Primed But No Gas

We braved the cold in Kings Mountain, as Cookie, Lynn and Brent arrived at Zelda on Monday. Without having the HVAC system checked out, the first night was cool inside Zelda as the outside temperature was in the mid 30's. We did have a propane heater downstairs and an electric heater upstairs.

Monday night, Brent planned on installing the toilet in the master bath, but during the installation of the baseboard, he was able to find the water supply line to the toilet with a nail. This required turning off the water to the house and an emergency trip to Home Depot. He was able to repair the line and turn the water back on that night. In his spare time, over the next few days, he was able to patch the drywall, install the base board and we now have our second working toilet in Zelda.

Our HVAC contractor arrived as scheduled on Tuesday morning to check out the systems. With the permanent power connected we were able to start and run the heat pump upstairs, but without gas, the gas-pac unit downstairs was on standby. When we changed the size of the stove from a 48" to a 36" width we added some additional cabinets, which now requires the gas supply line to be re-routed. When then called Kings Mountain to have the gas meter unlocked. The technician arrived promptly but we did not have a final mechanical inspection to allow the meter to be unlocked. We were a little confused as we thought this had passed, but the town's only inspector is on vacation so we had to schedule the new final mechanical inspection on Thursday, October 29th.

As the temperature warmed on Tuesday, we were able to prime some small areas on the side of Zelda and continued to scrap and caulk in preparation for the application of prime paint. We also continued to attack the stairway.

On Wednesday, the temperature a little higher and we moved to a major repair area on the alcove which was an addition to the house about 40 years ago. We had to remove siding and replace with other board we had salvage during previous rework. There was alot of work performed around the door and the header board at the top. Then we scrapped and caulked. We also continued with the tile work on the floor in the laundry room.

On Thursday, the assault began on Zelda with installation of a prime coat. We started on the left side on the house. We used a paint sprayer so we need to strain the paint and add a chemical to the paint to operate in the spray gun. We started about mid morning and only took a short break to eat lunch. We were able to finish the entire left side and the very back of the house. There were only a few areas we found that we missed scrapping, so after the paint dried, it was scrapped and re primed. We finished just as the sun went down. We were tired but did manage

to install a few more tiles in laundry room and pantry.

Friday was scheduled to continue with the priming of the house, but the weather soured with a damp, intermittent rain, so we decided to lay tile. We were able to finish the entire laundry room, pantry and install missing areas under the dishwasher and stove. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up, packing and driving back home. It was a productive week.

Rain, Cold and a Squirrel

The trip to and from Louisiana was a success. We were able to see all the family members in a drive by type visit.


We arrived at Zelda on Monday and stayed till Thursday. Our original intention was to stay and work till Friday afternoon, but the rain, cold and a work interview for Brent, had us leave on Thursday to head back to Tennessee.


Also, the girls were off for a mini-break at UT so their last class for the week was Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday night we received a frantic call from Jennifer and Jessica as a squirrel was running around in the house. After many phone calls and screams, Brent was able to talk the girls through a process of getting the squirrel out. After about one (1) hour we had success. We laughed at the similarity of the squirrel incident to the that of the movie Christmas Vacation.

We worked long hours and hard but it does not seem to feel like we got a lot accomplished. Brent did make repairs on the outside siding, including caulking and scraping one side of the house in preparation of painting. Then the rains and cold temperature arrived Wednesday morning and stayed until we departed. Brent really wanted to get some paint on the house this week, but instead, focused his attention on the master bedroom closet floor. We also prepped the downstairs floor around the edges for the hardwood floors, painted the crown molding and baseboards before installing ,caulked around the installed crown molding and removed old paint from the staircase. We also hung a cabinet over the toilet in the downstairs bathroom. I guess we did a lot of preparatory base work for the finish product to come.

The pictures are of the flooring installed in the master bedroom closet. We decided to use a lock and snap laminate flooring which was a first for us. Brent was very hesitant at first but then decided to use the product, because in was in a closet.

The first attempt to install on Wednesday night did not look good, so early Thursday morning, Brent pulled up the floor and reinstalled with a fantastic finish. His approach on the second attempt was to install just like a real hardwood floor by staggering and making sure no seems were together. This might have been in the instructions, but Brent is a typical guy and did not read. He did leave room for expansion which will be covered by the base boards. We will install a pre-fabricated fiberglass catch pan for the laundry area and pipe the overflow outside.

We expect to have the heat turned on to the house by this Tuesday. The gas line needed to be re-routed due to the cabinets and once the pressure test is performed, we ignite the heat. We have no wireless connection at Zelda so updates of the progress will be done on a weekly basis during the weekend.

Clean Bill of Health

We returned back home to Tennessee late Friday night. Brent's mom had a clean bill of health. The test showed no blockage and the doctor commented that she had the arteries of a twenty year old. She gives credit to eating Popeye's fried chicken at least twice a week.

We will be heading over to Zelda on Monday to work the entire week. If we have an internet connection, we should be able to update progress daily.

This picture of Brent's mom was taken during the visit after Greg and Renee's wedding in June of this year.

Back at Zelda

After one (1) week of cruising in the Caribbean, we made our way back to Zelda. We meet our electrician and yes, Zelda is electrified. We arrived on Friday and spent the night and returned back over the mountains on Saturday afternoon.

We will not be at Zelda this week as we are traveling down to Louisiana, as Brent's mom is having a probe of her heart being performed on Wednesday. There is no expectation of any problems, but it is an excuse to see family and our newest member Leyton.

This weekend, Brent installed a new pedestal sink in the downstairs bathroom and installed the hardware for the shower. Lynn caulked the shower on Saturday, so we now have a fully functional bathroom.

We are now down to the home stretch to finish out Zelda. There will be no more cutting, etc inside because of the dust. Brent expects to start laying down the finished hardwood floors soon and we will begin painting the outside. Look for a lot of progress to be made at Zelda this month.