Home Improvements
Ah, the joys of home ownership. When you first move into a
house, there’s the joy of making things the way you want them. Then if you’re
lucky you trade up, and once again you can make things yours. In fact, the
ongoing idea once again is that you fix things to match what your vision is in
that home.
But now we’ve lived in our house for 27 years and not only
have we made it the way we wanted it—including a lot of renovations in 2009 and
2010—but now we have to “fix” a few things. Hence, the joy of home
improvements…the kind you can’t avoid and really need to make happen.
Our driveway is more than 90 feet long. And the mailbox is
at the street end so if the weather is really bad I’m happy to leave the mail
in the box until I can get out there. My husband is willing to put on a heavy
coat, boots, a hat, and gloves in order to get the mail that day. I let him;
it’s not worth the fight. But a couple of ties this summer I went out—once in
the rain—I went down the driveway to the box, and on the way back, I felt like
the driveway had sunk a little bit. Actually, it felt like it was a little
wavy.
The Driveway Saga
Because I didn’t want to spend a lot on things, I figured we
could just have it “capped.” A thin layer of asphalt would be laid over what
was there and things would even out. What did I know? Apparently not a whole
lot. First I called my handyman for a referral; no problem. I called the place
he sent me. it’s been 3 weeks; I’m still waiting to hear from the guy they were
going to contact about it. Oh, the joys of dealing with subcontractors.
Apparently they’re in total control. My husband thought I should wait but I’ve
seen this before. There isn’t enough time in life for me to wait to hear. On to
plan B.
I had this neighbor for a few years—okay, probably at least
12 years but I really didn’t like her so I try to minimize it. But this neighbor was
very picky in who she used to work on her place, and I remembered the name of
that company. Called them; had a call back within an hour and an estimate
within two hours. Unfortunately, my dream of capping the driveway was just
that, a dream. It seems that driveways actually have shelf lives and we were
years beyond expiration. His price included ripping it out—remember, this is
over 90 feet, and did I mention the part where it’s even wider because there is
a turn into the garage and that it actually extends about 10 feet beyond the
end of the garage—laying new gravel, and then repaving with half an inch more
than the required depth of asphalt. Fortunately, the price isn’t horrific. My
husband was home; he said we should do it. I’m not happy but fine. At least
when we go to sell the house, we can use it as a sales plus.
The next Tuesday they came and I had to get out of bed by 7n
a.m. to put the cars in the street before the trucks come. My husband is
stunned that I’m doing this, but to me this is normal. It’s the first time he’s
been around for a major home improvement and he has no idea what it takes. This
is nothing; remind me to tell you about when we refinished the floor in the
family room. I lived upstairs the entire week. Notice that the driveway is now
just gravel and will be paved in another week or so. Meanwhile, I still haven’t
heard from the first firm with an estimate.
Also the Deck
But this wasn’t all. The week before we started asking about
the driveway we realized the deck needed to be power washed and re-stained.
Talked to the handyman (he knows someone for anything he doesn’t do) and we
were referred back to the guy who painted the ceilings last winter. This guy is
a pleasure to deal with; he actually answers his own phone. He comes over and
we have a chat about cleaning and staining except he heavily advocates solid
stain and not the transparent stuff we originally used. It seems that will last
longer, and I’m thinking again about selling points for the house.
So, it’s
off to Home Depot (fortunately he will handle picking the stain up so I don’t
need extra cash to pay them; I'm very aware of hackers). I hate
picking colors; I don’t trust my eye for how it will look on a big space. But
the husband narrows it down and I just pick one. The painter comes literally
the next Monday and starts the washing. As long as we’re doing it we also had
him power wash the back of the house and the patio. The area is heavily shaded
and we’re always battling mold. Oh, and did I mention the part where I had to
have someone come and prune the bushes around the deck before we could do
anything? There was a lot of rain over the summer and the plantings were
running amok. There’s a lot more space around the deck now. Fortunately, the
painter is very good; he was in and out in three days (it rained in between or
it would have been two). I’m still getting used to the color but it looks
really good so I’ll adapt.
That's All for This Year...I Hope
The last commitment I made on the house was to promise my
husband that there will be no more big projects this season. We’ve hit the
limit. Of course, the new year is in less than three months, and I have a list
for next year. It’s a house, something always needs to be fixed, upgraded,
adjusted.
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