Scrappy, Scrappy, Scrappy

Hi everybody! Welcome Michael Blough to the Blog!  The picture below is not a picture of Michael-you may have been confused, you know, beards and all.  Anyway, that's a picture of one of the guys from Duck Dynasty.  If you've watched the show you may know the catch phrase "Happy Happy Happy."  Well I asked Michael to write a guest post about how we became "happy happy happy" by finding a way to get our house to pay us back a little bit during the demolition process.  This post is all about the scrapping process and how it made us very happy! ~Laura

Happy Happy Happy | Scrappy Scrappy Scrappy

Well, it's probably about time for me (Michael) to write a blog post. I have been scrapping our metal and old appliances this summer, and Laura recommended that I blog about it. I tried to get out of it by reminding her that her writing is more entertaining and how much of a better writer she is, but it didn't work. She thanked me for the compliment and asked me when she could expect my submission. :) So, here it goes...

As we started our construction project and got involved with demolition, I knew we were going to have a lot of scrap metal. We replaced our appliances, removed all the copper plumbing, removed a lot of ductwork, replaced copper wires, and all the aluminum siding on the house. My first idea was to turn the scrap into this...

But, I figured the fuel efficiency was poor. So instead, I decided to scrap it.

Before I get started on my process, I must give some credit to a website that I referenced frequently.

www.scrapmetaljunkie.com

It was a great resource throughout my scrapping experience and has a scrapping handbook that I used often.

So, here is the step by step process I used to turn our scrap trash into scrap treasure:

 

How to Scrap

Step #1: Get Yourself a Magnet

One of the most basic tools for a scraper is a magnet. With a magnet you can determine which metals are ferrous or non-ferrous.

In depth explanation: check out this blog post:
http://www.altonmaterials.com/the-differences-between-ferrous-and-non-ferrous-scrap-metal/

Short explanation:  Ferrous metals contain iron (examples: steel and cast iron) and are magnetic. Non-ferrous metals do not contain iron (examples: aluminum, copper, and brass) and are not magnetic.

Step #2: Strip Your Appliances

The next step involves removing all the "good" stuff from your appliances. If you skip this step you could be losing out on money. The scrapyard give the lowest price for appliances with mixed metals, therefore it is to your advantage to separate the valuable metals out. Start by removing any power cords. These will contain copper. For dishwashers and fridges, remove any stainless steel. Any non-ferrous metal is much more valuable than ferrous, so take them out when you see them.

 

Step #3: Separate Your Metals

This seems obvious, but it is a very crucial step. Separating your various metals helps save time when you arrive at the scrapyard. Plus, if you separate them before you arrive, you won't have disgruntled people glaring at you as they wait for you to get off the scale. In addition to separating your metals, it is also a good idea to put your non-ferrous metals in an easy-to-reach location on your truck or trailer. You'll see why later.

Separated Scrap

Ready to Roll

Step #4: Head to the Scrapyard

OmniSource is a buyer of scrap metal in town and most of the following info relates to this yard, but my guess is most scrapyards follow a similar protocol. I recommend going as early in the morning as possible to avoid a rush, especially if you go on a Saturday.

Step #5: Start with the Non-ferrous Metals

It doesn't really matter which area you start with, but I liked starting with these metals because these get you the most money! At OmniSource, there is a separate building with a small scale for non-ferrous materials.

After each metal is weighed, you present your ID and get your picture taken. Note, keep your ID handy. You present it at every  station along the way. From what I understand, there is a "black list" of scrap metal thieves and the process of asking for your ID and taking pictures reduces the crime. Once you are photographed, you are presented with a weight receipt with your payout amount.

Non-Ferrous Building

Step #6: Ferrous Metals

Now, you're ready for steel, appliances, cast iron, etc. In general, these ferrous materials are the bulk of your load. Because of the large quantities, this process involves a truck scale. First, pull up onto the truck scale, and enter a small building near the scale to go through the usual ID process. You tell the attendant what you are weighing and they input your "gross" weight (weight of your vehicle and metal scrap) into their system. You drive off the scale to the appropriate pile and unload your metal. Once you unload, it's back into line for the scale. Now the attendant will weigh your vehicle and get your "tare" weight (weight of your empty vehicle). Your "gross" weight minus your "tare" weight is your "net" weight. You are paid for your "net" weight. Now that your net weight is calculated, you take your weight receipt with your payout amount.

