I am bummed. I have to wait until I have a vehicle to go and get a multimeter tomorrow… even then, I don’t know how to find the short, exactly. It’s so weird, it’s frustrating!

It’s not all roses and music, renovating an old house. Sometimes it really, really stinks!

Totally Bummed Tonight :-p

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AND we are 100% electrified now!!! See the ceiling fans? I can’t tell you how thrilling this is for us. We have endured over 3 years without electricity in parts of the house. And now we have switched lights and outlets! It’s an historic moment.

The boys had fun helping install the ceiling fans.

..."and whip it good!" LOLOL

So now we have lights and power AND a few cabinets. I am recuperating from last week’s hectic pace. A billion little jobs await me….

First Cabinets Installed!

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So I’m repeating this year what I did for that summer of ’07: pouring through various wiring books, learning about codes and how to wire the house. I managed to wire about half the house in 2007; we’ve been without electricity for the other half all this time. Ever since I opened the walls and saw the horrible mess of 1930-era knobs and tubes, I’ve been too afraid to turn the electric back on, not until I can replace the entire system. So my home is still a mish-mash of new, old, and intermediate wiring, not to mention a LOT of extension cords everywhere. :-p

Anyway, I went to the library and checked out half their stacks, lol.

The best books have lots of diagrams and have information on codes in basic, simple lists. I don’t need loads of information on work wear clothing, work uniforms, all the meticulous tools and etc.

I have also got the floor plans made out.

I have yet to map out the electrical schematics, and the plumbing schematic. I dread the plumber’s bills. The entire plumbing system must be replaced… it will cost a pretty penny. I am apprehensive about the condition of the pipes, especially that nasty black cast iron sewage pipe in the basement. It’s turning orange, which means it’s rusting. I do NOT want to be around when that thing breaks apart, uh uh. Talk about toxic waste! Burn the work clothing and take a chlorine bath after that, tell you what! I have a sensitive nose, so I don’t do plumbing, lol.

Anyway, I’d better get cracking on this stuff. I figure I’ll start demolition after I plant the vegetable garden, sometime in late April/early May. I am itching to start pulling down plaster, but I have to box and pack away ALL my stuff including my books and computers, cover my heater vents, move the animals to the upstairs, hang plastic in doorways…. there’s a lot to do.

I can’t wait til it’s all over.

Back to School for Me

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Head gonna ’splode. Are you seriously gonna do that yourself??? Wow.

Hee hee!

I thought I’d post my response here (rather then have it buried in the comments), because I realized that a few of you “newer” readers did not go through the excruciatingly crazy time when we gutted our living room, in the summer of 2007. It was SUPPOSED to be a simple tear-down-the-walls-and-slap-news-ones-up-again job.. but my house is 150+ years old. I guess that kind of project never happens with old homes.

When I opened up the walls, I found a few surprises. One, noggin– noggin is brick, installed in the studs. We’ve no idea why the original builder did that; it was rare even back then. We suppose it was to help keep the house cool. And it does… both summer AND winter. :S

I also found mouse-chewed wires, and quite a few bare wires. And a disastrous mess of mangled wires. Oh Lord, it was a disaster. Long ago, the previous owners ripped off the flooring to the second floor, installed wiring, and put the floors back on– basically encapsulating the wiring. And this is what it looked like, 70 years later when I opened it up.

You can read more about the craziness if you click the links. I had no intentions of doing the wiring myself, but I couldn’t find an electrician who would do one room– well, I did finally get one quote, but he wanted $1500 for it. I decided to study at night and do it myself.

Electrician Shock
Why My Electricity Won’t Work
Things Looking Brighter
The worst part was going into The Attic
It was a very frustrating job at times.
I also installed Cat5 ethernet wiring for the living room.

ALL MY WORK PASSED Codes Inspection! I was so happy.

Besides the living room, I installed wiring in my daughters’ bedroom above, light switches for two bedrooms upstairs, and separate outlets for the washing machine and sump pump. However, half the house still has no electricity. After seeing the condition of the living room wiring, I was too terrified to turn the rest of the old wiring back on. I disconnected everything I could. It’s been almost three years, and I’m hoping praying I can get electricity into the kitchen, dining room, stairwell, and upper bedrooms very soon. This year, we’re tackling the kitchen. The dining room and bedrooms will have to wait, unless a miracle happens.

This is our living room. ALL MODERN wiring!!!

You can read more about the House History and Our History here and all about Our Story of renovations up to now. After the massive 2007 renovation, which was the largest project we’ve ever accomplished yet here, I got a job blogging, and life just got hectic. I haven’t done anything else besides garden work around here. I’m praying the kitchen will be accomplished this year because it’s almost unlivable now. Please keep us in your prayers! I’m a little older now (40s) and rather out of shape because of my desk jobs for the past three years. I’m a little apprehensive about the physical labor involved. But God willing, it can be done. Thanks for reading.

You Can Do It, Yes, You Can!

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It’s not a thoroughly extensive book for wiring, but it addresses the basics. Plus, there is some very good information on wiring ethernet and other digital stuff throughout the home. I am definitely going to wire for ethernet throughout the house. Eventually, I’ll set up a small control panel in a special cabinet in the kitchen. It will look like a typical matching cabinet, but it will actually be a small service panel, disguised. I like to make the kitchen the “central” place. I’ve traditionally kept all medicines, natural acne treatment etc, and small household tools in the room. I just prefer it.

Back to the book: diagrams like this as in the photo below are helpful, too. My next goal is to create a schematic. It is important to map out all the wiring and lighting fixtures, so that I can keep track of the circuits and make sure one circuit does not have too great a load.

So I’m preeeeeettty busy these days! More to come.

My New Textbook

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