House in Progress Diary

Closer...

The remaining raccoons are accounted for! No more raccoons in the attic! (Thanks to Lou from Critter Detectives for your hard work and perseverance!)

We think the squirrels may have been scared away in the raccoon scramble. Lou put some paper over the hole to test it and if they haven't broken through by tomorrow, we are boarding that bad boy up! Meanwhile, the stainless steel grille cage for the mushroom vent/fan goes on in 3 days when the attic is officially declared "raccoon free".

Today we moved our furniture in (all on the first floor) and we move in with cat and dog tomorrow. We also had our second dinner guests (after my parents)....A & L. We tested out the new grill in the back yard which will function as our kitchen until the weather becomes too cold for words. The current kitchen is a little hard to cook in.

And the "Silent Paint Remover" arrived. Everyone on the street and the alley has been offering us unlimited use of tools and equipment and that is really saying something. We have some pretty handy people in our neighborhood, all of whom know what kind of shape the house is in. After doing the math and adding up the cost of liquid paint stripper for everything needed inside/outside of the house AND the outside of the garage...the SPS was the way to go. It uses infrared heat, doesn't give off the fumes and other hazards related to heat guns, does tile/paint/varnish/and more, AND it's from (well, where else?) Sweden. So, we'll let you know how that goes. The guys on TOH gave it a big thumbs up. Hopefully, we will too. So now we have our own unusual power tool to lend to helpful neighbors because, well, with a contractor and handy ma'am for neighbors, what do you lend to the couple who have everything?

I feel better with our things in the house. Though I need to clean it again (this will be the fourth time) to get the rest of the dirt/grease/grime/dust that I didn't get first 3 times. Soft Scrub is my friend.

Posted by jeanne on June 21, 2003 at 1:29 AM (1)