ouroldhouse’s blog

'ello, love!

May 17, 2008
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Yes, that's right. I love my laundry room. It's done, save some trimwork, but you can't see that in the pictures really, so I'm counting it as done.

It seems glossy, lovely laundry rooms are a trend. I guess like anything, where there's a surface/room that can be redone, designers and home improvement stores will give you ideas on how you can make it look fabulous. And I'll admit, I succumbed to that trend, although slowly. First wanting it drywalled, then wanting it painted, and finally convincing S. that he wouldn't have to finish the wall/ceiling corner if he put up crown molding. Because that's necessary.

Formerly, we had a bathroom/laundry room combination that was all one room. The washer was affixed so it permanently drained into the shower. The layout was cramped and awkward. Reconfiguring this room into two rooms required a full gut rehab, followed by S adding new drains for the washer and laundry tub, and extended the shower drain for more room, and new copper supply lines to everything. And then frame it out, drywall, prime, paint, trim, and finally install the beast of a washer/dryer set! Whew!

My choice of washer/dryer was very limited by the size of the space, and I could choose between the frigidaire set or the duet sport. I chose the duet sport simply because I got it for a song during black friday. It seems to handle our laundry just fine - I love that it knows how to put the right amount of water in by itself. The dryer is the coolest, because it can really sense the clothes and doesn't waste energy over-drying them. I also wanted to use this opportunity to get some natural laundry detergent, and so far, I haven't been disappointed by Charlie's Soap. The clothes (I've never used fabric softener and often line dry) DO come out softer than they did with Tide, and they smell, simply clean.

I had issue with the laundry tub. I admit, I wanted something nice, but still deep enough and not that nice where I didn't feel ashamed pouring Bad Things down a lovely sink. I decided that my beef was with the faucets that came with laundry tubs, they seemed so useless and shrimpy. To my surprise, Lowes made a laundry tub with a pull out faucet, so that answered all my problems.

And last, on a trip to Ikea, I got a cabinet to provide much needed over-the-sink storage, as well as a slab of laminate to pop on the sink as a work surface.

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I'm really happy with the colors, even if it's not so much period bungalow and more of a pottery-barn kind of feel. Not shabby for buying tiles from Tile Outlet and buying a can of oops paint from HD. I'm very particular about grout and tile, and feel that I really figured it out this time around.

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China recap

May 4, 2008
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Now I write and all these things pop into my head, trying to place where we saw odds and ends and did things I didn’t write about, scenes that haunt me both good and bad. I’m overwhelmed trying to remember it all.

I am truly glad we experienced China in this manner. It was absolutely not a vacation – getting ourselves around and fed was more taxing physically and mentally than either of our jobs, and we walked for miles and miles each day. Despite us both being seasoned travelers; it’s the first time I felt that I was in a foreign country.

And of course there are all the socio / economical / political / environmental discussions that we had. It seems that truly getting out and experiencing a country raised more questions than ever, and for the most part, seems we’ll never get an unbiased answer to. It really, really, makes you think. About every aspect of your life.

But, for what it’s worth, it was a life experience, and it gave us both a huge sense of accomplishment and somehow while we’ve checked China off our list, it leaves us wanting more.

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Tuesday – got to Ohare to find out there was a delay with our plane and got a free lunch and upgrade to ‘premium economy’ courtesy of United. The flight was long, but both of us slept a decent amount, and it was a good flight.

We got to BJ later than expected, but quickly got our luggage and tried to get sorted out. Our first adventure was making the trek into the city at 7 at night. My instructions said ‘take the brown line (there is no brown line) to Dongzhiemen and transfer to purple line 5 and get off at dongsi (but then what?).’ Little did I know that these WERE decent directions for China, but at the time, in the dark, with no map, it was not going to cut it. So we got off the airport transfer bus at what seemed like a taxi rest stop – Seb found an expat who spoke Dutch, English, and Mandarin, and took pity on our plight of not knowing where the heck we were and convinced a taxi to take us to our hotel.

Thursday

We set out to walk to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen square where I made our first mistake – peering down an alley to see a fabulous morning market. Ended up going considerably out of our way but did get to see some interesting sights. After getting directions from a friendly guide trying to sell us a tour ;) we found our way to the north side of the forbidden city, but decided to take a look at the park across the street first.

