It's like staring at a blank wall

Reliable and dependable as always, our intrepid photojournalists managed to shoot a few pictures of the newly painted downstairs bathroom after all.

And so, without further ado, here are three bathroom views:

View #1:

View #2:

And View #3:

At this point, we could wax philosophical and use the blog as a metaphor for life. We could point out that on some days you get the color, the excitement, and, yes, the sheer and utter drama of roof views, but on other days, all you see are pictures of bare white walls.

However, we won't.

Instead, we'll leave you with the following:

[Cue: TV announcer voice]

Will a solution be found for the stair problem? Will the hole ever become an attic stairwell again? Will we be able to start using the attic for storage any time soon - or will the attic remain a vast and empty void above our heads?

Tune in next week, when we (hopefully) discover the answers to these and other intriguing questions.

Shabbat Shalom to all.

The case of the disappearing stairs

Hi.

So, remember the olden days (read: yesterday), back when we used to have an attic staircase? Well, not so much anymore:

Yeah, that's right. We're back to having a hole with a ladder leading up to it.

Here are the steps themselves, waiting ever so patiently in the corner for someone to figure out what to do with them:

And here's the metal formerly known as our railing:

Meanwhile, the downstairs bathroom is all painted. Our photography team is currently otherwise occupied, and so for now, you'll have to suffice with the following rather grainy picture:

 

Shabbat Shalom from the entire Our Shiputzim staff.

Oh, well. But it certainly was nice while it lasted

So, the railing paint dried, and the kablan went ahead and put down the steps.

Here's a view from below:

And here's a view from above:

And here's a close-up to get a feel for the color:

Now, before the accolades and the compliments begin flying in, I should report that the kablan is currently undoing the entire thing - the steps, the railing, the support, and all! What was the problem with the way it was? See if you can tell from the following picture:

Yup, that's right. By the 7th or 8th step, a grown-up has to crouch way down in order to continue upstairs. We all knew that it wasn't going to be perfect, but this is much, much worse than anyone - including the kablan himself - suspected. Anyway, to make a long story short, he's redoing the stairs. The more comfortable solution would be to make the hole bigger, but that's not really an option due to structural concerns. So, the only thing to do is to make the stairs that much steeper and, therefore, more ladder-like. Obviously, this is far from ideal, but ein mah la'asot. (To his credit, the kablan feels very bad about all this and told us that he is incurring any and all costs of the fix.)

Rest assured that our dedicated staff is closely watching this story and will continue to bring you updates as they develop.

Black is the new... well, er... black

Good morning, Our Shiputzim fans.

The kablan arrived first thing this morning and proceeded to paint the railing:

Note: The stairs are nowhere near as steep as they appear in this picture.

And here's a close-up so you can get a better feel for the color:

Short digression on the color: To be perfectly honest, black wasn't our first choice - although it is infinitely better than the silver of the first coat. Initially, we had considered an extremely dark gray, but that shade only came in "grainy paint" rather than the "textured paint" which we preferred. So, we opted for basic black and think that it came out rather nicely B"AH.

And now back to our regularly scheduled renovations:

After finishing the railing, the kablan headed downstairs and removed our bathroom door:

Now, before you go and accuse him of unnecessarily cluttering up our living room with bathroom doors, let me assure you that he had a very good reason for doing so: He's painting the downstairs bathroom. To that end, we took everything out of the bathroom, and he brought his ladder in:

As always, watch this space for any and all future updates, and please keep those comments coming.

Hakarat HaTov

Just a quick post to thank the "anonymous" electrician who switched our bathroom light switch to a double switch.

Here's a picture:

Let's zoom out a bit, shall we, in order to get a feel for the bigger picture:

Thanks again for all your help.

In addition, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who joined us at this evening's festivities. [Insert: A special shout-out to SET for taking a break from studying and for driving some of our other guests.]

Good night from the entire Our Shiputzim staff.

Hidden under the floorboards?

Good evening.

The kablan spent today working on the "finish". [Mah?! Zeh gam milah b'Anglit?!]

Among other things, he put up all the doors.

Here's ASG's room:

Here's AMG's room:

And here's the bathroom:

He also did some more touching up in the attic:

And:

In addition, he removed a floor tile:

But, as it turned out, there was no buried treasure underneath:

He must have misread the treasure map.

In any event, in case you're wondering how he got the tile up, the answer is: suction, of course.

Here's a picture of the suction tool he used:

Finally, we conclude tonight's post with a close-up of one of the new-age light bulbs in our new dining room light fixture:

Does it get any cooler than that? (Okay, don't answer that...)

That's all for now.

Good night, and see y'all back here tomorrow.

Water, water everywhere

Hi.

We have several major developments to report, and so let's not waste any further time with the pleasantries.

Here's what's happening:

We begin with a picture of the paint for the railing's second coat:

Next, we turn our attention to the attic, where the insulation (bidud for the Hebraically-oriented among you) is basically up. There are still some spots that need to be taped, but most of it is finished, as you can see here:

And here:

And also here:

And, lastly, here:

In related news, YZG and the kablan spent a good deal of time hosing down the attic (hence the title). Unfortunately, however, we don't have an underwater photographer on our team, and so pictures are not available. You'll have to use your imagination for this one.

Meanwhile, the kablan finished painting the attic wall over the porch, as you can see here:

Now, I'm sure you'll agree that all of the above is quite fascinating. However, I've saved the best for last. Today's top story is that YZG put up four lights today:

1) In the downstairs bathroom

[Ed. - Due to presumed lack of interest, no pictures of this particular light will be published. Please note that this light fixture is identical to the one in the upstairs bathroom. Our readers can find a picture of the upstairs bathroom light here.]

2) Over the couch, as you can see here:

And here's a close-up:

3) Over the dining room table:

And here's a close-up of one of the glass bowls:

Please note that the lights are currently way too low. YZG hopes to I"YH raise them closer to the ceiling when he has time.

4) On the wall over the stairs leading to the second floor:

That's about it for now.

Watch this space for any and all future developments.

The one that didn't have a title

Good evening.

Okay, so I've received some feedback to the effect that the end of the previous posting was perhaps a touch overly dramatic. But, as our dedicated readers should be aware by now, this entire blog is written tongue completely in cheek.....

.....Anyway, the kablan spent the afternoon painting.

He worked on the wall over the porch, as you can see here:

And here:

He also worked on the hole, as shown here:

And here:

And finally, he did a bunch in the playroom, as evidenced here:

That's it for now.

See y'all back here tomorrow.... [all together now] .... same Our Shiputzim time, same Our Shiputzim channel.

Roof views: They're baaaaack....

Yes, that's right! Call your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers. After a relatively long hiatus, we are very pleased to announce that we have more roof views for you.

But before we get to them, let's tend to some other matters of business.

First, the kablan painted, varnished or stained (pick your favorite word!) the steps:

He also plastered around the hole:

And:

He also filled in the cracks in the playroom:

And, finally, the moment you've all been waiting for..... roof views!!!!!

[Cue: roof view theme music]

View #1

View #2

View #3:

And, lastly, View #4:

And in conclusion, I've just been informed by one of our intrepid reporters that further developments are unfolding at this very moment. Our team of photographers has been dispatched to the scene, and we'll be sure to get you the details of the story as soon as they become available.