Corian® Problem

When we renovated our kitchen a few years ago, we chose a Corian® counter top.We were prepared for scuffs, chips, or burns, but we were not prepared for this:

After being away from the house all day, we returned home late in the evening. I went straight to bed, but my husband stayed up to watch a movie. In the middle of the night, he heard a loud noise. The counter top had cracked! Or, more accurately, the seam split. 

We put in call a to the store where we purchased the counter top, and a work order was sent to the contractor that did the install. Over a week went by before making another call to the store. A couple more days, and the installer finally called. The employee admitted she isn't very familiar with the installation or materials, but asked for photos to show "the guys in the back."

I'm no pro, but that looks like a failed seam to me, making this an installation problem.

What she told me about the warranty did not agree with what I read on the Dupont 10-year Limited Warranty. According to her, they only offer a one-year warranty on installation. Dupont's warranty states:

"The warranty covers seam performance"

We'll see what they respond with. I'm really hoping this is an easy repair. Wish us luck!

Gross Out Update: Floor Painted

I have no pictures yet, but the walls are finished, and the floor received the first coat. The paint is a Miller oil based paint. We're advised to wait two days before walking on it. So the second coat will go down Friday. Then we're supposed to wait five days before walking on it.

Also on Friday, the furnace is coming out. A new furnace will come in late next week. The house is a getting a little cool in the evening, but we're ok with sweaters and blankets. Two blankets!

Gross Out Update: Day 18

Foreword:

And after writing this post, I wondered "should I post this?" It's negative. It's complainy. Because I'm getting frustrated. Why? Because this. is. taking. too. long.

Thursday 9/6/13, 6:00pm: Sewer main backs up, flooding our basement with about 1,000 gallons of raw sewage. Many phone calls. City crew comes by. Contact restoration firm. Now it is 9:00pm.

Friday 9/7/13: I miss work while the contractors take our belongings, sort contaminated items into trash and salvageable piles. They work from 10am to 4pm. The dining room and spare room are full of boxes. There is a very large rug rolled up on the living room floor. Why am I keeping this rug? Air scrubber runs all weekend.

Monday 9/9/13: Crew shows up, removed air scrubber and drop off drying equipment. I get my first look at the basement. It's wet, and musty.

Friday 9/13/13: Crew returns to pick up drying equipment. Yes, the basement is dry, and smells much better. Slightly musty, but typical of a basement. Not our basement, but nothing extreme. The warehouse is complaining that our stuff smells. We are still waiting for them to provide a list of what they have from us, so that we can approve it. 

On the days between, there are many phone calls to HVAC techs, plumbers, and restoration contractors. 

Monday 9/16/13: Plumber comes to see the basement.

Tuesday 9/17/13: HVAC tech comes to see the basement.

Wednesday 9/18/13: Painter shows up at 9am. Leaves to buy paint- returns 10am. Works for 90 minutes, then runs out of paint. Leaves for 60 minutes to by paint. Returns and paints for 90 minutes, then leaves before the walls are finished. Says he'll be back Thursday morning to finish. Restoration contractor shows up, explains that they will be replacing all of the other appliances. No word on the rowing machine. Provides list of our nonsalvagable items. (We did the math- wowzers.) Contractor says we are a week behind schedule, and he'd like to have our job finished by the end of the month. 

Thursday 9/19/13: Plumber arrives at 8am, installs new water heater. No painter.

Friday, still no painter. No HVAC tech. Call the contractor, no answer. No call back.

Monday 9/23/13: Call the contractor again. He's surprised the painted didn't show. I told him I was also surprised. He says they will call us when they know when someone will come by. (Um, ok... I guess I don't have a choice, so sure.) He also thanks me for "stimulating some thought on this." (groan)

Now, do you know that if you call your voicemail, you have an option to send a voicemail without calling? The painter sent me a voicemail. At 5:30pm on Monday. Ok dude.

