Houseblogs.net - Latest Blog Entries

[Fun and VJs] It's beginning to

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:05:00 PST

feel a lot like Christmas because it has been so hot and humid around here. And I also succumbed to the nagging of little ones and dug out the Christmas decorations. I let the boys decorate the tree. There are a lot of decorations on the s...

[This D*mn House] Friday, I Love You

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:02:00 PST

What. A. Week. Seriously.Work has been like a cyclone. (Not a complaint, just an observation. I prefer it this way.) It’s left me neither time nor energy to do anything on the homefront all week. And now, I’ve got a couple other things to add to...

[Ancestral Pile] a minor update

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:15:00 PST

So, I had my surgery last week. For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you know already that I was stuck at home up until yesterday, recovering and being very bored. I'm now back to driving, though still no heavy lifting and various other restr...

[Breakfast at Tiffany Ln] Introducing the Family & Home

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:03:00 PST

So I've blogged & blogged about out home improvements & renovations, I thought I'd introduce the "us" who live in the home a little bit more...So there's me. Sarah, age 24 (25 in February), mother of 2, I work as a Program Assistant for the M...

[Tarting Up Touchwood] yeah right, eh?

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:39:00 PST

We thought putting hockey pucks under the claw feet of our heavy bathrub was a great way to protect the new tile floor, and celebrate our Canadian heritage. We were all ready to have our first bath with a cold one to celebrate the return to bathing a...

[City Homestead] Dine About Oakland: Shan Dong

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:28:59 PST

I ♥ Shan Dong. That’s really the long and the short of it. The last few months have been extraordinarily busy on all fronts, and last weekend, I just did not want to cook (or clean, or paint, or weed, or do any of the other things I was suppo...

[Trafrd] Leaking valves

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:30:00 PST

It took about 5 hours to replace 3 valves. Take off the old valve, unscrew the pipe going into the radiator using the large allen key, screw in the new pipe fitting to the radiator, attach the new valve, reconnect the water pipe. Seems simple enough�...

[Young House Love] Alena’s Design Dilemma

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:06:28 PST

Alena’s living room is ready for a major makeover. Here’s her letter: This is the perfect 25th birthday present to myself! We recently painted our open living room, dining room and entryway Benjamin Moore’s Hawthorne Yellow. I’...

[Oliver's Bungalow] More on the Bedroom

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:50:00 PST

So, here are my two dressers in the back bedroom. Please excuse the mess. Actually, since this may be my next big project, maybe you'd just better get used to seeing this mess!What do you think? Could I make it work with yesterday's idea?I also gave...

[That Old House] Repair A Loose Screw In Wood

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:05:45 PST

One common problem with doors is loose hinge screws…Screws that have over time torn up the wood that originally held them in place. If your door snags on the latch side it is common to find several loose screws on the hinge side. If you have...

[...just over the river] Baby it's cold inside

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:44:00 PST

Dear people out there,Do you also live in a house that has plaster walls and no insulation? Our house is at least 5 degrees cooler inside than the temperature outside. Since most rooms have new/newer windows, the house isn't drafty. Is this a design...

[A Constructed Life] Canned Bread: The Taste Test

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:01:00 PST

After a three-months absence, my return to work has been a tremendous success. I haven't turned into a blubbering mess nor do I badger The Grandparents (who are babysitting) more than twice a day. At least in my mind I don't.My co-workers were amazin...

[Voidsmith] Running a Pipe Under the Driveway

editor@houseblogs.net — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:06:14 PDT

Getting the sprinkler pipe under the driveway turned out to be the most difficult task of the whole project. I came up with the idea to use a water jet nozzle on the end of a long length of pvc pipe to blast a tunnel under the driveway. I’d...

[Voidsmith] Trenching

editor@houseblogs.net — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:18:31 PDT

The pipes for the sprinkler system must be buried of course, and therefore trenches need to be dug to run them in. I could have rented a trench digger, but it wouldn’t fit in my BMW, and besides I only had a few hundred feet to do. So I boug...

[Voidsmith] Sprinkler Valves

editor@houseblogs.net — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:29:15 PDT

You can actually just bury the sprinkler control valves in the dirt, but that makes repair difficult, so its common practice to stick them in a box like this. I hooked up my four valves with some solid PVC pipe, and ran all the piping from the spri...