Flash Flood and About A Dozen Project Updates

We woke up to water in the basement due to a flash flood Saturday morning.  It dropped 5 or so inches in a few hours or something like that while we slept.  Not just those few areas that get water occasionally but every.single.room.

All of our materials and most of the belongings I’ve packed away for safekeeping through our never-ending renos and impending move across the country were down there.  At least we didn’t have the bathroom finished.  The worst damage was on the vanity we bought to put in there so we’ve since decided to get a pedestal sink and avoid the potential for more damage later.  We’ll put a cabinet in there for towels and such.

Those are my pjs, nasty work shoes and water in the basement after part had been sucked up by the wet vac.

I should also add that the water came through the window wells because first the gutters were clogged in the storm then all the rain fell into the window wells and came through the window on top of the water that seeps through the block (still working on waterproofing the basement).  Basically it came from a few different directions to ruin our weekend.

I had one of those angry cries for a minute then started hauling things upstairs, trying to quickly put my childhood memorabilia in another box since it was on top of one of the plastic bins I use for storage and by the window so it was not safe. Most things were in those plastic bins because I just don’t think boxes are enough and we’ve moved way too many times so we invested in a number of them.

The entire house is a mess of supplies and temporary storage with the wet basement.  This is what the kitchen looks like. 

Of course a number of mulch areas we just put in washed into the yard, under the 3 season, down the driveway, into the window wells and onto the patio.  I had the pleasure of cleaning that up along with the branches that fell.  That’s pretty much an every other day task anyway.  I noticed we have a bunch of dead branches and one large limb in our trees that will need professional help to get out.  Oh the fun of home ownership.

It’s all cleaned up and the basement is almost dry.  Just this morning I put most of the things back downstairs.   Life goes on.

The next day I celebrated 4 years of writing at the Dabble, my other blog focused on food and recipes.  By celebrate I mean worked in the garage on the free Umanoff chair.  It’s cleaned up of some rust, put back together with a fresh coat of black enamel spray paint, new caps for the pipe, and after 3 days of soaking in Barkeepers Friend solution, the swivel mechanism is better/functions/but is not perfect.  That stuff is awesome.)  All with a popsicle hanging out of my mouth to help keep cool.

I really wanted to share the furniture projects I’ve been tackling while Greg is at his day job but I need some time to arrange that post and get more pictures. We had 7 projects going on in our small garage at once so I’m trying to keep things separate in my mind.

I ordered more hardware for the sewing cabinet, more Miss Mustard Seed milk paint (love it) and legs for Lieutenant Dan. That’s right, we’re tackling the big guy instead of selling him.  He’s on the operating table as I type.  Awaiting a sponge bath with Murphy’s Oil Soap after more sanding.  I think we found some authentic-looking antique legs for him on etsy so stay tuned for his update.

My faux campaign dresser-the laminate one-has proven to be a tough project.  I don’t think I will ever do a laminate piece ever again if I can avoid it.  Too bad I chose it to showcase a new direction in terms of paint color for us.  It’s not gray or blue like many clients and ourselves have picked the majority of the time in the past.  I thought about not telling you and just moving on but I can’t do that to you.  I also don’t have a picture because it’s still curing-quite humid here.  Look for it later.

The color is Grain Sack from Miss Mustard Seed and is a neutral grayish-white

 The side table my mom gave us is finished.  I put the final touches on it yesterday (dark wax…something new for me) then brought it inside to cure and will soon share more about that with the green dresser.

I’ve mentioned in the past how I am not the biggest fan of distressing furniture but this table kind of screamed “try it.” So, I did and think I’ll continue on the right piece, not every piece.  I thought it was my first time distressing something but I added a light bit to the sewing cabinet a few weeks ago.

I used hemp oil from Miss Mustard Seed and the oil quickly went up in ranks as our favorite way to finish furniture. Light distressing and hemp oil just go together.  I get it more now.   Just wipe the oil on, it’s natural and imparts a lovely sheen and saturated tone to porous surfaces.

(Mostly) Greg got that free “new” front door stripped of paint and sanded.  It’s ready for primer…which brings me to the fact that we broke down and bought that Wagner Flexio paint sprayer.  Menards is having a 15% bag deal in which anything you can fit in it gives you yep, 15% off so we saved $21.  Even though it technically didn’t fit but the cashier gave it to us anyway.  Nice!  This airless sprayer will be great for our furniture refurbishing and all those doors and trim for the house.  We’re pretty excited…yes, over a tool.  That’s how we roll.

Today’s temps are around 90 and humid so I may not be doing my usual afternoon work in the garage.  I’ve moved on to the actual campaign dresser  with only a few spots to put wood filler over and since I primed it with the green dresser, it will soon be ready for paint.  I cleaned up the hardware and corner brackets (which involved Brasso, Gold Leaf Rub N’ Buff, steel wool and eventually Krylon gold leaf spray…that’s a story) but there’s still work to be done that will be easier to do when the entire thing comes together.

I’ve made this long enough so I’ll be on my way.  Have a great week!