DIY Home Repair
This past weekend was totally devoted to a little fun and a lot of maintenance DIY. I was hoping to finish my dining room table makeover and get a real head start on my button ornaments. I had a little fun doing the fun stuff but it turned into a slow process. I will share more about that in a later post. With the cold weather fast approaching, maintenance DIY took precedent.
As you can see from the before photos, we had put off this work for far too long. I know, I know rather hideous but it’s easy to put off things particularly when you are unsure of what to do or where to start. Fortunately, my neighbor is a contractor and he often advices us how to proceed. And on occasion, when we know we are not going to get the results we want, we call on him to complete the job. The relationship switches from neighborly one to contractor/client immediately. It is rather nice having that expertise close at hand to bail us out when needed. In fact two of the windows needed to be replaced, along with the woodwork that surrounded it. It was somewhat tricky because the window frame and molding wedges between the uneven masonry foundation so cutting straight lines doesn’t work. After spending an entire day removing the original windows and surrounding frame and cutting the wood to make a new frame, our attempt didn’t meet our expectations so we decided to have him finish the job. Let’s just say he finished the job in a lot less time than it would have taken us and yielded way better results. It reminded me of that Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler:
“You’ve got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em know when to walk away, know when to run.” “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
Yes this is about a card game, but it can be applicable to homeowner overwhelmed by a home repair too. Right?
As for the masonry work, we knocked out all the lose parts and patched it the day before. My husband decided to get a head start with the next step without me. While I was running errands, he had already power washed the area and started applying the waterproof coating. He is a fast worker; however, details are not his strong suit. All I could fixate on was the not so neat upper edge and excess material that fell to the ground in the absence of a drop cloth.
I tried to smile, honestly I did. Then I started biting my lip. After a few critical words, he replied “thank you very much.” Not very encouraging, I know. Thankfully, we have been married long enough so that sarcastic humor prevails over any unpleasant exhchange of words. I immediately went into damage control mode and figured if I tape off the upper edge before the second coat is applied, we will get a nice clean line. We did just that and we are both happy with the results.
I even tried my hand at applying the waterproofing coating but I quickly realized it wasn’t for me. It is applied with this huge bulky brush and my touch, unlike what is required for furniture refinishing or painting for that matter, was too gentle and controlled to be effective. I quickly said to my husband while handing the brush back to him “you’re better at this than me. As he continued, I concentrated on the little touch ups and acted as the “go for”. We still have a little more to do but for the most part the job is done which means I can return to my DIY fun stuff instead.
After we finished for the day we were both starving. I looked in the fridge, pulled out a little of this and that and made a quick “very late” lunch for the two of us.
Have you ever gotten in over your head with a home repair project? If so, what did you do to complete the job?
The “after” looks great! I am thinking of taking down my deck in the back of my house next spring and wondered how the cement part might look exposed…you just gave me hope that I can make it look good if it is shabby looking. Thanks!
Karen,
Just wanted to let you know that the product we used is called Thoroseal and it was purchased from Home Depot. It comes in white and gray. The white was a stark white so we actually mixed it with the gray resulting in a very light gray. The directions are a no brainer so I am sure you will have great results as well. Good Luck!
Joselyn