In it, we found a host of temples, and Chinese doing their morning exercises. It was one of those stumbleupon things that make you truly feel you’re observing the culture.

We made our way through the Forbidden City, seeing some incredibly old relics and feeling the luxury of what that was for its time. Tiananmen Square didn’t do much for me. There is of course the portrait of Mao which everyone has to emulate.

It was after this that we found our map was out of scale. Needing to get to BJ west train station, we started walking west. And walking… and walking. A couple miles into it, we decided to jump on the Metro, which we found sped things up considerably. The train station was probably one of the most overwhelming places I’d ever been – busy, crowded, and no English! Fortunately because of www.seat61.com

I was able to have the exact train letter/number we wanted.

We ate near our hotel, both exhausted and overwhelmed with our day. I remember it was insanely cheap, well under $10 USD for some lamb and noodles.

Friday

Braced for adventure, we wanted to go to Simatai Great Wall. The ‘Rough Guide to China’ states that there are buses directly to the wall (great!) but it turns out we weren’t in season for them. So we tried to get a state-ran bus to Maiun. That was fun. Basically, wandering around the bus stop, saying Maiun, Maiun, Maiun to anyone who would listen to us, having a bus driver yell at us, having a bus ticket girl point at this bus and basically shove us on.

An hour or so later, we were shoved out in the town of Maiun. It’s a beautiful place – it seems like it’s the Naperville of Beijing. There’s a park filled with ping pong tables. So anyway, literally shoved off the bus – and into some sort of taxi queue. The guy in his little van knew we were going to Simatai – perfect! The ‘Rough Guide to China’ said not to pay more than Y20/each. So when he offered Y300, and Seb countered with Y60, he was greatly amused. Seb ended up settling on him with Y250. In retrospect, we realized that this guy takes only us there, and waits for us to be done, then drops us off at the bus depot to go back to BJ. So a good deal.

But first he had to run an errand. He drove through town, to this open air meat market – literally piles of meat just sitting out on tables. He gets about 4 pounds of beef, and excitedly gets back in the car and shakes it at us with a grin. We were afraid he bought it for us, but it turns out that he was just darned happy to be able to buy a big ol beef to grill.

Simatai was really breathtaking. You see it snaking along, and it’s just amazing. We were there on an incredible day – great temperature and visibility. Also, being early in the season, we didn’t meet with too many tourists, so it felt like we were walking it ourselves. It was an arduous climb and Seb ended up tearing up his knee. But I have to say the views were well worth it. We walked as far as it could go before the wall crumbled in disrepair.

We got back to BJ earlier than expected – if you can understand it, the state-owned bus system is pretty efficient, and travels fairly frequently.

Not being able to afford Peking Duck in the US, we headed off to the legendary Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant, as featured on ‘No Reservations’. And of course another walking adventure. We walked for quite awhile, getting some advice at a nearby hostel – ended up heading north on the wrong street, and decided to turn around. As always, you’re pestered by those pedicabs. Well we met one with Li Qun on his sign, I bartered him for Y10, and he set off into the hutong with a promise to pick us up an hour later.

Seb says Li Qun was delicious, so delicious that he ODed on duck and ended up sick awhile later. I enjoyed a big bowl of noodles, but my one bite of duck with accoutrements was pretty good. We agree that part of the legend of Li Qun is it’s location – out of the way, it feels like you’re going somewhere you shouldn’t. The building is old and in disrepair, and yes there are stacks of duck crackling on a fruitwood fire.

Saturday – we headed south to the Temple of Heaven and again I found walking through the park more enthralling than the attraction itself. I admit, our Eurocentric history books show their bias because unless you’re a Sinophile, it’s kind of hard to give everything the appreciation it deserves.

While we were on the south end of town, we head off for Payuan weekend market and again ended up walking considerably further than we really should have. Also, it seemed to end fairly early and so we really just enjoyed a hearty walk.

Headed back to our hotel where we ate at a Korean BBQ place. It was very, very good, although our server was not amused by my lack of chopstick skills and therefore insisted on cooking everything for us. It was very, very good. If you go to BJ, I insist that you eat there.

