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

Breaking News

The Doctor woke up around 5:30 a.m., which is unusual, while Sweetheart was out with her friends at boot camp. I usually keep my phone in the living room and I was surprised to hear it ringing at 6:00. Sweetheart was calling to say that she coasted to a stop along the freeway. The vital car needs were a new alternator, terminal post, and brakes. There were half a dozen other needs, such as 2 new back tires, that also needed to be replaced/repaired, so we just bit the bullet and went ahead and had it all done.

Friday night the cables on the garage door, that attach to the drums, both snapped, and we have a call out to the garage door people to have it fixed. The future profit from the rent house is slowly being devoured....

This is the only real maintenance that the car has required for the last five years, except for a new battery. I really shouldn't be complaining since it got me through school without any issues. On the bright side, it couldn't have happened at a better time, since I've got my Dad's truck and the garage will have all of the repairs done by Wednesday at the latest.

Speaking of money troubles, Puerto Rico has declared that they might not be able to pay their creditors. They are a US territory, and possibly our 51st state, but remaining a territory has it's own advantages that they probably don't want to give up.  The financial collapse is hitting a little closer to home.

Keep Right On Prepping - K

Leaps and Bounds

Man, what a great weekend. I got a lot accomplished on the list, and I think if I went for broke I could actually have the house ready by the first. I got all of the kitchen, hallway, and laundry room detail paint work done. The outside was pressure washed, and I'm sure that if pressure washers were around about the time of Hercules, it would have been one of his Labors. Also while I had Sweetheart was there, I got the refrigerator moved over to our house. It'll reside in the garage for bottled water, Gatorade, and a few beers with mugs in  the freezer.

Huge difference for curb appeal

First time since 2000 that it's been this clean.

The List:

• Spray 10% bleach solution on roof moss to kill it. (2nd of 3 applications)
• Remove refrigerator
• 2 new kitchen blinds
• 1 new blind small curtain in master bathroom
• Paint outside trim around doors that were installed a year ago.
• Pressure wash house, sidewalks, and carport.
• 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.
• Added: Repaint quarter round in boys old bedrooms.

Keep Right On Prepping - K