Good job, jobbed

The one thing about hubby is he likes to be busy.  So he has been finishing off the last room in the basement.  While doing that he found a problem with the window well's surrounding the basement windows outside on the one side.

This is our neighbour's basement window well and you can see it's surrounded by wood.  This photo is just for reference.  Ours looked similar.

So hubby dug out all the wood and installed the metal window well's, which you typically see in all houses.  This is the laundry room window.  There is another smaller one to the right, as it has two windows.

This is the downstairs bedroom window.  The metal window wells look a lot tidier.

This is all the wood that came out of the window wells.

Look how rotten it was............

It was soaking wet, so we have been letting it dry out a bit before we take it to the dump/tip.  As we pay by weight!!!

This was a job we didn't realize we needed to get done.  Thankfully it's finished with now.  Now we are busy collecting and sorting out things to take to the dump, as we have to hire a van from Home Depot to put everything in, as we don't have the pick up truck anymore.......I'll post about this in a bit.

"The List."

 

image credit

This time of year hubby and I always sit down and have a talk about what jobs need doing around the house.  I am a creature of habit and I like to plan out things ahead of time.  I will say this year our list is nice and short, as we have done a lot of the main jobs that we wanted to do over the past couple of years.

So this is our list for 2024:

• Re-sand the front walkway, as it has moved.  This will involve using a pressure washer and hiring a tamper from a DIY store.  It sounds like a big job, but it's pretty straight forward.  We did the back patio a couple of years back and it's still as good as new. Probably $200 for everything if that.  The most expensive thing will be hiring the tamper.
• Re-jig our closet.  Again not a huge job as I have figured a couple of things out.  I want to get the most use out of the space we have.  This will involve buying a chest of drawers and doing some drywall touch ups where we have to take down shelves and repainting it. So under $500 for everything, which will be cheaper than getting a company in to do it.
• Decorate the basement.  This is a HUGE job, only because it is carpeted and full of furniture.  This job will be done at the end of the year when hubby retires. No idea on the cost....hoping to be under $500 for all the paint and drywall compound; we have a lot of nail pops in the drywall.
• Finish off the laundry/storage room.  Again, a big job that will be started at the end of the year and may work it's way into 2025.  Again no idea on the cost at this point in time; I will estimate $2,000 as it's a bare space, so walls and ceiling are to finish and flooring to put down.

The last two jobs we are not in a rush to do, so they may be included in 2025 as well.

Not sure what other jobs will pop up through the year, but these are the main ones.

Just a little thing.

Hubby is on vacation for three weeks; so we have been getting lots of little jobs done around the house, as he's not one to just sit around.  The outside light out the back was as old as the hills, so we purchased another one and he installed it over the weekend.

It's just from Home Depot, you can see it here.  It was very simple to install, though you had to have a relatively small hand to install the light bulb.  I also wanted the seeded glass as it doesn't show the dirt as much.

We went with an antique looking lightbulb that is LED.  I also wanted to make sure that no rain could get inside of the fixture, so the opening is on the bottom.

We are pulling the front hall closet to bits at the moment, as I never got that and the linen closet painted.  The way they did the front hall closet did not make the most of the space.  We aim to rectify that!  More to follow!

Another before and after........

This was done in early Spring, so we have been living with this for a while.  We replaced the bathroom vanity countertop with a granite countertop.  When we went to pick it out from the store, I listened to what the sales guy and dh said.  That was my first mistake.  I knew in my gut I should not of listened to them but I did.  

Needless to say when they installed this countertop, it did not "go" with the vanity.  The vanity is a warm colour, the countertop is a cooler colour.  After spending all that money I wasn't happy so hummed and haa-ed over it.

I finally came up with a solution and we had the vanity refaced.  What that means is they installed new doors and put some "peel and stick" covering over the rest of the surfaces.  Now it's not your usual "peel and stick" covering you buy from a store it's a lot more durable.

I love the results and it has held up well over the Spring and Summer.  The cost included new handles and overall it has updated the bathroom for not too much money.

I have a message into the company to come and quote the kitchen, as I would like to refresh that without pulling out the whole kitchen.

