Tag Archives: projects

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Window replacement day four, a surprisingly brief wait.

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When last I posted, we had two faulty new windows installed and were waiting on a store rep inspector.

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Call me picky, but I prefer to look through the glass of our new expensive windows, not out the side.

I feared we would have to wait a week for anyone to show up, but was pleasantly surprised when the rep arrived the day after the request.

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Our contractor took him through all the installation steps he’d performed and the rep was convinced the trouble was with the windows themselves. Apparently this is the first step in resolving the issue.

As I said, we chose good, highly rated expensive windows. And since the rep told us his company was the largest supplier of Marvin windows in the state… he guaranteed satisfaction.

He said there’s a chance the factory installed the wrong track for this particular model. It’s an unusual occurrence, but shit happens. And if shit is going to happen? You know damn well it’s going to happen to the windows that we ordered because our house is nothing if not cursed when it comes to renovation projects.

So… the rep put in a request for the next level of service and now we wait for a special installer to come out and assess the problem. If it’s just the tracks? He can switch them out and we continue on our merry way. If it’s a more serious flaw, new windows will have to be made, which means another long wait and us dealing with drafty windows with winter approaching.

My fingers are crossed for option number one. But the way this cursed house fights back? I’m not holding out much hope.

🥴

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Window replacement day three, a whole lotta no progress.

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Two brand new custom built windows…

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Installed and leaking air like a sieve through gaps on the sides.

So yesterday our contractor spent 8 full hours tinkering and tweaking, measuring and leveling, reading pamphlets and instructions, searching the internet for alternative installation instructions trying to figure out what was wrong. He’s a precise and careful worker and wanted to solve the problem.

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He took them out, he put them back in. He shimmed, he measured, he leveled 100 times. He completely exhausted his bag of tricks and still came up empty handed.

A testament to his honesty and character? He didn’t charge us for a single minute. He has a new wife and baby at home and lost an entire day’s pay trying to make it right.

When he hit a brick wall, he harangued the company where the windows were purchased and insisted their representative come inspect the problem.

So now we wait.

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While the other three uninstalled windows take up residence in front of my car.

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And btw…

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If anyone is in need of roughly 120 Life magazines from the 1940’s?

I can hook you up.

Just don’t tell my husband.

🤣

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Window replacement project, day two… things did not improve.

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When I left you yesterday, one window had been installed, and clearly it had issues.

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Many calls were made by our contractor to the store, the supplier and the company rep, but while he waited for answers he decided to replace the other window of the exact same size to see if the same issue cropped up.

This being our house, of course it did.

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The framing was measured six ways to Sunday before installation and all was well. Plum, level and perfect.

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Yet when the new window was plopped in, there was a similar gap on the side. Our contractor is flummoxed. So much so, he called other carpenter friends for advice, but everything they told him to do… he’d already done.

Did I mention the husband is not pleased and kept going in to help (read… talk the ears off) the contractor?

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It was beyond aggravating… and at the end of the day we had two new expensive windows in the bedroom, neither of which were airtight.

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But hey…there was an extra long shim in place that did double duty as a clock shelf , so it wasn’t a total loss.

😩

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And so it begins. Badly, of course.

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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.

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

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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.

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Properly taped, the new window was installed.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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A crew of workers with multiple pieces of heavy machinery …

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Spreading a line of dirt right next to the road.

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Which in theory sounded good.

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

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Because after sweeping it…

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The packer didn’t pack it.

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

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WTH?

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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.

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

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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…

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I’m not entirely pleased with the end result.

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

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Certainly looks much better like this.

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And the beam that used to look like this..

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Is much smoother now.

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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…

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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.

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

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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…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

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Oh, he sunk the catch basin.

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And screwed the cover on.

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

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

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

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

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Sigh…

🥴

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

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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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