Tag Archives: projects

And so it begins. Badly, of course.

October 18, 2023 Rivergirl 28 Comments

It started with our contractor being 3 hours late. Not a big deal in the scheme of things, but he was pissed because the windows we ordered were supposed to be delivered for free the day before and weren’t. This meant he had to empty his trailer and go get them himself which cost him… thankfully not us … 3 hours of work time.

By early afternoon, we had a hole in the bedroom where the old window was removed.

The hole of which I had to make sure Lord Dudley Mountcatten was unaware, lest he take a flying leap to freedom.

According to our contractor the old windows were installed incorrectly without the proper tape, sealants and secure flanges which would explain the leakage and rotted wood.

Properly taped, the new window was installed.

Mind you, we didn’t cheap out here and ordered some pretty expensive Marvin replacements. I expected them to be awesome.

The first one wasn’t.

Though everything was level, flush and plumb with the frame, the bottom part of the window not only had a scratch in the glass but showed gaps to the outside on either side.

And while I enjoy looking out the window? I don’t want to be able to stick things out the window.

Clearly something was wrong.

Of course it was… because no project ever goes smoothly at Casa River.

The poor contractor spent all afternoon taking it in and out thinking it was his fault, but it doesn’t seem to be. A manufacturing error… on our custom made expensive as shit window?

Grr…

And because we needed more bad news? Even if the contractor manages to solve the gap problem, our existing sill and trim don’t line up now and will all have to be replaced. Which will be true for the other four as well.

More work. More expense.

Why is nothing ever easy?

😩

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What fresh (ditch) hell is this?

October 17, 2023 Rivergirl 24 Comments

Our ditch is the gift that keeps on giving.

Or more accurately, the nightmare that never ends at this point.

It’s also why after my husband complained yet again to DOT, we woke up to this the other morning.

A crew of workers with multiple pieces of heavy machinery …

Spreading a line of dirt right next to the road.

Which in theory sounded good.

But in actuality will make no difference or help the original erosion problem.

Because after sweeping it…

The packer didn’t pack it.

But road his little machine on the very edge of the road never compacting or even touching the dirt.

WTH?

We’d just started to see some grass grow on the sides which we were hoping would keep the erosion to a minimum…. and now there’s more unpacked dirt to wash away.

Where’s the logic in this?

Where….

🥴

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Home renovation project #4.

October 14, 2023 Rivergirl 20 Comments

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.

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.

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

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

With rotting wood.

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

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….

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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Beam/ceiling repair project… the end? I don’t think so.

October 2, 2023 Rivergirl 18 Comments

Because if we didn’t have bad timing we wouldn’t have any at all , the last day our contractor was working on the ceiling project found us out of town… which meant we didn’t see the finished product until the next day. And while I’m pleased to have our living room back to normal without a plastic room in the middle of it…

I’m not entirely pleased with the end result.

Yes, the section of ceiling that used to look like this….

Certainly looks much better like this.

And the beam that used to look like this..

Is much smoother now.

And while it’s wonderful not to see the sag in the middle of the room and worry that the roof could fall on our heads at any moment…

There are two issues I’m not willing to accept.

While it’s true I knew the replacement popcorn wouldn’t exactly match the existing, I wasn’t expecting such a glaring line of demarcation.

It’s very noticeable in spots and that just won’t do.

The other issue is stain resolution. Years of slow roof leaks left us with random brown spots on one end and though our guy hit them with some sort of Kilz product and turned them white again…

It’s a noticeably different white and drives me crazy every time I look up.

Since our contractor is due to return in two weeks to install new windows and a door in our bedroom, a plan will be hatched to deal with the problems. He knew I wasn’t happy and because he’s probably going to be the one to lay our new flooring in the living room he suggested we wait until then and repaint the whole ceiling. That’s probably what should have been done in the first place but we both thought we could get away with not doing it. Which is what you get for thinking. Trying to save time and money with home repairs is fruitless and rarely works.

