Still standing

The house didn't fall down.

But taking down the stairs wasn't necessarily something that anyone living in our house wants to repeat anytime soon.  Kev jerry-rigged a rope and pulley system and had Andy hold the stairs up while he and I slid the bottom stairs out.  Then he and Andy lowered the thing down to the floor.  It was quite an engineering feat.

Kev was a wee bit annoyed to discover that the stairs had been placed against the wall before the walls were textured.  So, he'll have to try to match the texture on the wall before we repaint.

Carting the darn things outside was a feat in itself.  They were heavy, heavy, heavy.  We got a small dolly to put Andy's end on so he could navigate the corner to get them outside.  They're still sitting outside...right in front of the door.  Okay...slightly off set from the door, but they are right outside waiting for Kev to decide what to do with them. 

He took yesterday off from work (Wednesday, March 7) to work on the house.  (Actually, he's maxed out on his vacation and HAD to take some days off.)  When I got home last night, he'd laid new tile where the pellet stove sits.  We had originally put it up on a platform, but decided at this point to go ahead and put it on the floor.  The tile we picked out perfectly matches the stone on the wall.  I was so pleased to see how nice it looks!  I also think we'll like the stove without the platform.  It will make sweeping and cleaning much easier.

 Here's a close up.  We weren't going to do the border initially, but finally decided that we needed some color and something a little fancier, so we picked up the 6" tiles last weekend in Wichita.

 I know this is an awkward photo, but we also wanted to tile in front of the front door (the brown door) and decided to extend the tile clear past the garage door (the white door). The size of this area was really what convinced us to use the border tiles. 

 Kev really out-did himself on the corners of the pellet stove area and this area of the front entryway.  I love how he cut the tile with the angles.  It's just so totally professional looking!  Now all we have to do is grout.  That's on tonight's agenda.  As the official family grout-er, I hope my grouting job doesn't ruin Kev's hard work.

 While we were in Wichita, we looked at lights.  The light above the original stairs was just a hall light.  It was on the living room ceiling, but only lit up the stairs.  Upon the removal of the stairs, we knew we needed better light in the Living Room.  We just happened to stumble on this track light that we both liked.  It's contemporary, but not too modern looking and the sconces are tinted off white and brown, so they really tie in with our furnishings.  Kev put them up last Sunday afternoon.  It's bright enough now that I can probably stitch while sitting on the couch.  (I want to replace the ceiling fan, but Kev informed me that the ceiling fan wasn't part of the bet.)

We're moving along quickly now, but don't worry...Turkey season is right around the corner to be followed by fishing weather to be followed by garden weather and outside work.  Inside work will slow down and I will still be able to win the bet.

And then the house fell down

Kev had a dream last night. He dreamed that he removed the "old" stairs, and then the house fell down.

Makes one have confidence, doesn't it!

Actually, he knows they weren't structural, we knew that before we started this project, but still the dream illustrates how this project is constantly on his mind.

His goal this past weekend was to get the staircase down and fill in the floor joists.

I helped him take down the banister and pull the wiring that we were going to reroute back to the wall.  It took longer than we anticipated, with a few obstacles that we were able to solve without much problem.  Then Kev moved on to the joists.

 The staircase is still attached, and it was a handy "ladder" to stand on.  He got all the joists attached and last night...

 We moved the couch back.

 Temporary carpet until we decide what we want, and when we have the cash in hand.  Kev re-routed two outlets into the wall, so we didn't lose any of our electricity in the living room.  I'll move one of the end tables beside the couch tonight. Kev thinks we now have room for a coffee table and he's planning on building one...after we finish this project.  (And he mentioned remodeling the fireplace mantle and...) sigh...

We did have one unforeseen complication...

The dogs refused to use the new stairs.  Yep, they were scared to death.  We finally coaxed Midnight down them, and then he was fine.  Fletch however is a dog of a different mettle...we coaxed, and bribed, and pleaded, and carried, but he just would not go down those stairs!  Finally, after 24 hours, he went down them on his own.  The winning motivation was his supper.  He couldn't eat unless he went downstairs, so he finally gave it a try and now I know he's saying to himself, "Now why on earth did I think I couldn't do that!"

This last shot is of our new banister.  The brown behind it is the love seat, but here's our rail.  We still need to put the top cap on, and when it is, the banister will be done.  Kev built it all from the same lumber as the steps.  Well, not exactly.  The wide rails are from wood he bought.  But the supports and the top and bottom rails he cut, sanded, stained, and put together himself.

It's coming together, but we still have a ways to go!

I can't say that I like the new stairs--their location anyway.

This morning, I went to set something on the banister...there wasn't a banister where I expected it to be.  When we start out the door in the morning, we automatically turn to go down the stairs, only to realize that they are no longer there!  We can't peek downstairs and see if Kat's light is on in the morning.  We can't hear her move around.  We have a lot of adapting to do...us and the dogs!

Next step, to get the old staircase down.  I'll be sure to let  you know if the house falls down.