Today, Tuesday 9/24/13: I call the contract, let him know the painter's message explained that he would only be able to paint Wednesday. I know there are two days of painting to go, and that the second day is followed by 5 days of no one walking in the basement- that means Wednesday, maybe Thursday paint, and hopefully Tuesday we can start putting things away. Hopefully. But he can only paint Wednesday. So should we paint it ourselves, or consider another painter? He said to have the painter come Wednesday, and he'd get someone else to finish the job.

No money has moved yet- we haven't had to pay anyone. We've been waiting on the contractor to give us their dollar amount, so we can submit our total to the City. So it is in the contractor's interest to get this job done, so he can get paid. So why. is. this. taking. so. long? (sigh.)

Gross Out Update: Dried Out

Disinfecting

Monday morning, the crew showed up at 9:00am. They pulled the air scrubber out, and sprayed disinfectant around the basement floor and walls. Next they set up a dryer unit (that looked about the same to me), and said they would be back Friday to check on the progress.

Call me, maybe?

After a handful of missed phone calls, and voice messages, I finally connected with the plumber on the phone on Wednesday. After telling our restoration contractor that he would have time to see us this week, he informed me it wouldn't be until next week. 

source

Me: (ahem) What?

Plumber: Well, you're at a hotel, right? I mean, it's not like you're living without hot water.

Me: (trying to stay cool) No, we're in the house. We haven't had hot water since Thursday afternoon.

Plumber: Oh! .... yea, you're gonna wanna call someone else."

Me: Yes, definitely. Thank you for...

Plumber: I can recommend some...

Me: No, thanks, I'll call our contractor. Thank you

Plumber: (starts to speak again)

Me: (click)

Hm. Now what?

My next call was to our restoration contractor. Clearly irritated with the plumber, he explained that the plumber told him this week would work. He doesn't get paid until he finishes this stuff, so he wants that plumber almost as much as I do! 

The HVAC company also called, and I called back, and they called, and I called back. And I called back again. No word.

Friday arrived. The new plumber called. Wanted to come next week, during another appointment. But he could come another day, which would totally work- score!

Also Friday, the restoration contractor's warehouse called. Apparently our basura pile is "starting to stink" which had me wondering why they haven't dealt with it yet. Now they are making a detailed inventory, which we will approve. After we sign off, they will dispose of those items, the basura pile will officially be gone. 

There's an odd emotional side to all this. As a bit of a pack rat, I assign unnecessary emotional attachment to clutter. Seeing so much of it disappear has been hard. But it's making me grow. I had let go of those items, and now I will revisit them in the warehouse. One last chance to cling to clutter. I don't have any concern about some sort of emotional reaction- it's just a little weird. 

Finally, after the dryer was pulled out of the basement, I took my first look into the basement. And of course, I recorded it.

Next Up

So besides visiting the warehouse next week, we're going to have the plumber by to inspect the water heater, and theoretically an HVAC inspector will check the furnace. After those two things happen, the restoration contract will repain the floor, and if needed, the walls. The paint is supposed to cure for 5 days before we move anything back to the basement. But! Next weekend, we can start moving things back into the basement. Thank God!

If we're lucky, the restoration contractor will let us know what of our "to be cleaned" pile is salvageable. Then they will be able to take their bill, the cost of any basura/non-salvageable items and total that up, providing the total to the City's Risk Management office. THEN, if we're really lucky, we'll get our check.

Gross Out Update: The First Day

Clean-up Begins

The restoration crew showed up at 9am. We discussed the scope of their work, and the supervisor answered some questions we had about his experiences working with the City of Portland. It was reassuring- we took notes on what he said, read over the contract and let the crew get to work- after pointing out that we had purchased coffee for them.

We provided fresh coffee for the crew, purchased from a local coffee shop in a to-go carafe. We wanted to say thanks in advance for the work they were about to take on. We didn't want to do this work ourselves, and were happy that this crew was ready to tackle the situation in our basement. Thanks, guys! (Apparently they do not typically accept food and drinks, unless they are purchased for the crew specifically. They don't want to look like they came to hang out and eat all the food! Speaking from my own work experience, that sort of gesture can go a long way- even if the crew does not accept. It's always nice to know the property owner has good will towards the crew!)

