This whole thing started with trying to get someone to come out and give me an estimate for fencing for the dogs! I don’t want to have to worry about cleaning up or stepping in shit every time I step in the yard! I started on Angie’s list, this was my first mistake! I had to fill in a survey…not a problem, except 1) I wasn’t sure how big or the exact location of the fence…I didn’t have the vision! 2) the site would not let me see fencing until I put in the next project on the list. The only thing that would make sense is the deck! I got 3 deck estimates in a week, and NOT 1 fencing estimate!

That ended up being ok because it makes more sense to add the deck and then the fence around it. I didn’t like either of the estimates, so I was in a place where it may have to be done next spring. So I went on next door and asked about fencing. I got 3 responses there, but 2 of them were to “help” me do the fencing. Strictly laborers! But the 3rd guy, Jose owned a deck and patio company, so I called him, he and his partner Victor came over and took some measurements. We talked about alot of the ‘projects’ around here (including the oil tank replacement)…these guys may be around here alot over the next few years! Their deck estimate was more normal than the 2 Amish guys that gave us estimates, and J&V will also do the fencing after the deck.

When they gave us the estimate, we were also dealing with the oil tank replacement…and I wasn’t ready to put out that kind of money all at once. After many conversations with Jen, we decided to do the deck/fencing because we need a WANT or we’re going to start feeling like the house is a money pit!

Victor said that I can help and get my hands dirty! we start the 16 footers at 8am!

There are before pictures…I just need to figure out which device they reside on!

Demo! My favorite part…besides the finished product 🙂

New sub-flooring

it’s starting to look good!

still need to install the vanity and the sink, had to return the original because the porcelain was cracked…I just hope the new choice works with the floor!

I also need to cut the new radiator cover…bought a new saw for this…because the covers are expensive and I don’t screw it up! If we like the cover, we will start changing them out around the house!

This is what a brand new “hydronic baseboard heating element” looks like…copper pipe through aluminum slats. The pipe heats up and the slats hold the heat until air flows up from the bottom and pushes the heat out.

needless to say…these slats should be pretty straight…this is what is in the bathroom now. It is recommended to use popsicle sticks to make the as straight as possible! (there is not enough caffeine in the world to make me want to do this!)

Another strange thing about this bathroom….when you see it, you will know

After getting a few estimates and LOTS of really good info from several Tank Replacement companies, we decided to go with Xpress Energy.

Sam, who came in to give us an estimate, told me that he has a house about the same size and that he uses about 5 gallons a day in Oil..so off I go to get 5 gallons of “off-road diesel” a day! The fumes make me dizzy and give me a very slight headache…but better than the stress of ‘running out of oil’

This is Dennis, he is the brains in this (not that the other 2 guys are not smart, Dennis has the experience).

Gavin is the muscle and apprentice…

…and Rob, I’m guessing he is the supervisor/salesman

I’m going to call this the tank corner

The new tank in place

The orange hose is what feeds the burner…it’s been 20+ years since I have needed to bleed an oil line, and I know that it can cost up to $100 bucks if it’s ever needed. (The oil companies make money on people not knowing how to do this!) So…I asked alot of questions about the burner itself, the bleeding the line and how the water is heated. Yep, no hot water heater, it’s part of the burner.

They cut the old tank in half and siphoned out the oil, this is the back side of the tank! As much as I feel like these oil companies are full of shit, this does prove that they can’t fix and ‘resell’ the tank! Because I am NOT 100% convinced it needed to be replaced!

I was told by 1 of the guys that did an estimate that the oil that we were smelling was from the pipe coming into the house, that it was blowing back oil on the outside of the tank itself. You can see that in the picture, where it looks ‘wet’.

Every one had a different opinion on the tank replacement! We will not need to do this again for at least 25 years.

Jen seemed to smell the oil every time we had oil delivered, so she decided to call the oil company and come out and do an inspection of the system on 2/9/2024

At the end of the inspection, we were told that the heater is fine, but there is a small leak at the valve on the oil tank. They will provide a couple companies that can tell us if it CAN be fixed or if the tank needs to be replaced. They also tell us that they will NOT deliver oil to us until the tank is fixed or replaced. Fuckers!

Jen set up an appointment on Monday 2/19 with PTE (Professional Tank & Environmental) to have them come out to tell us if they can fix it or if it needs to be replaced. He was supposed to be here at 1pm, so I timed my lunch around this so I could go through everything with him. He did not show….and apparently PTE called Jen at 1:30 to say he had a family emergency. Ok, I get it…I can be patient!

So…now the next appt is for Tuesday 2/20 at 11, which is fine, but I have a weekly call with everyone at work. When this guy doesn’t show by 11:15, Jen calls PTE and says that we need to reschedule. (I did not know that she cancelled it)…the guy shows up here at 11:30, just as the meeting is starting. He said it should only take a few minutes, so I put the meeting on mute and escorted him down the basement to the tank. Immediately he tells me that it needs to be replaced, that there is rust on the legs. I told him that he needs to write up an estimate and email it to Jen. He continues to talk to me about the best plan…I am done with this guy!

