rental house

The Rental is just about finished.

We get carpet tomorrow!!

We got vinyl Monday.

There is a lot of touch up work to do, but I will let those interested in seeing the house that we are showing it this weekend.

The last few nights I have not had any calls on the house. It's the end of the month after all.

I am confident we will get it rented quickly at our asking price.
***
We are going to have to replace screens on both of the brand new windows. Bunny nephew over sprayed, windows, screens, refrigerator, doors, floors, fire detectors, window frames...
We are back charging for screen replacement...

We have never gotten an apology for the sloppy work...
sigh...

Careers

I interviewed at large corporate Architectural firm two weeks ago Thursday.

I was confident I'd get the job.

In the elevator up a young woman asked if I was a consultant.

"Interview".

"Good luck", was her response.

Hmmm.... Maybe this won't be as easy as I'm assuming...

I have never worked for a large firm.

They had two architects and the HR person in the interview.

I have never had to provide Professional references before.

I was made an offer.

I have not spoken to my current boss about it.

Reality, I'd have rather waited a year or so before moving on.

Financial pressures, aka life, has dictated that time frame for me.

Each day this week Zelda has asked, "Have you talked to coach yet?".

Because I am The architect on fromage restaurants, and I am working on 6 of them at the moment, I have the feeling Coach will throw alot of money at me to keep me...

I do want to work for the big company...

I do want to make more money.
We NEED more money to stay afloat.

Friday I'll sit down to talk to coach...

Renting

We put an ad in the paper on the house with the rent.

We have had a number of calls from it.

Seems more than not, many are looking for housing assistance, namely, Section 8.

The government provides a nice income for those renting to Section 8.

We are not interested in housing assistance.
***
I pulled the storm windows off the kitchen and dining and cleaned them front and back.
They look great!

We finished up the touch up area Bunny Nephew did not get too. (Ran out of time.) I am glad that he got as much done as he did. Zelda spent time making repairs to those areas that needed tlc.

I have to replace the water valve in the master bath. The supply line was moved back and forth too many times and since it was metal, it broke. Just one of the many little things that make home ownership (and repair) an adventure.

I put the compound miter saw stand together and Z made the cuts for the trim. Bunny Nephew contracted to place the trim, then attempted to cut it with a hack saw. No miter box.

What was he thinking???

College kids.
***
He lost his eye a year and a half ago. It affected his school. His grade point is low. He applied for academic review for help with financial aid.

His parents are unable to help as his dad was injured (run over by a fork lift. Driver didn't see him and pinned him against the wall.) and has been off work.

I hope it works out for us and him.

Contracts

When Zelda and I hired bunny nephew, we did so thinking he would do a great job...

His drywall work is good.

But we would decline using him to paint or do trim work.

I don't know if he was burned out, or "it is Just A Rental", or what, but I should have written a contract to define what we wanted.

Paint brushes we paid for were ruined.

Windows, and blinds, and other items, were over sprayed.

The job site was not cleaned at the end of the day.

Drips of paint on door trim.

Nail holes that were missed. (Many nail holes).

Just lack of pride in work done...

He prides himself in having never been fired.
That's only because he's family.

Zelda and I will scrape and repaint tomorrow.

We'll have to decide what, if anything, we should do about it.

I have done him and myself a disservice.

I'll call those who have called on our add and let them know we will show the house later in the week, it's a work in progress, will be ready by Sept. 1, and flooring is scheduled. So, we'll be showing the house this week.

It's cursed...

In the world of Harry Potter, those who taught the "Defense against the Dark Arts" discovered that the position was cursed.

No one lasted longer than one year.

At work I am called Mr. Cheese for the restaurant I am working on.
Seems this position is also cursed.

I am one of many...

home improvement

Of all sorts...

Had my interview tonight.

I was anxious all day about it.

As Zelda said, if it is meant to be, if I am the person they are looking for, then I can negotiate.