Plastic sheet was going down, protective clothing was going on, and four guys were hustling around, getting down to business. They took a large vacuum into the basement, and started to suction out the remaining sewage.

Bye, Stuff!

After getting the bulk of the residue cleared, they started hauling up "sewage effective contents." As the tubs and shelving units starting come up the steps, we decided (1) empty the tub into a box, send the tub to be clean, and the box into the house, (2) that's basura (trash) send it to the front yard, or (3) that's clean, let's take it straight into the house. And so it went. Box after box.

Tubs, shelves and miscellaneous items from the to-be-washed pile were photographed. This pile eventually included all the shelving, any plastic totes that were contaminated, the washer, dryer, freezer, rower, a kettlebell, steamer,  bike pump, tool boxes, etc. Not sure that all of it will be saved- if the insulation from the freezer is effected, for example, it can't be saved.

Anything in the basura pile was listed and photographed. This pile included original trim we salvaged from removing a doorway, and two original doors. It was hard to let them go. It was frustrating, because I worked to save those things. I carefully removed them, and hauled them down the awkward stairs. It feels like grief. It was sad. We did have a chance to remove the hinges and door knobs. Even though we'll never need them, I think I'll just save them. Still makes me feel sad.

The one thing I did save from the basura pile were some paper items that are very important to me. They were large, and in a large art folder that was resting on the floor. I saved them by drying them on plastic sheeting, in the sun. I'm not sure what to do with them to assume that they are clean, but they are saved for now.

Something I'm learning from this experience is a new way to evaluate belongings. When I look at something, I ask myself "if it were covered in poop, would I save it?" It's an interesting exercise.

About 12:30, the crew took a lunch break. I donned shoe covers, and headed into the basement. Everything from the floor was out, so it looked a bit different, but nothing drastic. Still pretty much just my contaminated basement. About 2:30 they took a 15 minute break (so I took out a box a plums from the neighbor's tree, which I think they appreciated). I went back down to the basement. This time, everything was gone. So weird! And our basement is tiny. Seriously, how did all those boxes fit in there? Most of the sewage was cleaned up, but it still stunk.

By 4pm, all of our sewage effected things were either in the truck headed for the dump, or in the truck headed to the warehouse. The air scrubber was left running, and is still running. I've checked the smell by pulling back the plastic sheeting over the doorway. As of this morning, it smells musty- which is better than sewage!

Yes, our freezer is definitely contaminated.

So is the washer.

... but not as bad as the freezer! How did I not get electrocuted?!

We are without hot water- luckily the gym has showers, and I can do laundry in the machines at work). All the meat from the freezer fit into the regular freezer in the kitchen (but either a roast, or a whole chicken falls out when you open the door!)

Monday, the crew is due back at 9am. They should be disinfecting the floor and walls. A furnace technician will inspect the furnace, and a plumber will inspect the hot water heater. Also, they will repaint the basement floor. We're waiting to hear back from Risk Management (City of Portland) regarding our claim, additional information about our belongings that were taken to the warehouse (especially the rower and appliances). We've been told we should have a check by the end of the week, and should be getting things back in order by the end of the week. However, I fear it's going to take much more time than that. Fingers crossed!

Gross Out Update: Discovery, and Containment

Discovery

When I first walked down the basement steps, chatting on the phone with my sister, I had no idea what I was going to walk into. After the initial shock, I grabbed the camera, and my rubber boots. Here's a clip from the video, showing the sewage erupting from the floor drain:

Great video, right? Maybe I should have a motion sickness warning at the beginning.

Like many houses built in the 1920s, the basement floor slopes to the drain. The drain is about six inches below the highest point in the room. Right at the drain, the sewage was about seven inches deep, and only about an inch deep on the far side of the basement.

My first call was to family ("What do I do??") and my second call was to the plumber we know. Next, call the city water bureau. It was 6:00pm, and the after hours recording directed me to pick this number, and that until I reached the after hours sewage emergency line. I gave my address and a description of what I saw ("There is literally sewage flooding my basement!!"), and was told that the emergency crew would be over after their current call.

