The Reason To Refinish

The flooring is almost complete, and I found out today that our realtor is having an open house for all the other realtors next Tuesday. So, that means another weekend over at the house getting the baseboards painted, the yard in tiptop shape, and general detail cleaning. These series of photos are pre-, mid-, and post- pictures taken from just outside the front door.

  The List: 

• 1 new small curtain in master bathroom
• Paint outside trim around doors that were installed a year ago.
• Make the under the sink in the main bathroom more attractive (hide water damage).
• Clean under carport
• Cut two small trees down in backyard.
• Repaint quarter round in boys old bedrooms. 
• Clean along back fence line.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Flooring Update

The refinishing of the hardwood floors are under way, and they are gonna look good! Sweetheart and I have been joking that we are gonna move back into the old house because it is looking really good. We, meaning I, need to be more active on projects around our current house. It seems a shame that all the stuff we wanted to do to the old house is finally getting done right before we sell it. Here's a few pics of the sanded floor, the dark spots in the first picture are from the previous owner's dog. It really lightened up more than I thought it would....

Living Room

The only small spot with any damage in the whole house. It looks like it'll sand down nicely.

  The List: 

• 1 new small curtain in master bathroom
• Paint outside trim around doors that were installed a year ago.
• Restore hardwoods. Under contract!!!
• Make the under the sink in the main bathroom more attractive (hide water damage).
• Clean under carport
• Cut two small trees down in backyard.
• Repaint quarter round in boys old bedrooms. 
• Clean along back fence line.

This weekend, weather permitting, I'll finish up a good portion of this list. We've had about six people view the property, and one is supposed to be coming back to measure to see if her furniture will fit. I'm hoping [pretty sure] that the restoration of the hardwoods will be the deciding factor in someone purchasing our old house.

Keep Right on Prepping - K

Moss

The moss on the roof is gone, but not by spraying a 10% bleach/water solution on it. Sweetheart and I got on the roof, and used a flat balded shovel to scrape off the moss. I then sprayed it with water, and scrubbed it with a brush, then repeat rinsed. The following morning, I got over there early and raked and bagged 99% of the moss. The roof looks much better...

You can kind of see the process, even though they are different parts of the roof. The final step was applying a heavy coat of the bleach water solution. The solution upsets the pH  balance of the moss and kills it...supposedly.

The weekend came and went without a single buyer looking at the house, which has me a bit concerned. I'd rather be done with the house, and square away some debts, replenish the saving, and pay for a new vehicle. Anyway, the list.... 

  The List:

• Spray 10% bleach solution on roof moss to kill it. (2nd of 3 applications) or brush and hose off
• 1 new small curtain in master bathroom
• Paint outside trim around doors that were installed a year ago.
• Restore hardwoods. Under contract!!!
• Make the under the sink in the main bathroom more attractive (hide water damage).
• Clean under carport
• Cut two small trees down in backyard.
• Repaint quarter round in boys old bedrooms. 
• Clean along back fence line.

Keep Right on Prepping - K

The House is on the Market

The sign went in front of the house yesterday, but we had a potential buyer do a walk through on Monday. The feedback from the buyer was that the stairwell landing was too low since we is very tall.  The problems that she saw was the moss on the roof, and a branches overhanging the roof. I did look at the trees, and there are a few dead branches that can be removed. I'll just treat each walk through like job searches. I'll find out what wasn't liked and make corrections as we go along. It looks like this weekend I'll be getting well acquainted with the roof at the rent house.

I was really hoping to be done with the house, but if a few more hours or tens of hours will make the house sale, then I'll be doing whatever it takes to get rid of two mortgages, two electric bills, two water bills, and two gas bills. The good news is that our budget is only in the negative by about 100 dollars each month, but that can be fixed by tightening the belt and watching the pennies.

 The List:

• Spray 10% bleach solution on roof moss to kill it. (2nd of 3 applications) or brush and hose off
• 1 new blind small curtain in master bathroom
• Paint outside trim around doors that were installed a year ago.
• Restore hardwoods. Under contract!!!
• Replace dryer vent under house. (trenched)
• Make the under the sink in the main bathroom more attractive (hide water damage).
• Clean under carport
• Quarter round along some walls to cover hardwood flooring gaps. ( LR, hallway, master bedroom )
• Clear house of items.
• Cut two small trees down in backyard.
• Repaint quarter round in boys old bedrooms. 
• Detail room: Kitchen
• Detail room: Bathrooms
• Detail room: downstairs
• Detail room:  Bedrooms
• Added: remove dead branches over roof.
• Added: Clean along back fence line

Is everyone watching the Chinese stock market, and the Greek tragedy unfold? Might be a few ripples affecting the USA, which the main stream media is ignoring altogether.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Long Term Storage Of Honey

There are a few food stuff things that will last a long time and honey is one of them. I've never seen this addressed, so I thought I would speak from my experience. Honey WILL last a very long time, but it will crystallize. The best method to bring the honey back to it's original form is a hot water bath. Most plastics are not designed to withstand the heat, and melt. Microwaving isn't any better and can create hotspots in the honey. (link to honey facts)

Transfer your honey to clean and dry mason jars for your long term storage if they come in plastic containers. It'll save you some grief in a few years. The two pictures below are from our personal honey stores that we've had for 4 years. We tried a hot water bath and a microwave, but the melting point of the plastic jug is just below the boiling point of water. Nothing teaches like experience.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Just the list

I'm updating the list then crashing....

The List:

• Spray 10% bleach solution on roof moss to kill it. (2nd of 3 applications)
• 2 new kitchen blinds
• 1 new blind small curtain in master bathroom
• Paint outside trim around doors that were installed a year ago.
• Restore hardwoods. Under contract!!!
• Replace dryer vent under house. (trenched)
• Install quarter round on stairs painted quarter round
• Make the under the sink in the main bathroom more attractive (hide water damage).
• Clean under carport
• Quarter round along some walls to cover hardwood flooring gaps. ( LR, hallway, master bedroom )
• Clear house of items.
• Cut two small trees down in backyard.
• Repaint quarter round in boys old bedrooms. 
• Detail room: Kitchen
• Detail room: Bathrooms
• Detail room: downstairs
• Detail room: Living Room
• Detail room:  Bedrooms

Keep Right On Prepping - K