Best friend's house burned on Easter five years ago

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I'll upload pics later, but he got a new stove (another samsung, but this time a free-standing one) & the backsplash panels. Got one panel in & an aluminium corner angle I grabbed from the metal section on the way out. Actually grabbed two pieces in different sizes. Smaller one fit. Larger one can hide the power cord for the range hood. Sidesplash needs to be trimmed to go around a light switch. I'll post pics later after my phone charges.
 
The backsplash came with a white protective film that had to be peeled off. I peeled it down at the corners so it wouldn't get stuck under the #8 screws.
Pictures do not do it justice. It looks much better in person.
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Thanks, Tuffy. I need to try to get a better picture when the side piece goes up. We're going to get magnetic tape to put on the corner bracket to make it stick to the stainless steel better. I talked to my friend & we decided it would be better to move the light switch away from the stove & closer to the door so it won't be close to heat, won't get accidentally bumped during cooking, & also it will be moved a little lower so it will be easier for people to reach. People currently have to stumble through a dark room to find the switch over by the stove to turn on the light. I think it would be nice to also add a small holder for the ceiling fan's remote control so it doesn't get left on counters or fall on the floor.
Thinking of going with a Leviton black rocker switch
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Leviton stainless steel wall plate
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And here's my crappy copy-paste in MSPaint of the switch & plate put together
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It's meant to mimic the appearance of the stove (stainless steel & black).

I'm waiting for my friend to call me to say he's back from his fiance's medical appointment so I can bring my dremel tool over to work on some stuff.
 
Light switch turned out better than I'd thought. The switch is better-looking in person than in pictures. Pictures looked grainy & matte finish. It's gloss black which is perfect for matching the stove. It got moved a few feet away right near the entrance to the room. It's on a wall that is under construction. Had to pry the door trim back & remove a nail to get the sidesplash to go in. Removed the wainscoting because we thought it was in the way, but it was a hidden nail that was the problem.
I think it's a vast improvement.
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Got a crappy overpriced aluminium gap cover (my friend decided to get it despite there only being 1 in the package for $17). No adhesives, no magnets, nothing to make it stay in place or prevent it from scratching surfaces. It's also not long enough. But, it covers the gap for now.
 
Went to Lowes to pick up a tub & found a 2"x2" aluminium angle in stock. My friend unloaded my tub into my workshop and discovered I have a metal cutting saw there. He was able to cut the angled piece to size so it is now a side shelf next to the stove. The brightness of the aluminium stands out against the stainless steel. I wonder if there's something I can do to slightly darken it without ruining anything. But it looks better than the bare wall gap.
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Mosquitoes and wasps are getting in to the bathroom somehow. I suspect from where the old porch roof meets the bathroom ceiling area. I can see light coming through up top. From the outside I can see a lot of wood rot. There's a defunct sliding glass door there that is going to be removed & a wall will be built. I found a through-wall 180CFM vent fan that should work for pulling moisture out of the laundry room/bathroom. Sent the link to my friend and was typing that he could put it in the new wall when he messaged to say it could go in the new wall. LOL. Still trying to figure out how to build a custom back door for an emergency exit.. Ceiling is quite low so it has to be shorter than standard- but main purpose is to be a fire exit, not a regularly used door. My friend's ex could have gotten out the back door on the burned house if he hadn't sealed it up and made it into a wall. People had been breaking in via the back door to steal stuff so he decided to get rid of the door. This time he wants to have an exit since he covered up the windows.
I'm going to see if my friend wants my old laundryroom & bathroom windows (2 of them total) when I get them replaced for his house. Kitchen window he has now is huuuge and makes it so he can't have cabinets above and such. From the outside it's covered with a tarp. Wood on the windows is rotting. My old windows are metal. They need a little cleanup but they are functional.

My friend picked out a vanity he wanted (actually, I showed it to him when it was on sale but he procrastinated & the sale ended so it's back up to over $400 again). It's making me want to learn how to build a vanity myself. I have the tools, just need the practice & to clear space for working. I told my friend I'd help him build one if we can find the plans & get the lumber. No sense in paying that much for a vanity made of frickin' particle board/MDF.

Prefab vanity top would be fine. I found one under $200 that has an overflow drain (very important IMO).

I made a sort of collage of the vanity he liked plus the top I picked (I'm a helicopter friend instead of a helicopter parent). LOL.
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IF we built one, I'd want to have a proper toekick and not the above floor thing like that. I'd want to have toekick drawers to store the bathroom scale, extra bath mats, etc.
 
Got a decent shot of the kitchen with the new stove & fridge. Sonogram photos have been slapped up all over the fridge now.
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No pics, but the side shelf is now actually being used as a shelf for seasoning. My friend is now talking about moving the refrigerator out & over to the corner where we wanted to put the table, adding more countertop, installing a dishwasher underneath, & having more counter space. He's thinking that he may even be able to fit a small pantry in the corner but I think he's overestimating the size of a dishwasher. He might be able to get a small pull-out-shelf thingy like the kind they put behind a decorative pillard (I think that is the term).

