It Could Be Worse, Right?

Baseboards are done, bedroom doors are replaced, the broken tile in the bathroom has been replaced and grouted, the old room electric heat controls have all been removed, and I have half hardheartedly started painting.  The entry door has 2 coats of varnish on it (it looks fabulous by the way), and the new sliding glass door and new door to the garage will be delivered tomorrow morning.

And just as I suspected, the more work we do, the more we find to do.  If I learned one lesson here, it's to not put off house maintenance!  It's always seemed overwhelming to me, but if I had done one thing at a time, I'd be ready to put my house on the market.

Today was supposed to be tree day, but I got a call this morning saying that the owner had poison oak all over his body, and that he needed several days to recover.  Bummer.  I was really looking forward to the positive changes tree trimming and removal was going to make, especially to my backyard.

Next week the tub is getting refinished, hopefully the fence will get done, and siding repaired.  Tonight I worked on a Pinterest project; picked up some trim molding and stained it with the stain I had leftover from the entry door.  It'll be cut to "frame" the huge mirror in the downstairs bathroom.  There's not enough room to actually frame it, so it will be glued to the mirror with Liquid Nails.  The downstairs bathroom is the ugliest room in the house, so any little bit helps.

I have the whole week of Thanksgiving off, so I can finish my painting chores then if I don't finish them this weekend.  I really hate painting.

Sweat Equity

I have a list of tasks that need to get done before I can put my house on the market.  It seems like an awfully long list, but I know that once I get started it'll all be done before I know it.  The list is separated by items I can do myself versus tasks I need others to do.

This weekend I have spray painted the gas fireplace surround (very successful), spray painted an old air intake vent (not so great), sanded and painted a patch my contractor left on the wall upstairs after fixing HIS plumbing mistake (bastard), and started work on my entry door.

When I first looked at the door, I thought for sure it would need to be replaced.  The finish was peeling, and it squeaks when opening.  But knowing that my budget is tight, I decided to see if I could refinish it instead.  First I sanded off what varnish I could, then put paint stripper on the parts I couldn't get to.  Then I put a coat of Gunstock stain on the door.  It doesn't look half bad!  I'll add a second coat in a couple of hours, let it dry overnight, then do a couple coats of varnish.

Lowes finally delivered my baseboard and bedroom doors this morning.  They were supposed to be here Friday morning - they called Thursday afternoon and said that they didn't have a driver.  I explained that I had already taken the day off and really needed the baseboards - she said they'd get them to me sometime on Friday.  Friday night they called and said that the truck broke down, and could they please deliver on Saturday instead?  I called bulls**t on that one; was the truck broke or did they not have a driver?  Profuse apologies and waiving the delivery fee later, I hung up.

Saturday...all day...no Lowes truck and no phone call.  By this point I was resigned to not getting my stuff until Monday.  My handyman was waiting for the delivery so he could start, but he has a doctor's appointment on Monday, so now he can't start work until Tuesday.

This morning (Sunday) I got the phone call - Lowe's will be here in an hour.  I didn't take my frustrations out on the drivers; I don't think they actually work for Lowes anyway.  Since we're expecting another round of cold and rain Tuesday, I guess I'll be painting baseboards on my birthday (tomorrow).  Good thing I took the day off to celebrate!