OCTOBER 30, 2008
THE INSANITY OF REMODELING
A HOUSE AND A BRAIN
IT'S ROTTEN! IT'S ROTTEN!
This seems to be the battlecry of the carpenter who is remodeling my house. Have mercy on a woman with that sound in her ears every 10 minutes it seems like!
If you have been with me a while you know that I have yet to move into my Moms house, even though she has been gone for three years this Nov. 14. For some reason I kept waiting for her to come home.. but I suppose everyone,( even insane people like me) realize after a while that some wishes just don't come true. No matter how hard you hope and pray for it.. God has but one answer sometimes.. and that answer is NO.
So facing another winter in this cold mobile home, which actually the mobile home has twice the room in it as the house does.. but it is not even close to being as insulated and yes indeed.. WARM! So I have tried on several occasions to hire somebody to do some work for me. I need to have the bathroom redone for certain and when we had all those storms this spring.. the wind knocked loose some of the metal stuff over the trim board and I saw the evilness called dry rot plainly.
You would think in todays economy with so many people out of work and on unemployment, someone would have jumped at the idea of getting some money in their pocket... ho ho.. no so!
I must of called 10 different people locally and no one even showed up to look, let alone give me a bid! Until.. my neighbor really got hit hard with the last big one that went through and had to have their siding replaced on their house.. they too tried to find someone to do the work locally.. but to no avail. Then the lady neighbor got a phone call from her nephew in Kansas who is a carpenter.. ah ha!.. he was tickled to death to get the work.. so I contacted them and he is now at my house.. groan!
So far he has had to replace most of the trim board, and the people who put the steel siding on the house .. put this kind of pressed cardboard stuff under the eves of the house and it was so far gone.. it actually just kind of crumbled when he pulled the plastic covering off of it! Nasty now! But he contacted the people who sell the siding stuff and asked what was up with all of it and they said it was just a way that was used in the early times when everyone was just learning about steel siding.. was supposed to add insulating value to the house..
So now I have new stuff with little vent holes in it.. hopefully it won't impair the insulating value I had on the house before.. it is a bit too tight though.. nothing escapes.. so I am having him install a ventilation fan in the hallway to move the stale air out and get some flow to it.. Mom just breathed the same air over and over again I guess...
Tomorrow I am off to see about cabinets for the kitchen and a new vanity and light fixture for the bathroom.. new carpet for the bedrooms and new lights for the living room and kitchen.. whew! I have so much stuff to have to deal with as far as going through all the things in the house. That seems to be my undoing most of the time. I have tried so many times to start this and get moved in.. sigh..
I suppose I should just not be so strange about it all.. but sure feels like I am doing something wrong when I throw out boxes and boxes of old cancel checks and warranties on hot water heaters from 1979. She saved everything .. in organized neat bundles.. in plastic containers.. stacks and stacks of the stuff.
Going to set a big brush fire next time it is a misty rainy day.. Gary finally got the trees that had been blown down on the holding pen fence cut down and the brush piled up.. need to remember to put my cast iron cookware in there when he gets it going good.. burns all the built up yuck and they are like brand new again. But we found out the roof of the barn had been rotten in one spot and the tree limbs have knocked a hole in it we didn't see until now.. boy.. it is sure getting deep around my knees right about now! The entire barn is in bad shape and it need to be pulled down and a new building of some sort put up.. probably another barn with a add on to keep the tractor and the lawnmowers and stuff in.. that can wait though.. surely something can wait a little bit. Now I got the ball rolling.. it wants to bounce around too much for me to not get called for a walk.... or a technical foul .. mouth!
The wood stove Mom used in the winter is still in wonderful shape and will be so much warmer this winter than this fireplace in the trailer. But I am going to miss the open flame to watch... that is really a nice thing when it is cold outside and windy.. to be warm and have a nice fire to watch.. but then when you have to go out in a rainstorm or snow storm to gather in wood.. or heaven forbid you run out of wood and have to go cut it in a snowstorm.. or worse yet.. buy a rick.. well.. it kind of evens out I guess.. last year to heat this 16x80 mobile home.. I only used 200 gallons of butane.. I also cook with butane too.. and that my friends is simply awesome!
