Hired Help

Here we are nearing mid-July and I am still doing demolition and working on the "guts" (the unseen mechanicals) of the house! I've finally hired a carpenter, electrician and plumber and all are on board to get their portion complete and inspected within the next week. I've chosen a good crew and am happy with the pointers and recommendations they are willing to offer a "novice".

"In about the same degree as you are helpful, you will be happy." ~ Karl Reiland ~

For example, all winter the basement never had a smell. This June, an odd smell started emanating from somewhere down there and for the life of me, I could not pinpoint the source. The plumber advised me to pour water down the P-traps of the drains as it had evaporated allowing sewer gas to seep back up the line. It took one minute to do, and by the next day the smell was eliminated completely.



Above you are looking at the wall from the three season porch that I had to remove so that the carpenter could bump out a master bedroom closet and master bath shower. I had already removed the drywall on the inside of the wall. I unexpectedly ran into plywood underneath the drywall which made the demo three times as hard. That gave me alot more thinking time and I've been toying with the idea of addressing some of those thoughts here. For example, my admiration for the plethora of tools man has devised for whatever problem he encounters... crowbars, prybars, grippers, sawsalls, multimasters .... I used to tease my brother that his candy aisle at the store was the power tool aisle. Mine, of course, is the art supply aisle. I mean, you can actually catch a glint in the eye of a person truly fascinated in scoping out what genuinely interests him/her.



The third photo shows the demolition task complete and the fourth photo shows the new framing for the closet the carpenter built from the inside of the master bedroom (he makes it look so easy...). You've got to admire a person who does a job well. It's such a thing of beauty!

"There is a kind of victory in good work, no matter how humble." ~ Jack Kemp ~