The train to Xian was wonderful. Initially, we were going to get beds in a shared 6-sleeper, but the train was full so we had to spring for a private car ($US 250). It was heavenly and probably the best nights’ sleep that we got on the trip.

Sunday we woke up in Xian and got checked into the City Hotel sooner than expected. Since we had nearly a full day, we decided to head off to the Terracotta Warriors –understanding the history of the site makes it truly amazing. It is one of those things you have to see, and was our primary purpose in going to Xian.

Having again taken the city bus, we [purposely] stopped off before we reached the city center. Hard to explain, but we initially saw these shoe shops lining the street. Following our eyes, we went into this wholesale warehouse sort of place that was pretty incredible - selling all those goodies that come at bargain basement prices in China. It turns out that Xian is a major consolidation center, and there are all kinds of buildings like this. Again, something you don’t find in the guidebook or on a tour, but incredibly interesting.

We ate at a sushi restaurant (complete with conveyor belt) and it was very good. We met a nice Dutch guy who was traveling by himself and I think the three of us greatly enjoyed some outside English conversation. We walked through the famed ‘muslim quarter’ of Xian, which was interesting once you started walking where the people weren’t.

Monday we went to HuaShan. Based on this review

, it seemed like one of those crazy things you can only do when you’re, er, 20-ish. Since the tourist bus wasn’t running, we got on a private bus that was running in lieu of the tourist bus. It was very confusing. We stopped at a canteen, and were trying to get to the mountain on our own. Then the bus left and we realized we had no clue where we were going. So we got a cab to take us a few blocks to the mountain entrance. Where you had to pay for the ticket to the mountain. And the ticket for a bus to take you up to the entrance. And unfortunately in the interests of time and not wanting Seb to undergo open-knee surgery overseas, we added the ticket of the cablecar going up.

Was it beautiful? Yes, once you got past the view of the throngs of tourists and the commercialism of it all. Was it a quiet, Chinese mountain-climbing experience? No. Is it dangerous? Geographically, no. I would not climb it in the winter however, and any other time of year, beware of pushy tourists. Those are probably the most dangerous. I was using chained ladder when a fellow traveler used the handle of my backpack as leverage.

On the bus back to the town, we met a really nice guy – we were talking and he was going to go to lunch with us when the bus stopped. We heard shouting and maybe a mumble of ‘Xian’ and asked if we needed to get off. He said that if we wanted to go to Xian, we should go. So thank you kind stranger!

We were rewarded when we got back to Xian because we found – Islamic Chinese food. Oh my goodness, it was good. I don’t know what made it any different than other Chinese food, except to say the dishes weren’t really on any other menus that we saw. Beef with peanuts and a really delicious lamb stew with crumbled biscuit. The place was packed with locals and one Anglo, who coincidentally was clutching the same guidebook I was.

Tuesday – we had this day ‘off’ and ended up searching for an antique market on the east side of the city wall. The wall contains a lovely park. Seb was invited to get his behind whooped in a round of badminton, and I enjoyed the amusing site of little ones wearing their kaidangku as they hung out with their grandparents. Somehow we ended up walking a considerable distance through the antique market as well as a neighborhood.

Wednesday – we took the airport shuttle to Chengdu. Oh Chengdu. The flight was fine. We were amused when they stopped doing any announcements in English as we were the only ones on the plane, and clearly could manage ourselves.

Our whole reason to go to Chengdu was to head out to Taoping for a day or two, which is an ancient Tibetan village about 4 hours away. It’s nestled in the mountains, steeped in history, and as close to Lhasa as we were willing to get, given the politics while we were there. Being one step ahead of the transportation system, the only thing we wanted to do that day was secure our bus tickets to either the town of Maerkang, to get off partway, or taking a bus to Wenchuan and bargain for a bus the rest of the way. Because I have great Google-Fu, I knew what bus station we needed to go to. This was not an easy feat because there are no less than 10 bus depots in Chengdu.