Truck Scale

Unloading Scrap (Picture features my scrapping buddy, Tim Blaum)

Crane at Ferrous Scrap Pile

If you have multiple scrap categories to be weighed on the truck scale, you must go through the scale and get weighed for every type material you bring to the scrapyard. This can often take some time if the line to the scale is long - another reason to go early.

Step #7: Get Paid!

This is the best step of all! Now, all your hard work finally gets rewarded. Take your weight receipts to the cashier's office, show your ID, get your picture taken, and get paid cash. Here is the breakdown of my scrapping work this summer to give you some perspective.

And when we saw that grand total, it made us happy, happy, happy!

Money in the bank... and then right back out again.  But, I guess, such is a life lived renovating.  

Exterior Upgrades

Last week, the outside of our house got a serious upgrade.

With the upgrading/moving/exclusion of windows, and the existence of some really old aluminum siding, we decided it would be best to re-side our house during this phase of the renovation process.  But the biggest burning question was, what color?

Next to our home, there is a big beautiful farmhouse.  It is white. Our house is white.  So the big white house seemed to dwarf our little white house.  In my mind, choosing a non-white color for our home, was a non-negotiable decision that had to be made.  Luckily, Michael agreed wholeheartedly. 

I love a white house as much as the next gal, but we had to make our house not look like the big farmhouse's dog house. 

At first we were feeling the color grey.  Grey is a very trendy color right now where home design is concerned. Some grey cedar shakes with white trim and a red door.  Yeah.  I liked it!

We thought that would look great on our home! And it probably would have! However, the first thing that got nixed were the cedar shakes.  Have you seen them?  They are popping up on all the newly constructed homes.  And boy are they expensive!! When we got our first quote, vinyl cedar shakes were 3X more expensive than the traditional vinyl lap board siding.  So our original dream to side the entire house in shakes was brought to an abrupt halt.  One compromise we considered was just using them as an accent - on the gables or the dormers.  But ultimately, it was an all or nothing scenario for us.  A completely "shaked-out" house could have been really charming for our little cape cod but we felt that using them just as an accent could look dated someday when the vinyl shakes are not the "in" thing to do anymore. 

So next we looked at the available colors for the lap board siding (excuse the picture below for being in shakes... they were the best color pictures I could find).  We considered Flagstone (grey), Blue Ridge (blue-grey), and a wild card - Blue Bayou (dark blue). 

Its funny, the longer we waited to choose the siding color and the more we talked about it, the bluer our siding choice got.  Ultimately we chose the wild card - Blue Bayou 

I still can't believe Michael was on board.  One thing that helped was visiting my family's lake house on lake Wawasee on the 4th of July.  If you have ever driven around Lake Wawasee or any large lake, you may have experienced the same whiplash I always experience driving around the lake looking at all the beautiful homes.  Well this year, we saw blue everywhere! I think there is something about being on the water that makes a blue home just feel so right. 

And ladies and gentlemen, its starting to feel right....

We even got the old wrought iron viney contraption off our porch! Woo Hoo! I can't wait to get it painted!

We also still need to get the planks off the roof. But the back is looking pretty fine, if you ask me...

 We love love love it.  I love the way the blue looks with our front door.  We also chose the wider trim around the windows!

Also, I love the way the siding looks against the red brick on the chimney. 

 

Now, you may have noticed something a little funny...

Remember how we mentioned that we have other plans for our current garage and plans for a future larger garage?  Well why re-side our current garage if it is going to just get partially knocked down anyway?! Along with that, when we decide to add on the new garage, we will re-roof it so we thought we would wait until that happens to re-side and change out the window on the south gable. 

We also plan to put on a big wrap around porch to the front of the house. So, to plan for that, we have left space on the front of the house unsided where we will build up the deck for the porch.  The picture below is has the same feel for what we are going for.  Coming possibly as soon as next spring!

