Day Thirty-Two and a Half: The Secret Cache
This was a strange Sunday, one in which a workman (in this case, Chris the electrician) came to do a little electrical work. He was here for four or five hours and put in a few boxes, including two for the two sconces, and did a little wiring.
New Three-Way Box at the Top of the Stairs to the Basement
Chris put in this three-way box that will control (from the top of the stairs) the lights in the staircase to the basement. He completed all the wiring of this box, and he put in the corresponding box at the bottom of the stairs, but he didn't wire that yet. Originally, he had planned to connect the lights as well, but he told me he'll do it tomorrow instead.
A Few New Wires Hanging Down into the Basement
Chris did, however, string the wires for this lighting system downstairs. These will have to be corrected tomorrow as well.
One of the New Boxes for the Two Sconces
Here is one of the blue boxes for the hallway sconces, which (as you may recall) we need in the hallway since there isn't enough space for an overhead light.
The New Subpanel in the Second-Floor Bathroom
The surprise today was that Chris set up a subpanel in the bathroom. I had no idea this was going to happen or that we'd even need it. But I'm getting the sense that our electrical system will be much superior than it was when we began.
While Chris was here, I clarified a few issues with him. He verified George's story to Nancy that redoing the wiring in this house was a bear, considering (he said) the problems with knob-and-tube wiring and all the crazy junction boxes and the enormouse quantity of messy wire. He will be taking the remaining knob and tube wiring out of the second-floor bathroom. He'll put in the hard-wired smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tomorrow. The second-floor alarm will be a dual smoke/CO alarm, and Chris says he should be able to get an alarm to the third floor as well, so we'll have alarms on all four floors of the house. Chris plans to get a bit of work done tomorrow morning, so he'll be ready for the inspection tomorrow.
The Dining Room Fireplace Fairly Well Cleaned
I spent more time today cleaning the junk off the fireplace than I should have. I know have a couple of blisters on my hands (one popped), three scraped areas, a couple of cuts, and my hands are a little achy. But I've made a lot of progress with the fireplace. This coming week is the busiest of my year (made busier by my having to interview for a job tomorrow), so I probably won't make any more progress on the fireplace until Friday (another day off for me, the last one I need to make sure I don't lose any vacation time).
While working on the fireplace with a hammer and chisel, I decided to try cleaning off the sticky black adhesive and the underlying white latexlike substance with the scraping side of a sponge. The sponge took the black adhesive off pretty well, but did little for the white area. I sent Tim to the grocery store to pick up Brillo pads (or any other steel wool), but he couldn't find any and brought home some replacement sponges and a box of small scraper pads. After using the sponges, dipped in water, for a while I decided to use the chisel again. This time, just pushing with my hand, the chisel took off the two layers pretty easily. Apparently, the water softened the layers, so I wet down other parts of the fireplace front and scraped away the junk pretty well. I ran out of time, so I couldn't finish, but I made enough progress for one day. (Check yesterday's entry to see for yourself.)
A Newly Remodeled Closet on the Third Floor
I spent a good deal of the afternoon working on the third floor. I had two jobs: collecting some records for taxes and cleaning out the garbage in one of the under-roof closets. I filled the back porch with garbage bags and boxes and ancient equipment of all kinds. With that junk cleared out of the closet, I swept the closet and was able to store all of our suitcases and the Mikes' Christmas present from us (a television) in the closet, thereby opening up some space on the third floor.
Looking Back into the Crawlspace in the Third-Floor Bathroom at the End of the Venting Tube and a Shoebox
One of my last jobs of the day, because it is usually the dirtiest, was to shovel more broken plaster out of the crawlspace beside our third-floor bathroom. I usually crawl into the space and shovel from the inside, but tonight I decided to shovel from the outside, so I cleared that part of the crawlspace right in front of the hole I cut in the wall. Soon, I uncovered the vent tube, which you might remember seeing from the floor below a couple of weeks ago. Next to the tube was a box. I crawled into this space to retrieve these two items.
The Same View of the Crawlspace with the Items and Garbage Removed
Then I finished clearing out that part of the crawlspace. There remains plenty of plaster, piled up to the right of this picture. I expect I'll have to return to this space at least twice before I'm finished clearing it out.
Garbage that Fell out of the Crawlspace into the Second-Floor Bathroom
While I was clearing out the crawlspace today, I kept knocking pieces of plaster down through a hole at the back of the space. (This is the hole that the vent was stuck into, but it also might have been a hole created so someone could stash a box of precious belongings where no-one else could see them.) The pieces of plaster fell into the second-floor bathroom, knocking out the insulation temporarily wedged in the bathroom ceiling. A few pieces fell all the way to the kitchen floor. Tim and I cleaned up this mess afterwards. (Quite a bit fell in the bathroom.)
The Shoebox from the Crawlspace
This is the shoebox I found in the crawlspace. I've never heard of the DeLisso brand. It may have died out in the 1970s.
