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,
But how brightly shines our lucky stars that Tom was born into a family of smart, high-achieving siblings,
| ...here after working on rehabbing their parents' house (see posts from 2/7/2016 - 2/9/2016), |  |
... 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.
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:
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:
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, brother of Kyle, likewise showed up with the city inspector for the post-work inspection on the appointed day.
| Ryan Copeland and Tom. |  |
So, our beamed-up basement now having the fine, firm foundation of a perky young domicile,
...and our family room now looking like a hoarder's dream,
...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,
We got the cleaning done,
| ...and now Tom's tackling the painting. |  |
 | 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.
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. |  |
Until now. And even now I'm not exactly afire with enthusiasm.
Still, the project has officially started,
Still, the project has officially started,
| ...with the protective taping and papering of the trims, |  |
 | ....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."
"Oh, we would," I sighed, "except that we'd rather go back to Hawaii."
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