Back Into the Closet

We accomplished our goal of being able to move all of the items that we removed from the linen/ medicine closet back INTO the closet by the end of the weekend.  As the following pictures show, Rick was able to drywall, tape, mud, prime, and paint the closet walls and ceiling in preparation for the elfa shelves from The Container Store.

Rick installs the new drywall where the flue enclosure
used to take up the corner of the closet.

Rick pieces in laminate flooring to fill the hole in the floor.

Taping drywall, adding mud, and sanding everything smooth
are not Rick's favorite part of remodeling.

Even with a shop vacuum attached to the sander,
getting the walls smooth is a messy job.

A small fan helps the paint dry in the closet.

Owen heard that we were remodeling, and he was really upset that Grandpa did not ask him to help, so we made sure that he was included yesterday when he actually installed the shelves.  As it turns out, Owen was just the right size to help Rick lift the shelves and to put in the shelf brackets.  Then Christopher helped Rick re-hang the closet door.

Five-year-old Owen gets a lesson in how to add shelf
brackets to the closet.

Owen holds the shelf up while Grandpa slips
the remains brackets under it.

Mission Accomplished!

One last check to make sure the spacing is correct.

Every woman's dream: a closet with room to spare!

I moved all of the items back into the closet and my dream came true: I actually have a closet with room to spare!  Mission accomplished.

Inspiration

We had a busy day today, mostly due to Rick being inspired by the work he did at Stephanie's house this past weekend. (See yesterday's blog for details.)

Today started with him going to the cardiologist while I tackled the laundry.  While he was gone, I also swept the house and washed the kitchen, dining room, hallway, and living room floors.  That done, I decided that perhaps I should sweep out the garage to keep more dirt from getting tracked into the house.  I was cutting up fresh rhubarb from our back garden when he returned.  I wanted to try a new recipe for rhubarb coffee/ dessert cake, but that idea was put on hold as Rick started taking about taking apart the hall closet.

He changed into work clothes and started the task by climbing up into the attic.  We no longer need the chimney on our house since both the furnace and the hot water heater now are vented out the side of the house.  We are getting a new roof this summer, so the chimney will be taken down at that time anyway.

To get a head start on that project, Rick went into the attic to remove the chimney flue that went from the chimney, down through a corner  enclosure in the hall closet and into the basement by the furnace.  After lots of "persuasion" with hammers, saws, chisels, and crowbars, Rick removed the upper section of the flue in the attic, and then he reduced the flue to pieces in the basement.  Rick patched the hole in the ceiling of the basement, and the work continued on the main floor.

With the shelves gone, Rick gets ready to put down
drop cloths and to remove the shelving boards.

With the shelf boards gone, Rick starts to take the drywall
off the corner flue enclosure.

We had talked about taking out the corner enclosure in our hallway linen closet and replacing the 40 year old shelves with some clean, modern Elfa shelves just like Rick put into Stephanie's closet this weekend. I got to work taking everything out the closet.  I wanted to organize items, and toss a few out, as I removed everything from the shelves.

The drywall is gone from the upper part of the enclosure.

With the drywall down, Rick works on taking out
the "outer" corner 2 x 4 from the enclosure.

The shelves and wall boards that held the shelves came out without too much trouble.  Even taking out the drywall around the corner enclosure was time consuming and messy, but not too difficult.

The three 2 x 4s that built the structure of the enclosure
now are resting in the garbage can.

Then Rick got to the 2 x 4s that built the enclosure.  Two of the three boards we had to remove were awkwardly placed, so they took some effort to remove.  Rick sacrificed a jig-saw saw blade in the process, and he finally resorted to hand saws, hammers, and crowbars to remove the structure.

At the bottom of the now-removed enclosure was the steel plate that had held the flue into place.  It gave us trouble in the basement as we tried to dislodge the flue, and it gave Rick even more trouble getting it out of the area without ruining the existing floor.  After much sweat (but no blood or tears), he was able to finally pry it loose.  (Good thing the cardiologist told him his heart seemed good this morning!)

After a lot of struggling, Rick removed the metal
plate in the floor.  We will have to add sub-flooring
in order to piece in the laminate floor boards.

