Mysteries in the brick

I wonder if some relatives can help me figure this out. I just discovered on this horribly fuzzy photo I took that the brick is different around the kitchen window (the double window at bottom right). It almost looks like a former bay window to me. Any clues? Notice how it arches a couple feet above the double window, then continues a few inches straight down along the sides, then straight down a couple more feet below the window.

Deciphering the changes in the house through the different brick patterns has been interesting. We know the front of the house was added on in 1929 (did I get that right?), which is evident in the picture. The brick at the front of the house (to the left of the PVC vent stack) is lighter. The mudroom/former laundry area to the right (mostly obscured by the tree and out of the picture) is also an addition. But on both sides of the house, about midway up the upstairs windows, the brick changes again. I wonder if the original house was single-story. And what's with the several courses of brick that are darker on the left of this picture between the windows? It's all very interesting.

I only took this picture because I was so proud of the work Dick and my dad did to tear out all the plants growing up the side of the house. Really only the gable was visible until they came in with the chainsaw, loader tractor and miscellaneous tools.

Unfortunately the removal of the incredibly tough grapevine revealed some brick damage we hadn't known about. At the bottom right you can see a couple spots that look like white bricks, which are just patches. The foundation of the mudroom/former laundry addition has heaved from frost and that's evident in the brick in two spots. Par for the course with an old house!

Mystery #1 solved: See the brick "eyebrows," the arches above the windows in the small photo at left? They're gone now. Thanks for the pic, Maggie!

More satisfying tear-out

We spent another evening ripping up the house. It's pretty fun to whack with a hammer and have a wall come down in the name of progress!

We finished taking out the downstairs bathroom, including the stud walls. All that's left is the bathtub, a heavy metal beast that we'll haul directly to the scrapyard.

The kitchen ceiling tiles and furring strips are gone, are the linoleum floor tiles. Upstairs I began to remove the bathroom cabinet. Bob tore carpet out of two rooms.

Next we need to recycle or burn the results of the last two days. So far we have carpet, paneling flooring and wood on the front porch. Hopefully we'll be able to use Mark's tractor to haul the lumber to the woods and the rest to the burn pile. Anybody want to roast marshmallows?

There is flooring to be pulled up in the downstairs bedroom, mudrooms and dining room, and maybe some upstairs. There's a little stuff to clear out of an upstairs bedroom — old window screens, etc. We're still too timid to whack at plaster, moulding and door frames until we are positive they will go.

New lawn tractor
On the way out to the farmhouse yesterday I pointed out a Cub Cadet lawnmower for sale in front of someone's house. I noticed it on another trip by and Bob said he knows the owners well, parents of a classmate. They live just a mile north of the farm in the same section. Coincidentally, it's the same model lawn tractor we sold 5 years ago when we left our 10 acres in Marshall. It's even in about the same condition, but with more hours on it. Had we known how short a time we would live in Reed City (postage-stamp lawn we mowed by hand), we would have kept it. Instead we sold it for less than it was worth. These folks last night were only asking $50 more than we sold ours for, so we agreed to buy it. We didn't even start it up because Bob said the owners are more than trustworthy. It will be nice to have neighbors like that!

No turning back

Yesterday we borrowed a farm pick-up to help Brenda move the rest of her things to town. We took one more load of scrap to town, including a washer, dryer and grill — 640 pounds in all. That scrap yard creeps me out.

This afternoon we spent 4 hours beginning deconstruction. We want to get as much torn out of the house as possible by ourselves before brining in more help. We aren't yet sure whether we'll gut completely, so we're only doing things that we know for sure need to come out. The biggest project we took on today was beginning to remove the downstairs bathroom. We have the paneling off and the sink and toilet out. Next we'll remove the drywall, stud walls and bathtub.

We did a lot of little things today, such as removing outlet covers, nails from walls and wallpaper inside kitchen cupboards. I tore out the mudroom sink and broke down its cabinet. We haven't done anything upstairs yet.

Addy was a huge help today. She removed all the metal kick plates off the stairs, tore away most of the wall covering in the kitchen and tore up a lot of vinyl off the living room floor (it had been hiding under the carpet). She took on other tasks, too, and worked really hard. We are proud of her and she was proud of herself.

Dori started the afternoon helping us. We got the kitchen wall covering loosened so she could help pull it off. The problem was that she kept taking off her shoes, then even her socks. There are too many nails and other things around for that to be safe, so we're glad that Grandpa was willing to come and get her.