So flipping unreliable..........

One of the jobs on our list to be done on the house for 2019, is having the windows re caulked.  It's a time consuming and tedious job for the amateur, so we decided to find someone to do it for us.  At one of the home improvement shows back in March/April, we got a guys name.  We called him and he came out within a few days to give us a quote.

Super nice guy, all his company did was caulking and we liked him that much that we sent him round to son's house, as he wants his windows done as well.  We were both happy with the prices he gave for both houses, and said go ahead.

At the time the weather wasn't conducive to that type of job and we told him we weren't in a rush to have the job done.  He made a couple of appointments to do son's home, but due to bad weather he cancelled.........which was totally understandable.  A couple of weeks ago I sent him a text to say hi, and to make sure we are still on the list................nothing........fair enough he said he was terrible at answering his phone and texts.......  So I wait a week or so and text again............radio silence........nothing.........  Our son has sent him texts, with no answer either.

So I put a post on our local Facebook page to see if we can find someone else.  I must say I am very disappointed in this guy as he seemed so nice and we liked the way he ran his business.  However we need/want this job done this year...........I'll keep you posted on how we get on.

Why are people so unreliable?

Flipping typical...........

So dh took Monday off as we are getting our evestrough/guttering and downsprouts/drainpipes redone.  It pours down so they cancel and rightly so.

I go to my class and there is no hydro/electricity.  So I could have hung around and "hoped" the hydro would have come back on when the hydro folk said it would come on (no chance) and go home and do the class another day.  I opted to go home!!

So I made three bunnie's.  They are not pretty, but for some reason our grandson loves them...LOL  I mean, do they actually look like rabbits?  Or are they scary creatures from outer space.  They look as though they are ready to do the splits?

 This one is extra scary..........LOL

I can't find the pattern I used so I am tweaking my own pattern!!

Lots of "front's"

We have a really lovely front porch. Gets the evening sun.

I am going to be sewing new covers for the cushions this week as something/one has chewed a big hole in one of them. (I will be showing more photos of the front porch in coming week, as we have to do a bit of work on it.)

We inherited a lovely screen door in front of our front door.

 We have a bit of repair work to do on the door though on one of the bottom panels.

We have a lovely front hall as well.  Marigold takes pride of place in our front hall.  It doesn't show up well but it's a lovely crystal light as well.

Love how it shines on the wall. 

The shelf was left by the prior owners. 

The one post that is being "spammed" a lot at the moment is this one about paper clips for some reason?

Couple of updates........

Update on the central vac.

The store replaced the powerhead and the hose under warranty.  It turns out I have a lifetime warranty on this unit.  It also turns out this particular model has had numerous problems with the powerhead and hose, and that is why I am now on powerhead number three.

A little nugget of information for the fellow Canadians out there.  Mentioned to him about wanting a Dyson V8 cordless and right away he said NO.  To fix any problems with it, you have to deal with the head office in the States.......and there will be problems he said.  It's supposed to run for 40 minutes; it will when you first get it but over time it will run for less and less time.  If you have weak hands/wrists (I do) you will find the unit heavy over time, as you are carrying the motor all the time.

So for the time being I am sticking with my central vac.

Update on the basement:

We are getting there slowly but surely.  I have been doing some painting of the doors and trim work.  We picked up a closet organizer for the closet in the back room, so "my" goal is to get dh to install it on Saturday so I can fill it up!!

I picked up floor paint for the furnace room, as it is still and will remain bare concrete.  When painted though it cuts down on the dust.  I also picked up paint for the bathroom down there, a terracotta colour.  So I am hoping to get both areas painted this coming week.  

"My" goal is to have everything done and carpet installed by the beginning of December.  Realistically though before Christmas it should be done by.

Update on Christmas:

If I can clear out the spare bedroom, then I can actually see what I have bought already!!!  As it's November I need to sort the Christmas Cards as well.  I bought a lot of Family one's in the sales in January, but I need to sort out who I am sending them too.  With the price of stamps rising again, I will be cutting right back to the bare minimum.