He covered the ceiling in Reflectix & gaps filled w/ spray foam. He then took out the unmoving glass door/window in the bathroom, put in support studs along the wall, and covered over it w/ waterboard (they were out of sheetrock/drywall at the local store). Eventually he's going to build a custom door to go out the back & add a wall-mount bathroom vent next to it.
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Murphy table idea has been scrapped. Not enough prep space. Got a Farberware 6qt pressure cooker bc their rice cooker sucked.
New plan is to move fridge to diagonal corner and put a dishwasher in its place under butcheblock counter. Smaller window will be put in and upper cabinets will be put in.
New sink is needed.
Still need to put up hardware. For now we got under cabinet lights. HyperTough slim LEDs.
Also got tired of the junky round short toilet that flushed slowly. There are 2 disabled people staying here and everyone hated how low the old toilet was. Found a new one on sale at Lowe's and got military discount. Toto Entrada elongated chair height toilet with Mayfair sta tite slow close seat.
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The toilet is now available on amazon for $178.99 and free shipping if anyone is in the market for a toilet. It's also available for in-store pickup via Lowes. If you get a Lowes credit card you can get 20% off some stuff but if you're military you can get 10% off. I don't believe they stack. https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-CST244EF-01-Two-Piece-Elongated/dp/B00H2Y52A0/

Friend is loving the new toilet.
 
My friend told me today that his house's ownership is contested right now. His mom went to the city to try to get the title (I think she was planning to use it to threaten to throw him out) & found out the city is still claiming full ownership of the house even though my friend paid the taxes. Not only did I go with him as a witness to him paying the taxes, I had him audio record the transaction to prove he was paying his taxes & that the city no longer had any claim to the house, and I had him take a photo of the receipt. So he can prove that he paid & the city can't claim ownership of a home that has had it's taxes paid. But, that means it may get turned over fully in his name sooner. Unfortunately, we're going to have to go to the City Hall on Thursday to try to sort it out. I hope he won't have to hire a lawyer for it, but it may come down to that. The paper receipt should be in a special file folder my mom got him to store his important documents.

He said if the city or his mom try to pull any BS to claim ownership of the home & try to kick him out, he's taking out everything he put into it-- metal roof, cabinets, flooring, shower, appliances, even the kitchen sink. Bc the house had none of that stuff when he first moved in-- it was falling apart.
 
Since this last post my friend has had a stroke and is not able to lift more than 15lbs. He's legally blind in his left eye but has not lost strength in his left arm or leg/side. We think it was caused by a blood clot formed when his (now ex) fiance busted his head with some blunt object in one of her bipolar rages. Long story short, she's no longer living there so doesn't have to worry about her griping about everything he does or get her approval for changes. I will have to get pictures tomorrow, but he moved his refrigerator over to the opposite corner (diagonally). He's going to get a dishwasher and wants to do a butcherblock countertop where the fridge previously was. He has enough flooring to fix up the floor. Tomorrow we're hoping to do the toekick and baseboard trim. Maybe do the cabinet hardware.
He wants to cover up part of the giant window behind his sink. He plans to put cabinets up there. He was going to have a corner cabinet (which is more expensive) but I pointed out that he could take the microwave cabinet out of the laundry room and put it up over the dishwasher area and it would free up space on the countertop by having the microwave out of the way. We can empty it out, take it down (I can probably lift it with help from my brother) and I can stain it. From there we can do measurements to see what size cabinets to put in between. I'm hoping to get good enough measurements plugged in to sketchup to plan it out.
 
Thanks, Shan. The ex being out of his life is still an uphill battle. She keeps trying to come back. He keeps telling her she has x number of days to get her stuff out. We are reminding him of all the reasons why he shouldn't take her back-- her cheating, the physical and emotional abuse, etc.

I'm fighting a sinus infection right now but hoping we can get something done sometime on the weekend or next week.
 
Zannej, you stay as busy as I do. Lol

Are we running from something or towards something? I'd changes daily for me.

I've had a wild ride for 5 weeks now, long story short.... I found my mom on the bathroom floor face down a week before christmas, called 911 and used my reciprocating saw to cut the door frame out so i could get to her. She was on the vent for a few days and in the hospital for 8 days and has been in rehab since Christmas eve if I remember correctly. I have painted the livingroom, kitchen, dining room, and bathroom and the ceilings in those rooms plus the hallway. Currently rearranging alot of stuff in the kitchen and dining room (another long story)
I am WORN OUT!
I Hope by now you're over your illness and I hope you're friend continues to stay away from the ex. I will be praying about that for sure!
 
Friend's ex got kicked out by her new boyfriend's family. Decided she didn't like the new boyfriend after he quit his job & couldn't buy stuff for her. She went crawling back to my friend who didn't want to leave her homeless. They aren't back together per se but she's back at the house acting like she owns the place & he's frustrated as hell, putting his life on hold until she gets out. I told him he shouldn't put off dating just bc she's being a jealous brat. She cheated on him, he's not in a relationship with her anymore, he owes her nothing. He can date and she can suck it up or she can find another place to live. Her parents won't take her back. My brother won't go over and visit now bc he's mad that she's there. I made him promise me that if she gets violent with him again, he will throw her out and call the cops.
Got him a small tall cabinet for his bathroom that I found on Marketplace. Things have been too hectic to work on stuff we wanted to work on & he's still having some health issues. My sinuses have cleared up but I've been having bad allergies.
Been struggling to get my hypothyroid under control & haven't been as productive as I've wanted to be.
This is the new cabinet. It was $60. Sellers bought it for $300 on wayfair but it was too shallow for their tastes.
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Chrome shelving sounds interesting.

Covid has been spreading badly in town so we haven't gone in much. Friend's ex is still there getting in the way when we want to work on stuff so we haven't gotten anything more done. She's spread her crap back out all over the house again. I think my friend should change his name to Mat. Door Mat. LOL.
 
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