 

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Our driveway got an exfoliation treatment! Meaning, we got a supply of recycled asphalt delivered at the end of last week to help smooth out our driveway.  It was extremely pot-hole-y before.  Michael called around to a couple of different places to get quotes and recommendations.  We expected to get limestone but found out that the recycled asphalt would be a great option for us.  It compacts really well and its about $100 cheaper for what we were quoted for limestone.  Score! Plus it's a great option for us since we would love to pour asphalt for our driveway in the future.  So we'll see!

So I think that our curb appeal factor has jumped about a thousand points despite the garage not following suit. I'll keep you guys updated if we ever start tackling our un-landscaped yard.  

We are certainly feeling the pressure of the move-out date coming our way soon! We'll see what happens...

Check out our updated to do list.  And check out the first batch of trim that got put up! Look good eh?

• Hang the new front door.................................................Done!
• New Siding on the house  ..............................................Done!
• Trim on the main floor.....................................................1st Round of Sanding and Priming Done!
• Paint all the trim .............................................................Yet to be done
• Install electrical outlets and lights .....................................Yet to be done
• Finally get rid of the smell from the basement ...................Done!
• Lay tile in the bathroom ...................................................In Process!
• Have the gravel for our drive delivered ............................Done!
• Get the kitchen countertop installed ..................................Done!
• Paint ............. .................................................................On Hold until trim is done
• Clean ducts and boot up our geothermal system ...............Yet to be done
• Get one last coat of sealer on the floor .............................Yet to be done
• Move in!! AHHHhhhh .....................................................We'll see!

I'd say that is some reasonably good progress.  Except we have to be out of our apartment in a little over two weeks.... so there's that. 

Gettin' the Stink Out of the Basement

Remember when the basement looked like this?

So stinkin' scary.  And when I say"stinkin,'"  I mean, seriously, it was stinkin' bad!  Some of you know, you smelled it.  For others of you who never got the pleasure... well let me tell you - It. was. foul. 

The renters that lived in the house for 10 years before we bought it had a number of dogs.  And these dogs had obviously peed in the basement many times.  You can even see the stains in the carpet in the picture above.  We thought maybe that when we ripped the carpet up (you can read more about that here), it would take care of the problem.  Nope! Not one bit, actually.  So all summer we have been avoiding the basement like the plague, but soon we will be moving in and we are going to need that space - for laundry and storage - and someday, for lounging. 

So what did we do? Well, with the help of Steve, we developed a game plan.

Step 1: Grind the concrete floor to remove the rest of the carpet pad that was still glued to the floor.  

 

So last weekend we invited our friend Cory over to help Michael grind the floors.

 We rented the floor grinder from Four Star Rental - the same place we rented the ditch witch. 

So while the girls were upstairs painting the ceilings, the boys were down stairs grinding down the concrete floors.

Here is how it looked mid-grinding.  

Then Michael swept the floor and even mopped it a little to ready the floor for the next step.

Step 2: Paint the floor with an odor-blocking sealer. 

 

 Now that a thin layer of the concrete floor was sanded off, along with the urine stained carpet pad that was still stuck to it, we were ready to paint it.  We used Kilz Odorless Primer.We chose oil-based instead of latex because Michael had read online that the oil-based is better for sealing out moisture in addition to sealing out the smells.

The Verdict:

It worked! So far, we have not been able to detect any of the old urine odors!!Woo hoo! 

And the floor looks so much better too! Bonus!

We are so so so encouraged! For about $200, we got this space back from the depths of smell hell.

Cost Breakdown:

Renting the Concrete Sander: $120
4 Gallions of Kilz Primer: $80
Not having a basement that smells like urine: Priceless




Now we can build the walls for the laundry room and eventually frame out the rest of the basement to finish out the space.  But that is down the road a bit.

This weekend will be a busy one for us - Sanding and priming the trim.  Guys, there is seriously so much trim.  So much.  Who was it again that volunteered to paint their own trim? Oh yeah.  That was me.  Idiot. (Not really, I am fairly confident we are saving a ton of money. Possibly even a butt-ton.)