Seb got us to Chadanazi on the bus - Chengdu has an advanced bus system, and it is actually fairly sensible, and the worst that happens is you’re out 33 US cents if you go to far or the wrong way. Anyway, yay, we’re at the bus station, and we stride up to the ticket counter and say Maerkang, Maerkang, Maerkang – after all it worked in Beijing. The girl pointed to the information desk and we went over there to be met with a horrified “NO!” No, no, no. She took our guidebook and pointed at all the places that were a ‘No’, which seemed to be most of them. We were so confused, so we strided back to the ticket desk, where two frustrated employees were shuffling through their cellphone and finally showed us this on the screen:

Landslide

Then everything became clear! We were stuck in Chengdu and needed to come up with a backup plan. At the time we were very frustrated that our vacation plans were foiled. But coming home to the English internet, I realize that the landslide was indeed a serious situation in Wenchuan, considering it happened almost a month before we got there (and was not cleared), cost nearly $US 700k, and killed several people.

Thursday – we wanted to make the best of our time in Chengdu, so we set out for the Panda Reserve in town. We were pretty impressed with the habitat they had, if no pandas, it was a beautiful park. We got to the pandas (taking the city bus proved to be easy and cheap) at about 11 before they fell into their sleepy stupor. They were adorable and for a fee (which I’m still trying to find out is tax deductible ;) we could hold a red panda. So we did. It was like holding a cat who was very interested in eating his food.

There were many school groups there who reveled in saying ‘HELLLOOO!’ and “HOW ARE YOU!” and we got a chance to get out our phrasebook to test out “what’s your name” and the children appraised the other phrases that were printed. Their enthusiasm was contagious.

That afternoon, we set out to find the area where they are recreating old Chengdu. Somehow we managed to get in a construction site (this is not the first time we got behind a barrier) and I have to say, when the area is finished, it will be very beautiful. I assume it will be mixed residential/commercial space, so it is worth checking out if you go.

Friday – we set out for Huanglongxi, which is the town where they filmed ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.’ Again, I was impressed with Seb’s ability to get us a bus to where we needed to go. We enjoyed the drive to the town because there were all sorts of amusing things to see along the way. The town, like anything is kind of touristy, but we found some quiet spots as well as some really beautiful architecture. We sat down by the river at a restaurant, and I poked at whatever cost Y10. By dumb luck, it was the characters for Chamomile Tea – which was what I wanted.

We tried to find another Muslim restaurant mentioned in the book, attached to the mosque, but somehow, could not find the mosque, only a pile of rubble, and as a back up plan tried to find another duck place (we were afraid of Sichuan cooking) but didn’t get served. So, we were feeling incredibly defeated, and wound up at Pizza Hut for our most expensive dinner yet – Y200 for two large pizzas, salad bar, and drinks. We really tried, however, the food boosted our morale considerably.

That night we found out that there is another recreation of old Chengdu, just steps from our hotel at Wen Shu Fang – the temple is pretty and the area seems to have a lot to offer. Unfortunately we found it too late, but again, worth wandering around in.

Saturday we headed back to Beijing via flight which was easy enough. This time, being more aware of our budget and sanity, we took a taxi into our hotel. We had the Chinese directions as to where it was, but the driver had no clue. Within a matter of minutes, we had pinpointed our address on a map and were giving high fives at FINALLY being able to beat the system that had been working against us for so long.

Despite having an awkward location, our hotel

really capped off our stay. It was an 800 year old traditional courtyard style home and the staff was incredibly helpful. It was a very unique experience.

I wanted to explore the Qianmen area just south of Tiananmen Square. I knew there were little old shops amongst the maze of streets. You know, like the pickle shop and the silk factory, etc… Unfortunately the way that I took us we ended up finding a much different selection of stores. But it was worth the laugh.

We went to the Bell Tower/Drum tower area to find another Islamic restaurant, and not surprisingly, it was also gone. (Okay, okay, it’s WELL worth it to buy an up-to-date version of your guidebook. A lot has changed since 2003) But we luckily found something nearby that seemed to fit that description and ate really well for $11 USD.