I feel bad about leaving in the middle of a project.

I feel bad about leaving the office where I am liked and in turn, like them.

I wonder what the $$$ should be for my experience?

Anyway...
***
House.

The rental needs alot of work still.

One eyed nephew missed sheet rock items.

He needed help. One man to work a whole house.

Z and I will attack the paint and clean up the over spray.

I have learned much in this experience.

Bunny Nephew did a good job...

It's a thirty year old house...]
***
Back when we moved, we had arranged for bunny brother to work off the $$$ he owed for bail by making the repairs to the house.

He said the best method was to re-texture the walls and replace the old base trim.

Our first thought was, "We don't want to spend that much money".

But he does it for a living.

And I think he is right.

At least to make it look like I see it in my mind.

Makes me want to leave all the walls bear in the new house...
***
I'm learning Revit.

It's a Building Modeling Program that builds the building with in the computer.

With old cad, you draw a line and it represents something, ie. a wall. To add a door, you cut the line and draw more lines that represent the door. (It was computerized pen and paper)

With the last generation of cad, you draw a line and within the computer, it IS a wall.
It has all the parts and thicknesses.
Add a door and it knows it's a door, it cuts the wall, draws the door, and allows you to make size and location changes.

This version of computer added design keeps track of the walls, the floors, the doors.
It numbers the doors for you, it creates a section of the building (imagine taking a knife and cutting the building like a layer cake then looking at the cut face on) for you and places it on a sheet and keeps track of the reference tag so you can relate the tag to the plan. And if you decide to change the sheet number, you don't have to change the tag. (It builds the building in the computer)

Autocad has a thirty day free trial of the software. I have access to at least three computers...
***
I am doing a home addition I'd like to use it for.

Support

In all this transition, Zelda has been supportive and a great source of support.

We talked till late last night about the situation.

She could have gotten mad at my folly,

but she didn't.

She could have yelled at me for spending so much.

But she hasn't.

She has made loans from her company to cover the tight spots.

She has made suggestions that resolve conundrums.

And most importantly,

she has been there to help out and give encouragement.

In over my Head

This remodel on the old house is giving me grief.

I'm in over my head.

We hired my nephew to help him make some money and to save us some.

But he's only one person and the scope of work has drifted.

He heads back to school next week and has told us he will not be able to work this weekend.

The paint will not be finished...
***
I hired a sink repair man to touch up some old sinks.

He told me that to pull out the old sink from the cabinet would be a headache.

I let the fear of a problematic sink fastener get the best of me and with out doing all my homework, I pulled out the whole vanity. In doing so, it tore up the cabinet.

We could have put the old thing back in, made some repairs and replaced all the plumbing and been done with it.

Instead it's sheet rock repair, patch the floor tile (which is a special tile), purchase a new base and sink top.

I realize why I wanted to change it all out.

I wanted the integrated counter and sink top like we have at the new house.

Not the best thought process.

The base trim is not complete.

The tile work is 90%.

The oven is on order.

The vent-a-hood will be too small for the upper cabinet, but that will have to do.

The new vanities will get here tomorrow and I will begin to put things back together.

The carpet will be installed next week, and things will look better.

In the mean time, I have blown my budget.

I will approach the bank after we get a contract on the house and see if I can get the house reappraised for more. This will allow me to pull more money from the home equity and pay back the short term loans for repairs, thus lowering the monthly expenses for the house.

What is painted needs some touch up here and there but it looks good.

***
If I could do this all again...

I would hire professionals.

They work purposely to minimize the scope of the job and the faster they finish it, the more money they make. They also have the resources and experience to make those costly decisions disappear.
If there is a conflict with quality of work, you can dock pay or hold a check and they won't like you any more or less.

Hiring family limits possible remedies.

You also can't fire them if need be...
***
In the end, I got scared and ran my expenses up...

As we uncovered 30 years of neglect, we found more and more hidden problems...

