You don’t own your house, your house owns you.
Or something like that.
Anyway, the darned peak of our vinyl siding fell off the top of the front of the Little Bitty again.
Vinyl never final.
Damn, I wish that phone number of the contractor who put the stuff on the house worked. That guarantee he sold us his price and labor and product with … Poof.
So, wanting the neighbors in our Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood to be happy with our house, I gathered my tools and wits and up I went again. This time, my dear wife Karen and I went back to the store and purchased Marine-grade Lock-Tite adhesive. Where nails and two-sided tape have only lasted months before the wind prevailed …
Rotten job.
Around back, it was time to deal with the rotten wood atop the door of the screened porch. That blight started when a chunk was taken out of the paint job while tree guys took down the biggest tree in Eastwood a dozen feet away. And it spread while I just watched.
At the store we purchased a sturdy board to fill the inside and another to cover and paint.
This took both of our brains and all the physical skill I could muster. And many hours of tinkering. I banged two different fingers with the hammer. I didn’t get to the “and paint.”
A look at what we’ve accomplished in part two tomorrow.
What “repeat project” pops up at your place, and how do you change your approach? What’s your favorite project, and why? What’s your best took skill, and how did you get good at it?
Mark Bialczak 
Oh so true, Mark – the house owns you . . . I call that the “joys” of home ownership 😉
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Oh, so very joyous, Sadie. 😮
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none of these skills are in my wheelhouse, i always have to hire or get help. i tend to do more damage )
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I’m getting a little better each time I try, Beth. I understand. I was simply terrible at repair at the start.
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I hope it’s a job that’s done for good now – I remember reading about your last foray up a ladder to fix it. Our homes certainly do own us at times.
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They do, Rachel. I have a feeling the ladder will keep me busy, my friend.
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I cringed when I read the very first sentence, Mark. I feel your pain. As you will recall, our first roofing contractor disappeared after the work was done (yes, we had a “guarantee”, too), and when the roof began leaking just a year later, we had to have part of it torn off and replaced by a more reputable contractor.
My husband often goes up on the roof to clean the gutters and make sure everything’s still ok, and I worry every time he does. A neighbor down the street fell off his ladder doing the same thing a couple of years ago and wound up in the hospital with a concussion – thank heavens, he didn’t break his foolish neck. His wife told me she had offered to hold the ladder, but he wouldn’t let her. He waited until she wasn’t home one day to go up there, and then she found him on the ground when she got home. Silly men!
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I was going to go up to the peak before Karen got home from work, but she talked me into waiting until she was here to hold the ladder, CM. She is smarter than me, for sure. 🙂
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Yikes! be careful on the ladder Mark. I’ve fallen a few times (off a scaffolding and off a ladder and once off a forklift that had put me about 15 feet in the air)when I was younger – I’d break in two now. Contractors’ workmanship is often abhorrent. We have a home repair channel, HGTV, here in Canada and the lead show is Holmes on Homes. Mike Holmes goes behind contractors and fixes the messes they make. That’s an eyeopener I tell you. Wowsa. i did very few home repairs myself but we had a contractor who was a friend and he would take care of our repairs. He was meticulous on his work.
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HGTV is one of my favorite networks, Paul. I learn stuff! Holmes on Holmes is a good show. He would be a hero to show up here, let me tell you. 🙂
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That’s filmed mostly in Toronto and Ottawa with a few episodes everywhere from LA to Alberta.
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Be careful up there, Mark. Did you see my post about falling off the roof ??? ☺
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I will go look now, Van. You better not do that again, my friend!
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Hire a good contractor Mark!!! Gatorette
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Do you make loans, Gatorette? Ha! Just joshin’.
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LOL-see me after we return from overseas after the end of June-yes really…Lowwwwwe interest for you Terp! Gatorette and the Gang.
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Thanks for the offer, Gatorette. I’ll keep trying to DIY. Have a great trip! 🙂
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