Starting To Renovate the Workshop

We went to the new house that will be my workshop as soon as we got the keys Friday afternoon.  I was excited to see it again.  Unfortunately it looked dirtier than I remembered, but anyway, I knew it was a project and that it needed a lot of work.

The water had been turned off at the house a few months ago and we (meaning Eric, since I had no clue how to do that) attempted to start it going again.  He flipped a switch but the water pump would not draw from the well.  He knew that we had to get some water from our own house a block away in order to "prime the pump" and get it going again.  We filled up some jugs of water and took them back to the shop and, after quite a lot of pouring water and switching switches and opening valves, he did get it to work!

The pump is in the basement which is a complete maze of wires, pipes, ductwork, rotten beams and cobwebs.  It is very poorly organized.  I did not take any photos, but think of those DIY shows you see where the place looks dirty and there are parts hanging everywhere, and that's what it looks like.

Today, Saturday, daughter Laura and I went to start cleaning.  Upstairs is the main bathroom, which I figured I would clean so that I could use it.  There is no window in the bathroom, the floors are stick-on tiles.  Actually, the whole bath enclosure is also stick-on tiles.  For anyone who doesn't know this, do NOT use stick-on tiles in a bath enclosure!!!


Speaking of stick-on tiles, they are in all of the upstairs 3 bedrooms and hallway.  Laura was helping to scrape them off with an ice scraper.  The plywood underneath is very sticky... anyone know how to get off the stickiness?


Since this house will be a workshop for me, I need a room big enough to put my large power tools. By that I mean tablesaw, jointer, planer, drill press and compound mitre saw.  I also have sanding tools and a few routers.

The room at the front of the house to the left of the front door is not large enough for all that.

















In the photo above, through the wall to the right, is a back room that was used for a computer and perhaps as an office?

Here you can see the built in desk, which is on the back of the wall on the right, in the above photo.



So, all I need to do is remove the desk and knock down the wall, right? And that will open up the two rooms to give me a bigger workshop.

Of course, as often happens in those house renovation shows like "Love It or List It" or "Property Brothers," it's not always that easy!

I just wanted to get a sledge hammer and knock through the wall, but Eric said... we had better make sure that we can do that safely first.

More tomorrow, stay tuned...



Sharing at the following blogs:
Dwellings
Coastal Charm
Elizabeth & Co.



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