To paraphrase Zelda, "when we do this again, let's buy a house that won't take much work".

I agree.

I'm in over my head.
***
I can do this.

We can do this.

We will do this.

And it will be a nice place for someone to live...

Interview

I have an interview on Thursday.
Something doesn't sit right about it...

I really don't want to have to go through the whole thing.

If I didn't like where I worked,
if I didn't like what I was doing,
if I didn't enjoy the people,

it would be easy...

But I got bills to pay...
***
I'm running my own jobs.
From start to finish.

That and the other company is raiding.
They ask their employees to invite friends over for open house.
I have never been keen on that.

Moonlighting

One of the partners in the Construction side of the company is converting his garage into a guest house.

His mother is beginning to have memory problems.

Sad.

He also wants a game room for entertaining.

I saw his "help wanted" sign in the break room and jumped on it.

I'll present my idea to him this morning and finish our discussion on money.

***
A trip to the hardware store yesterday resolved the mystery regarding the two differing colors of the same paint.

Seems this brand of paint has multiple Bases.
The base to which the color is added.

Our man grabbed a five gallon of Satin Base 1,
and the other was Satin Bright White Base.

And who knows what happened with the white. It turned out more of a butter.

Nephew Bunny was out of the loop on the color selection and so when we mentioned something was off with the Cream, it didn't set off alarm bells for him.

He goes back to school the 22nd so we have to really go in his final week...

I'll order the vanities and the stove tonight.
I'll also have them deliver the sheet rock and plywood at the same time...

This is going to be a tight week...

Your money at work

The congress is going to vote on a new "Architect of the Capital".
Meaning "Washington DC."

One would think it wise to hire an Actual Architect for "Architect of the Capital".

But then it IS congress we are speaking of...

Seems a writer has been hired for the local (DC) paper covering Architecture.
His qualifications are, He likes Opera (as do I) and classical music (ditto).
But he's not an architect.


Writing about the position of Architect of the Capital, he informed his audience that the Profession of Architecture is relatively "young".

Yes, it is not as old as "the oldest profession", but it's a tad longer of tooth than say, Lawyers.
Or doctors.

The great pryramids of Egypt didn't just happen by accident.

Herpes revisited

This blog started because I contracted a very "popular" virus.

One that One out of Four people has.

I had fun catching it!

Though it was traumatic.

It won't take your life.

But there is a stigma attached to it.

And that stigma is really unwarranted.

I'm very happily married.

The virus sleeps most of the time.

Stirring occasionally to remind me.

But it's not worth worrying about.

After all...

A simple condom would have prevented transmission.

And...

It's only herpes.

Out of control

This remodel is dragging on...

The bathrooms have not been updated since the house was built in the early 70s.
Well, not true.
Mom installed tile.

Last weekend we demoed the vanities.
Something I wanted to change out years ago.

Thinking on it today, we should have just removed the counter tops and sinks and kept the carcass. When the tile was installed, it was cut to fit around the existing cabinet.

The rooms are small, and the sink cabinet was a 24" with a 3" filler.

We could order a custom 27" cabinet, but to save $$ we are opting for a 24".

This means we have to repair the tile.

"Simple enough" I thought.

What I have discovered, and my Interior Design educated wife knew is that 8x8 tile is not a standard tile.

I specify them at work all the time, but home improvement centers don't carry them.

We have found a 6x8 tile we will use to patch with.
****
Then there is the window locks.

The windows have storm windows on them, so they all lock. But two interior (original) windows locks have broken over the years and we need to replace them.

Thought we had solved that yesterday with some window clamps we found.
But when we tried them, the window track is recessed and they don't work.
***
The new back door is supposed to have tamper proof hinges.
We swung the door outward to reduce the impact of the door on the living room.
The pins are not supposed to come out when the door is closed.
The hinges are designed with a male/female pin that will not allow the door butt to be lifted out if the pins are removed.
I'll have to call the installers Sunday to let them know the wrong hinges were used.
***
Someone called today asking about the house.
I had hoped to have it ready to show this Wed. with the intent of getting it rented by the first of next month.
They didn't balk at the asking price.
They want to see the house next weekend, with the understanding that the carpet will not be installed till the following week.