I went back to the basement for pictures. I also took pictures of the outside of the house, showing how dry it was- it had just started lightly raining, so our downspouts were not a factor.

If this happens to you, call the city, and wait for city maintenance to come out and check it out. If the problem is on your property, you need your insurance company and a plumber. If the crew determines that the problem is in the city's sewage main line, the city is liable. Hold off on calling your insurance company until you have more information- and save yourself a wasted claim. Preserve those discounts! I called our insurance company, to ask advice, which initiated a claim. It was after hours, so I couldn't reach my agent directly. Luckily, in the morning our agent identified our "claim" as "inquiry only." Phew- discounts intact!

Between phone calls, I also talked to our neighbors, letting them know to check their basements. We were the only house effected! But that's great news for them, so I'm glad that everyone doesn't have to deal with it.

When the city crew arrived, I showed them to the basement. The flood had receded, and I could really tell just how gross things were. I pointed out the clean out. They looked at the toilet (literally, just looked at it. "ok, there it is.") Then, we went out to the street, and looked in the manhole. They let me look too, and take pictures. The guys were super nice.

The dark, open pipe at the bottom of the manhole is the sewer. It's about 10 feet below the surface of the street. You can see how high the flood reached in the manhole, and the fresh deposit of debris. The top of that flood was about three feet below the street surface. 

The manhole is uphill from our house, so the top of that flood is roughly about the ceiling of our basement. So yes, plenty of pressure to push into our pipe, and into the room.

The crew told me that this showed the blockage was in the main line, NOT on our property. This is very good news for this homeowner, because we are not liable for problems on the city's side of the line. They made special emphasis on the fact that the problem was in the city line, and that we should contact Risk Management the next day to make a claim for losses.

Our next call was to a restoration company. The first company I tried called back before I could dial the next company. They could have sent a crew out that night, but I thought for what would get done that night, it wasn't worth the added stress and missed sleep. So we arranged for the crew to come to the house in the morning. 

Containment

When the plumber called back, he advised that we pour lime on the sewage remaining in the basement, to help limit the spread of germs, and help with the odor. We also taped over the doorway from the kitchen, to contain the smell. 

Here is where I try to do math:

One square foot is 12x12 inches = 144 square inches per square foot. Basement is roughly 550 square feet. 550 x 144 = 79,200 square inches of total area.

Average depth of sewage = 3 inches. 3 inches x 79, 200 = 237,600 total cubic inches of sewage.

Using this converter, that comes to 1028.5 gallons of sewage. All up in the NE PDX Basement. Wowzer!

It was about 9:00 when I got of the phone with the restoration company. I spent almost three hours on the phone with a number people, trying to figure out what to do, and trying to schedule the clean-up. It was exhausting, and I didn't sleep to well that night. Luckily, clean up started Friday morning, and they made a ton of progress, so I slept like a rock on Friday night. Looking forward to a few more tonight!

The Gross Out of 2013

What is The Gross Out of 2013, you ask? If you can't handle gross, stop reading now. If you're ready for some gross, please continue.

The Gross Out of 2013 refers to the time when the sewer backed up, and flooded our NE PDX Basement. Yes, that's right, the sewer flooded our basement. Super gross. Solid human waste, waste-mud, and soiled feminine hygiene products (so sorry).

Over the next few days/weeks, I'll try to keep up with what happened, and how we will be handling the aftermath.

All I have done for the last three hours is watch, talk on the phone, be grossed out, and wash my hands over and over. Stay tuned for more on The Gross Out of 2013!

Busy Doing Not Much

It's summer. I've been busy with zero home improvement projects. Instead, I've been sunbathing, drinking sun tea, spraying the hose for no real reason,  and drying my laundry on the line (which I string between an old metal fence post and the fig tree. Classy!) Basically, I'm busy doing nothing.

We are ramping up for a few last projects, then we're going to be "done" with the bungalow. As in, we're going to stop trying to fix it up, and focus more on building the dream home. I haven't figured out a name for her yet. The SW PDX Dream Home? That's what I keep going back to. House in the Woods?