I will post some pictures pretty soon.. maybe.. hehehe.. progress reports as the home and brain remodeling continues..
THE INSANITY OF REMODELING
A HOUSE AND A BRAIN
IT'S ROTTEN! IT'S ROTTEN!
This seems to be the battlecry of the carpenter who is remodeling my house. Have mercy on a woman with that sound in her ears every 10 minutes it seems like!
If you have been with me a while you know that I have yet to move into my Moms house, even though she has been gone for three years this Nov. 14. For some reason I kept waiting for her to come home.. but I suppose everyone,( even insane people like me) realize after a while that some wishes just don't come true. No matter how hard you hope and pray for it.. God has but one answer sometimes.. and that answer is NO.
So facing another winter in this cold mobile home, which actually the mobile home has twice the room in it as the house does.. but it is not even close to being as insulated and yes indeed.. WARM! So I have tried on several occasions to hire somebody to do some work for me. I need to have the bathroom redone for certain and when we had all those storms this spring.. the wind knocked loose some of the metal stuff over the trim board and I saw the evilness called dry rot plainly.
You would think in todays economy with so many people out of work and on unemployment, someone would have jumped at the idea of getting some money in their pocket... ho ho.. no so!
I must of called 10 different people locally and no one even showed up to look, let alone give me a bid! Until.. my neighbor really got hit hard with the last big one that went through and had to have their siding replaced on their house.. they too tried to find someone to do the work locally.. but to no avail. Then the lady neighbor got a phone call from her nephew in Kansas who is a carpenter.. ah ha!.. he was tickled to death to get the work.. so I contacted them and he is now at my house.. groan!
So far he has had to replace most of the trim board, and the people who put the steel siding on the house .. put this kind of pressed cardboard stuff under the eves of the house and it was so far gone.. it actually just kind of crumbled when he pulled the plastic covering off of it! Nasty now! But he contacted the people who sell the siding stuff and asked what was up with all of it and they said it was just a way that was used in the early times when everyone was just learning about steel siding.. was supposed to add insulating value to the house..
So now I have new stuff with little vent holes in it.. hopefully it won't impair the insulating value I had on the house before.. it is a bit too tight though.. nothing escapes.. so I am having him install a ventilation fan in the hallway to move the stale air out and get some flow to it.. Mom just breathed the same air over and over again I guess...
Tomorrow I am off to see about cabinets for the kitchen and a new vanity and light fixture for the bathroom.. new carpet for the bedrooms and new lights for the living room and kitchen.. whew! I have so much stuff to have to deal with as far as going through all the things in the house. That seems to be my undoing most of the time. I have tried so many times to start this and get moved in.. sigh..
I suppose I should just not be so strange about it all.. but sure feels like I am doing something wrong when I throw out boxes and boxes of old cancel checks and warranties on hot water heaters from 1979. She saved everything .. in organized neat bundles.. in plastic containers.. stacks and stacks of the stuff.
Going to set a big brush fire next time it is a misty rainy day.. Gary finally got the trees that had been blown down on the holding pen fence cut down and the brush piled up.. need to remember to put my cast iron cookware in there when he gets it going good.. burns all the built up yuck and they are like brand new again. But we found out the roof of the barn had been rotten in one spot and the tree limbs have knocked a hole in it we didn't see until now.. boy.. it is sure getting deep around my knees right about now! The entire barn is in bad shape and it need to be pulled down and a new building of some sort put up.. probably another barn with a add on to keep the tractor and the lawnmowers and stuff in.. that can wait though.. surely something can wait a little bit. Now I got the ball rolling.. it wants to bounce around too much for me to not get called for a walk.... or a technical foul .. mouth!
The wood stove Mom used in the winter is still in wonderful shape and will be so much warmer this winter than this fireplace in the trailer. But I am going to miss the open flame to watch... that is really a nice thing when it is cold outside and windy.. to be warm and have a nice fire to watch.. but then when you have to go out in a rainstorm or snow storm to gather in wood.. or heaven forbid you run out of wood and have to go cut it in a snowstorm.. or worse yet.. buy a rick.. well.. it kind of evens out I guess.. last year to heat this 16x80 mobile home.. I only used 200 gallons of butane.. I also cook with butane too.. and that my friends is simply awesome!
