Wednesday, January 28

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

My decision to put the cats into their crates so that I could instead greet the day with peace after going back to bed for an hour.

Truly, the screaming for food is out of hand. It sucks to wake up to that noise every day, though I love the cats themselves.

I did laundry, put away dishes, filled cat water tower, etc.

I talked with friend D for awhile. She has not heard from her scary daughter for a month or so, and is enjoying the peace.

I wanted to talk to D about how she's doing, since we haven't really discussed that in a while. She's still in a great deal of pain from a pinched nerve in her back, and is now experiencing groin pain. She's got an appointment with her doctor next week, and she's hoping he's got some ideas.

I advised her to be persistent if he didn't, and to see if she could be referred to a specialist. There must be some kind of recourse for this kind of pain; it's going to pretty much ruin her life otherwise.

I let her know that we could help her with moving, though that won't be until March.

I enjoyed talking with her. She genuinely seems to care about what I have to say about things, and while we often talk about fairly heavy things, it's somehow not all gloom and doom.

I did chores, enjoying the nice temperature today.

Then I went to the barn for our lesson.

It was good, we worked on cleaning up our process and body language to do changes in direction while lunging, then practiced a pattern that will be in a virtual show in a few weeks, and River did well today being ridden, with not rushing the trot to the right, and not pulling from a smaller circle.

I'm also working on doing Liberty work with a much smaller whip (used mostly as an extension of your hand for communication) to see if I can do more with him with my body language.

Then I came home, and my Sweetie had supper ready (YAY!).

We ate, and talked about preparations for moving random crap out of the main area of the basement so it can get finished, and things going on at work (it feels weird to more or less walk away from a stalled but unfinished project this week).

Comments

[ratunderpaper]

How long is the basement project estimated to take (once it gets underway)?

I can see how hometime projects slow and stall over the winter. I was supposed to paint the sulking room ceiling (and a couple of walls) before Christmas, but I lost momentum. There's impetus for planning and for tidying, but that's it. I can hardly believe I refinished and repainted the baseboards last spring. I couldn't be arsed to do it now.

[gottawonder]

No idea, and I hate to try to frame it, time-wise, lest I be disappointed.

It currently has drywall on the walls, but it needs to be mudded and taped. Then I would be on deck for painting it.

At some point, perhaps before painting, we are installing a suspended tile ceiling, since right now the ceiling is the floor above and the exposed joists and pipes etc.

There are things I could be doing too, that I have not.

We haven't really stalled that much this winter. We worked on the pottery studio pretty much right up until recently, and that was not a small job. It's just that it isn't the HOUSE.

[ratunderpaper]

The supposedly beautiful laundrette has no ceiling, either. It bothers me, but only me. That part of the basement is higher than the other, finished part, however, and is too compact to have dropped tiles.

The laundrette is part of an area that I'd like to be a pantry, but it's also part of a jumbled storage area and a mess - a "workshop". It has come a long way, though. It used to be an entire free-for-all of a mess. I shudder to remember.

[gottawonder]

We do have a utility room in the basement that likely won't get a ceiling, but that won't matter much.

The part we are putting a ceiling in will hopefully become an actual living space, where most of our books will go, and probably a seating area, and maybe a space for exercise stuff.

Would it make you feel nicer about your laundrette if it had SOMETHING for a ceiling, even if somewhat improvised? Would just painting it white improve things? How about putting up "shiplap" by screwing that to the undersides of the floor joists? Or paneling? Maybe even big sheets of cardboard with wall paper on them, and staple those up?

How about those rolls of bamboo used as garden fences? Again, just screw or nail them up to the joists?

Laminate flooring? https://youtu.be/nBmAkJPU1dU?si=rUh3o-Pkc3k8X1Ij

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XYjX4TeUMCg?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/jlgbSw2xbDQ?si=A87w9TIg2wU6LEMc

https://youtu.be/dsNKcQPLR2I?si=oe0-Qyyf4oB7iZZW

Didn't you get a brad nailer gun? You could do a lot with one of those.

