The beast in the basement

Memories of those scenes from Home Alone, in the basement. Our heating system is rather old. It's oil-fired baseboard hot-water. That's a picture of the furnace itself in the basement. Copper pipe runs throughout the house, feeding hot water to baseboard units in each room. It works really well.

But here's the thing. Honest to God, I had already called the oil delivery guys. I knew the tank was low and knew I had to call before the weekend. But there was no heat today. I remained un-ruffled as I called a local service company. They got here in an amazing 20 minutes! I had checked the oil tank and had already placed an order for a delivery of 200 gallons for this afternoon or tomorrow.

The HVAC service guys, first thing, asked, "Got oil?" I said, "sure," and showed them the level on the stick. It was about four inches. Which apparently for "top-feed" tanks is actually "empty!" Who knew?

So I called the oil people (Davidson's in Swannanoa) back, and asked them to rush the delivery. They were very agreeable. The HVAC guys, Lewis and Sons here in Black Mountain, were very gracious about the false alarm. Did I mentioned they got here in 20 minutes? Better than a damn pizza! They said if there were still no heat after re-filling the oil to call them back. Live and learn: four inches of oil in the tank equals empty!

Upstairs bath

The upstairs bath is in pretty good shape. We painted over the previous pink color with this mint-y green. Libby traded out all the hardware with polished nickel. There is an ancient claw-foot tub. We are converting it with a shower kit from Signature Hardware. We wanted nickel for this too, but that was $120 more than the polished chrome, so chrome it is. Sam Phillips, a local plumber, is doing the work even as I type. I'll put a picture of the finished room when he's done, probably tomorrow. For now, here's a "before."

Other random exterior shots

It's a pretty day in Black Mountain, so it was a good opportunity to take some outside photos. We put a new toilet in the laundry; that's the old one. Yep, sitting on the rear deck. It's ultimate destiny is the Asheville Habitat for Humanity center. Anyone got an old sofa we can put next to it? Only the guy next door can actually see it. And that's a 40' Frazier fir in the back yard. Libby already has plans for it at Christmas!

Yeah, that's a Duke flag

We had complaints from neighbors who wondered just what sort of church I was actually working for! But it's Duke University; the Blue Devils. And even though they got their butts kicked around Coach K court last night by Carolina (hiss), we still love them. Libby is the grad; I graduated from Guilford College in Greensboro. So feel free to buy your own flag, hang it at your front stoop, take a picture of it and then put it on the web. But for now: HAH!

Upstairs

We have pretty much finished the upstairs. With the help of some church folks, we were able to get a lot of painting done quickly. We have refitted the fixtures in the upstairs bath. Yet to come is a tub conversion. There is an old claw foot tub that we are going to add a shower conversion kit to. When that's done, we'll all be able to use the bath. We're keeping the "fire station" theme for the boys' room, a carry over from Richmond days. The paint job is almost done.

Up top is Libby's craft room, with a lilac color on the walls; right above is our room, with a yellowy-gold color. The boys room is to the right, with the brick work in progress. Our friend Denisa gave is a complete This End Up bedroom suite a few years ago, complete with bunkbeds. We'll use the whole thing in this room when the painting is done.

New Laundry

The first task on our list was to move the laundry room from the basement to the first floor. A full bath had been located off the kitchen on the first floor. Not very logical, though a nice bonus. But we sacrificed the shower in order to bring the washer/dryer up out of the basement. Kent Patton, a member of our church, was the contractor. He did all the sub jobs also, i.e. electrical, plumbing and the like. We think he did a great job. The laundry is now the nicest room in the house.

First Peek

A first look at our renovation experience in Black Mountain, NC. We owned an older home in Richmond, VA (ca. 1950) so we have just enough knowledge to be dangerous to ourselves. With the purchase of the old farm house on Old State Road 10 (ca. 1915) we dig the pit a little deeper for ourselves. We haven't moved ourselves in yet, though most of our stuff is here in the basement.