I will post some pictures pretty soon.. maybe.. hehehe.. progress reports as the home and brain remodeling continues..
lockerridge
Good luck getting the house done!!!!
ReplyDeleteLockie: It is good you finally got the ball rolling. It won't be long and you will be all snuggled in.
ReplyDeleteLike you said," Getting started was the hard part." Now all you have to do is Spend Money.
Muwahahaha!!
Wow! You really have your work cut out for ya! I want to do some remodeling on my mobile home, but will have to wait until the money comes in! lol..... I've been entering a couple of contest on Lifetime and keeping my fingers crossed! lol..... really want the $16,000 kitchen makeover!!! would be great!
ReplyDeleteWell, good luck to ya sweetie....looking forward to pictures!
((huggs))
Rotten wood I am familiar with my wallet is unhappy to say. You might want to save the time to go through those papers over the winter - can't do much of anything else then anyway. There might be something stuck between the old reciepts and warrenties you would really like to save for personal reasons. That and your mom sounds like a pack rat, no telling what you might find among the "treasures".
ReplyDeleteBesides, you need to burn something in that stove *grin*
Dio has an excellent idea there Lockie, listen to him. She may have squirreled away something that would be most interesting to you. *hugs*
ReplyDeleteDo you need Freddie's help?
ReplyDeleteI KNEW YOU WAS ROTTEN!! I KNEW IT!
ReplyDeleteI found a lockie, she was rotten, kept her annnnyyyyway.
LMBO!! Well that just stinks! But I'm glad for you that you once and for all are doing this.
Now get back up that ladder and.. no no not you, I'm talking to the handy man carpenter guy, dude.
I always need your help Freddie. Your a good friend and I cherish that fact. And if you want to get those 18 wheels rolling my way.. just give me a ping on the puter when you hit Little Rock and I'll guide you the rest of the way in!
ReplyDeleteNo not in these boxes Dio.. all that stuff is in other plastic boxes sealed up and stacked in my old bedroom! I am talking every check she ever wrote in her entire life.. all of my dads paycheck stubs.. every bank statement.. we are talking from 1960 forward here.. every warranty on every appliance, including electric knives from 1965 up to the warranty on the shingles on the house. All are in boxes with the year written on the outside of the box.. She should have been an accountant or something.. I have boxes and boxes of medical equipment receipts.. My dad had emphysema and all his oxygen concentrator instructions. which by the way I have two of those machines and a oxygen bottle with wheels on it .. a passport breathing machine and 3 drawers full of the medicine to use in it.. samples which we tried to give back to the doctors office but they could not take them for some reason .. I forget what.. sigh..
ReplyDeleteThat has been my problem Vinnie.. I start looking through stuff and I end up not doing anything except sitting there going through stuff remembering .. so that is why it has taken me so long to do this and now.. I am just gona do it and not think about anything other than it is done! it will be simply fantastic to be in the house, but got to change the look of it or I am never going to be able to live there!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support Samantha... I need all I can get!
ReplyDeleteMom left a simple savings account for me with almost enough in it to do it all. I think that is what it was for and that is what I am going to use it for.. your right though.. this is costing me a lot.. but then again.. the man is doing this right and I should not have to worry about much else after this time.. I hope!
ReplyDeletegot my fingers crossed for you Normie... maybe it will be your Christmas gift!
ReplyDeletelol Man Dingle I wish you were here.. I am having the hardest time deciding on the wallpaper .. it is so darn expensive and well I am just glad I know how to hang the stuff! And cabinets.. whoa.. I want short woman cabinets .. you know with low shelves and not so deep top on it.. they are not making many of these these days you know!
ReplyDeleteOh, Good Luck to You, Sweet Lockie, with all that getting done for your home! You'll make it. Hang in there! LOL. ((HUGS)).
ReplyDeleteOh, I forgot to tell you 'Thank You' for the comments you left about my Story Challenges. Thank You, Lockie.
