The Blog Of Rhian D. Block | All Good Things..

My Thoughts and Life for the World! | Rhian Douglas Block | http://www.rhianblock.com
AIM: vazoomdotcom -- The server date is ~ July 04, 2009

Wow!  It’s been a while since I have posted anything onto the blog.  I have been really busy just trying to get things around the house done.  My latest adventures included trying to hanging shutters on the 3 windows facing the main road.  It turned out to be a bit trickier than I though especially with the top windows.  The main problem is that with the stone, the mortar lines where I must screw into aren’t in straight lines.  Additionally, some of the mortar points are several inches deeper than the protruding stone.  Being up on the ladder while trying to align these things was a pain in the royal ass. At this point they are all done however I must still secure the bottom right shutter better. I need to get some concrete of some sort to give a screw more to grip onto.

The other project has been to re-locate the area for the washer, dryer, and sink from the mud room down into the basement. I bought a new washer/dryer unit and had a plumber come in to tie in the drain lines and water lines for the washer and sink. The piping and electrical was pulled out of the mud room and the next project can begin. I used a product called Sharkbite in order to cap off the water pipes down in the basement that lead up to this room. You can buy them at home depot. I would like to drywall over the existing concrete walls.
A) To allow for me to place insulation (pink board) in between studs and
B) Because I like how drywall looks over what is currently on the existing walls
C) Tie into the existing heating/cooling system and duct in some air to the room

I received a call from Paul Wechsler (Comissioner 4th Ward Springfield) who told me that the streets departemnt had done some measurements and they are going to move the ‘no parking here to corner’ sign farther from my driveway so that I can at least get a parking spot.  WhooHoo!

On another note I received a call from Thermal Quality Windows (Broomall, PA) asking to come install all the new 22 windows today and Wednesday.  They had already knocked out two windows by the time I left earlier this morning so I am anxious to see the progress they made.  I will stop by later tonight.

Truck Carrying My New Windows Arrives At My House

I have been slow to post to the blog because I have been busy lately but let me start with …. The Sign

There is a no parking from here to corner sign which sits directly out front of my house.  Having this sign right there is a big annoyance especially since it means that there is no parking for other cars out front.  On April 25, 2009 I parked my truck which I normally do into that restricted zone so that I could pull my car out of the driveway and take it for a ride the following day.  When I returned to my house, the neighbor came up to me and said that he thought a ticket was placed onto my windshield.  I looked and why yes there was a nice $25 ticket from the Springfield Police Department.  Thanks guys!

I have since written a letter to the commisioner of my ward and have actually already heard back from him on the possibility of re-locating the sign closer to the corner.  After some measurements I found that the sign is about 6.5′ from the edge of my driveway and a good 37′ from the edge of the crosswalk.  The commisioner was going to look into the matter and see if he could help out. 

Now…the stump.  I finally had the tree stump in the front yard drilled out.  I kind of got sick of looking at it plus it made it a longer process to get the lawn mowed with it because smack in the middle of the yard.  Now I have to remove all the wood grindings and put some soil and grass seed down. 

Finally, I went to Raymor and Flanigan this past Sunday and ordered a bedroom and dining room set which is set to be delivered this Friday.   Below I also posted an image of the new threshold.  I just need to mix some mortar up and mount it into place.   

I know it has been a bit since my last post but I did finally have the threshold made from granite.  I made a mistake by picking a really bad color but luckily the guy at Top Granite made a new one for me this past Saturday while I was there which was cool.  Below are some pics of the machine which cut the granite.  The other picture shows some granite pieces…..the original threshold color I picked (black/brownish) and the new color which is much more of a brownish blend.   

   Today I met with a man at a company in King of Prussia called Top Granite 2, Inc. to see if they could manufacture the threshold I need for the bathroom.  I am completely fed up with Gothicstone who have been anything but helpful in making something for me.  The last email I received from them mentioned that it could be made however they had some suggestions.  I responded however not to my surprise, never heard back from them.  Well let the Internet know Gothicstone gets two big thumbs down from me and will never get any further business. 

  I will hopefully end up picking up the threshold from Top Granite either Sunday or Monday.  And from the name of the company you will realize that the material it will be made from is granite.  I hope I can make it work in the space.  The granite I selected was darker with brownish type spots on it.  I think it will go good but I am more concerned with the product I receive.  There is no way for them to actually make it as my drawing had depicted without using to separate pieces of material, which would have meant that a seam would be visible.

I snapped a few more images of the bathroom which is complete except for the threshold.  Below are some higher quality pics. A couple are obviously before the renovation.  You can clearly see the newly re-finished tub.  Miracle Method did an excellent job on it.  I highly recommend them. Click on any of the images to enlarge.