Waiting for bids
This week we gave tours of the house to four carpenters. We went through our layouts and asked for bids to do the work. We expect each will take at least a week to calculate their costs and let us know. We're anxious to know the projected bottom line, of course. We're hoping their costs to subcontract all but the electrical from a gutted house on up will be within our budget. If so, we'll be ready to go.

The other itchy problem

No big surprise, but we have confirmed that there is poison ivy on the property. Bob has signs of it on his face, arms and hands. I think eradicating a lot of the brush will help. I just know that if I get it, I won't handle it nearly so well.

Dori also has an itchy problem, but hers is ringworm. Addy and I checked the kittens and found the source. Soon they'll all be covered in gentian violet.

Too many faucets

Beth suggested a trip to Nu-Way to get some bathroom ideas. We made the trip and learned that they also do kitchen and bathroom cabinets, so we got some ideas there, too. I know we won't be able to afford their cabinetry line, but the ideas are helpful.

When I say "we" got ideas, I mean Beth and me. Bob thinks the multitude of choices is too much, trusts that I'll pick something reasonable (I hope!) and prefers to stay out of discussions about wood finishes and paint colors. Instead, he dropped us off and got his wedding ring cut off his finger. Nope, no divorce looms yet from this big project, but his finger swelled up and started to bleed after the work bee and I feared gangrene. He also washed the car and picked up some supplies — all the while avoiding looking at faucets.

I must admit, although I thrive for the detail of this project, it just seems wrong that so many bathroom faucet choices even exist. I mean, after we returned from Honduras and again from Belarus, we felt like we already had too much and that we'd gladly live on less. And here we are getting haughty over whether the polished nickel or antique bronze finish better compliments a traditional farmhouse style.

I'll continue to go through the catalogs and pick out a bathtub, shower fixtures, cabinets, faucets and all the goodies. If I didn't, Bob would pick for me. His choice? "What's the cheapest option that will still last 40 years?"


I'm going to blame Beth for what happened that night because, even though she had absolutely nothing to do with it, I figure if we hadn't driven to Nu-Way as she suggested none of this ever would have happened. As if. We got a flat tire two-thirds of the way back home from the farm. It was dark. It was muddy. My flashlights were missing. Our cell phones provided our only light. The spare tire fought with us every step of the way. The girls were cranky. We were cranky. We finally got the donut put on in less than an hour, in part thanks to a very nice woman who happened to have three drops of WD-40 left in her can (Who carries that stuff around? God bless her!).

At least I had lots of experience changing tires after all those blown on Dad's lawnmower last week.

At some point as we crept home at 40 mph, I vaguely remember a nice white pickup passing us hauling a skidsteer on a trailer. We saw it next as we turned toward home, in the ditch. We pulled over to help, hoping to pass on the kindness that strangers showed to us as the pulled over offering to help with our tire (all after it was nearly done, as luck would have it.) Anyway, it turned out to be a drunk guy telling us, "I'm screwed!" and refusing to let us call a tow truck for him. I guess he thought that by admitting he had been drinking we would show some kind of mercy on him and magically remove the truck, trailer and machinery from the ditch, so I pulled away and called 911. At least that poured some mercy upon the people he could have hurt with his huge, drunk load that night — including us. I can only hope he'll learn something, but who knows?

This morning — you know, the only morning I really didn't want to miss church — Bob went out to the van and saw that even the donut was flat. The girls missed Sunday School, but thanks to Bob hauling a tire on the scooter in the rain to fill it up (it looked as funny as it sounds), me getting a can of Fix-A-Flat, and some teamwork, we managed to limp to church. Bob dropped us off and headed to Wal-mart, which we would prefer to avoid, but happens to be the only place in the entire Thumb open to fix tires on a Sunday. Addy got to sing the song she had been practicing all week in church. Dori stood there and looked cute, choosing not to sing for once. Addy received her very own Bible with all the other first-graders. Dori whined loud enough for the entire congregation to hear, "Mama, I want one!" I was installed as a Sunday School teacher. Then, as church was about to end, Bob walked in. The month-old tire was shredded, so we have another new one on the van. We now have our own cans of WD-40 and Fix-A-Flat to carry in it. We were able to enjoy the Rally Day potluck dinner, the kids won way too much candy at the games, then we drove home safely. Ugh.

What's up next?

Date now firm: We're planning another work bee on Saturday, Oct. 18. That will be our first soccer-free weekend.