ReplyDelete(psssst ..... now everybody knows ..... I Write ..... ! Feels Weird!
I'm so glad you are finally doing the sensible thing gal! And it's kinda neat to get to fix things up a bit like that.......I hope and pray you get a good deal on all your endeavors and that things go well. Big hugs! Love you!
ReplyDeleteHere is a remodeling tip.
ReplyDeleteTry to find a surplus store from Habitat for Humanity. They sell surplus materials from paint stores, remodeling contractors, donations, etc. Typically a high grade paint will sell for $2 a gallon, and everything they will have will be usually priced cheap. I have bought new tile, grout, siding, windows, etc. left over from jobs. I go to the one in Hot Springs, but there should be others.
Thankyou for the encouragment Jilly! I am thrilled you made it back online with us over here! I did miss you a lot!
ReplyDeleteYou just continue to write the way you sweetie and there will be a lot more than just here on Multiply who knows you can write and I can bet on that.. your good!
Well when stepson moved out a couple months ago, I gave him the old couch and chair that was in the living room and it didn't really bother me.. this I took as a signal that maybe my brain was scarred over enough that I could actually move in.. so then when this carpenter showed up kinda out the blue and he was so reasonable about the cost.. I said okay.. go for it.. Mom had left me one small savings account that was kind of weird in the way she set it up.. lots different from the CD's and other stuff she left. It was accessible immediately to me because she had put my name on it also without telling me about it. I thought at first she had provided for her funeral for me.. but she had left me enough cash money in her fire box to do that .. and told me about it.. so I figured this was house fixing money.. it almost will cover the cost of it all.. had to put some with it a little bit.. but hey.. I guess that is only fair huh? thanks for the encouragement and the prayers.. and you know love to crystal from terri..
ReplyDeleteWow that is just a whole lot of allright ya know? It would pay me to drive to Hot Springs for that kind of discount just on the paint! I have to repaint all the ceilings in the house.. they are yellow from the cigarette smoke and the wood stove.. and no ventilation proper.. they are in perfect shape.. just kinda yellow.. carpenter wanted to do some stuff with bleaching them and all this jazz and I just think that would make them disintegrate! So told him nah I would handle that part of the remodeling.. like the wallpaper.. dadgum wallpaper is outrageous.. but it has this walnut paneling that is not real wood all over the house and it is DARK.. so if I don't spakle it and paper it .. then I will have to hang sheetrock and that is a no go too.. so wallpaper is the way to go!
ReplyDeleteI am going to check the phone book and see if there is an outlet near me.. or maybe I might could find that out online.. THANKS FOR THE TIPS!
I'm glad your mom was able to bless you so.......I'm betting you blessed her a lot too Terri.....hugs!
ReplyDeleteI live in a 16 x 80 too. One of my dreams is to have a little 2 bedroom wood frame house with a big screened porch to sit on and watch my cows graze.
ReplyDeleteAh tutall.. then my house is what your dreaming of.. except it is brick and the grampa porch built on the back of it isn't screened in .. yet!
ReplyDelete["technical foul .. mouth! ''] NOoooo ~ said with disbelief! grin....
ReplyDelete!!!!! You are piecing it all together.. not just the home.. !!!!! big grin~
Now get out there and find those short women cabinets !
I know exactly the ones you are looking for! Same ones I one day will have... YEAH RIGHT!!
LOVE YA LOVE YAH! LOVE YA!
All you have said above and all you are undertaking there in your world.. I know you will be alright with this!! YOU GO GIRL!! Chanting~ do IT do IT do IT!
LOVE YA! MORE!
ReplyDeleteBig grin
ReplyDeletethank you crystal.. if loving somebody is a blessing .. then we both were blessed and I miss her terribly.. more than anyone that I have seen go to live with God. Never realized till she was gone just how much.. she is a beautiful soul .. always was and always will be.. she has not completely left me.. she would never do that .. and when it is my turn to move she will be the one to show me the way there and fit my wings so they don't pinch.. love to crystal from terri.. hug!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteDani..you are the moon and the stars of best friends you know it?.. love ya dani.. your my sis and I am blessed by you every single day! group hug!
Terri - Ditto!
ReplyDelete