Tag Archives: home renovation

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And to think it only took 67 days.

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Sixty seven days ago my husband put in our new front door.

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And for sixty seven days I’ve been (none too patiently) waiting for him to finish the job by trimming it with interior moulding.

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Finally!

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It will be nice not to see insulation and ragged edges again.

As usual I assumed the role of quality control and rendered some things unacceptable.

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And though there was a fair amount of grumbling from the installer, it all worked out in the end.

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If sixty six days late.

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Disclaimer – no cats were disturbed during the installation process.

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This is the part where I cringe…

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Along with all the other things that are being replaced on the porch? You can add the front door. It’s original to the house and has been leaking cold air in the winter ever since we moved in. It’s shifted, barely closes properly and requires me taping it shut every December so the wind doesn’t whistle its way in.

A new door is necessary but that doesn’t mean I want my husband in charge of its replacement. He’s the king of gerry rigging and that’s not going to fly here. I wanted to wait and have a contractor to do it… he says he needs to do it now before he installs the stone siding.

So this is where I get nervous.

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Storm door removal?

Fine.

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Protective glass covering the side panel removal?

Fine.

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But then we moved indoors where the new floor was recently installed.

In order to replace a door you need rough opening measurements… and this means removing the moulding.

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My husband’s track record with this task is not good.

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But thankfully he managed the job without splintering anything.

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I know he’s going to faint when we go door shopping because it will have to be a special order.

Ka-Ching.

This paycheck sucking project never ends.

🥴

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You may think I’m too hard on him… but.

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As you know, my husband takes on a lot of projects around our house.

A lot of projects he probably shouldn’t.

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Yes, he saves us money we’d otherwise spend on contractors… but those savings come at a price.

Workmanship he would never accept from a contractor are commonplace. Like these unevenly matched boards I’m sure to stub a toe on.

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Mitered corners?

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Not his strong suit.

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Gaps?

Yeah, we’ve got those too.

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The composite decking is finished.

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And while this end looks pretty good…

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The other end was a total clusterf*ck.

I gasped when I went out there and saw how far off the edge was… thinking, surely he’s going to fix that.

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But no.

That’s the finished product.

Close on the left, but not nearly close enough on the right.

This is what you get when you don’t hire a professional.

🥴

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So much thinking…

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Work has resumed on the front porch replacement and there’s a whole lotta thinking goin’ on.

( If you read that while humming Jerry Lee Lewis, you’re my people)

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As I mentioned before, my husband is not a contractor. Not a builder by any means.

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He’s never worked with composite decking before… and if you think it’s as simple as laying wooden deck boards you’d be wrong.

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Our old deck had small wooden boards running vertically, from lawn to house. That’s what the frame was set up for. So of course my husband decided to run the new ones horizontally because it means less cutting and measuring.

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And while he added a few more supports, he didn’t make them 16” on center like you’re supposed to. More on this mistake later…

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And since he changed the plan, he now has to picture frame the boards which means mitered corners.

This has never been his strong suit and just one of the reasons why I wanted to wait for a professional to tackle this project.

🥴

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My tootsies are tickled, even if my wallet isn’t.

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Weeee!

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Bye bye flat and awful industrial grade dusty rose horror the previous owners laid….

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Welcome soft, plush, hella expensive but worth it Karastan Instinctive Flair Renoir Bisque.

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Seriously, until you walk on this barefoot you can’t begin to know what I’m talking about. It’s smooth and silky and sheer perfection.

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The installers were here for 6 hours, working nonstop… and they did a really nice job.

So nice, my husband took them out to the man cave/Barn Mahal for a cold beer.

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And then proceeded to show them all his treasures.

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They were a captive audience.

🤣

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Dead mice, cellular shades and laser levels.

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When I was painting the living rooms walls, I removed all the light and outlet covers. That included the ridiculous switch on the right the previous owner had installed.

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It went to the hot water heater which apparently she shut off every night. We never do that and I was tired of looking at it so I had the contractor remove the annoying red light. This meant rewiring some lines in the basement.

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And the discovery of a corpse.

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Poor little thing.

Trying to keep my husband from talking to the contractor …. while paying him $55 an hour to listen…. I found a project to keep my spouse busy.

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Installing cellular shades on our new bedroom windows. He gave me the look when I told him that meant putting holes in the new trim but before long he was reaching for his hammer for some none too subtle adjustments.

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This job took the better part of an afternoon..

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And didn’t seem to bother His Lordship over much.

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When my husband started chatted up the contractor again, he was asked to help with some laser assisted measurements.

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And after the measuring?

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More talking…

😉

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Home renovation project #4.

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First we did the driveway. Then the back deck, followed by the living room beam and ceiling repair… next up?

Bedroom windows and exterior door.

We replaced 16 windows in the house about 7 years ago but somehow never got around to the master bedroom and they’re long overdue.

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Our bedroom has 5 old (1994) wooden Anderson windows and to be honest, the seals were broken on some when we moved here in 2002.

Things have only gotten worse since then.

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Every time you take a shower? A wet spot of condensation appears on the picture window.

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And that’s not a foggy day outside, just old cloudy glass.

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With rotting wood.

Did I mention the old lady who lived here before us nailed all the windows shut?

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Can’t say I’ll miss those holes.

Yes, it’s well past time to replace them all so I emptied the room as best I could….

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And will wait for work to start on Monday.

P.S. When this is done? Bye bye horrible dusty rose carpet and the first set of furniture we bought as a married couple.

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