Ailantha
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Two Ambitious Old People

5/8/2017

2 Comments

 
     The vacation was over, and now that Tom and I  were back home it was time to face the inconvenient truth that our 45-year-old basement needed some work on its slightly sagging structure, a state of being to which I could totally relate.
       But how brightly shines our lucky stars that Tom was born into a family of smart, high-achieving siblings, 

Picture
...here after working on rehabbing their parents' house (see posts from 2/7/2016 - 2/9/2016),
Picture
... one of whom, Donald (in the green shirt), grew up to be a Professional Civil Engineer and the owner of a highly regarded local engineering firm that specializes in home and building inspections, Criterium Liszkay Engineers.
Picture
     Hence when our basement appeared to have a middling case of wallsteoporosis we asked Donald to come over and have a look.
     The diagnosis was as we feared:  the walls were indeed succumbing to the rigors of age, but the prognosis was not all that bad:  all our walls needed was a bit of support: 14 steel beams worth, as it turned out.  And the procedure would end up being not be as complicated or costly as it might have been thanks to Tom's rule about basements, which he likely picked up from his career of dealing with Government investigations:  never finish a basement; if the walls are covered you can't tell what's going on underneath.
     Anyway, as many of us have learned to our sorrow, the worst thing about dealing with contractors is, well, dealing with contractors.
     But, thankfully, not all contractors are purveyors of stress, headaches and agita.
    
And, thankfully for Tom and I, Tom's super-good-guy engineer home-inspector brother set us up with a super-good-guy contracting company, whose card I will share just in case anyone happens to be in need of some super-good-guy contractors:

Picture
Picture
    Wonder of wonders, Kyle Copeland, the owner of K&G Contracting, a friendly, straight-forward, organized  young guy, showed up for the initial inspection on the agreed-upon day and  time, as did his workers, who finished installing the beams and plastering the cracks in two days.
      Ryan Copeland, brother of Kyle, likewise showed up with the city inspector for the post-work inspection on the appointed day.

     Ryan Copeland and Tom.
Picture
     So, our beamed-up basement now having the fine, firm foundation  of a  perky young domicile,
Picture
Picture
Picture
...and our family room now looking like a hoarder's dream,
Picture
...Tom and I were forced to face a second inconvenient truth: before we dragged all of the above  back down to their accustomed lodgings we needed to clean up  the residual work dust and dirt that had settled on the walls and floors and, truth be told, it was high time that those walls and floors received a fresh coat of paint to go with their new physique.
     We got the cleaning done,

...and now Tom's tackling the painting.
Picture
Picture
     He's not really as happy about having to paint the whole basement as he looks in this shot.
     I, meanwhile, decided that, as long as Tom's doing the basement, I'd tackle the upstairs and downstairs hallways, which are also overdue for a new coat of paint. 
       The reason these areas are overdue for a painting is that I'd been lollygagging around over starting the project because last time I painted the hallways I was aiming for the faux wall covering effect,  which called for painting the wall with the base color (two coats, of course) then feathering the faux color with a rag on top of the base color, which turned out to be a mucho messy undertaking and a heck of a lot of work.

    However I liked the result so much that I want to go faux again.  I just haven't been able to motivate myself to get into gear and get started.
Picture
    Until now.  And even now I'm not exactly afire with enthusiasm.
     Still, the project has officially started,

...with the protective taping and papering of the trims,
Picture
Picture
....which is really the worst part of the job.
     "Aw, gee, Mom," exclaimed one of my daughters when I told her how we were up to our elbows in painting projects, "I can't believe you guys still don't hire someone to do your painting!"
     "Oh, we would,"  I sighed, "except that we'd rather go back to Hawaii."

Picture
Picture
2 Comments
Patti Goller
5/10/2017 03:19:17 am

Ha Ha Ha I love you guys and your sense of humor and full of life stories.

Reply
Patti
5/10/2017 07:04:14 am

thanks, Patti! Aren't we all full of life stories!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    "Hail Mary"
    by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

    Picture
    "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
     by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
    or from
    The Book Loft
    of German Village,
    Columbus, Ohio
    Picture
    Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
    Picture

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

    I am a traveler just visiting this planet and reporting various and sundry observations,
    hopefully of interest to my fellow travelers.

    Categories

    All


























































































Proudly powered by Weebly