Replacement of Floor Tiles

Two vinyl floor tiles that we put down years ago had slipped so there was a space between them. With the refrigerator out of the way it was a good time to fix this problem. I removed the two tiles that had slipped and replace them with new ones that have been stored from when the floor was put down.

This job was a little sticky but was quite easy to do.

Noodles

Update. We solved this problem by removing the pipe. It was not as difficult as it first appeared as it was not buried very deep in the concrete. 

The swim noodles are now iilling in the trench left when we removed the pipe until we can get to filling in the trench with new concrete.

These swim noodles were perfect for adding a little safety redneck style.

This swimming noodle is covering up an old oil furnace pipe that sticks up about six inches. The pipe was sure to result in a broken toe.

This one is in the garage. Some prior owners converted the garage into a room. That ridge of wood is just the right height to result in brain stem injury when sitting on the loveseat. We just cut the swim noodle and it stays on by itself.

Check the door width

I measured the hole where the refrigerator goes but did not think to measure the width of the door. The new refrigerator was over 30 inches with the doors removed. My door is 29 inches wide. I spent lunch time and then some arranging for a different refrigerator.

It seems that older houses had 29 inch doors but newer ones have 36 inch wide doors.

Thermostat not coming on

The thermostat would not turn on. It would not even say heat.

The thermostat is set to heat but no heat was coming on. No button presses could convince it to come on.

Hmmm. Pretty colored wires. The red one. No the red one!... does???

I had to stop the project to deal with the refrigerator and the next day the heat magically started working. Apparently this thermostat works when and only when it it ready to work regardless of user input.

Dead Refrigerator

The 16 year old refrigerator gave up the ghost yesterday so we spent most of the day finding a replacement. $$$$$$ Ouch!

Water on the in the morning floor = not good

Several years of dirt behind and under the refrigerator, the old part of the floor covering, and the metal water line. I helped install the current floor covering several years ago. We put it right over the old floor covering and didn't move the refrigerator. That is not usually the way I roll but I didn't own the house at the time. I think the black floor is two or three layers below the current one. That will be a mess to clean out... one day.

The metal water line came unscrewed easily with a few turns of an adjustable wrench.

This is the basement floor showing the water line coming through the floor.

The valve for the ice maker is a puncture valve. The red cord is hung over the valve. I hate these valves as they tend to leak. The bucket is to catch the drips. Hopefully, it will not leak once it is turned back on.

I removed the doors from the old refrigerator, which was quite easy. The wires are for the ice maker and disconnected easily.

The ice maker line runs through the door.

The line disconnected easily by the hand turned connector.

After taking the time to remove the doors I still could not get the old refrigerator out the door. We paid for setup and removal so we'll let the pros get it out and the new one in.

Measure twice move once.

The first refrigerator that we ordered would not fit through the back door so we had to order a different one. The new one is now in place and works great. It is a bottom freezer model which is wonderful.

New to us

This is a little out of order but we bought / inherited this house a few months ago. It was originally constructed around 1910 to 1920 with two major additions since that time. It is a large house and we are fortunate to have it.... I think.

The family members we bought it from were anything but wealthy (by US standards at least) and while it has not been abused it certainly is in need of much work. This blog is my effort to pay back the blogging community for all I have learned and continue to learn from them.

Welcome to our adventure in owning and fixing up this old casa.

Power

 The wiring in the house looks like 80 years of patch it up for now.

Power Goes in Here

Power Meter and First Box

Closeup of the first box

Closeup of the small box. This one goes to the AC unit. 

The main power line goes into the basement

When the AC kicks on in the lights upstairs go dim for a second. Not comforting.

The power line from the inside of the basement

The power line continues to the box on the wall

The power goes into this box via the big conduit at the upper right

This one is in another room in the basement and goes to the furnace

Inside of the furnace fuse box

The furnace

The fusebox for the old (really old) part of the house. Note the not so fire resistant enclosure.

Close up of the fusebox

Closer up of the fuse box

Basement Discoveries

This old bed was under the stairs. The black spots are mouse droppings. 

An old scout tent. Very old.

80 or so year old ashes. 

This was a mess to clean up. Glad we don't heat with coal anymore.

Security System

Here is the security system or at least the low tech portion of it. Run away in fear all no gooders.

Basement Foundation Wall

I'm not sure if this is bad or not but it does not look good. Just one of many things to look into.