House Rebirth

Cleaning day 2

Posted by Cuthbert Returned , Thursday, May 6, 2010 10:16 AM

I realized last night that the majority of the tasks I'm going to be describing are menial and boring at best. However I figured its worth it to journal this process. I apologize if you fall asleep reading.


So last night Amanda attacked the house with the vacuum again and then made up an oxygen-bleach solution at my request so we didn't stain the carpet upstairs. We took down some of the old wire shelving that was in place in the closets and Amanda set about cleaning them. Not sure if they are keep-able myself they are extra slimy.

I got through the room we want to use as our temporary bedroom with the bleach and then took a magic eraser to the loads of scuff marks and what not around the room. It actually started to feel inhabitable after that. I realize the bleach did more to clean than the eraser but something about walls without visible marks always makes a room less abrasive.

We discovered that the house is 4 miles from Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Wegman's, Sam's Club, Costco, and the gargantuan strip malls that are usually associated with a shopping complex that contains all of these. We went to Walmart and after the initial afluenza, associated with re-entering a Super Walmart after a long hiatus, we left with a Hoover Steamvac, Bub-bombs/Foggers, magic erasers, apples, peanut-butter, and chocolate training donuts. Okay so maybe we didn't completely dodge the afluenza fever... We went home and set about preparing the place for the bug-bombing.

The instructions very specifically say to disable fire alarms and open all cupboards so we set to it, when I made a shocking discovery. The house has an ADT security system that has been let go. That doesn't mean it doesn't freak out when you disable a fire-alarm though. Suddenly the house was filled with a terrible shrieking and our only thought was to try and punch in random numbers. The shrieking continued as I began to lose it. Amanda found the speaker whilst covering one ear and pointed at it. In my furry I stabbed random numbers onto a panel that was flashing ALARM!!! I looked at the front door knowing we had to be waking the neighbors, it was 10:30 at night. Then in a moment of clarity I ran down stairs and flipped the power breaker. Ahh beautiful silence. Of course now I was in the basement in the dark....

I turned off all the circuits to the house and then tried to turn on the main breaker....but it wouldn't budge. Convinced I was about to break something I called Dad and interrupted his movie. He laughed and said sometimes they are just sticky. So I wanked on it a bit and it switched over. Then I went about turning on the rest of the circuits making sure to leave the security system off until I can figure out what to do with it.

We setup Foggers on all three levels and donned our safety gear. Feeling like kids pretending they had grenades we set them off and ran for the door.

This morning I returned on my way to work and found signs that our foggers worked. A large pile of dead ants in the corner. One of the cool "features" of this house is the strangely huge fan built in over-top of the staircase. I figured now was a good time to use it and cracked a couple windows just slightly, with the fan set on high. You could feel the fresh air getting sucked into the house. I already like the simplicity of the system and can see using it as an alternative to AC on marginally warm days.

Tonight we will see if the place is vented enough. Goals for tonight include turning on the water heater, taking a look at the clothes washers downstairs, and the fridge. All of that plus running the SteamVac for the first time.

I should also mention that today we took my car to the doctor. It had been suffering from a general lack of braking capability which,(code for pedal was going clear to the floor before engaging the brakes) rather than drive without the ability to stop, had put the aging Ford on the side-lines so far for this move. A blown rear wheel cylinder was found to be the issue in addition to drums and shoes needing replaced. The mechanic laughed at me when I told him the magical method it takes to open the door. Thumb above the handle then pull up... Tomorrow I am looking forward to once again driving the little white car.

Ugg so if you are still awake i will apologize for the horrible nothingness of this post. As I say we are seemingly perpetually stuck in menial house chores until we can get setup and begin making this house our own. No pics today as I was elbows deep in oxygen bleach and didn't have the dexterity to take before and after pics with my feet.