When we build the dream home, we're going to try to rent the bungalow to a really wonderful couple that has a nice dog and maybe ever a really awesome baby. That's what we'll try to do. Who know how it will actually work out. Fingers crossed.

I expect we'll be back to work on the NE PDX Bungalow soon. Maybe by the end of this month, or early next month. Maybe.

Anyway, that's it- nothing to blog about. But I'm so glad so many other people are busy with home improvement, so I can still selfishly enjoy reading your blogs, while I laze the long summer hours away doing very little.

NE PDX Bungalow Life

Since starting the blog in 2009, I've been blogging about home improvement and restoration projects. During that time, other things were happening that I wanted to include, but they weren't really in line with the home improvement theme of the blog.

Enter: the Northeast Portland Bungalow LIFE blog. Posts on the Life blog will include recipes, diy projects, decor and other miscellaneous things that feel relevant but don't fall under the home improvement umbrella.

I'm starting off 2013 with thirty days of paleo recipes. Each day will include one paleo recipe (with modifications noted). I'm not there will be some serious flops, but if there is a big score, at least it will be recorded!

Please do check out the Life blog once in a while, and chime in! Share a project idea, tell me what lessons you learned on a recipe, or whatever comes to me.

Thanks for checking it out!

2013

May 2013 be filled with good finds, good deals, surprisingly easy home improvement and peace on earth :)

From our bungalow to yours, Happy New Year!

Fireplace: Reveal

Yesterday we finished stripping paint from the fireplace. With no decent light for photos, I didn't post any. So here are a few shots of the finished brickwork:

I checked out Carrie's post about sealing brick and Wendy & Alex's post on repointing. Crumbling is minimal. There is one crack, above the opening. We've decided against repointing at this time. We may revisit that later, or may seal the brick and mortar to prevent further crumbling. Whichever way we go, I know these posts will come in handy.

If you are considering doing this project yourself, I would definitely recommend it. Find some links here and check out those links above. These other blogs have lots of great tips, and gave me a good idea of what I was getting into.

You may remember when we started this project, the first step was softening the first layers of paint with heat guns, and scraping away the gummy residue as much as we could. That took care of roughly three layers (white, red and tan), revealing the first layer of butter colored paint on the brick.

The second (and sometimes third, fourth, fifth...) pass was made by applying chemical stripper, allowing the recommended wait-time, and scrubbing the residue off with wire brushes and steel wool soaked in mineral spirits.

When I figured I removed as much as I possibly could, I walked away. When I came back, I could see the progress. I took some sand paper the a few places where paint still adhered to the mortar, which was much easier than getting the chemicals and brushes back out.

The smell was awful, of course. This is totally a summer project. You'll want the windows open as much as possible. You may also want to consider odorless mineral spirits.

We had to protect the floor from the stripper, and the residue sprayed about while brushing against the brick. We started with a few strips of painter's tape.

Then, metal duct-work tape. I admit that I felt like a big genius for thinking of it. I used paper bags instead of regular rolls of paper to protect the floor. The "puffiness" of the bags kept the wet paper from resting against the floor while it dried. This system worked great, and the floor was not damaged. Plus, I over-save these bags, so we have dozens of them available.

So there it is! The gray brick is really growing on me. It's going to steer our decision on a wall color for this room. I'm thinking something pale- either a taupe, or some other off-white color.

On this side of the project, my two cents is that every one's fireplace is different. For example, the heat guns saved us tons of time, but were completely ineffective for others. I get the same impression when I compare stories with other bloggers on stripping paint from woodwork. So try different methods, and figure out what works best for you. And blog about it. And post pictures. So many pictures :)

Almost there

The entire fireplace has been stripped. There's a bit of residue to strip on one side, but then we'll wrap up paint stripping.

Rather than go through the steps of learning to repoint, match mortar, gouge out mortar and repoint the brick, we're going to seal the brick. There is one crack, but crumbling is minimal and the fireplace is structurally sound. Carrie, over at Brick City Love, wrote a great post about how she exposed and sealed her brick walls. I'm hoping I can have similar success.

And if you're looking for a little more, check out Wendy and Alex's repointing project over at the Old Town Home.