The siding guys just finished siding the house today, so look for a photo update from us in the coming days! 


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What To Do When Your House Gets You Down.

Hiccups.

You know the worst thing about hiccups?  You never just get them once. 

Well we have had a case of the house renovation hiccups.

Hiccup #1

 We thought we would try to quickly paint the ceiling using our new paint sprayer.  We neglected to back roll after we sprayed because we thought it looked really good and had covered well.  But once the paint dried and with the light coming through the windows you could see some serious paint lines.  

 The Peanut Butter (aka- for curing the hiccups): We repainted the ceilings using rollers... and a little bit of elbow grease. 

Hiccup #2

Our kitchen knobs are the right color - an oil rubbed bronze.  But the hinges somehow got ordered in brushed nickle.
The Peanut Butter: Hinges are going to be changed as soon as the ORB hinges come in.

Hiccup #3

This little cabinet door in our kitchen holds spices and is located next to the stove.  It actually pulls out and is a drawer.  However, the knob shape and placement make it seems like it would open out like any other cabinet door.
The Peanut Butter: The door actually had a scratch on it from the manufacturer so we are going to replace the door face as well as change the knob to a bin pull to coordinate with the other drawers in the kitchen.  

Hiccup #4

After hanging new drywall and priming everything, we noticed the walls were really rough.  And there was a visible texture difference once the wall was painted.
The Peanut Butter: We have to do a "quick" light sanding of all the walls.  To do this, we are using medium sand paper on a pole sander.  But I actually don't use the pole because I like to be able to have more control and feel my way over the wall to find the rough spots. 

 Hiccup #5

Before our bathroom vanity was installed completely, this upper cabinet that sits between our sinks was just sitting in the corner of our living room.  I saw it and thought, "oh what a sad little outcast of a cabinet."  Then I realized, that "sad little outcast of a cabinet" was going to be installed in my bathroom! Hmmm.. that was not what I had envisioned.   What I was envisioning looked more like this.
The Peanut Butter: Michael and I took that picture home and played with a couple of different options of what to do with it.  In the end we decided that we would replace the upper part of the cabinet with one door. We also decided to have the door face incorporate the shake panel so that it tied in more with the lower part of our vanity, which the flat panels did not seem to be accomplishing.  Also, now that the cabinet is properly installed and has crown molding on the top, it doesn't look so much like an outcast!

Hiccup #6

Look at our door! We just installed that this last week! I simply a-door it! ;-) (Couldn't resist).  So where is the hiccup? Well I circled it to help highlight the issue.  Those are wires for our lights.  What you can't really tell from that angle, and what we didn't realize until after the door was installed and we held my lights up next to the door, was that the wires were about a foot too low.  Shoot! 
The Peanut Butter: Unfortunately, this would have been a much easier fix had we not just installed the door.  But Saint Steve strikes again and he fixed the problem for us, cutting through the house wrap and foam board that we had just installed to raise the wires up.   



So with these little issues, it is easy to feel discouraged at times.  Each issue individually is not too big of a deal.  But when you add them all up together, it can really get you down! Especially, if it adds up to more money and more work (see hiccups 1, 4, 5, & 6).

So what do you do when your reno morale is sinking fast? 

1. Write a Blog:  I love writing this blog! It helps me to organize my thoughts, gain perspective, and vent, when need be.  It also helps me to be on the look out for things that are funny and memories I don't want to forget - and it will help me to not forget them! And I love hearing your words of encouragement! It means so much to me that you are coming along with us on this journey.  I sometimes feel like we have a big cheering section rooting us on toward the win.
2. Take a break:  Most of the time, we don't mind the house work because it is exciting and we feel accomplished when we get a job done, but other times it feels never ending.  Our trip to North Carolina was a great reprieve from all the house work.  At the time of planning that trip, I had some hesitation about leaving, feeling like our money and time were being taken away from the house, would it be worth it? Yes!! It was worth it! 
3. Make the work fun:  Fun = people. We have been so blessed to have had so many offers to help with the house.  From family to friends, you have all been so generous, expressing your heart to come alongside of us and share in this journey.  We only wish we had more to do so we could have more people help us.  (Did I really just say that?) On Saturday we put this into practice.  Our friend Cory was helping Michael in the basement (more on that in another post) and our friend Beth came to visit from Lafayette and helped me re-paint the ceilings. 
   