I'd rather have everything in place and looking "perfect" before I let anyone in.
First impressions and all.
***
We also have to talk to the paint department.
5 of the 15 gallons of paint we bought actually looks like the color selected...
***
The thought was,
"touch up the bath sinks.
Replace the minimum.
Keep what we can.
get it rented."

I forgot the cardinal rule I use at work
"Stop and think".

Had we stopped "with remove the bath counter tops", we could have simplified things tremendously...
***
This too shall pass...

Resume

Conundrum...

I like where I am working.

I like what I am doing.

I asked for a raise.

Did not get one,
for what ever reason.

New house.
Expenses fixing the old.

I have to make more money to stay afloat.

Zelda has been working more hours to make up for the short comings.

I am not excelling in my career.

I don't go above and beyond,
because I know it won't be rewarded.

Cs been there 15 years. He is the main go to man.
He had to interview and almost leave before boss man gave him more money.

I on the other hand sound like a broken record...

"At one office we...."
"When I worked for x...."
"We did it this way at y..."

Life goes that way...


I'll call next week to set up a meeting with the first Corporate office I've ever worked.
The largest office I've worked was 20 draftsmen.

This one has 100 Architects, Interior Designers, and support staff.

We'll see.

Registered Architects in Dallas earn 15k to 25k more than I make now.

That equates to 500 to 1,000 dollars more take home each month.

I can do that...

Drama

I have two brothers.
I have written about them before.
I forget what names I gave them for the blog.

Zelda and I paid 3k to bail brother #2 out of jail back in the spring.
He is awaiting that trial.

Brother #1 had trouble with his in-laws attempting to take his kids.
His wife and children had moved to Oklahoma to avoid the State taking them while he stayed behind in Dallas to work
That sorted itself out shortly after we bailed out #2.

It was hard to believe.

A month later, the rental home in Oklahoma burned.

I found out today that brother #1's wife and kids have moved to Florida.
That she has not one, but two tumors in her head.
Brother #1 shipped out to take care of her.

Not that bad things happen to good people,
but I find it again hard to believe.

How much of all this is drama?
How much is real?

I hope all turns out well for them.
They have 4 kids plus his own child...

Demolition Time

We have gotten a lot done in the week since I took over the management of the house.
It is after all, my responsibility. I was not taking it seriously.

The vanity in the master had a quarter sized hole in the over flow drain.
It had to go.

The vanity in the hall bath was rusted out.
It had to go also.

Fortunately, the kitchen sink was still in good enough shape that I (well, I hired someone) was able to touch up the nicks.

I am sooooo happy I don't have to mess with the faucet, p-trap, or disposal...

It didn't take too much to remove the vanities.
We will have to patch the tile under the cabinets. It was installed around the existing cabinet and we can't pick up a matching cabinet base without ordering it.

So after we get the flooring in, the carpet, vinyl, we'll pick up the new items and install them...
along with the new lighting and mirror.

I sent off for a new garage door header bracket to repair the old over head door.
I'll have to get smaller bolts for the new bracket and adjust the length. The remote works, but the bulbs are burnt out and for some reason, the wall switch doesn't work. Hopefully it will resolve itself when I install the new bulbs.

We had new electrical outlets installed in the garage ceiling for the over head doors. They work.

Tomorrow I'll do some general cleaning.

Nephew Bunny has three out of four bed rooms painted. Started on the living room and opened the second 5 gallon. Although they were mixed at the same time, the colors don't match...
He has touch ups in all the bed rooms...

He painted the kitchen today. The color isn't exactly what we ordered but it is light, and the kitchen looks great!

We have one week to go for our dead line...