Update on me:

Well I am feeling a bit better, and have a little more energy.  When I have energy I am using it.  When I have only a little energy I don't do much.  I have also discovered I can get more done in the morning and then rest up in the afternoon, when my energy level is low.

In the scheme of things, life is good, as the t-shirt says!!!

The Nitty Gritty of it all......

Now this isn't a major thing, believe me every morning/night when I watch the news and see what is going on in the world, my issue is nothing but thought it was worth mentioning.

Background: moved into this house two years ago.  Brand new house, never lived in before.  Pretty reputable builder, building maybe 60 homes a year.  Finishes a notch up from the regular new home builder.  So all in all good.

To save us money we decided to finish of the majority of the basement ourselves.  For various reasons we did not catch these issues when we did our walk through before we moved in.

1.  Problem: basement window frames sticking out further than the drywall. Remedy: saw and sand off excess and re-attach original window trim.  (on a side note the frames are made of MDF, do you know how much mess that makes when sanding it?)

2. Problem; a/c making a horrendous noise on the weekend.

Remedy: to figure out what was going on, we needed to take off the panel from the front off the furnace.  Do you see the black and copper pipes in the furnace?  The lazy technicians put them going through the front panel making it almost impossible to take the front panel off???  It is working now as dh tightened all screws and no more noise.  We don't think we have solved the problem, but until something else happens it's fine.

3. Problem: Hardwood floor squeaking in the dining room.  The installers did not put the "nails" correctly so they squeak against the beam below.

Remedy: Dh installed shims on the beam to put a barrier between the beam and the nails.  Builder's remedy, jump up and down on the fall, to see if it will stop squeaking..........

4. Problem: Trim around doors cut too short, so gap filled with DAP.  This is so sloppy what they did.

Remedy: Well to remedy this problem means taking all the trim off and putting new trim up.  Not sure what we will do.  If I knew this was our forever home I would replace it all, but it isn't so will have to think about this.

5. Problem: driveway stones (interlock stones) loose due to water coming down the downspout onto the side of the driveway.  Builder been told about this and has done nothing to remedy the situation.

Remedy: Redirect the downspout.  Relay the stones and everything would be good.  With being in a "Condo situation," we are not supposed to touch anything outside but something has to be done?

In the scheme of things none of these issues are major, but getting down to the nitty gritty of it all, if the workmen had done a correct job in the first place none of these things should have happened (other than the furnace.)  They were taking short cuts and didn't care about the finished products.  

Anyway, just thought I'd mention this and warn other's, just because you buy a brand new home, doesn't mean it won't have it's problems.

I am a rotten blogger at the moment..........

however in all fairness I have been busy.

On Saturday we went up to Barrie where gas/petrol prices were below the dollar mark per litre.  Been a long time since we have seen that:

Called in at the garden centre and had a wander around and among all the photos I took, I took this one:

Called in at the DIY store and bought wood to start finishing off the basement and then came home.  We then headed out to the airport to pick up son and daughter-in-law; as they had been in Rome, Italy for the week on vacation.  They had a super time and walked 73 kilometres while there.

Their flight along with a "hundred" other's all landed at the same time.  They were held back twice when walking to customs as there were that many people trying to get through.  We had a good time waiting as it's always interesting people watching and seeing what other people were up too.  

On Sunday I was up bright and early as I was a woman on a mission:

 Yes the deck was to seal.  I got all the flat surfaces, the stairs and some of the railings done.

I can only do so much at once as it kills my hands.  It looks so much better though.  I hope to finish it off either Thursday or Friday depending on the weather this week.

Monday was also a busy day.  One thing I did decide to do was a batch cook.

I got a baked bean lasagna made, shepherd's pie for both of us for one night and dh for Sunday night; I am out.  Then two meals of scotch eggs.  I had hoped to stretch the ground beef/mince to include pasta sauce but there just wasn't enough meat.

In between all of this I have been knitting.  I have five gnomes completely finished.  Two gnomes knit that just need to be sewn up and stuffed and am starting another one.  I am hoping to get them ll done by the beginning of next week.

