And now, some thoughts from the other half...

Nik here.

This blog is so appropriately titled I can't stand it. I mean, we live on Red River Rd., and Red River just so happens to be in the title!

But enough shenanigans, time to get to business:

The other night I stared at the large pile of foreign goods shaped as plumbing parts we had acquired around the time of this post and proceeded to snip, solder and secure the various pieces together in the hopes that they would deliver clean water to our sinks, toilets, tub and shower; something our current super-old galvanized system has a bit of trouble doing currently.


After far-less head-scratching and bloody knuckles than I was expecting to endure, we now have the new tubing and plumbing manifold (think of an electrical panel, but for water) in place and can hook up the fixtures when the time comes. The PEX tubing we used is pretty neat, as it runs just like an electrical wire, unbroken, from the basement to each fixture, with blue for cold and red for hot. Here's some pics:

from the manifold in the basement...

...up through the powder room and to the fixtures therein and above...

...and up to the main bathroom. This is the shower and what lies beneath the tile. There is a showerhead at the top and four adjustable body sprayers (the little brass things you see on the sides). Hopefully soon we'll fire this up and blast away the filth we've been living in. Ok, it's not that bad, but the dust and dirt can get discouraging, especially for Dana who's trying to keep the place liveable for us.

Here's how some of the bedrooms are coming along (actually, ours is further along, but these pics show some of the work involved:

our bedroom

Chip's room (Thanks to Chris and Dave for throwing up a few sheets while yelling at each other the whole time, a great source of laughter for me)

Part TWO: Take it outside...

So, as things move along inside, I thought it might be good to show you what's going on exterior-wise at the abode. Our yard is a disaster, no two-ways around it. A garbage bin (on it's 6th fill-up), scrap aluminum, random doors and old windows, lumber and supplies, and that previously-posted bathtub all currently reside in plain view for the whole 'hood to see.

We got a call from the hot-tub shop where our people-soaker sits in storage, saying that we need to have it re-delivered or they'll start charging us $25/week to store it. Talk about customer care. Anyways, this forced us to shift priorities a bit and get the ground ready for the tub. Dana, yes, my 8 1/2 weeks to go pregnant wife Dana, dug the 18" deep X 20' long trench for the big hookup cable, and she and my good bud Steve dug the square in which I placed the pad just a couple days ago.

Want to build a pad/patio? Here's the steps:

Lay out some landscape fabric (black material, stops plant growth and holds sand/gravel in place) and then put gravel on top. The gravel is for drainage and to protect against frost heaving, and also is handy for leveling and adjusting the blocks:

Lay out the blocks (these were sitting around our yard in one place or another, and some are from where the deck will one day sit, so I stole them from there for a cost of $0, which was nice), levelling each one and all rows/columns:

Once finished laying the blocks, pour some play sand on top and sweep it into all the gaps. It packs pretty much instantly and firms up the rocks so that they're pretty much solid right away. I also watered the whole thing down and added more sand, just to make sure it was compacted.

Note the nice little pattern I threw into the stones...that will never be seen again once the hot tub is put in place. Oh well, I like knowing what's going on underneath things, so in my mind I am content. I had some extra blocks (actually, I have lots of extra blocks), so I put a little connecting path in. Good for bare feet in the middle of winter.
And for all of you who aren't able to drive by and gawk and the eyesore that is currently our backyard (EVERY car slows and gawks, it's a bit unnerving, but hopefully we'll clean it up soon), here it is in all its glory:

The white stuff is housewrap, and it covers what was the two-storey sunporch that will soon house a bathroom upstairs, and powder-room/mudroom/laundry below. I realize there's a big tree blocking our whole house, but it flowers really nicely in spring and we were somewhat shocked to find little peaches underneath it a few weeks ago; who would've guessed.