The Shoebox with its Lid Off
Here is a picture of the box with its contents intact.
The Shoebox with its Lid Off and its Contents Displayed
Here is the shoebox disgorging its contents for the first time in years. The box was probably put together in 1977 (according to the dates on the prescription bottles), but the remodel of the second and third floor bathrooms took place in about 1984 (according to dates on the third-floor toilet and the second-floor insulation.
The contents of the box are as follows:
What a strange agglomeration of junk. We'll probably keep the starter pistol, and I'll probably keep the entire box of stuff until Friday, so Erin can see what it looks like.
The Weekend's Demolition Remains
At the end of today today, here's the garbage I'm left with: two buckets of fake brick from the fireplace, one box of plumbing garbage (left downstairs by Chris the plumber and expanded a bit by me over the weekend), two buckets of wallboard from the fireplace, and five buckets of plaster from the crawlspace. Quite enough for one weekend, but there's more to come.
The Image that Opens the Following Video
The next video starts off fairly dark, so here's the image you would have seen at the opening of this video, if I'd thought to use any illumination to shoot this.
Tour of the Basement Kitchen
Today, I've decided to provided you with a narrated tour of the wonders of our basement kitchen.
Drain Cover I Found Last Week in the Third-Floor Crawlspace
Last week, I found something else interesting in the crawlspace, this drain cover produced by or for the Carl Frank Company of Schenectady, New York. I wonder if this company is the same as the Carl Company, a department store, that existed on State Street, about a block from where we lived, when we moved to Schenectady in 1988. I've decided to make this picture of drain cover the logo for this renovation.
When I'm finished cleaning out this crawlspace, I'll have two choices. Either I can turn it into a small storage space or I'll let Dave and John tape it up for me, and I'll leave a printout of this blog up to that point in that space inside some kind of box. That way, we can leave our own surprise for some future tenant of this space.
honi soit qui mal y pense
New Three-Way Box at the Top of the Stairs to the Basement
Chris put in this three-way box that will control (from the top of the stairs) the lights in the staircase to the basement. He completed all the wiring of this box, and he put in the corresponding box at the bottom of the stairs, but he didn't wire that yet. Originally, he had planned to connect the lights as well, but he told me he'll do it tomorrow instead.
A Few New Wires Hanging Down into the Basement
Chris did, however, string the wires for this lighting system downstairs. These will have to be corrected tomorrow as well.
One of the New Boxes for the Two Sconces
Here is one of the blue boxes for the hallway sconces, which (as you may recall) we need in the hallway since there isn't enough space for an overhead light.
The New Subpanel in the Second-Floor Bathroom
The surprise today was that Chris set up a subpanel in the bathroom. I had no idea this was going to happen or that we'd even need it. But I'm getting the sense that our electrical system will be much superior than it was when we began.
While Chris was here, I clarified a few issues with him. He verified George's story to Nancy that redoing the wiring in this house was a bear, considering (he said) the problems with knob-and-tube wiring and all the crazy junction boxes and the enormouse quantity of messy wire. He will be taking the remaining knob and tube wiring out of the second-floor bathroom. He'll put in the hard-wired smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tomorrow. The second-floor alarm will be a dual smoke/CO alarm, and Chris says he should be able to get an alarm to the third floor as well, so we'll have alarms on all four floors of the house. Chris plans to get a bit of work done tomorrow morning, so he'll be ready for the inspection tomorrow.
The Dining Room Fireplace Fairly Well Cleaned
I spent more time today cleaning the junk off the fireplace than I should have. I know have a couple of blisters on my hands (one popped), three scraped areas, a couple of cuts, and my hands are a little achy. But I've made a lot of progress with the fireplace. This coming week is the busiest of my year (made busier by my having to interview for a job tomorrow), so I probably won't make any more progress on the fireplace until Friday (another day off for me, the last one I need to make sure I don't lose any vacation time).
While working on the fireplace with a hammer and chisel, I decided to try cleaning off the sticky black adhesive and the underlying white latexlike substance with the scraping side of a sponge. The sponge took the black adhesive off pretty well, but did little for the white area. I sent Tim to the grocery store to pick up Brillo pads (or any other steel wool), but he couldn't find any and brought home some replacement sponges and a box of small scraper pads. After using the sponges, dipped in water, for a while I decided to use the chisel again. This time, just pushing with my hand, the chisel took off the two layers pretty easily. Apparently, the water softened the layers, so I wet down other parts of the fireplace front and scraped away the junk pretty well. I ran out of time, so I couldn't finish, but I made enough progress for one day. (Check yesterday's entry to see for yourself.)
A Newly Remodeled Closet on the Third Floor
I spent a good deal of the afternoon working on the third floor. I had two jobs: collecting some records for taxes and cleaning out the garbage in one of the under-roof closets. I filled the back porch with garbage bags and boxes and ancient equipment of all kinds. With that junk cleared out of the closet, I swept the closet and was able to store all of our suitcases and the Mikes' Christmas present from us (a television) in the closet, thereby opening up some space on the third floor.