Is the beam solid and more structurally secure? Yes.

Does it look better than it did? Absolutely.

Does it still need some tweaking? I’m afraid so.

Sigh…

🥴

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Beam/ceiling repair project day 9…. almost there.

September 28, 2023 Rivergirl 11 Comments

We’ve turned a corner here at Casa River.

A bright clean white corner.

The beam has been painted and the ceiling primed for popcorn. Things are looking up.

And by that, I mean I try not to look down because even though a plastic barrier wall was erected… everything is covered in drywall dust.

Every single nook and cranny.

Sigh…

🥴

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The… but it has nowhere to go so that’s a half assed solution…. project.

September 26, 2023 Rivergirl 28 Comments

Remember the river I blogged about a while back? The one that runs between our house and garage every time we have heavy rain?

The one I’m blaming on our new and pretty, but clearly sloping the wrong way driveway?

Well, our contractor came up with an idea to fix the problem and offered to implement the plan…. which led to this.

My thrifty husband wanting to save money and doing it himself.

I was thrilled with the idea of sinking a catch basin and perforated drainage line to direct the water to flow elsewhere.

Except my spouse…king of the half assed, why bother doing it correctly the first time if you can save on labor projects… had another idea.

Oh, he sunk the catch basin.

And screwed the cover on.

But decided this was enough and no drainage lines were necessary.

So now we have a catch basin with nowhere for the water to go.

Yes, he put it in the right spot where water collects… as shown by the morning after a heavy rain.

But as soon as the basin fills up no further drainage is achieved and we still have standing water.

Sigh…

🥴

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Beam/ceiling repair day 8…. mud and sand.

September 25, 2023 Rivergirl 18 Comments

Now that we’re in the drywall phase, the ceiling repair project’s daily progress has slowed considerably.

Mud. Let dry. Sand until the entire house is covered in white dust even though there’s a plastic barrier.

Repeat.

Our poor contractor works all day and I swear it looks the same in the evening as it did when he arrived in the morning.

But at least it won’t sag.

Wish my body came with a tag like that.

This afternoon two gallons of primer were applied and at least things are starting to look better.

It’s been a week and a half of discombobulation and I have to admit I’m ready for this to be done.

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At least someone is enjoying the nightmare.

September 23, 2023 Rivergirl 18 Comments

This beam and ceiling repair project has been disruptive to say the least. We’ve lost our living room, our dining room, egress to the back deck and most importantly… the large television my husband is utterly devoted to watching. Sawdust, wood chips and dry wall fragments have been flying and I can’t even imagine the mess I’ll have to clean up when it’s finished.

I hate to say it…. but moving probably would have been easier.

Though while the husband and I have been inconvenienced, there’s one member of our family who seems to be having fun.

You can see his ghostly reflection on the floor in the middle of that photo.

Lord Dudley Mountcatten, who is not supposed to be walking around in the plastic room… is constantly found doing just that.

And even when I don’t physically catch him in there?

I find evidence of his presence.

Unless our contractor has a thing for catnip mice, which is another blog topic entirely.

His Lordship seems to think the plastic walls have been erected exclusively for his playing pleasure and has a habit of pulling the sheets from their corners and making entrance holes.

Look at him.

The very picture of innocence…

But not for long.

Cats.

They will not be denied…

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Beam/ceiling repair project, day 6 and 7.

September 22, 2023 Rivergirl 24 Comments

Not much exciting or even mildly humorous to report now. And if you’ve ever done drywall mudding you’ll know why.

It’s a tedious time consuming process made even more unenjoyable by the fact that it all has to be done over our contractor’s head. My shoulders and neck are spasming just thinking about it.

Scrape, tape, mud, smooth, let dry.

Repeat.

The fact that it keeps raining and the dew point is high makes the quick dry mud anything but so a fan has been strategically placed to aid the process.