[ratunderpaper]

The laundrette is about 1-1/2 ' higher than the other rooms in the basement. The ceiling, if there were one, sits very low. There's just a jumble of pipes, joists and wires. I'll try to take a picture.

[gottawonder]

That sounds like you could make your own suspended ceiling fairly easily by screwing 1x4 straps to the joists across, and then screw light board/tile what have you to the straps.

[ratunderpaper]

I would, if the height allowed it. I should measure from floor to pipes.

[ratunderpaper]

And another thing - there's an ugly brown outlet that sticks out from the wall. It bothers only me, so I might have to hang a cabinet or something over it to hide it.

[gottawonder]

I get it, the whole outlet box is on the outside of the wall?

You still might be able to get a white outlet cover to replace the brown one; you can remove an outlet cover generally with taking out the single screw in the middle, and the white cover can go on the same way. If you can find an older style outlet cover somewhere, I don't know if they're still in stores. If not, maybe in a ReStore.

Or ask around.

It doesn't require an electrician.

[ratunderpaper]

Yes, the outlet and its wiring run along the outside of the wall and jut into the room. I can fix that, said the denizen, many years ago.

My solution is to get one of those handy key-holder boxes from IKEA and put it up in front of the outlet, maybe with a command hook. There may be outrage and finally a proper fix.

[gottawonder]

It shouldn't eat up more than 1/2 inch of height, if you're doing what I described.

[ratunderpaper]

The space between the top of my head and the joists (the wires are tucked higher, and there are some areas where someone shoved long pieces of wood up in between the joists) is about 4-5". That means a ceiling height of, at best, 5'8". But it's best to find out.

[gottawonder]

That is a very low ceiling. The plus side, is it would be fairly easy for you to do the work of hanging something.

I personally think that paneling could be installed by screwing it to the joists. It's light, can be cut fairly easily to fit, and strong.

[ratunderpaper]

Agree - Masonite is thin and durable. It was used as paintable panelling in the parlour. But would those who are taller than I am yowl and creech at the 1/4" drop?

Why not try screwing in one or two masonite panels over the washing machine and dryer to give the look of a room? Why are aesthetics absent unless we hmmm and ahem?

I looked – again – at the before and after photos of the great big sulking room baseboard restoration of last spring/summer, and wonder – again – how I did that. Baseboards are not immediately noticeable, but they are all DONE, and it makes an enormous difference.

[gottawonder]

Masonite is so thin I doubt anyone would notice the negligible change in ceiling height. If they do, it is purely psychological. It's less than 1/4 inch thick usually. I think only the heavy duty stuff is 1/4 inch.

Should anyone balk at it, they are full of beans.

If it should make your life better to have a ceiling, then put your foot down and make it so.

[ratunderpaper]

I'd like a real laundry ROOM, not a space shared with tires, cans of sealant, tools, old computers and assorted bins. I don't know how to put up walls, alas, but I can start slowly with a ceiling and trim.

[gottawonder]

I hear you on that.

If your significant other is unwilling to part with the old computers (truly, why do people hoard old tech) is there a way to at least organize them in a way that hides the clutter?

Some bins or boxes that can be stacked or put on a shelf? That in itself might make it feel more intentional.

Are the tires actual car tires? Are they needed any longer? If not, would it be worth getting someone to come remove them?

Do the tools belong out in the shed, or do they need to be in the house? Is there a way to create an appropriate area for the tools in your basement besides the laundrette?

Walls are not THAT hard to put up, but it does mean a lot of lumber and being accurate with measurements. There are ways of creating the feeling of walls with screens or heavy curtains.

It sucks that you have to live with so much clutter, and that it is likely very difficult to get the clutter creator to deal with it. I'm not sure why people cling to things that are not useful in any way, and cannot be revived to a useful state.

I hope that you can create a space that is more pleasant for you, and feel free to keep picking my brain for ideas.

Our entire basement is chaos right now, but I have some hope that we can start dealing with it soon, and hopefully gain ground to create living space instead of chaos.