kids. I eventually made the third floor into a bedroom and added a bath for our 2 boys. Now that was a neat bedroom. Big! Size of our whole house. Built a big desk with shelving between their beds. Original hardwood floors! There was an access door into the craw space above. Climbed up there to put more insulation into the ceiling. A few times I had to use a 40 ft. ladder from the outside to get up to the roof for repairs. You could see all over Grandview Heights from up there. Scary, also! On the second floor we had a laundry chute that went to the basement. At times we would have to used yardsticks taped together to open it when someone would stuff too much in it. I also had to remodel the bathroom because of a leak in the plumbing I couldn't find. Had to take the old ceramic tile up and when I did there was buckets of cinders under them. I was told that was to help with condensation. This all took place when Carol was THREE WEEKS overdue with our first child. Did the basement over by raising the floor and inch to get it off the concrete and put carpet on the floor and paneling on the walls. Also, eventually remodeled the kitchen with the help from my friend Buzz. New cabinets, appliances, walls, ceiling, lighting and flooring. The whole works. Loved it! We did have a few problems with the house: there was a small hole in the basement wall that we shared with our neighbor that would shoot water about a foot into our basement when we had heavy rains; we constantly got bats in the house (another story to come soon); the sewer would stop up from time to time and I would have to borrow the Roto-rooter from school to open it; our pets sometimes would get out of cages and get lost in the walls of the house (one did return and go back in the cage); had a fire in the electrical box in the basement which filled the house with smoke (that's why you always keep the door on your electrical box closed); and one winter day a water main burst in the next block and flooded our street and we were unable to move our cars because the wheels were frozen into the ice which resulted. The kids all finally graduated from high school and we decided to buy a house at the Chesapeake Bay. Price was too high so we bought another house in Lancaster that looks like a house at the bay. Not many like that in good old Lancaster. Wooden sidewalks, contemporary design and water off our deck. The water is actually a pond, but that's OK. Today we're packing a U-Haul with boxes and boxes of stuff for the move. Stuff we accumulated in 27 years at 925. Way too much stuff!! "Carol, call and order another truck!" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The "House of Memories" Story
It was an ordinary day. We were getting ready to move. Move from our old homestead. 925 Janet Ave. We lived there 27 years. All our kids were born there. My parent's lived right down at the end of the block. Carol's dad lived two blocks away in an apartment unit. We moved there from an apartment unit in Manor House Apartments. That was a neat place, but not ours. 925 was a three story, semi-detached English Tudor style house with a beautiful working fireplace on a tree lined street in one of the nicest areas in Lancaster, Grandview Heights. An elementary school was a block away. Perfect! 2nd floor had 3 bedrooms and a bathroom, but we had 3 kids. I eventually made the third floor into a bedroom and added a bath for our 2 boys. Now that was a neat bedroom. Big! Size of our whole house. Built a big desk with shelving between their beds. Original hardwood floors! There was an access door into the craw space above. Climbed up there to put more insulation into the ceiling. A few times I had to use a 40 ft. ladder from the outside to get up to the roof for repairs. You could see all over Grandview Heights from up there. Scary, also! On the second floor we had a laundry chute that went to the basement. At times we would have to used yardsticks taped together to open it when someone would stuff too much in it. I also had to remodel the bathroom because of a leak in the plumbing I couldn't find. Had to take the old ceramic tile up and when I did there was buckets of cinders under them. I was told that was to help with condensation. This all took place when Carol was THREE WEEKS overdue with our first child. Did the basement over by raising the floor and inch to get it off the concrete and put carpet on the floor and paneling on the walls. Also, eventually remodeled the kitchen with the help from my friend Buzz. New cabinets, appliances, walls, ceiling, lighting and flooring. The whole works. Loved it! We did have a few problems with the house: there was a small hole in the basement wall that we shared with our neighbor that would shoot water about a foot into our basement when we had heavy rains; we constantly got bats in the house (another story to come soon); the sewer would stop up from time to time and I would have to borrow the Roto-rooter from school to open it; our pets sometimes would get out of cages and get lost in the walls of the house (one did return and go back in the cage); had a fire in the electrical box in the basement which filled the house with smoke (that's why you always keep the door on your electrical box closed); and one winter day a water main burst in the next block and flooded our street and we were unable to move our cars because the wheels were frozen into the ice which resulted. The kids all finally graduated from high school and we decided to buy a house at the Chesapeake Bay. Price was too high so we bought another house in Lancaster that looks like a house at the bay. Not many like that in good old Lancaster. Wooden sidewalks, contemporary design and water off our deck. The water is actually a pond, but that's OK. Today we're packing a U-Haul with boxes and boxes of stuff for the move. Stuff we accumulated in 27 years at 925. Way too much stuff!! "Carol, call and order another truck!" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
kids. I eventually made the third floor into a bedroom and added a bath for our 2 boys. Now that was a neat bedroom. Big! Size of our whole house. Built a big desk with shelving between their beds. Original hardwood floors! There was an access door into the craw space above. Climbed up there to put more insulation into the ceiling. A few times I had to use a 40 ft. ladder from the outside to get up to the roof for repairs. You could see all over Grandview Heights from up there. Scary, also! On the second floor we had a laundry chute that went to the basement. At times we would have to used yardsticks taped together to open it when someone would stuff too much in it. I also had to remodel the bathroom because of a leak in the plumbing I couldn't find. Had to take the old ceramic tile up and when I did there was buckets of cinders under them. I was told that was to help with condensation. This all took place when Carol was THREE WEEKS overdue with our first child. Did the basement over by raising the floor and inch to get it off the concrete and put carpet on the floor and paneling on the walls. Also, eventually remodeled the kitchen with the help from my friend Buzz. New cabinets, appliances, walls, ceiling, lighting and flooring. The whole works. Loved it! We did have a few problems with the house: there was a small hole in the basement wall that we shared with our neighbor that would shoot water about a foot into our basement when we had heavy rains; we constantly got bats in the house (another story to come soon); the sewer would stop up from time to time and I would have to borrow the Roto-rooter from school to open it; our pets sometimes would get out of cages and get lost in the walls of the house (one did return and go back in the cage); had a fire in the electrical box in the basement which filled the house with smoke (that's why you always keep the door on your electrical box closed); and one winter day a water main burst in the next block and flooded our street and we were unable to move our cars because the wheels were frozen into the ice which resulted. The kids all finally graduated from high school and we decided to buy a house at the Chesapeake Bay. Price was too high so we bought another house in Lancaster that looks like a house at the bay. Not many like that in good old Lancaster. Wooden sidewalks, contemporary design and water off our deck. The water is actually a pond, but that's OK. Today we're packing a U-Haul with boxes and boxes of stuff for the move. Stuff we accumulated in 27 years at 925. Way too much stuff!! "Carol, call and order another truck!" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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As soon as I walked into Harrington Drive house I knew it was the ONE for you! I got there before you and walked through. I had that feeling..........
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Carry on, cousin!