To buy or not to buy

I have a new tool lined up! Of course Im excited, but Im trying to rationalize the purchase. Partly due to funds. Do I reallyyyyy need it, or is this just something I want. I am a recovering tool addict that used to go out on whims and buy stuff, especially shit I didn't need one bit, but they all proved useful in the end. Ie - Stud welder, mig welder, 2 air compressors, those are the bigger items but the list goes on.

For $100 after my 10% off coupon and with a stand, I suppose its worth it.


Im sure with a full renovation underway it will be good when I have to do flooring, kitchen cabinets, casings, filler strips, cutting 2x4s longways, in fact it would have saved me a $30 door when cutting it to size rather than using the circular saw which I NOW know the base of it was bent. This led to trying to cut the end of the door down 5 times and wondering why it wasn't square.

At the same time I think I want the 4 piece Ryobi Lithium tool kit more (drill, sawzall, circular, flashlight) for $200 marked down from $300. I should have bought this from the get go.

PSEG

Don't mind the totally random picture of a ultra cute puppy that reminds me of my baby girl.

Anyway, PSEG = Public Service Enterprise Group = Piece of Shit eating goats.

You guys are impossible, and everyone knows it. This is a monopoly! My acronym makes no sense except the PS, please ignore the goat part or fill it in with something that makes sense. I couldn't get it to flow.


BRING ME MY GAS!

Venting

While this may be the first post of venting you've seen on here, I assure you it isn't the first, nor the last. In fact this is the most passive venting I've done so far. Usually venting involves either a hissy fit and wanting to go home to a stable, non dust filled environment, or drinking whatever Natty lights or Steel Reserves I can scavenge, or cursing and sitting atop a ladder (it seems to lift my spirits when I sit up there).

If you are in a similar situation or ever have been in a similar situation (read - working on a old, decrepit house) you know that one thing leads to another, and everything depends on something else. That "something else" is usually something not in your control, albeit you can sometimes make it in your control if you want to take 5 steps back (not 2).

So this was the situation yesterday:


In the picture I attempted to box out where the heating/cooling duct goes, and unfortunately it had to be dropped down like that. The joists go perpendicular to the furring strips, and we decided not to rip down the whole ceiling to fix this. The real problem (besides using Microsoft paint with its super pixelated lines, and in-ability to "undo" anything past one step, which yields the big white mistake of a text box) is that corner of the room is way off in terms of being level. The other half of the duplex is to the left in the picture and im sure has to do with the sagging.

The problem -
I get to work on the house 3-4 hours a day after work. My mind is usually clustered with crap, I can never think straight. Then take some electric that needs to be done, heating and cooling that needs to be done, additional framing, and sheetrock, a dash of planning ahead and rushing, put it in the bowl, whip it up, and you get a lot of incoordination. I know this can be easily solved, but there are reasons things are being done like this.

The duct went up before we could level that out. It didnt look to bad so we threw up the sheetrock. Then we realized the overhead light ideally had to be moved from the center of the kitchen to the left side where the table would be. The sheetrock was up anyway and I don't want to deal with 5/8ths above my head anymore than I have to. So the dilema is to take it down (I can't even tell you how often stuff like this happens) or keep going and hope for the best. My lack of experience here doesn't help, but I do know I want to keep moving ahead.

Too bad, Im going to keep on going on.

Quite a steal

To be honest, this house was a good deal, for obvious reasons. And the way the economy is, I'm still looking for some good deals, and thats when I stumbled upon this. My room has an existing fireplace in it, but it almost certainly needs to be relined. That is probably big bucks I don't have now, so I found this alternative. Thanks Lowes for 50% off seasonal heating. I scored this for $125




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Thats probably not how it will look exactly, but there will be similar colors, maybe some black granite tile, cedar, Im still browsing, and if anyone has recommendations, please don't hold back. What do females like in terms of fireplaces?!

Demo Daze - Take 1

This is part of the first day of demo. I really wish I had better pictures, but here are some shots of the cabinets off the wall, paneling is gone, what remained of the drop ceiling is gone, and this is pre breaking the window on the right, dammit.

Lookng towards the backyard:





From the back door looking towards the front. You can see the furnace room attached to the bathroom, and my gleaming electric blue drill from Harbor Freight for $20. I have to say this is one tool that is holding up well. I rarely have to charge it, and its better than my Black & Decker cordless, but no match for the Ryobi.



And here is the front room, looking towards the street. Some supplies moved in, some paneling out. I really love brick walls and Im going to see where I can salvage some and showcase it.

Information about Union City

Just a article I stumbled upon. Brief information about Union City, some pros, perhaps cons, development and hopefully gives an idea why I think UC property values will rise a lot more than they have.

NY Times on Thread building

NY Times UC article

Surprise! We have pictures

So I finally managed to upload a few pictures of the house. This is what I purchased, and tomorrow I'll post the first round of demo time. Yes the pictures are terrible. I didn't take the time to take proper pictures, so you can't get a good idea of the size of the rooms, but I vow that as of today I will do my best to take accurate and clear pictures. Amen.

This is walking through the front door. You can see steps going to the second floor, the bathroom on the first floor to the right, and the kitchen is in the back.

From UCHouse

This is from the back door in the kitchen looking towards the front of the house. Obviously still ground level.

From UCHouse

Downstairs bathroom came with free curtains.

From UCHouse

From UCHouse

On the second floor looking towards the backyard, and more stairs! Definitely my favorite room out of the house. There is a lot of detail to be seen in the big windows that are behind me in this picture. The trim work, the old wood, the high ceilings, and most of all, a hidden gem is in this room that you can't see. Can anyone guess what it is.

From UCHouse

The view from what will most likely be my room:

From UCHouse

This speck of a room on the third floor is located in the back of the house, overlooking the backyard. To the left of the wall is another room the same size.

From UCHouse

There is the full bath on the third floor. Holy PINK. This is probably a 10 year old girls dream bathroom, and probably a lesbians dream bathroom as well. Pink on the walls, ceiling, floor, tub, toilet and sink, ew.

From UCHouse

Thats all the pictures I have from the first day. There is another room towards the front of the house that is a good size and pretty clean. Oh there is also another set of stairs that goes into the attic which is storage, and has ANOTHER room in the front with views of Manhattan. How about that.

No more stairs from there, but there is a small ladder to the roof which should yield me some splendid views on Fourth of July.