The Money Pit

July 1, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5BKX3QCjk0

Yes, this project has become the famous scene from The Money Pit.  Wow, were Tom Hanks' shorts short in that scene. 

I had a challenging day at work.  Not bad, mind you, but wearily challenging.  Not an issue, I thought as I left work, I get to go home and see my new bathroom.  Joe will have completed the mirror hanging and dry walling (not in that order hopefully), and I will get to see the finished product and post the photos on my blog for all (3) of my readers to see. 

I walked in the door, was greeted by Beth, and looked up.  Beth has been working on the cabinets to fill some holes from which we had removed some screws that originally had been painted over.  She had decided that she did not like the bumpy look and could simply remove the screws, fill the holes, sand them down, and paint over them.  This is the project awaiting completion before I can install the handles and take finished photos.  Finished is currently being defined, not as completing a room, but by completing phases of rooms.  Hole patching/handle installing would complete the cabinet portion of the kitchen, which would then take us to the floor or counter top or wall color portions of the kitchen.  I realize you cannot help us pick out counter tops or wall colors until I post pictures, but have I mentioned the cabinets are not done?  Anyway, I AM NOT CRITICIZING BETH FOR HAVING NOT COMPLETED THE CABINETS!!!  I need to make that perfectly clear, which can only be done with capital letters.

Okay, kitchen not ready, I walked towards the bathroom.  I peeked in to see it looking very much like it was when I left it this morning.  The difference was that there was a fan blowing on the wall putty which was not dry, and therefore, Joe could not finish the drywall.  I did not know that it was named drywall for that reason.  Joe will be back tomorrow to finish the bathroom.  While Joe was waiting for putty to dry, he did install some toe strips along one wall in the living room, and one wall in the dining room.  Why just one wall, you ask?  Well, because I was the one who installed toe strips in those two rooms not long after we moved in.  So for the past 9 years, the toe strips on those two walls had looked like crap.  I did not know what I was doing.  I had followed the advice of a DIYer who had said anyone could do it.  He had never met me or my 6 thumbs.  So the toe strips Joe installed today were a significant improvement over the ones I had done.  However, they are not painted.

Four rooms entered, three projects started, zero projects complete.  I know you do not know me, but I am a start something, finish something kind of guy.  I understand the reasons behind all this, but it does not make it any easier to swallow.

Then Beth told me to follow her to the basement.  Ex squeeze me?  Baking powder?  I followed.

Beth had asked Joe to fix this one corner of drywall while the putty dried in the bathroom after the toe strips were done.  Are you starting to have a sense of why Beth did not have time to finish the cabinets?  As Joe removed the old drywall, he discovered that a pipe was leaking behind the wall which was the cause of the problem in the first place. 

Those are moldy shelves.  And a big hole in my wall.

I had a philosophy professor ask the class once whether the hole in a doughnut existed.  I never came to a conclusion, but I did eat a lot of doughnuts.  I can tell said professor now that the hole in my wall exists.  It is next to the stationery tub.  On the other side of the wall is the shower which had a leaky pipe.

This is the non leaky pipe.  Joe, who I now assume is part owner of my house, will be back tomorrow to finish this off.  Who am I kidding?  Joe, the part owner, will be back tomorrow to start fixing the wall where he has already fixed the pipe where there had been a drywall problem.

In reality, I am WAY grateful that this problem is fixed, and that Joe, co-owner of my house, has been the one fixing it.  He truly knows what he is doing, he is not charging me plumber's rates, and he is a great guy.  I truly understand that things could be worse.  If you are not sure about that, see Kelly's comment from yesterday.  If I had to use a portable toilet in my back yard for three months, laughing at the problem would not happen.  I can't imagine Beth meeting up with a raccoon on her way to drop the kids off at the lake. 

So I am going to thank God again for the good things in my life, and then I am going to go water the money tree out in the back yard.