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We have two fully installed, functioning, trimmed with the right color stain windows and I have to admit I was beginning to think it would never happen.
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It’s hard to tell in the photos but they look quite nice.
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I had my doubts about the color but it blends really well with the existing trim…
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Two down, three to go.
I hope I live long enough to see it.
🥴
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You’re not going to believe this.
I’m having a hard time believing it myself and I live here.
When last we spoke… I still had two new windows with large air gaps, we’d gotten into a pissing contest with the store manager, were waiting on the report from the second supposed expert and our contractor was going to fight management for a full refund.
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Fast forward a week and I’m out shopping with a girlfriend. I get a phone call from our contractor who says the store manager bumped the problem up to corporate… who slid it over to the manufacturer… who wanted to come out and inspect the windows that day, right that minute. Thankfully the husband was home teleworking so off they went.
I heard this second hand, but gather it went something like this –
The top Marvin window guy arrived with the store manager we bumped heads with in tow. Husband wasn’t pleased with that, but managed to be civil.
Our contractor was there and went through all the steps he’d taken to fix the problem. The window parts were examined, measured and proclaimed well within acceptable limits… because hey, nothing’s perfect. The Marvin window guy asked my husband what he wanted… fully functioning windows or a full refund? Since hubby has been spitting mad for over a month I thought for sure I’d come home to gaping holes in the bedroom. But we’d chosen this particular product for a reason… good insulation rating, ease of tilting for cleaning, wood interior, low U factor, etc and no other window we looked at checked all the boxes…. so he said if the windows were installed properly and operated as advertised he’d be happy.
Agreeing that the two sashes were slightly off square, Mr. Marvin said his company would replace them and we could keep the others as spares.
And then?
Then he did something that left my both my husband’s and the contractor’s mouths hanging open.
He removed the right window sash and replaced it with the left.
He removed the left window sash and replaced it with the right.
The result?
No more gaps.
No more air leaking through.
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Oh, he’s still going to order replacement sashes for us… but as of this minute? The windows seem to be fine and my mind is blown. The one on the right is a little stiff and harder to close, but it’s airtight and a little silicon spray on the sides should help it glide more easily.
What the hell!
Was that all it took? Why didn’t the other “experts” think of this! A simple switcheroo solved the problem we’ve been fighting since October 6th and I don’t know whether to scream or cry because it’s so ridiculous.
Needless to say our contractor was dumbfounded. He spent all that time trying to make things right and never thought of swapping sides.
So…
The contractor is the middle of another job for our neighbors which means we’ll have to wait a week or more till he’s free to come back over here and finish installing the rest of the windows and buttoning these up.
I’m shaking my head as I type this and still can’t believe a month and a half of frustration and inconvenience was completely unnecessary.
Someday…. I’ll laugh about this.
But I’m not there yet.
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Next up in the man cave? Blinds. Which were really fun to shop for considering all the windows are different sizes and thanks to my do it yourself I’m too cheap to pay a carpenter to do the finish work husband.
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The price of custom blinds that would have fit perfectly was ridiculous.
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That window, the smallest ( not to mention crookedest ) was quoted at $310. For one blind! I bought all 6 of these light filtering cellular linen shades for $272. That’s a no brainer.
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Working his way around the room, I followed and tried my hardest to get right in his way.
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At least that’s what he’d tell you. I prefer to think of it as active assistance.
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Which is why I was banished to the other side of the room…. where I sat quietly and read a few blogs.
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But when it came to the final window behind the bar I had to speak up.
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Because after he installed this one, which had the best fit… only 3/8ths of an inch off… he plopped his big bullet back on the sill.
( I know it’s a round and not a bullet, I just say that to get a rise out of my husband. Did it aggravate you as well? Then yay for me. . )
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The problem? The blind won’t go all the way down because the bullet is too fat.
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When I told him this was unacceptable (the main reason for putting up blinds in the first place was to keep the sun from fading the bar) and suggested alternate placements for the big bullet, he forbade me to move it ( as if I could, it’s live and weighs a ton and a half ). When I stressed the need for it’s relocation due to the sun baking on the glass door of the mini fridge causing it to work harder, he told me he’d “think about it”. FFS, what is there to think about? Bullet too big, blind doesn’t close, move big bullet. It isn’t rocket science.
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We had some lovely weather this weekend and it felt good to open the windows for the first time this year.
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As you can see….
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We weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the sunshine and warm breezes.
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Dudley, who so far has been an indoor only cat, got his first whiff of spring.
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And I do believe he’s hooked.
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He went from window to window and totally flipped out when he heard the birds he’s always cackling about.
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In our backyard, in April?
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That can get pretty noisy.
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After a few weeks of totally avoiding the windows….
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Our little guy has discovered the joy of squirrels.
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And since it wasn’t the resident red bitch, I didn’t even wish it ill.
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This brave grey fellow was positively taunting Lord Dudley.
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And manic cackling ensued.
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The afternoon ended with a flock of wild turkeys….
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And I think it’s safe to say the great outdoors will now be providing hours of feline entertainment.
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When your ceiling looks like this?
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And your fireplace looks like this?
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You call in the cavalry.
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Or rather two friends who aren’t afraid of heights.
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Then you buy lots of this…
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And hope they can find the source of the leaks.
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A full day was spent searching, stripping, caulking and replacing shingles….
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In less than balmy weather.
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The view out my window was interesting at times :
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And 7 chilly hours plus one large spaghetti lunch later? They think they solved the problem…. but I guess time will tell.
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A few more windows needed trimming…
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Which meant a lot more measuring, cutting and cursing…
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Why the cursing?
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Because the last window was not what you… or any semi sober person… would call square.
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Oops.
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Cover the gap with quarter round, trim…. then call it good and move on to the porch door.
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Yes, the porch is my domain … so the porch door has a seasonally appropriate wreath. Man cave be damned.
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Trimming this slapped together frame for a door that came from the dump proved challenging.
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And yes, the language got as colorful as the wreath.
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But it was only when the husband looked down…
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And realized the floor moulding should meet the vertical door trim… not the other way around… that he knew he had some tinkering to do.
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But viola!
Adjustments were made and everything that needed to be trimmed was finally trimmed.
Is this the end of the Barn Mahal interior construction?
Only time will tell.
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No, not the depression.
Sorry, not the brothers either.
I’m talking about the colors.
Living in Maine, most of our winters are white. But there’s also a lot of beautiful blue…
And when a storm is moving in?
It’s really quite lovely.
These were all taken through my dirty winter windows last month, so be kind.
But spots and all..
You have to admit winter blues are pretty.
Even the ones that turn out kind of weird.
We live in the country with a large back yard…
A field….
and some woods.
This leads to a lot of avian visitors.
Some of whom sadly commit suicide on our windows.
I wasn’t here when this particular bird went splat, but it did leave me a rather prominently placed clue in our bedroom.
A perfect dead bird body print.
Complete with wings.
RIP little one.
River's world..... 