Sunday was our last day in Beijing, and we had a really lovely time finding our way to the drum tower to see the drums despite it pouring rain. I tried to go see Mao, but the whole area was blocked off, presumably because they didn’t want rain to get in the maosoleum. (Yes, we made lots of mao jokes, and panda jokes, and things like calling Chengdu Cheng-don’t)

And for our last meal in CN, we went back to that BBQ place – it was addictive you see, and Seb was determined to cook his own food. But they gave us the same waitress, who insisted on serving us, and I ordered way too many dishes, and we had a great time, and tipped her heartily for serving us twice.

And that capped off our trip. We won’t discuss the flight home, as it was absolutely horrific – a nightmare and United customer service is already well aware.

Bathroom - 1 down, 1 to go

Mar 23, 2008
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Awhile back, I got a bit frustrated with the lack of progress downstairs on the electric, and as a result, there was no progress on the bathroom down there either. It all started innocently enough, with a little pull of a loose end of wallpaper.

Oddly enough, the wallpaper was super easy to remove - pull off the paper, and then give the underlaying glue paper a good spraying with water, and scrape it off. But momma was right - "there's a reason those folks put up wallpaper." So the patching and sanding began. There were a lot of gouges and holes and cracks, and crazy waves in the plaster. 2 coats of Kilz, and 2 coats of exterior white (which I've grown to really like exterior paint as an interior paint), I was done. Or so I thought.

Because now that the walls were immaculate, the ceiling was yellowed, cracked, and stained. So I set off to patch and paint the ceiling - and today, it is finally finished.

Remember the before?

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Here's during - you can see the repair from when they took out whatever larger original window was there. There's also a 'halo' look around the mirror - they took out the original recessed mirror, and put this fab new one in. All of the other patches you see, I had to do - the corners especially were a crumbly mess.

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And now the after...

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I think it makes a huge difference. One the ceilings seem insanely high, and two, even though this woman kept her house clean, it just feels cleaner now. And a gray towel?! Yes, I know, it doesn't 'go', but feel free to tell me what color towel you'd be using in that spot.

Here's a shot of the other side. The tile is still a speckled yellow eyesore, but with all the white, at least you realize it's not our choice it's there.

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Kitchen Island

Jan 20, 2008
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I'm not known to be the neatest cook, but things were made much worse by our very limited counter space in the kitchen. So we purchased and assembled this fantastic island to help out with storage. I'm quite happy with how the colors look - it's very bright and looks nice despite the flooring and wall tile. I think the window fittings are coming down entirely.

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It's Electric!

Jan 3, 2008
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Well I found the catch. :) Our old house needs a service upgrade which we knew, but didn't quite know what that entailed until we started getting bids today.

Contractor 1:

$2500 for 100 amps service in (or $3500 for 200a), $300/circuit that needs to be rewired

#2:

$2995 for 200 amps service, does not want to move box where we want to, but can move for $880, will keep current overhead

#3:

$1995 for 200 amps service (wha?), moving box over freezer okay, wants to change overhead

We're getting frustrated at the pieces of electrical code people want to apply - why does one guy not notice that the line in is too close to the windows, and the other needs it to spike up in the back? And same with the box location. That's not even touching the disparity of costs between the contractors.

Update 1/8 Pending our certification from the Chicago Bungalow Association, the second contractor will give us a reduced rate on the 200 amp service, so it will be $2495 + 800, and he is going to move it in the 'workout room' side of the basement.

A month already!

Dec 27, 2007
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I need to update this a bit more often. We actually haven't been up to our elbows in renovations, but a constant stream of guests (we have a guest room now!) has kept our tools away for the moment.

But here is the first thing we did. LR/DR floors before:

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And after 16 hours (really) of sanding and another 4 of lacquering:

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That little plank in there is the filler from when they took the wall out from between the LR and DR, so it's a cavernous space instead of a cozy bungalow. Something is getting put back in...

And we got an awesome steal on a couch and chair for the LR, along with some window treatments. The rug is just a bit too small (you think?) but I'll be patient =)

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And we're in - let the renovation begin

Nov 27, 2007
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We closed sucessfully on the sale of our old house (after a nice long cry that we were actually leaving) and were welcomed into our Chicago Bungalow. I love it. I really really love it. There's something so special to me about living here, and it's truly the house I always wanted.

We find out everyday that the location is more and more ideal. It's great for us both to get to/from work, close to shopping, walk to groceries, close to the expressway. And our neighbors are really amazing - they're all so friendly and, well, neighborly!