I am sick of this shit…the man-spaining, the being talked down to, the assumption that I am just a dumb-ass woman, all that stupid MEN contractor shit! AND now, we need oil!

We are going to makes some more calls! Seems as though we were pretty much blackballed from getting oil delivered until we get the tank replaced, so we are going to need to get some estimates on the tank replacement….I’m still not convinced that there is actually a leak, but we are being forced to replace the tank!

Trying to find homes for everything in the kitchen has been a challenge and with this cabinet doing a dip made it even harder to figure out what to do with the house-cleaning stuff. I know I can rip out and re-build a platform, but it is NOT a priority! So I decided to rip out the cabinet flooring…

There’s still more to do under there, but now it can wait until we are ready to dive in!

New Years Eve 2023!

We needed one room that we can relax in…so we set out to unpack the boxes to make the “family room” feel like home.

Jen approved me re-doing the powder room…because there is a smell in there that makes us keep the door closed and makes it not worth using. So we went to Lowes and picked up a few things. We started with waterproof flooring, some toilet parts (wax ring, floor bolts), a vanity with the sink, and 3 new toilet seats for each of the bathrooms.

During our home inspection, one of the things that didn’t work was the shower in the main bathroom. No water movement through the shower. He said it was the shower control knob. This was not a big deal because we can shower in the master bedroom bathroom and I like epsom salt baths. I decided to troubleshoot it anyway…because I could! Turns out it was a clogged showerhead. While we were out we also stopped at HomeDepot to pick up the new shower head. I wanted the same one that we had in the old house (that I brought with us)…also got a curved shower curtain rod! I have gotten spoiled!

There are locks everywhere but there is only 1 key, so changing out the locks or having them re-keyed will probably be a project in itself! Since the shed is stand alone and a very easy fix, I changed out that lock. My bike and some tools are out there. Next up is the garage door lock! (there isn’t one). The garage door also needs a new door seal and possibly replace the springs (and if we ever put the car in there, we will need a garage door opener).

The spare bedroom now has a bed. I will eventually hang the bedroom TV in there. I decided not to put it in the master bedroom because the only time is it on is when Jen is sick and wants to do a “True Blood” marathon. Now she can be sick in there! HaHa!

One of the most frustrating things about moving is now matter how organized you THINK you are, you are NOT! Seek and Find is a real pain in the ass! It only took 3 weeks to find the lag bolts and remotes for my main TV.

Now I can relax a little!

Not sure what to do about this…one of the previous owners did NOT provide a forwarding address and according to the USPS, there were many family members having their mail delivered here…or they all lived here…totally unsure!! Well, they got a Kansas City Steak delivery as a Holiday gift!

We will call Kansas Steak and have them stop future deliveries, but if we ‘return it’, they would technically need to destroy it. After a few discussions on how to deal with it, we are having steak for dinner 🙂 I will not feel bad about it either!

and a little Irony…this time last year, we were in Kansas City…and I don’t think we had time to try any of the steak houses.

UPDATE: 2024-12-24 we received a Christmas Eve delivery…yummy steaks!

So many calls to make, so many things to shop for, so many things to unpack! We drove down to Tractor Supply Company and the Home Depot to buy some sort of temporary fencing and price shelving units. Neither of us has been in a Tractor Supply Company…this was different!! It’s like a hardware store with a petSmart in it. (except they sell baby chicks and NOT puppies). We found some temporary fencing for the “dog yard” until we decide on how we want to deal with it. I hope they adjust to the new place/smells/things!

No matter how tired I am, my desk and PC are the first things that need to be set up because I will be back to work on Wednesday. FIOS should be up an running first thing on Tuesday.

I am guessing that Jen’s immune system is exhausted! She was up most of the night throwing up. It could also be that we haven’t been around a whole lot of people and someone was a carrier for some kind of stomach bug.

When we started planning the sale of the Morton house, there were a few things I wanted to bring with us, the shower head and the living room curtains.

The showerhead is one of those ones that has 2 heads, one stationary and the other on a hose. It was fairly expensive and there was no reason to have to go out and buy another…so I put the old showerhead back on before we even showed the house. Installing it in the master bathroom shower was one of my 1st small projects…The shower in the main bathroom needs a plumbers help (according to the home inspection) I will pick up another one of these for the main bathroom

The curtain rod was a birthday gift to Jen, remote controled so that it didnt matter that the couch was in front of the curtains…this was a pain in the ass to remove and transport 🙂 It hung out of the back of my truck with a flag tied to it…I was happy that no-one stole it (or any of the other things in the back of the truck) during the move. But this will look nice in the new picture window.

I still can’t find my pillow…

We need a washing machine, so mom and dad decided to get this for us as a house-warming gift…let me tell you, this is just as bad as buying a new TV…too many brands, too many features, too many price ranges. Mom and I have been back and forth with choices and dad is reading all the Consumer Reports. I just want one that washes clothes 🙂 We finally found one that will be delivered/installed on Saturday…I’m sure we will have plenty of things to test it with!

By the end of this week, I was sick…I tried to work, but at some point, I had no choice but to go lay down…for just a few minutes…but was out for a couple hours. I am grateful for my co-workers!!

during:

after:

the shed too: