Several projects are underway simultaneously at the Underdog. I have a few things to share since the last update. First, the electrical conduit is in place for our future kitchen island.
All the black mold Handy Hubby found on the backside of one of the bathroom walls is gone.
After spraying and scrubbing the mold with a bleach/water mixture to no avail, Handy Hubby got a useful tip from a new neighbor. He suggested pouring chlorine on the mold and he happened to have some on hand that he kindly let us use. HH applied the chlorine to the mold and watched as the mold shriveled up into small brown bunches that either fell off or were easily removed. Not sure that chlorine is the greenest way to get rid of mold but it sure worked like a charm and it’s gotta be better than inhaling mold.
After hiring a professional plumber to update the washer/dryer hookup and run new gas lines {more on that stuff in a few…}, we were happy to learn that the bathroom tub and shower plumbing wasn’t the cause of the mold. Whew. We hadn’t planned on renovating the bathrooms just yet. Instead, we discovered the original bathroom tile on the other side of the wall was to blame for the mold. Oh. Not so whew after all. Individual tiles have pulled away from the wall allowing water to seep behind them. You can literally push on the tile surround with one finger and it will move. Looks like we’ll be knee deep in at least one bathroom reno before we move in. And we haven’t had a chance to check the other {master} bathroom for leaks yet. Grrr. But it’s nothing unexpected from a 50+ year old house that’s been neglected for years. We just hadn’t prepared ourselves for a bathroom remodel so soon.
Speaking of that plumber I mentioned…
…the new washer/dryer hookup is all set! I like seeing new things in our Underdog. True signs of progress.
Thanks to our plumber we now have a water line to our future refrigerator too. The plumber also installed some new gas lines. One for the future gas stove in the kitchen…
…and one for the wood burning fireplace that we’ve decided to convert to gas while the walls are down for easier access. With two young kiddos in the house, we thought gas would be the safer way to go but I do like me a wood burning fireplace.
The plumber called the county to come out and inspect his work but we found out that in our particular county if you’re converting a wood burning fireplace to gas, you must first install the gas insert before the county will come out to inspect the new gas lines. Bummer. We hadn’t even looked at gas inserts yet. So we did. And the price for one of those brand new suckers is crazy expensive!!! As in $2,000 – $3,000 expensive! Not in our budget. So HH did the next best thing – scoured craigslist. Lo and behold he came across a used gas insert with dimensions that matched our fireplace. It looked to be in good shape, so HH called. Two days later, we found ourselves on a short road trip to Indiana to check out the unit. The guy selling the insert had it stored in his garage where HH was able to hook it up and make sure it worked. Luckily, it did work. After HH did a little talking down, the gas insert was in the back of our car for $700 – down from the $800 it was listed for on craigslist. At $700, it wasn’t cheap but considering new units go for at least $2,000 it was a deal. I don’t know much about gas inserts, but HH seems very happy with the find. Another craigslist match made in heaven.
The picture above doesn’t really do it justice. I took it in the garage with all the doors and windows closed so the lighting was awful. And the faux logs aren’t so excrement-like {sorry, I couldn’t think of any other way to describe them!} in real life. Still, you get the idea. We really like the wide, chunky frame. I mentioned to HH that I’d like to paint the frame but I don’t think he’s sold on the idea yet.
That’s the latest word on the Underdog. A few other things have changed even since these pictures were taken, so I’ll give you another update soon. Oh, and stay tuned for a post all about how we sold our previous home by owner! Coming soon…
What about you? Have you found any great craigslist buys recently? Have you ever driven across state lines to hunt down a craigslist find?
images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
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