The remaining question is about sealers. Do I use an acrylic based sealer, or a water based poly sealer?

Fireplace: 90%

Paint stripping on the fireplace is at roughly 90% completion. Half of one side still needs to be stripped. I've applied one area of stripper, and hopefully will finish tonight. I hope I have the motivation to finish this project tonight.

We've been working

Stuff has happened at our NE Portland Bungalow. We built a shed. We figured out a great painting trick. We painted stuff. But I haven't blogged that stuff.

Excuse #1: My camera was basically broken. But now I have a shiny new Canon with lots of megapixels and a decent lens.

Excuse #2: If I don't have a whole day to dedicate to a project, it's infinitely more difficult to get motivated to work.Whenever I force myself to use those spare 90 minutes to work, I see lots of progress. So why is it so hard to get motivated when there is less than a complete day to work?

Among the bloggable things we've done:

• Fireplace stripping is very nearly done. I want to post pictures to fish for opinions about the color of the brick.
• The shed is built. Primed, but not painted. We've been using it for months.
• The bathroom is painted. And the broken tiles are replaced.

Salvage these doors!!

I just found some doors on Craigslist. I want them.

source

In a few years, we are building another house. I would love love love to have these doors for that house. The doors come from City Hall (I assume Portland City Hall). I will keep my fingers crossed that these doors will be available in a couple years when we start stock piling building materials...

These doors are available in Sherwood (at Sherwood Liquidation). If you haven't been there, it's a cool place to poke around and find miscelaneous goodies, including tools, antiques and building materials.

Check out the ad: http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/atd/3419592681.html

Fireplace: 85%

Most free minutes of the last two days have been spent stripping paint from the fireplace bricks. The front is this close. One side is almost done 90%, and the last side is yet to be stripped. If I buckle down and finish the front and first side tonight, that only leaves that last side, which I'm estimating is about 5 hours of work. So, probably 10 hours, right?

I'm not sure how much we'll like the gray brick. We haven't settled on a wall color yet. The wall paper still needs to come down, and the woodwork still needs to be stripped. But eventually, we'll need a decision on the wall color.

I will be so glad when this is done!

Fireplace: Phase One Complete

With a friend's help, we finished using the heat guns on the fireplace. Next up, we'll use chemical strippers to remove the rest of paint. The mortar is weird- some places look very dark, other places match the brick. When we finish with the chemical strippers, we'll see what shape the mortar is in. We'll definitely be repointing, so we'll have a chance to make it all match.

No pictures tonight- that was surprisingly exhausting!

Revisiting the List

I've been stalking my own blog. We're getting things accomplished, but I don't feel like there's much to show. In reality, there is. There definitely is.

I'm thinking a re-visit to the 2012 List will help put things in perspective.

And finally, the 2012 List

• strip the wall paper in the front room
• strip the wood work in the front room
• build a shed **Construction complete. Needs paint.
• paint the front room
• level the front yard **We might nix this one.
• landscape both yards
• build retaining wall **We might nix this one, too.
• install paver patio
• repair driveway and add pavers
• repair plaster in bedroom **STARTED!
• strip paint on bedroom woodwork
• paint bedroom
• finish plaster repair in office
• finish stripping woodwork in the office
• paint office
• repair 5 sash windows

We might nix the front yard work because, really, we're going to rent the house in a few years and a retaining wall won't likely make this house easier to rent.

Also, not on the list: Lots of pruning, and the fireplace is about 25% complete. New dining room light fixture, new railing on basement stairs and roller blind in the bedroom. Painted the bathroom, completed plaster repair everywhere except the bedroom walls, and pressure washed the front sidewalk and steps. The next big thing will be painting the exterior of the house.

And after all that? We'll probably try to refinance. Phew.

Stripping the Fireplace

I've been looking at this paint job for four years, wondering what beautiful bricks might be beneath the tan, white, maroon and peach layers. 

