Bathroom Exhaust Fan

I have been very busy lately.  Yesterday, I installed a Harbor Breeze Aster Bath Fan in the guest bathroom. The reason for this is that the one that was in the bathroom was just a fan and not an exhaust/light.  Plus, it was very loud. 

I started by scoping out the attic making sure there would enough room and that there were not any pipes or wire blocking the location.  The first spot I want to install it, had some electrical wires.  Luckily, I was able to move one beam over to avoid them.  I removed the attic boards and drilled a small hole through the drywall to make sure it was centered in the bathroom.  Once this was verified, I traced the unit out on the drywall and cut the hole.

Once the hole was all smoothed out and the box fit snug I cut the power and the wire from the old fan pictured below to the new box.  After that I connected all the parts to the box and turned the poer back on and tested it out.  First time it did not work.  I had to take it all apart and notice that the wire had come lose. Tried it again and voila, it worked.

Below is a photo of the old fan and the new fan. Overall it took me about 2-3 hours to install and probably saved me close to $200 in labor.  All I have left is to run the exhaust hose to the outside of the house. (Note: the old fan does not have its grill on.)

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Pull Down Attic Steps

One task complete.  Last night I started working on my Pull Down Attic Steps.  It was a little harder than I expected and for a little while I thought I was going to have to have a huge hole in my ceiling.

I removed the trim around the old one with my trusty crow bar and hammer.  Using the same tools, I started removing the old steps and housing.  This took me about 30 minutes, since it was in there pretty good. 

Next I had to pull out the Skil Saw and cut some wood for the framing to the new pull down door, since it is about 2-3 inches narrower.  I did get a minor injury.  I got a nice 1/8 of an inch splinter.   Once I recovered from my injury I installed the temporary supports.  Once the supports were up and secured I placed the new door frame on top and leveled it, drilled my pilot holes and put in the lag bolts.

Next step was to hoist up the entire pull down stair and secure it to the frame. I got it secured and then had to connect the hydraulics.  This is where I thought I would have an open hole in my attic for a few days.  This is were I mess up a little.  The directions were not clear and I skipped a step prior to the hydraulics.  After alot of going back and forth, it is not up and functioning. I had to back track to see if I could find the problem.  I finally found the problem and fixed it. 

Now that the pull down steps are in working order I need to paint them and add some trim to make it look nice.

 Below are a few photo.  The first one is of the old steps.  I tried to take it before taking it down, but I guess I got too excited.  The last 2 are the finished product.

More Work.

After 4 visits to Lowe’s, I have enough supplies to hold me over for a few weeks.  This does not even include the painting that still needs to be done.

I purchased lots of dryawall and insulation to finally finish the garage.  It is one of the project, though not the most important, that I want to complete.  Garage is actually lined with brown liner board instead of drywall.

New mailbox to replace the old rusted one and the one that is located on the wrong side of the driveway.

Replacement attic pull down steps.  The ones already in the house are not safe.

Combination bathroom light/fan to add a little more light and get rid of the noisy fan already in the bathroom.

All the above should keep me busy for a while and give me something to do over the weekend.

 

Getting in shape

Along with all the house work, I have also been doing some exercises.  Not running or cycling, but push ups.  Not any kind of push ups, but the Perfect Push-up.  I am sure you have seen the adds for it numerous time in magazines and on TV.

 I never buy anything that has “Seen on TV” on it, but for some reason Perfect Push-up got me interested.  I stopped by my local Sports Authority and picked up a a set about 2 months ago.  I have been using them since and have actually noticed more results than when I used to go work out at the local gym.

 The push-ups from the Perfect Push-up are actually harder than when doing regular push-ups.  I can actually feel the burn while working out and the soreness the next day. 

Another work out that I have seen on TV that caught my eye and I might even give a try in the near future is P90X.

I’m Back

Ok, I know I have been away for a while. 

 I have updated the look,of my blog, with some minor downfalls.  I moved my entire page that was hosted at Blogger to WordPress.  Bad part is that any images that were attached to any posting did not transfer over.  I will have to slowly transfer all images little by little.  If you are reading any old post, please go to the My Old Page to see those photos.

 So besides the new look, what have I been up to lately.

Well, here it is.  I have continued to do lots of work on the house and ready for my tax refund to do even more. 

For those that have visited the house, here are something that are a little different.

• Re-painted the front/guest bathroom from a light green to a tan color.
• Removed the popcorn ceilings from the dining room, formal living room, front hall, and front/guest bathroom
• Painted the dining room, formal living room and front hall
• Installed new doorbell ringer
• Installed new light fixtures in the front hall and front/guest bathroom
• Installed chicken wire in the attic vents to block birds from nesting in the attic and keep other critters out.
• Planted 2 Japanese Maples
• Purchased some patio furniture

Removing the popcorn was the hardest of all the work done so far. My plan is to eventually do the entire house without the popcorn ceiling on room at a time.