   

   Having a good time... and painting too

4. Add perspective to your situation.  Perspective can be added in two ways.  One way, that we really enjoy, is to bring people over to see the house.  We love showing our friends and family what we have been working on.  Having fresh eyes and fresh reactions to the progress helps us re-experience our house and re-appreciate the journey we have been on.  Another way we keep our perspective is to remind ourselves that this is all temporary.  Temporary in a sense that there will come a day when we look back fondly on the time we had renovating, and temporary in the sense that we can't take it with us.  No matter how perfect my kitchen is, I can't take it with me.  No matter how beautifully comfortable our home is, we can't take it with us.  Our home will, hopefully, be functional in helping us care for and entertain our family and others.  This house, the stuff that is in it, it's just stuff.  And that is where I'd like to keep my perspective, that in my life, the important things are relationships: with God, my husband, and others. 

 We have had an exciting week! The whole back side of the house has been sided and the rest of it should be done this week! Will there be pictures next time I post?! I guess you'll just have to stop by and see!

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Movin' On Up

The weather has finally turned cooler allowing us to turn our attention toward fall-ish things. Apples, pumpkins, sweatshirts, falling leaves, scarves, football (if you are into that), lattes and the list goes on.  It is  one of my favorite times of year.   And, more than any other year, I am so glad it is here!... because, this fall, we get to move into our house!

Yes, we have an official moving date.  Mid-October here we come!!

So, ready or not, we'll be moving! There is still a lot to do but we feel like we are making progress! Here's what still needs to be done:

• Hang the new front door (this week) 
• New Siding on the house (starting this week!) 
• Trim on the main floor (starting this week!) 
• Paint all the trim (starting this week!) 
• Install electrical outlets and lights (starting this week!)
• Finally get rid of the smell from the basement (this weekend!) 
• Lay tile in the bathroom (starting this weekend!) 
• Have the gravel for our drive delivered (end of September) 
• Get the kitchen countertop installed (beginning of October) 
• Paint (ongoing) 
• Get our ducts cleaned and boot up our geothermal system (Mid October)
• Get one last coat of sealer on the floor (Mid October) 
• Move in!! AHHHhhhh (Mid October)  

Who knows if we'll get it all done or if we'll be barging in on my parents for a little while!... hoping we won't have to! Don't worry Mom!

So gearing up for the last leg of this reno race, it has been a busy couple of weeks. Luckily, I had some time off that I spent helping Steve preparing the outside of the house for siding and the inside of the house for trim. Which meant, windows! 

I was surprised how fairly simple it is to put in windows.  It really doesn't take very long, it just takes some fiddling. Fiddling with these things:

Shims.  That was my job! I was the shimmyer! Steve would prep the outside and I would help make sure the window was level and straight and secure.  We had a pretty good system going after installing 10 windows together.

The main level windows were a cinch.  Once we got the house wrap on, the window installation went pretty quickly.

 

It wasn't until we had to go up that the process got a lot more complicated and a lot scarier!


Because there are a total of 5 windows more than 10 feet off the ground, we had to enlist the help of scaffolding.  Dun Dun Dun....

 Now, I don't know if you have ever been up on scaffolding before, I hadn't, but really, it is not the most pleasurable experience.  I would not say I am afraid of heights but it did take a while for me to get used to the height and working on the wobbly surface. 

 In the picture above, we were working on getting the old siding off,  and so we were having to yank and pull on the siding to get it off.  It was a workout for my sense of balance, that was for sure.

In the picture below, we had finally gotten all the old siding off and had nailed down our foamboard and house wrap.  We were ready for the window... or as I called it, my escape route.  In that picture we were about 18 feet in the air. 