I like to do my research before tacking a new project, soI've read a few other blog posts about stripping paint from fireplace brick. Checking these posts helps me get pumped up to take on the project! I want to give a special shout out to a few of you:

• Bungalowcious
• Westview Bungalow
• Bungalow 23
• 1912 Bungalow
• 1914 Foursquare

I went into this project expecting the worst. I expected difficult labor, lots of time, elbow grease, strippers, soda blasters, brushes, drips, stink and a very unhappy husband.

So I gathered some supplies... I am using a few different brands of each product that we have left over in the basement. On the woodwork we've been using Smart Strip, but I wanted to polish off the other cans of product in the basement.

Then I ran some tests. First, applying chemical stripper straight onto the painted brick. A test with stripper applied to the paint:

Stripper alone doesn't cut it. Even two applications didn't get to the first layer of paint. This might be a point where a specific product would be preferred (insert your favorite product here).

In another spot, I tried hitting the paint with the heat gun, scraping off what I could, and then going after it with the chemical stripper. The heat gun made a huge different, as you can see. It really loosened the paint's grip on the brick. It wasn't too impressive though- it felt like trying to comb gum from your hair. Really stick gum. And not your hair, but maybe a teddy bear's hair. But after the heat gun, the stripper worked very well.

 

The heat gun takes roughly 3-5 minutes per brick, and I use my painter's tool in a chiseling fashion, scraping away some of the paint.

The chemical stripper sits on the brick for about 15 minutes. Then I scrap off some goo with a plastic scraper. Next, I dunk a wire brush or steel wool (I use either and my preference varies as I work) in mineral spirits and scrub off the residue. It takes about 5-6 minutes to scrub each brick and the neighboring mortar.

I haven't used the vinegar to remove the residue yet because when I went to grab it from below the sink, I saw a Magic Eraser and thought that would be an interesting experiment. Of course, the eraser disintegrates quickly, but it definitely did the job. However, it doesn't really get into the crevices well. I'm hoping vinegar and a towel will have better results. But still, not bad. This last picture shows a few bricks that I wiped down with the eraser. You can see a slight change in the color- the flatter gray is residue stained by the mortar. The bricks themselves are a color similar to sidewalk concrete.

I took this picture before finishing for the day. I have about half of this side of the fireplace cleaned down to the brick and it took about half a day. It's really not bad at all. I feel very lucky that it's going this well!

Closing the Doorway

Between the spare room and the bathroom was a doorway. The extra doorway occupied valuable wall space, and went unused for three years in the house. When it came time to close this door for good, we enlisted the help of our amazing neighbor David, who is also a carpenter.

First, remove the trim. We tried to save as much as we could, to reuse when we finish the basement. Our woodwork is easily replaced, so I'm not sure it's entirely worth the effort and having to save a bunch of boards in an already small basement, but oh well.

(This picture doesn't entirely capture how bad that green was. 

We have since painted it, as a temporary solution.)

Then, select straight studs. For this small opening, we needed five total. We measured the opening and  cut the boards accordingly. We couldn't get the 16" on center spread, so we spaced them pretty evenly- I forget the exact measurement. We laid everything out, then nailed it in place (two nails at each junction).

We tapped the frame into place with a hammer, working carefully. We measured how deep the frame set within the wall, to get as close as we could to the depth of the drywall. Then we nailed through the new frame into the existing framing.

We used regular drywall, although looking back I might have selected a specific product that our plastered recommended. I forget the name, but will try to track it down. It's a type of drywall that works best with plaster. But it's the same idea, and our regular drywall worked fine.We used drywall screws roughly every foot down the length of each stud.

Apply a plaster bonding agent to the drywall, and use a lightweight plaster. Spread it over the wall. We liked a product our plastered used- it sets in 20 minutes. That means you've got to work fast and will likely have a big a wasted material, but it sets much faster than some other products we used. Everyone has their own favorites, but we're happy with it.

After working for hours and hours and more hours to make the wall look good, we did eventually hire a plasterer to skim the wall. It took him no time at all, and the finished look is great. We use a bonding primer before painting over plaster. Not sure if that's always necessary, but that's what we're doing.

So there it is! In a nut shell, that's how we removed the doorway, with tremendous help from an experienced neighbor and our plasterer. While I mostly watched the framing process, it's absolutely doable.