Stairs

 Those look like Stairs!

We're getting closer to actually being able to USE the new stairs.  Kev and I ran to Wichita last weekend and bought some lumber for the trim and the landing.  We literally stumbled on some Pine Car Siding (what it has to do with cars, I do not know.) We liked it enough that we decided to put it on the landing. We also picked up some tile to put by the front door and under the pellet stove and got some stain for the pine.  We stained it all a light walnut using stain in a Danish oil, which we hope will be sufficient as the finish.  We really don't want to put Poly on stairs.

 On Sunday Morning, as he put up the first stringer, Kev said "Darlin', we'll have stairs by the end of the day."  I didn't believe him, because nothing ever goes according to plan...  But, he proved me wrong.

We had stairs by the end of the day and even walked up and down them a couple of times.  The treads aren't attached yet, as we have a little trimming and fitting to do to make them set well against the stringers.  Then Kev will screw them to the stringers and we'll start using them.

 This is the birds eye view of the landing with it's "Car Siding".

 Closer view.  It is tongue and groove.  Right now, I like the small cracks where they fit together.  We'll see how I like it when those grooves are full of dirt, dust, and dog hair!

Most people, when picking pine boards, avoid knots and "imperfections".  Us?  That's what we choose!

The house is still a mess, but we're getting there!

Stairs...progress

On Saturday afternoon, Kev drove 50 miles to Kinsley to pick up the lumber for our stairs.

A "tree man" lives there and happens to have a sawmill he uses for fun.  He sometimes cuts up trees that he takes down and sells the wood.  Remember, this is Kansas.  A sawmill is not something typically found out here.  We literally stumbled on this guy when we put in the pellet stove three years ago.

 This is what Kev brought home.  Yes, I am aware that one "board" is really a stump. A Six foot long stump, but it's a stump.

Don't ask.

This pickup load of lumber only set us back $250.  A steal.

 These boards are 3 inches thick and Kev has to cut them into stair lengths of 40 inches.

 But first, he wanted to trim the edge off.  He thought about just making all of his cuts with the chainsaw, but decided to use the circular saw instead.

 He had Andy help lift them up.  They measured and cut.

Andy then carried them out and laid them outside.  They aren't quiet dry, so Kev and Andy put some spacers between the steps and he thinks they will dry out quite a bit this week in our atypical warm weather.  (Which I am enjoying!)  So, now that we have the steps, and the stringers are cut, I anticipate that we'll see the stairs going up soon. 

But before they can be assembled...we have to sand them, decide if we're staining them, and then they can be assembled. 

Kev had enough wood left over that he's thinking of other ways to incorporate it into the finished project.  As a newel post, or somehow in the banisters or something....

We're still on track for me to win the bet. But, we're making progress!

The stair project--January update

I thought I'd best give an update on the stair project. 

No pictures because:  1.  There's nothing to show, and 2.  The batteries in the camera were dead and I couldn't find the cord (because it wasn't where it belongs...dang kids.)

But, there's really nothing to show.

Kev did make the hole bigger.  Longer.  He had to to make his math work for the stringers.  He then spent time re-wiring some outlets and moving others.  He also had to cap a water line because the bigger hole meant that the water line couldn't be re-routed.

He had talked to the guy who is supposed to cut our steps.  He was supposed to have them cut Saturday.  He didn't have them cut. 

So, we're at a stand still until we have our wood.

While Kev was working on his project, I rendered lard.

Why?  Cuz I could.  I just wanted to try it.  I grew up reading the "Little House" books by Laura I. Wilder.  I bought the cook book where the author attempted to re-create the cooking described in the "Little House" books.  One of the things she did was to render lard.

I was curious about how hard it really was and what cracklings were.

So, when we butchered pigs last weekend, I asked the guys to get me the fat from around the organs (if they would take the time to do so) and to give me some of the fat trimmings so I could play.  Kev brought home about 2 gallons of fat.  I rendered it yesterday.

I'd read that it's easier to render it in the oven, so I got out my Grandma's big double burner lard rendering cast iron pot.  While a little rusty, I thought this might be a great way to re-season it and get it back into working shape.

Unfortunately, it was too big for my oven.  Instead, I got out 2 of my cast iron bean pots and used them.  I didn't cut the fat up much (and if I was a serious lard render-er, I would do this next time.) I turned the oven on to 300 degrees initially and then when the fat started to melt, turned it down to 200.  By the end of the day, I had lots of melted fat and cracklins.

Kev thougth the cracklins smelled like pork rinds.  They taste like greasy pork rinds, but weren't as light. 

I wound up with 3 quarts of lard.  I went ahead and canned it.  It's not as creamy white as I thought it would be...maybe I let it get too hot.  It smells ok, but who knows.  I'll hang on to it for a while.  Maybe use some when I make pies, maybe not.  If nothing else, I'll feed it to the chickens and wild birds.  Who knows if it's a skill I'll ever need, but it did satisfy my curiosity and it kept me busy while Kev was puttering with the stair project.