The Joy of Home Repairs

The previous owners of our home had obviously become aware of a significant dip in the kitchen floor (2nd floor of the house), and put a 6" x 6" wooden post under the beam which runs across the garage.

Unfortunately, they didn't get it quite vertical. So ... after 13 months in the house, it had begun to delaminate.

But I digress.

We discovered a stain on the ceiling of the family room (1st floor), and determined that a waste line which runs above that ceiling was leaking. Only a little, but still a leak.

So I contacted the home warranty company, which we've kept paid-up, and reported the leak.

To keep the story from meandering, let's just say that the plumber they sent knew how to fix a leak, but didn't know how to locate it.

So he cut holes in the second floor walls: behind the washing machine, behind the refrigerator, under the kitchen sink ... and managed to cut the 240-volt power line to the dryer.

And then, only when he couldn't find a source of the leak on the 2nd floor, went downstairs to cut a hole in the ceiling. Whereupon said Nimrod the Plumber discovered a cracked joint in the waste line.

Which meant that all the holes upstairs were completely unnecessary.

Meanwhile, we had engaged our own contractor to fix the column in the garage.

So.

The leak was fixed, an electrician came bright and early this morning to repair the power to the dryer. And the contractor we hired is downstairs, fastening the new, truly vertical column to the beam, which has already removed the slight dip in the kitchen floor.

He also put metal louvers over the soffits, to replace the light steel mesh which was allowing squirrels into the attic above the 3rd floor ... but that's another story.

So the dryer works, the 2nd floor no longer sags, and the drywaller will be here next week to patch the holes made by Nimrod. (What? Yes, I could repair the holes. But the home warranty's plumber made them, so I shouldn't have to fix his mistake.)


All you who already own homes are probably nodding and saying, "Ayup ... sounds familiar." But it's our first major repair ... and we know it won't be the last.

Finally, a Quiet Day

Our plans for the day after Thanksgiving were originally to spend the day in jammies, drinking egg nog around the fireplace.

Seriously. Both daughters had to work, so it was just going to be my lovely wife and me.

That was the plan.

Then we were contacted by friends who wanted to come see the new house. Since we've been here for a bit over six months, and hadn't had anyone over for a formal showing, it seemed to be time.

Sidebar: "No one over? What - are you anti-social?" No, it's just that it takes a long time to re-combine two households (our daughters moved back in with us), and set up housekeeping in a new place.

Then Samsung contacted us about our washing machine. Seems it was one of the 'splody ones, and they needed to perform an upgrade to keep that from happening.

And oh, yes, the repairman had to be here while the guests were arriving.

But he arrived early, after calling ahead to ensure it was okay, and only took 20 minutes to effect the repairs.

The guests also arrived early, but we were ready, and all was well. They were duly impressed, and we had a great afternoon of conversation.

It was a good day, and now today will be our quiet day. More or less. :)

Winter Storm #1: the Aftermath

So our new town has apparently decided to "celebrate" the State's fiscal shortfall by failing to fully plow the roads. Our main drag between our side of town and the highway only had one lane partially cleared, and the other was the worst example of partially-frozen slush, potholes, ruts, ridges, and rough ice that I can recall seeing since my childhood. It's very nearly impassible.

Our street had been plowed ... sort of ... but went from sheet ice to wet spots back to ice. I got out at the community mailbox, only a few feet from our driveway, thank goodness, and discovered it was like trying to walk on a skating rink.

Both ends of our circle drive were plowed shut, and it turns out we got 8+ inches, total. So my wife and I took turns with the new snowthrower.

It works great, but still took some time to clear the drive. Let's see ... 275' long X 16' average width ...

But that's all done. Everything's put away, and we're in with a fresh pizza and cold drinks.

The Weekend

The load of 2" gravel will be delivered around 0900, so it's going to be an active morning. I've got an extra rake and shovel if y'all wanta stop by and lend a hand with the driveway project. :)

But first, methinks a hearty breakfast is in order.