not glossy). It was a bummer we had to be out of the house for the day but we ended up with great looking floors!
Here's the "after" shot of where the castle fort was....



Still old and rustic looking with lots of "character"....but they're pretty, huh?