An embarassing confession

Pex piping extended to the washer. Note the new
stainless hoses. Classy. 

In our 29 years of marriage, there's something my wife Cindy and I have never done. Most couples do it at least once per week, some do it every day. That's right, I'm talking about laundry. Of course, we washed our clothes, but we have never owned a washer and dryer. Our previous home on Helen St had the hookups in the small kitchen which we never used. Instead, we went to a fairly nice laundromat, about a block away, for years. That changed with the purchase of our new home, which came with both a washer and dryer. However, inexplicably, the previous owner had cut the hoses to the washer, and removed the plumbing. So there sat a relatively new Maytag washer and dryer, dirty and unused. Now, I've mentioned before that my plumbing knowledge is on par with my knowledge of quantum mechanics. I do know which end of the wrench you hold onto, but I'm always concerned that any repair or installation I attempt will end in a dripping leak. Adding to the problem, was that the plumbing I needed to work on was Pex, with which I have zero tools to work. Stepping into the void was Uncle Ed, who not only has the tools, he has the experience in working with the stuff. So after a quick survey of parts needed, we were off to the store. After returning home, the installation went quickly. While the plastic doesn't look as nice and study as copper, the installation of the Pex is far easier, and the compression fittings work well. After Ed left, I took apart the dryer and venting pipes and cleaned out all the lint. We plugged both in, turned on the water, and TAA DAA! They worked perfectly. Cindy is beside herself with the convenience of going downstairs to do wash, not down the block.

Molding installation. 

There's been other significant accomplishments so far this month. I FINALLY finished the vestibule with the installation of the molding along the ceiling. My measurements and cutting of angles went very well using my little miter box. The difficulty came with getting to the corners above the closet, and nailing the stuff into our concrete walls. Oof. It looks pretty good. After a bit of touch up of the walls and cieling (after a couple of errant hammer swings) the little room is finally done.

New paint, numbers, and mailbox.

They had a big paint sale at Home Depot so at the last day of the sale Cindy and I selected a color for the outside trim work of the house. It looks to me like milk chocolate and goes nicely with the white stucco walls. One of the most visible parts of the house is the porch so I decided to start there and scraped and painted the columns and trim, as well as the railing and lattice on the stairs. I think it looks very nice. Since I had to remove the old, ratty mailbox to paint, I installed a new one that Cindy had liked at Kovarik's hardware. We had purchased new house numbers last fall so they went up as well. The house is really becoming ours now.

Other big news is that we ordered a screen door for the front of the house. It should add some much needed circulation to the downstairs, and allow me to remove the main door for some badly needed restoration. I'll hopefully have news on that project in the next blog.