Happy Easter.......

Our son's birthday cake.  Dairy Queen special, ice cream cake.  I didn't have any as I don't like it.

Chicken scratchings on my black board in the kitchen.  It is a DIY project that dh and son-in-law are doing.  They were working out the in's and outs.  It's happening at their house not ours.

A Calla Lily that we were given on Easter Saturday, very pretty.

A close up of the flowers.

Hope you have a wonderful and Blessed Easter.

Kitchen backsplash........

One of the jobs we had to do with this house was install a tile back splash in our kitchen.  To get the builder to do it was going to cost around $900 and that was just using a white or cream subway tile like this one:

(image credit)

There is nothing wrong with subway tiles we have used them in the past, but we wanted something timeless and would stand the test of time.

We went with a natural stone mosaic.  The variety of stones and sizes made it an interesting tile that came in 12" x 12" tiles, that didn't need grouting.  As this is a natural stone it is a lot more expensive than a man made tile.  It should have been $15.95 per square foot; we got it for $13.50 per square foot.

We did have to seal the tile and should reseal it once a year; but that is a quick and easy job to do that doesn't take a lot of product.  It is however expensive as we paid $50.80 for 1 quart; but as I said it will last us years:

It did take us a couple of weekends to complete the job, only due to dh's lack of time as he works generally one morning on a weekend.

 Yes we do have a "junk/drop" area in this part of the kitchen.

Although I wasn't 100% sure on my choice, the more I live with it, the more I like it.  As it is natural stone and marble, there are "odd" things happening in the colours and everything is not perfect.  However I think that adds to the character.

I pulled out the bill and in total we paid $788.06 for the whole job.  We bought everything from Faiola Import Company in Brampton Ontario.  We have bought from them a few times now; despite the fact we have moved away from the area.  They always have a variety of tiles and at prices that are comparable too other tiling stores.

We ended up getting a far superior product for less money than the builder would have charged us.

Busy again with this.......

Painting the kitchen.

 I painted it Fossil MSL227, from the Martha Stewart Living colours.  It is more green though than brown and looked a bit grey in certain light on the walls.  I am also going to paint the mud room the same colour.

I know I owe you all after photos of the family room,  I will get to those later in the week.

Halfway through the month of October......

and still no heating or fire on.  We have had a marvellous run of good weather.  Tuesday was another super busy day for me.

Lots of laundry:

Some varnishing:

Sorting out books to take to the store to see if I could get some money for them.

 Brought these ones back and ended up with $32 in store credit.  Plan on using it to buy more children's books.

Posted some ads on Kijiji on the weekend.  Finally got rid of the old washer and dryer.   Mind you it helped when I said they were for free!!!  Lots of people wanted it and a man who was on disability took them with his son.  Funny thing was I stated on the ad you had to provide your own manpower and transportation as they were to take out of the basement as well.  He managed it no problem, so I wonder what his disability was?

Have to say I DO NOT like dealing with folk on Kijiji as its such a lot of back and forward through emails and people are so not reliable.

I have posted four book reviews this month in my book review blog, you can visit it by clicking on this link.

Scary photo...

I am painting the ceiling in the family room, using a paint brand called Zinsser.  It's quite watery and is oil based.  I am doing the second coat today......

I am hoping this will wash off eventually!!

After a very wet day on Monday we did finally see a little bit of blue sky by late afternoon.

Powder room renovation at daughter and son-in-laws house.

Last month dd and son-in-law decided to renovate the powder room.  I don't have a before photo which is such a shame, as it's night and day to what it was.  The floor was a beige and brown linoleum.  The walls were beige and there was a cheap wooden and sink.

First thing they did was pull up the floor and get rid of the vanity.  They painted the room a dark grey including the ceiling. and put in the white wainscotting at the bottom.  The put in a pedestal sink and little mosaic tiles on the floor.  Changed the light fixture and added new accessories.  They figured all in all this cost them around $700.

This is the floor tile, sorry the photo turned on me.  The floor vent is also a silver colour.

Dd is a huge fan of Young House Love and gets lots of ideas from them.