Stumped
The overall direction of the house remodel is to allow us to move in by August or September. I see it as an ambitious summer project that is within my capabilities of getting done. Major renovations include building 2 bathrooms and a half-ass kitchen remodel. The entire house needs some TLC, but mostly in the form of patching and painting walls, so I’m not sweating that. I figure were going to get up to three surprises as we delve deeper into remodel world, unknown what those could be. I figure I can count on at least one unexpected problem and it’s safe to be psychologically ready for a couple more.
So far we managed to clear out the house so we can work on it. Moved stuff either to the garage or the dump. There’s a lot to do and we started with pulling out the stump in the backyard. Yep, I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow stump-pulling got placed high on the priority list of necessary remodeling. Ilana’s dad Scott came up from New Hampshire to see the house and assist with the remodel. Since he brought his big truck and chainsaw we figured ‘no time like the present’. The design behind the stump-pull was to create a place for Ilana’s herb garden… still is I guess, although we haven’t planted any herbs yet.
It was raining pretty hard on the 4th, which at the time was a big drag, but in hind sight probably made the earth softer and the stump pull out easier. It took three to four hours of lopping off roots, trying to pull out the stump, cutting more roots, trying again, and so on till we achieved our extractive goal. It was one of those experiences whose entire value rests on results. There was no ‘enjoying the journey’ with this. The day would be good if the stump was removed, and it would have been thoroughly depressing had we failed. Luckily it was a good day. Thanks for everything, Scott
Kerstin
2 comments:
The pry-bar in the picture is looking a little warped. I guess it still works fine doesn't it?
I should elaborate for the sake of other readers. Last fall I had used that pry-bar to build a trebouchet at my Dad's house. The pry-bar was the axle, and while it was slighlty bent under the load, I doubted that it had exceeded the tensile strength of the material. Dad had other thoughts though, and after a few weeks of flinging fun, he had Ben disassemble the machine. I can't really tell from the picture if the pry-bar is warped from our previous mis-use of it, but jusging from the photos it still is serving some purpose, although the truck/chain does make it partly obsolete, non?
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