We’ve been spending money like it’s on fire, I tell you what!
I finally got all the ducks in a row for our two major house projects and pulled the trigger on both.
We had new Hardie Board siding put up on our chimney, where the old siding was falling apart. ($3000 – *Cha-ching*) Hardie Board is made from concrete and saw dust. It should stay together longer than the house itself. Plus, we got the optional “infused color,” which means no painting. Ever. Yea!
Maybe after I win the lottery, I’ll get the rest of the house resided. (Estimates are in the $15-20k range. Yikes.)
Our second project was installing a french drain to empty the ponds that develop in our yard whenever it rains. I did a lot of research on this thinking I would do it myself. But one of our “chi’ren” (church kids), who’s grown up now, has a landscaping business and quoted me a pretty good price to get it all done. ($1500 – *Cha-ching*) In hindsight, I’m *so* glad I didn’t try to do it myself. It was simple, but it was a *lot* of hot, sweaty, physical labor. I would have killed myself.
The new drain runs along the side yard where, eventually, I plan to gravel it in and put up a storage shed. The sprinkles along that side of the house are connected to the wrong channel (shared with the front flower beds). That meant that if we wanted to water the flowers in front we’d have to also water the ponds in back. I knew the guys would probably find some sprinkler pipes and that would help me reroute the system. Sure enough, they hit the plumbing in several places (but only broke it bad in one place).
As they dug in other areas, I dug out around the pipes and planned my assault, trying to figure out exactly how it was installed. I patched in 20 feet of pipe to bypass all the side yard sprinklers, and, after 2 hours of drying time, turned on the system. Rather than the happy sound of hissing flowerbed sprinklers, I heard the roaring of water filling my ditches. I had patched in the wrong direction. Harumph!
After 30 minutes of bailing muddy water, digging in the mud (with shovel and hand) and I thought I had found the right pipe. I lined were to cut the existing pipe. It only took my cordless saw about 2 seconds to breach the line, which turned out to be the sprinkler supply line which is always under pressure. More roaring water filling my ditch as I ran for the main water supply valve at the curb. *sigh*
Another trip to the store for more fittings. Another half hour of bailing and digging. Finally I found the valve where the main connects to the channel and I could reroute it to only feed the flowerbeds. The final solution required only four feet of pipe and only one foot of digging. All the rest was spent on exploration and misunderstand of the installation. *grumble grumble*
After getting cleaned up (in a *very* cold shower) I realized it was hot *inside*. Hrmm. The bedroom was 80 degrees and the AC had been running the whole time. Sure enough, the down stairs AC unit was not working. yea… </sarcasm>
Thank God the upstairs unit was working (and working very hard). Tammy and I spent the night in our upstairs guest room for the first time. (I can now honestly attest to it’s comfort.)
And now, I’m sitting the coolest spot in the house, our office, typing this update, waiting for the AC guy to show up. Last night, when I called he said, “in the morning,” and as I check the clock it’s now just past noon on the hottest day of the year so far. (The forecast is for 101 with a 110 heat index.)
And I have no idea how much it’s going to cost to fix. (Cha-ching!)
