THE LAST OF THE CARPET TACK

Saturday and Sunday, November 2nd & 3rd, 2024

On Saturday morning we picked up 4 schoolhouse lights and 1 pendant light off Marketplace in Seattle and then headed to Stanwood and got an old pedestal sink.  That thing is so darn heavy.  $125 for the lights and $100 for the sink.  

This weekend I finished removing the last of the carpet tack.  I have a few more staples to take out in the tiny closet upstairs but I feel a huge sense of accomplishment.  The floor needs about 50 more moppings before it will feel clean.  It still smells in there but it is getting better.  We don't have hot water right now so I boil water in a huge pot on a hotplate.  It takes a while to boil so it is going to take some time.  My plan is to mop each time we are there.  The hallway upstairs is the worst and I really need to get down on my hands and knees and scrub.  After working on that carpet tack all weekend I certainly didn't feel like scrubbing the flour.  

Chad did a bunch of work in the upstairs bathroom.  He took out the vanity and started taking out the floor.  He discovered that there is pressboard under the tub and I was able to reach in and break off one corner of the pressboard so we need to fix that situation.  I can also see a spot where the rats have chewed a hole in the pressboard.  

Brick pattern wallpaper in the kitchen. 

More kitchen wallpaper.

Again in the kitchen. 

This is in my studio.  It looks like maybe at one time it was a baby room.  

The doorknob on the inside of my studio closet door.  So pretty. 

My studio closet before I removed the carpet tack.  Wren's bedroom closet has shiplap, bead board and trim.  My closet just has bead board. 

This is the corner going into my studio.  So darn gross.  I know I am repeating myself. 

The mop water and the floor is not even clean.  

The pet stains are so bad that they have peeled the paint off the floor.  It almost looks like there is another color of paint under the white paint.  I really hope that these floor turn out.  

This grate is in my studio and it is very rusty.  We are going to try and sandblast it and powder coat it. 

The view from my studio.  I am thinking of exposing the shiplap and taking the ceiling off.  I am hoping for bead board. 

Another view of the studio from the door.  

This is the hallway where the pet smells are the worst.  The bathroom is on the right.  Wren's room straight ahead and our room on the left. 

This is a tiny closet between the bathroom and Wren's room.  It has pressboard on the floor but one positive is there are no pet stains.  I have to take the staples out of the floor but I am not certain what I am going to do with that floor yet.  We are planning to put the bathroom door on here because the bathroom door is small like a closet door.  So now I need to look for two 5 panel doors.  One for the upstairs bathroom and one for the downstairs bathroom. 

The bathroom construction.  Chad found a Lucky Lager beer bottle in the wall.  More rat poop.  Pressboard over plywood and then a sub floor.  Our plan in here is for heated floors and tile.  We are going to try to use one of the vanities in the garage.  I got a sink off Marketplace and now we just need a countertop.  We will have to remove the tub to see what is going on under there and then I will tile the surround.  Not sure what with yet.  Big tiles with minimal grout lines sounds good to me. Also planning to replace that aluminum window with one of the wood windows we got but it will be much smaller. 

The vanity will go in this corner. There is a possibility for a laundry shoot if we put the washer and dryer in the bathroom downstairs.  

I kind of like the subfloor but I wouldn't want wood floor in the bathroom.  Also there is a random hole right in front of the tub.  Chad had put one of the red lights from the front porch in the bathroom vanity that is where the red glow is coming from. 

The laundry shoot would go to the right of that pipe. 

The toilet will sit behind those boards that are leaning on the wall. 

I love this Holly tree in the yard but we are thinking about lifting and moving the house onto a basement foundation so this little tree will have to go.  As well as the Fir trees in the front yard. 

Took off the doors to that little closet. Started taking the hardware off the doors.  There is a lot of rust on the metal that is close to the floor. The bedroom and closet doors are so heavy.  Solid.  There are dog scratches on all the doors upstairs.  The bathroom door has the most damage.  We will put it on that little closet. 

House number I found at the thrift.  I got two 1's and I am hoping to find the other numbers. 

We tried to go to the dump on Sunday in the truck and the truck broke down just after filling it with gas.  PM came and rescued us and Chad had to have the truck towed back.  Still full of stuff for the dump.  

We are meeting with an engineer this week to figure out what needs to be done to either fix our current foundation or move the house onto a basement foundation.  We both want to move the house.  It will be nice to have the house more in the center of the yard and possibly we will get a bit more of a view.  Plus the benefit of having a sealed space under the house where hopefully rats can't get in.  Yuck yuck yuck.