Our next step will be to get going on the inside of the house. Bob spent some time this afternoon trying to fill up our rented dumpster as much as possible while it's still here. Of course we have lots of work for the professionals to do, but we'll keep busy with some tasks we can do, as well. Next we will:

• Tear out the upstairs bathroom. Tear out the wood cabinets. Shut off the water and dispose of the sink, toilet and bathtub. I think it's also safe to demolish the wall between the first bedroom at the top of the stairs and the bathtub, but we'll wait for a contractor to confirm that.
• Tear out the downstairs bathroom. Shut off the water and electricity and tear out the walls. Dispose of tub, toilet and sink.
• Tear out the mudroom sink. Water off, of course.
• Finish cleaning out the basement.
• Check condition of the floor in the upstairs bedrooms. New flooring will probably wait until after we move in, so for now we want to determine whether it's best to keep the coverings that are already there or expose the wood planks. This will be in the SE, S center, SW and NW rooms.
• Remove the kitchen counter. If we can do it easily without destroying cabinets or wall, remove the laminate countertop and sink (water off).
• Tear out the living room carpet.
• Scrape flooring off mudroom and laundry room concrete.

Outside, lower priorities:

• Put up the bathouses. The big one goes on the big barn. The smaller one goes on the electric pole closer to the house. They should be at least 15 feet up and tools are in the shop.
• Cut smaller trees and brush. Bob did the east side of the house; next is the west and around the apple tree.
• Clean out the hog barn and big barn. Junk, burn or scrap anything no one needs.
• Cut down the cedar trees behind the house.

We'll probably have lots of lathe and plaster to tear out inside the house, but for now we're going to wait until we know for sure it's our final decision.

Work bee statistics

So much was accomplished the last few days! We offer a gigantic thank you to Al, Brenda, Diane, Dick, Doris, Maggie and Mark for your roles in making the work bee so successful.

— Bob & Sue

Here is the tally:

• 150 person hours worked (plus babysitting, fixing meals, planning, etc.)
• 3 buildings removed and burned
• 2.5 acres of weeds mowed
• 3 lawnmower tires punctured by nails and wire
• 3 lawnmower blades busted on iron and rocks
• 20 hours put on Dad's loader tractor
• 40 fence posts pulled
• 400 feet of barbed wire removed
• 5.5 tons of scrap metal sold (most hauled in Dick's truck)
• 1 borrowed trailer gouged up on the deck by the not-so-careful scrapyard dude (Sorry, Leon!)
• 10-yard dumpster about 2/3 filled
• 1 load of wood readied in the wagon for burning under the syrup pan this spring
• Several small trees felled and burned
• Scads of grapevine pruned away
• Immeasurable improvement made in the appearance and safety of the farmstead

Just a short to-do list

Yikes! The short list of priorities for tomorrow quickly grew into a long task list. We'll see what a crew of willing workers can handle in one day.

Priorities for today, 8/9/08

1. Burn garage roof (if possible!)
2. Remove fenceposts behind big barn
3. Mow as much as possible
4. Remove freezer from house and scrap it
5. After 12 p.m.: Take big scrap machinery on trailer
6. Finish taking small scrap
7. Look for more tires and put in truck
8. Clear out milkhouse (keep the blue globes — they’re for the lightning rods)
9. Haul any large items out of big barn
10. Haul any large items out of hog barn
11. Clear out attic
12. Burn cabinet from basement
13. Take hazardous materials from basement to pile by shop
14. Clean misc. stuff out of basement
15. Put up bat houses (reach with loader bucket)
16. Load wood into wagon for syrup
17. Move rocks/concrete chunks into a pile
18. Put out fire and scrap or bury anything remaining (or could put into dumpster)
19. Trim trees/grapevine on east side of house
20. Pull down eavestroughs and scrap

3 tons and counting

The most easily quantifiable accomplishment of today was that Dick took 3 tons (tons!) of scrap metal to be recycled. We spent all day working on general cleanup at the farmstead.

Dick became the king of scrap metal, sorting it by type, loading it and taking trips to deliver it in his truck. None of us predicted there would be that much. And that's only pieces small enough to load by hand — from nuts and bolts to box springs and cow stanchions. Bob and I stopped counting after a dozen broken pitchforks alone. Tomorrow we'll load entire old iron implements on a trailer with the loader tractor.

Maggie worked all day in the shop. She sorted through the treasures (an ox yoke, a few Lincoln Logs and marbles, interesting farm tools) and the junk (random jugs of hazardous waste, evidence of some rodent's bachelor pad, parts to long-gone tractors). The progress in that one building alone was incredible.