I told Rick yesterday that I would not agree to dismantling the closet until we had a plan in place to get the shelves to go back into that area.  After we cleaned up the worksite and Rick took a long shower, we went online and ordered the shelving from The Container Store.  We will pick up those materials this week so they are here when we are ready to install them.

The cleaned-out workspace awaits new structure, drywall,
tape, mud, and flooring. I can't wait to have a "full" closet
to use at the end of the hallway.

We still have new framing, floor and ceiling patching, new drywall, taping, mudding, priming, and painting to finish before we can install the shelves.  We also will have to piece in some laminate floor boards and put in baseboard to finish the floors.

The rhubarb cake was a hit, too! Yum!!

As Rick was completing his work in the closet, I finally was able to escape back to the kitchen.  The cake came together well, and we had a light, tasty dessert for dinner tonight.  We'll continue with the preparation for the new closet tomorrow.

Minnesota Closet Reset

Stephanie wanted to hang some new Elfa shelves in her hallway underused coat closet, so her first step was to remove the wood and hardware that were supporting a closet pole and a shelf.  Sadly, that did not go so well as the supporting studs were not where she expected them to be.  When she tried to pry the wooden support boards out of the closet, she ended up leaving large holes in the wall.  That's when the call to her Dad went out.

The worst hole was in the back of the closet
where Stephanie's prying hammer caused a bit of damage.

Super Dad came to the rescue this weekend.  We left here, in the pouring rain, on Thursday morning. Thankfully, about half-way across the state, we drove out from under the storm clouds and were able to finish the long drive without the rhythm of the slapping windshield wipers.

The side of the closet also required a bit of patching.

On Thursday, Rick spent time installing patches of drywall and mixing up drywall compound to patch the holes.

By the end of Friday, the patching was complete.

While he was at it, he decided to use more of the drywall compound to fill and to tape the joints on the drywall he installed in her utility room/ kitty loo in the basement.  (After all, what self-respecting cat wants to use a litter box in a room with just rough drywall on the walls?)

Lucy gives me the Evil Eye as she protects her new catnip-filled
bananas.  She is probably wondering why I am not helping to complete
the kitty loo in the basement.

On Friday, Rick sanded the first coat of plaster, and then he applied the second coat to fill in the repaired areas of the closet.  He also continued work on the basement drywall.  The basement took longer because he had to install and plaster a rounded corner.

Rick applies primer paint to the walls on Friday.

He and Stephanie went out to purchase paint for the basement room while I stayed at her house and tried to sweep up and mop plaster dust from her beautiful hardwood floors.

Saturday was the day for painting the closet and then going shopping for supplies to stock it.  Rick finished the painting early, so we were off for a shopping trip to Sam's Club for paper goods and to Kohl's for some clothing.

We love to buy clothes in Minnesota because there is no tax on clothing.  Apparently, Wisconsin feels that clothing is nice but not mandatory because we have to pay 4% tax on luxuries like clothing here.  And Florida must consider clothes not necessary at all since we have to pay 7.5% tax on clothing there! Minnesota must be that much colder because they feel that clothing, like food, is essential to life, so no taxes on necessary fabrics and shoes to cover the body.  Rick bought four pair of shorts at the Kohl's store in Rochester.

Each day, Rick worked a little more on taping
and plastering the walls in the basement. 

After shopping, we returned to Stephanie's house where Rick and she hung the Elfa closet system.  We love Elfa and have it in all of the closets at Gladys, so installing the system did not take very long.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

Then Stephanie had the fun of filling the shelves with paper towels, toilet paper, cat food, and occasionally-used bulky baking items.  In the end, the closet was a success with room to spare.  Mission accomplished!

Stephanie even has room left over to add more to the closet.

Rick completed mudding the basement, but we did not have enough time to complete the walls.  Stephanie wants to put some waterproof panels around the cat litter boxes and behind the utility sink.  Then we will paint the rest of the walls.  That work will have to wait for our next visit later this summer.

Stephanie is all smiles after a job well done.

Super Dad takes a much needed rest.