That bathroom drywall rot I mentioned? I spoke to my husband about it right after writing that post, and it is on the list for this weekend. yay. It is always true that it is easier to keep something maintenanced than it is to fix it (the mushroom factor comes into play here…)
My husband might forgotten his lesson from the gutters. I know it mightily impressed him last year. For years, he had put off replacing the gutters… parts of the house were without them, and we were having all sorts of moisture grief. I tried grading the soil around the house…. putting in drains from the existing ( what was left of them) gutter pipes.
I think my husband was wavering between getting the job done, hiring out, and doing it himself. He wavers alot which is why he married me… I don’t waver much… I like to make decisions, weighing the pros and cons,planning, making lists… all that kind of stuff). But then he decided to get the job done (git ‘er done!) and it made a world of difference. He almost couldn’t believe it. Gutters are a definite improvement to the house.
I remember reading in the ‘Old House Journal’ years ago about some of the different forms of gutters that old house ppl can run into. Gladly ours were fairly straight forward. Although, come to think of it, when we first moved in we had to scab the supports because the previous gutters were probably the hanging kind, like the barn had.
So to make the modern gutters hang straight we had to attach wood supports. Forgot about that. But with the job done on the new gutters it really improved the appearance, too. Sort of like the difference between a wrinkled shirt and an ironed one… neat gutters make for a natty appearance along the lines of the house. I chose a gray color to match the metal roof.
Oh yes, that reminds me of that roof. You have to keep it up, although it seems to last for ages. My husband daubed all the fasteners and then painted it with a special paint. I have to go ask him what kind. wait a sec. Okay, he sealed the nails with roof caulk and then the first year painted with zinc paint. The second time it needed painting he used Sherwin Williams metal roof paint.
I told him he needs to co-author this blog. He writes well, much better than I do, and he knows whole lots more about this topic. I think one of the things that has helped him in learning so much about home maintenance is that he isn’t afraid to ask questions. He asks scads of questions. Sometimes that annoys me, but he learns alot and is best buddies with the more knowledgeable people at the Home Improvement stores, like Lowes and Home Depot.
But I do all the planning and lots of the research. Sometimes we clash a bit on the nuts and bolts of the final plan. Eventually we work it out and are happy with the result.
#homemaintenance,