I was still not quite comfortable with the scaffolding yet, as you can tell from my halfhearted smile. It also didn't help that we were combatting some unhappy little creatures after knocking down their homes:

No stings.  Thank goodness.

Another challenging window to put in was the huge front window.  (Hello view!)

 We got a couple of extra helping hands in order to install this bad boy.  It was super heavy. 

From there, we moved up to the dormers on the roof.  Remember those almost 100 degree days we had last week?  Well this is what Steve and I were doing:

 Although we were over 20 feet in the air this time, I felt much less nervous.  I don't know if it was a gained comfort level with scaffolding or the fact that Steve built us a platform to work off of, but I was much more comfotable working up there.

Hand on the hip and everything.  Queen of scaffolding?

The window above the sliding glass door was the last one to go in.  And now our house looks like this:

 We are really looking forward to updating this picture once the new siding goes on! Stay tuned...

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Ya'll, we went to North Carolina!

 "Ya'll!"

That's how North Carolinians get your attention.  Ya'll, we went to North Carolina over the Labor Day weekend and it was fun! 

We have two beautiful friends named Brittney and Emily.  After Purdue they left for North Carolina to get their master's degrees in order to become occupational therapists.  And we couldn't wait to go and visit them...

They were just the most gracious of hostesses.  And we had a wonderful time! We even had a surprise at the airport when our friend Peter surprised us by joining us on this trip! Those sneeky characters thought they would just omit the fact that he would be there for the weekend too.  I don't think I stopped smiling all the way out of the airport!

The first night we were there we rented bikes and explored their campus. 

Now, this may come as a shock but.... I didn't remember how to ride a bike.  I know, I know.  "It's like knowing how to ride a bike, you never forget."  Well that's wrong.  You can forget how to ride a bike.  After probably more than 15 years of not riding a bike, I forgot.  But it came back quickly... kinda.  I only fell once.  And Emily said I fell very gracefully.  Thank you Emily, you are a very, very kind and gracious woman.

The next day we drove to the coastal town of Beaufort. 

 Loved the beautiful homes and this amazing Revolutionary and Civil War cemetery. 

While we were there we rented some kayaks

And we also enjoyed the water.

We also enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies in the water.  A chocolate chip cookie flotilla? Yes Please!

But the main reason we went there was in search of the wild ponies that lived on the island. 

And that's about as close as we got.  They were way out on the marshy area and we were too scared by the possibility of getting bitten by snakes to go out to where they were.

Oh well. The island and the scenery were beautiful nonetheless. 

The next day we spent some relaxing time around the girls' apartment.  

~Killing ginormous bugs.
~Making pretzels.
~Fixing appliances (Although it looks more like disassembling appliances, Michael and Peter switched the handles and hinges on the fridge for the girls to improve functionality) .
~Catching window frogs.

And that night we went on a walk in the rain at a local park.  We walked among the most amazing trees yet talked about how Maple and Sycamore and Apple Trees are some of our favorite trees in the world.  We played word association games.  We closed our eyes and named the things we could hear.

It was wonderful to be with old friends.
 ....and to be with each other.

Then we went back to their apartment again and ate some amazing pan pizza and played some favorite games from college: succotash and telephone pictionary.  I think that was my favorite day for the simplicity of it.

The final day was bittersweet.  We said goodbye to Peter at the airport and set off to see how Raleigh could entertain us before our later flight.

We visited a great farmer's market. 

I could turn down the lackluster apple cider but I could not turn down freshly squeezed lemonade.  Yummmmm......

We even had time to stop at a place called Defy Gravity.  An indoor trampoline "park"?

We had a great time jumpin' and bouncin' and laughin' and huffin' and puffin'.  Its a workout!

Then sadly we went to the airport.  And even more sadly our plane was delayed and we had to rebook a flight for 6 in the morning the next day.  But we finally made it home and eased back into work/life as usual.


House Update:
This weekend we finished painting the ceilings and bathroom.  And this week I will be helping Saint Steve finish up the house wrap and window installation so that the siding can go on... soon soon soon! YAY!

Countertops are being measured this week! The shower base was poured! Things are happening people! Things are happening.  

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