Roto Rooting

Roto Rooter has arrived, and their Rooter tool got stuck 4 feet into our side sewer. Hmmm. Mr Rooter’s professional opinion was that we should have them return with a camera (on Monday, as apparently the camera doesn’t work weekends) to diagnose the issue.

Having already been without plumbing for 1.5 days, we’d already scouted out all of the best public restrooms in our general area, and had absolutely no desire to continue ripening over the weekend. So Martin proposed plan “B”; dig a hole where the Rooter was stuck, and find the problem. Apparently common sense DOES require an engineering degree.

Several hours and one big hole later, Mr. Rooter found the problem – a fist-sized hole in our side sewer. It seems our entire side yard has been functioning as a septic drain field for who knows how long. Ewwwwww.

Power for the Prepared

It seems all of Seattle has no power, except us. Our power barely even flickered during the windstorm, thanks to our insurance policy, The Trusty Fisher Wood Stove (Vintage 1976, a fine year for wood stoves).

Too bad we don't have a backup sewer line.

Lake Cesspool

Between 4 & 5 pm on Thursday, Dec 14th, Seattle received a record .86” of rain, on top of the 16” we’d received in November.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2006_Pacific_Northwest_storms
At 6pm, when I discovered the new lake in our basement, everyone else had found theirs hours earlier and had already scheduled an emergency appointment with Roto Rooter, so we are out plumbing until the first available appointment – on Saturday.

Let There Be Light Fixtures

In Seattle, where the Winter brings 7 hours of Daylight with no actual Sunlight, lighting is very important. Therefore of course, Ballardia II didn't have any to speak of.

The basement lighting has issues. It’s the pull-string kind, where the pull strings have vanished or simply no longer work. Some of them have energy-efficient light bulbs in them, so we can twist them off. Others, though, have regular light bulbs, and after having made the mistake of turning them on, an oven mitt is needed to turn them off. This may be a long term project.

The living room is devoid of all lighting. The adjacent dining room has a great art deco tiered light fixture - which supported ONE sixty watt bulb. It has to go.

Ballardia Classic had come with its own original 1930s Chevron Slipper Shade Chandelier, which was both gorgeous and functional, with a full 300 watts for the ceiling fixture, plus 60 EACH in the matching sconces. It was Lighting Paradise.

It would be fabulous to replace the dining room fixture in Ballardia II with something similar, but a quick check of antique lighting prices showed a price tag of about $1000 for that same Chevron Slipper Shade Chandelier. Sigh. I should've swiped it from Ballardia Classic before closing; what was I thinking!!!???

Well, since Antique doesn't match the budget (Shoe String), More Shopping was necessary. After a check of the market, Rejuvenation has a great reproduction in a similar style, the Nicolai, which was about 1/2 the cost of Antique. I ordered it with the Bronze Gilt finish and Velvet shade.

Had to wait 8 weeks for delivery, but it was worth the wait.

Installation Tools: Charm and Good Looks (Martin did it).

Back in the Kitchen Business

The plumber has arrived and hooked up the sink, faucet, disposal, dishwasher, and ice line for the fridge, so we are back in business with our not-quite-finished kitchen:

I still have the backsplash to finish up, as well as a knob replacement.

Grouting

I’m not sure why it takes me 2x the time to grout than it does to tile. Perhaps it’s because I am not a Tile Professional.

Because I only do a small section at a time, I mix the grout in a Ziploc Freezer bag - it allows me to mix it with my fingers, and cleanup consists of throwing away the baggie.

Materials: grout, water, Ziploc Freezer bags

Tools: grout float, kitchen sponge (I find it easier to use than a regular grout sponge)

Tiling the Kitchen Continues....

Tiling the kitchen counters continues. No, that's not a working sink - I just put it in to make me feel like there's progress.

And now, it's time for a little Tile Math.

Materials for this project, not including my Trusty Tile Saw, totalled around $25 per square foot, and this was for a fairly inexpensive (< $10/sq ft) granite colour. Which raises the question - is it cost effective to use granite tile?. Had I paid for labour, I suspect that the cost would have been quite close to an entry level granite slab cost.