What can go wrong

Well, I helped the Freygangs with putting together their house a bit more. They had finished quite a bit since I had last seen the house. They had removed the rotted wood on the wall and patched some of the other problem wood. They were just finishing putting in the studs for the drywall. Jim had some thicker than normal plastic that we put over the insulation. The drywall went up just fine.

We put on the mud and journeyed onto the next room where we were to install a dropped ceiling. It didn't go as planned. Some time was spent figuring out how to work out the details.

In the end we were to put studs horizontally around the room ceiling, then studs across. Well, first we had to find the wood. A storm kicked in and stopped us from going to pick up some wood using the truck.

The 16 penny nails were OK, but were painful after the first 2x4 ... going into the second was tough, especially since we were hammering up. It was tough work. We had to negotiate around items in the room and the lack of connection boards.

Jim had to move a circuit box away from the wall. The kicker was copper pipe that was in the way of the cross beam we needed at the 4' mark. There was some closing panel on the duct that also was in the way we later discovered.

We had to saw, cut, and chisel out the long T-like section into the beam. This weakened the beam for sure. I shoved it into place and it held. Who knows why. Jim was looking around for screws instead of 6" nails we were using. There was a possibility we would hit metal from the duct. The board dropped while we were away.

It split into two parts ... OK, but one half smashed the cap and top of spray paint. It was leaking black paint all over the area in a mist. The bookshelf, table, and decorative shelf were all spattered, as well as gift bags . The basement was then filled with paint fumes. After this fiasco, we called it quits.

Oh, yea ... paint mess.
board snapped in half
The latitudinal line of metal near the insulation in this shot was the other section we had to chisel out.
Some of the boards were great to use, others, not so much. All the ceiling wood will be hidden by the dropped ceiling, so it doesn't have to be pretty.

Jessica's old man

This is ancient Flopsy who is a miniature. I keep wondering if he will change back into Pettigrew or the like.

The "small" leak

Well, Diane called and asked me for advice on a leak. Well, she had me start looking at the gooshy bottom boards and wood paneling. It only got worse and scarier.
In the end, I ripped out a section of wall. I am very thankful that it was the basement and that there wasn't a new gateway to some other room.
Most of the wood support beams you see must be replaced.
You can see the moisture on the wall, the insulation that stuck there and some of the mold and rot on the boards and the wall.
This is the destroyed baseboard. It is clear that it wasn't a minor leak. I examined the pipe and the hole appears small, but it must have sprayed on the inside to do this much damage.

You can see the mold, mildew buildup on the insulation

If you look carefully, you can see the "sweat" or dew on the inside of the plastic. nearly everything I removed and exposed was completely ruined.

I was able to rip off some fo the drywall in large slabs and chunks.

Diane present the mess, work and that which is consistent with her life ... challenge.

This was the drywall at the base, behind the rotted wood paneling.
This was behind a bunny cage, fairly well ignored. It is tough to know when the leak started.

Base board ... ew!

This is where I started. I got the quick impression it was bad.

pictures of moving stuff.

This is the truck Diane rented to move some of the stuff to Salvation Army, storage, and elsewhere.

Thomas needs to write about the vacation

I will not write this for him.

Wetting the flower bed

While many regions got nastily hit with flooding, there is some good in rain.

Northern Indiana was spared some.

watching little ones

Diane is watching neighbor dogs -- tiny to say the least.

Jessica driving

Jessica then drove to downtown and tried parallel parking.

Vacation photo?

Bethy called and all isn't fluid and roses there. Next I suppose that a wild steer will ram the cottage.

What I did Saturday

Germanfest 2008

hardly surprising, the music is "Roll Out the Barrel"

Graduation for Michael

drum roll ... way to go!

Happy Birthday to Lois

Thomas restored a doll for Lois. It is around 30" tall.

The doll as it appeared before Thomas had it restored.

Lois reads a profile of her doll, its make and what it might be worth.

The doll is over one hundred years old. The pastor who married Tom and Lois had this. His daughters weren't interested in dolls, so Lois was granted this neat doll, though it was apart and in pieces. Thomas got it repaired at no small cost.

In the pink

Soft, silky
c/o Foster Park, Fort Wayne, IN