Bob and Mark took on a variety of projects that needed to be done. Trees were trimmed (lots more to go though), wood loaded, junk burned, decisions made, weeds mowed, parts run after, a burn permit secured. I also worked on a variety of projects, starting with fence post patrol and ending with mowing weeds in the light rain. When I started to get cold, I focused on mowing closer to the fire until I was warm enough to move farther away.

Dad spent most of the day on the loader tractor. He pulled fenceposts, yanked old implements from their burial places in the ground and carried burnable items to the big fire.

The only big job we weren't able to get done today that we wanted to was to burn the roof from the old garage. It shattered apart whenever we hooked onto it with the tractor, so we'll have to try something different tomorrow. If all else fails, plan B is to remove the tin and cut up the wood by hand. Ugh, not looking forward to that.

Brenda kept the girls safe by babysitting them all day. They spent the morning playing with her old Strawberry Shortcake dolls. She's in the midst of cleaning, sorting and packing, so she was already busy.

After she was home from work in the afternoon, Diane took care of the girls and made a nice dinner for the crew, putting up with the mess we must have tramped in the house — and more to come tomorrow.

We got home about 8 p.m. and the girls and I had our showers. Addy and I managed to much of today's school done in a short period of time. I'm determined to stay on track even with all the work to be done.

Before I hit the hay, I'm going to make out our list of priorities to accomplish tomorrow. We want to make use of the loader tractor, mower, trailer and dumpster while we have them. Mom will be staying with the girls at Mark and Diane's house, so I figure she can use her substitute teacher experience and work with Addy on some of her schoolwork tomorrow.

More outside cleanup

We finished up another day of cleaning up the farmstead. We made piles of scrap metal to recycle and wood to burn. We filled the dumpster up more than we expected.

When we got to the house in the early afternoon, after church and lunch, we were surprised to find Dad already there with the lawnmower. The fuel line came loose though, so we'll have to try to find a part to reconnect it to the tank through a Scag dealer tomorrow. We're concerned about ruining the entire mower at our place. He's gone through two tires, three blades and a bunch of barbed wire wrapped around underneath so far.

Bob finished removing planks from the old garage. Diane wants an outhouse for syrup season in the woods — and I agree that it's harder for us women to find a spot to go — so a friend will build one out of the garage wood. After Bob had all the planks off, we pushed the garage over by hand without too much effort. I can breathe a little easier now knowing it won't fall on the kids.

Maggie and Dick came by in the evening and were amazed to find a seemingly endless burial ground of metal scraps next to the shop. They worked at it for quite awhile and will be back tomorrow for more help. Bob went down to the house to retrieve some sloppy joes for us that Diane had made. They hit the spot.

Brenda will watch the girls tomorrow. Mark will join us for the work bee and Dad will be back with the loader tractor this time.

After everyone else was gone, our last job for the night was to pull some cardboard boxes out of the milkhouse and burn them. While we watched the fire I noticed a beautiful half moon. Later we heard an unusual bird call that turned out to be the twittering a male barn owl makes to attract a mate. It sounded like this.

Tears of ____?_____

Dad came with his big Skag Turf Tiger zero-turn lawnmower today and chopped down two acres of weeds growing up around the property and the barnyard. That thing is a beast, nearly as effective as a brush hog. I followed him around, looking for any old equipment, rocks or other debris that might get in the way.

We knew there was a lot of junk buried under the weeds and brush. He found some only a couple hours into the project — or I should say, it found him. Neither of us saw it. A nail or something left not one, not two, but three holes in the tire tube. A quick trip to B.A. to get it fixed turned into a three-hour hiatus from the mowing job. The repair guy had his thumb in one of the holes when he showed it to us.

Once Dad got back to work in the afternoon, I pulled out more cement blocks, tires and random rusty metal, then headed up front to the dumpster. As soon as I turned around and saw how much he had accomplished, I felt like crying.

The thing is, I'm not sure why. I'm not sure if it was more, "Wow, I can really see progress now! This is where our children will run and play! This is where we will make memories!" or "What the #$%# have we gotten ourselves into?"

It was a little of both.

To tear out or not to tear out?

The more we get into this project, the more it looks like we'll have to tear things down before we build them up. We started with a short priority list. It grows by the day.

The main question is whether to tear out the plaster in order to make access easier and less costly for insulation, plumbing, electric and heating. I think we know the answer. We just don't want to admit it.

It would be a much easier decision if our house in RC was sold. But it's not.