Looking Back into the Crawlspace in the Third-Floor Bathroom at the End of the Venting Tube and a Shoebox
One of my last jobs of the day, because it is usually the dirtiest, was to shovel more broken plaster out of the crawlspace beside our third-floor bathroom. I usually crawl into the space and shovel from the inside, but tonight I decided to shovel from the outside, so I cleared that part of the crawlspace right in front of the hole I cut in the wall. Soon, I uncovered the vent tube, which you might remember seeing from the floor below a couple of weeks ago. Next to the tube was a box. I crawled into this space to retrieve these two items.
The Same View of the Crawlspace with the Items and Garbage Removed
Then I finished clearing out that part of the crawlspace. There remains plenty of plaster, piled up to the right of this picture. I expect I'll have to return to this space at least twice before I'm finished clearing it out.
Garbage that Fell out of the Crawlspace into the Second-Floor Bathroom
While I was clearing out the crawlspace today, I kept knocking pieces of plaster down through a hole at the back of the space. (This is the hole that the vent was stuck into, but it also might have been a hole created so someone could stash a box of precious belongings where no-one else could see them.) The pieces of plaster fell into the second-floor bathroom, knocking out the insulation temporarily wedged in the bathroom ceiling. A few pieces fell all the way to the kitchen floor. Tim and I cleaned up this mess afterwards. (Quite a bit fell in the bathroom.)
The Shoebox from the Crawlspace
This is the shoebox I found in the crawlspace. I've never heard of the DeLisso brand. It may have died out in the 1970s.
The Shoebox with its Lid Off
Here is a picture of the box with its contents intact.
The Shoebox with its Lid Off and its Contents Displayed
Here is the shoebox disgorging its contents for the first time in years. The box was probably put together in 1977 (according to the dates on the prescription bottles), but the remodel of the second and third floor bathrooms took place in about 1984 (according to dates on the third-floor toilet and the second-floor insulation.
The contents of the box are as follows:
1 starter's pistol (at least that's my guess; the cock and trigger still work)
2 C batteries
8 AA batteries
2 shoe inserts (size 7)
2 prescription bottles from Rock Garden Pharmacy (at the corner of McClellan and Eastern; this pharmacy is long gone, but there are two different pharmacies at two of the possible four corners where Rock Garden once was; one of the prescriptions is for Sumycin, and the other is for Tylenol # 3 [before it went over-the-counter]; the doctor prescribing these drugs appears to be Winifred DeLuke, but I wonder if this is actually the name of the person with the prescription, since that name does not appear on the labels)
1 fuse (stuck to the box of an inner sole)
1 folded piece of paper from the top of a package of Ugly Stick ("America's Strongest Tubular Rod")
6 boxes for drill and router bits
1 box of Independence Safety Matches, with a small orange cowrie shell and another small spotted and striped shell enclosed
What a strange agglomeration of junk. We'll probably keep the starter pistol, and I'll probably keep the entire box of stuff until Friday, so Erin can see what it looks like.
The Weekend's Demolition Remains
At the end of today today, here's the garbage I'm left with: two buckets of fake brick from the fireplace, one box of plumbing garbage (left downstairs by Chris the plumber and expanded a bit by me over the weekend), two buckets of wallboard from the fireplace, and five buckets of plaster from the crawlspace. Quite enough for one weekend, but there's more to come.
The Image that Opens the Following Video
The next video starts off fairly dark, so here's the image you would have seen at the opening of this video, if I'd thought to use any illumination to shoot this.
Today, I've decided to provided you with a narrated tour of the wonders of our basement kitchen.
Drain Cover I Found Last Week in the Third-Floor Crawlspace
Last week, I found something else interesting in the crawlspace, this drain cover produced by or for the Carl Frank Company of Schenectady, New York. I wonder if this company is the same as the Carl Company, a department store, that existed on State Street, about a block from where we lived, when we moved to Schenectady in 1988. I've decided to make this picture of drain cover the logo for this renovation.
When I'm finished cleaning out this crawlspace, I'll have two choices. Either I can turn it into a small storage space or I'll let Dave and John tape it up for me, and I'll leave a printout of this blog up to that point in that space inside some kind of box. That way, we can leave our own surprise for some future tenant of this space.
honi soit qui mal y pense
posted by Geofhuth at 8:39 PM
4 Comments:
I'm really glad you're keeping that stuff until I get there. Or at least I hope you haven't forgotten to keep it. Should be great.
Oh, I'm saving the whole thing for you to see!
Dad
Rock Garden Pharmacy was on the corner of Eastern and McClellan where the paint store is now. There was another pharmacy on the corner diagonally, but that was the St. Clare's Pharmacy.
Thought you'd want to know.
Nora
Nora,
Thanks for the information. Do you know when it closed? (Also, Nancy wants you to know that the paint store is no longer there. We're not sure what it is now.)
Geof
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