We are finding more old house pains this time around, but so far nothing has been unbearable. Our issues are:

- plumbing - we are unable to turn off the main valve to the house, as well as the output valve to the hot water heater

- electric - our fuse box is woefully small, and we've got some overloaded fuses and have blown a few

- utility consumption - I'm carefully watching our gas meter to see what is using so much gas. Any bets that it's the near 40-year old water heater? It's not even cold yet, and we're going through over 3 units/day/average, which is quite a bit higher. Electric is higher than I would think too - and although we have two floors, the only difference is lighting, really, so I'm on the hunt for efficiencies.

Everyone is asking - what's your first project??? We thought it was the combo laundry/bathroom in the basement, but it turned out to be the hardwood floors. We just couldn't resist peeling back the old carpet to see what was under. After work, we took them all out and were met with some interesting stain patterns on the 80 year oak. So after a couple of days shuffling behind a drum sander, we've got everything up and tomorrow we lacquer.

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An unexpected compliment

Nov 1, 2007
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So details aside, we had someone in our current old house do a little spraying for some invisible beetles. He was packing up to leave, after reviewing the contract and said:

Hey - by the way. Nice door you have here. Is it original?

... :grinning: No, no, we put that in a year ago.

Wow, it looks great. Looks original.

... :blush: Well, we tried. I'm a bit of an old house nut.

I just can't believe you can buy them somewhere - really?

... oh it wasn't that hard to find.

Really, it was quite an insightful compliment. Don't get me wrong, the general praise of 'oh, it looks so nice' is always appreciated, but for me, I get more excited about - 'huh, a bridge faucet' or 'wow, the stain and woodwork match the originals'

I was standing in the LR the other day, just gazing off, and I realized that I didn't even see the door. That it was just there, like it probably was 80 years ago, and got a little shiver. Golly I love restoration. :)

Offer accepted! Closing 11/16 on our New Old House

Oct 8, 2007
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Click on the pics for a bigger view

Front view of the house. The awning needs to go, and hopefully we'll get registered so we can get a grant to replace the front window (should be 3 individual ones in the middle, but it's a big picture window).

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Crazy entry hall. Mirror and sconce have got to go, but I'm oddly drawn to the wallpaper. Nice deep coatcloset.

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Cavernous living room / DR combo - colonades and/or wall were removed. It is very hard to 'see' what this room is supposed to look like. Oh, and if you'd like the draperies, they're my gift to you!

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A very, very unfitted kitchen, but I do think with a slim portable dishwasher, an island with storage, a pot rack and a microhood I would be able to function for a few years until we can do some serious renovations.

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Needs work and storage, everywhere but the kitchen sink

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Small walk-in pantry

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Back out of the kitchen, there's a small hallway that leads to the second bedroom. I am curious about the woodwork. Most bungalows I have seen have the deep dark woodwork. Most bungalows have also been red brick, not yellow. So either the wood was lightened and refinished in the 50/60s or this is original and it was meant to complement the exterior. Either way, it's a good thing I have a gallon of super-pigmented mahogany stain.

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Bedroom has a very cool attached office (sorry for picture quality) with windows all over. Since my hoosier doesn't fit in the kitchen, it may be my desk.

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Master Bedroom

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Seb had previewd before me and said 'Yeah, at some point you may want to redo the bathroom'... Uhhhh... Understatement of the year, honey.

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But thankfully I don't have to spend money on locksets and doorknobs (whew!) They latch very nicely too. And this lady had crazy plastic doorknob covers so that the crystal didn't get scratched.

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View of balcony off of kitchen - it's a decent sized yard and the garage is brand new.

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Back of house (note top of the line 1950s stainless steel storm doors and windows) Also, upon closer inspection that office add on looks a little slouchy.

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From the backyard walk down the stairs to the walk out basement with summer kitchen (where apparently I'll actually do cooking. The upstairs kitchen is well suited for making tea.

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Turning around from the kitchen we have a big open, finished basement. On the lefthand side, behind the paneling is a laundry/bathroom combo (how's that for efficiency!) a little workroom/hallway, and a cellar under the front steps