Adventures of a Newbie Homeowner
I made my first mortgage payment last week, and I've not been so excited about paying a "bill" like I was that first payment. While I never really dreaded making my rent payment each month, doing so had a very different feel to it. It was just something I did for a house that belonged to someone else. My mortgage payment, though, is something I'm doing for a house that belongs to me . . . well, actually the bank . . . but I get to do all kinds of fun things to it without having to ask first. And the money I sink into my new house isn't completely lost if I get a wild hair and decide to move. Which I won't. I'm so over moving.
I did learn, though, water gets into the basement when it rains for 24 hours and the wind is out of the north. I had a very nice small pond in one section of the basement, which for all intents and purposes is a really nice basement. When it doesn't have a very nice small pond in it. I'm pretty sure basements are not where very nice small ponds are supposed to be. So I called Mr. Handyman and talked with him about the issue. He came out a couple of days later to assess the situation, and we think we figured out the problem. The caulk between the chimney brick and the house siding had dry rotted and fallen out, leaving a gap for water to get into when raining all day long, with the wind out of the north. Mr. Handyman applied new caulk. Hopefully that will do the trick for the next all-day rain, with wind blowing out of the north.
While Mr. Handyman was here we talked about a couple of other things I'd like to accomplish this summer, one of which is installing an automatic garage door opener. We went to the garage to look at the layout and the door, and after doing some measuring, Mr. Handyman said, "Hold out your hand." I did. He took my hand then looked at me, saying, "Say hello to your garage door opener." Unfortunately, there isn't enough overhead space for a garage door opener. There also isn't enough room between the door railings and the garage walls for a wall-mounted opener.
Then Mr. Handyman commented that most garage doors were 9' wide. Mine is 13'. The wheels started turning and I asked, "So, if I change out the door for a 9', we could do a wall mount opener, right?" Mr. Handyman thought for a second then nodded. Now I'm shopping for the just-right garage door for my garage.
Saturday I did my first small home improvement task. I replaced one of the torn porch screens. The one Ado punched through when Milo, the village mascot, walked by with his human. The screen was so dry rotted I'm surprised it kept flies and wasps from going right through it. I felt so accomplished after removing the trim covering the screen, removing the old screen, cleaning the wood, stapling the new screen in place, then tacking the trim back up. Before I did all of this, though, I had to text a friend to ask what kind of nails were used on the trim. They were tiny and most were rusted. I wanted to replace them. His response was, "That's called a brad." This sent me searching for the difference between a nail and a brad. I found a brad is a nail, just a very small one, used for projects like the thin trim covering the screen. All of the screens will need replacing, but I just bought three rolls of screen this go around. This afternoon I'm going to replace two more sections, the two with the most patched holes on them. I also need to mow. Hopefully, I can get these jobs done before the rain moves in this evening.
I did learn, though, water gets into the basement when it rains for 24 hours and the wind is out of the north. I had a very nice small pond in one section of the basement, which for all intents and purposes is a really nice basement. When it doesn't have a very nice small pond in it. I'm pretty sure basements are not where very nice small ponds are supposed to be. So I called Mr. Handyman and talked with him about the issue. He came out a couple of days later to assess the situation, and we think we figured out the problem. The caulk between the chimney brick and the house siding had dry rotted and fallen out, leaving a gap for water to get into when raining all day long, with the wind out of the north. Mr. Handyman applied new caulk. Hopefully that will do the trick for the next all-day rain, with wind blowing out of the north.
While Mr. Handyman was here we talked about a couple of other things I'd like to accomplish this summer, one of which is installing an automatic garage door opener. We went to the garage to look at the layout and the door, and after doing some measuring, Mr. Handyman said, "Hold out your hand." I did. He took my hand then looked at me, saying, "Say hello to your garage door opener." Unfortunately, there isn't enough overhead space for a garage door opener. There also isn't enough room between the door railings and the garage walls for a wall-mounted opener.
Then Mr. Handyman commented that most garage doors were 9' wide. Mine is 13'. The wheels started turning and I asked, "So, if I change out the door for a 9', we could do a wall mount opener, right?" Mr. Handyman thought for a second then nodded. Now I'm shopping for the just-right garage door for my garage.
Saturday I did my first small home improvement task. I replaced one of the torn porch screens. The one Ado punched through when Milo, the village mascot, walked by with his human. The screen was so dry rotted I'm surprised it kept flies and wasps from going right through it. I felt so accomplished after removing the trim covering the screen, removing the old screen, cleaning the wood, stapling the new screen in place, then tacking the trim back up. Before I did all of this, though, I had to text a friend to ask what kind of nails were used on the trim. They were tiny and most were rusted. I wanted to replace them. His response was, "That's called a brad." This sent me searching for the difference between a nail and a brad. I found a brad is a nail, just a very small one, used for projects like the thin trim covering the screen. All of the screens will need replacing, but I just bought three rolls of screen this go around. This afternoon I'm going to replace two more sections, the two with the most patched holes on them. I also need to mow. Hopefully, I can get these jobs done before the rain moves in this evening.
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| I have new visitors, the beautiful Indigo Bunting, at the feeder. |
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