Window, Window in the Wall
Most of the outer windowsills on this house are in bad shape. Some of them, when I really check them out, are mostly caulk, others are mostly rotted, although (happily) some are just weathered and in need of paint. There's also issues with screens that squirrels chewed holes in, storm windows that need repair, and so on. So I've been going from window to window, cutting replacement sills, and where needed, adding wood epoxy if the inner sill isn't so happy and plastic wood to fill in holes, so when I paint the sills I can be sure the storms aren't filling the walls behind the siding with unwanted moisture.
This isn't exactly the fastest process, which is frustrating.
Some of it is slow because each step takes time not just to do it, but to let things dry in between steps. Some of it is slow because the people who did the previous steps did odd and non-standard things (like making a sill that's 3/4 caulk instead of replacing the wood), and so as I uncover new and surprising things, I need to think about how best to fix them.
To be sure, if I had lots of money, the best thing would be to hire professionals to either replace all the windows or do a proper historical restoration, but that isn't an option. I'm spending the budget for hired help on things that I can't do, mostly things that require a head for heights or experience with esoteric things like plumbing.
So, part of every day lately has been carting my tools and supplies and the shopvac up and down stairs and from room to room because if I do one window at a time, I'll never finish even the limited repairs I'm committed to for this year before the snow flies. Even now, with summer determined to end early despite arriving late, I'll probably have to leave some of the windows for next year. (Wish me luck and warm weathe!)
It would sure be nice to have a robotic shopvac that could follow me around, carrying the stuff I need. It surely would. But then, I might as well wish I could wiggle my lips to magically restore my home to an ideal fully repaired, cleaned, and decluttered state. Or a TARDIS. And I definitely want the TARDIS.
Instead, I get to work with my hands, feet, and brain. And now, I'm off to take a bath and get the brown stuff out from under my fingernails.
This isn't exactly the fastest process, which is frustrating.
Some of it is slow because each step takes time not just to do it, but to let things dry in between steps. Some of it is slow because the people who did the previous steps did odd and non-standard things (like making a sill that's 3/4 caulk instead of replacing the wood), and so as I uncover new and surprising things, I need to think about how best to fix them.
To be sure, if I had lots of money, the best thing would be to hire professionals to either replace all the windows or do a proper historical restoration, but that isn't an option. I'm spending the budget for hired help on things that I can't do, mostly things that require a head for heights or experience with esoteric things like plumbing.
So, part of every day lately has been carting my tools and supplies and the shopvac up and down stairs and from room to room because if I do one window at a time, I'll never finish even the limited repairs I'm committed to for this year before the snow flies. Even now, with summer determined to end early despite arriving late, I'll probably have to leave some of the windows for next year. (Wish me luck and warm weathe!)
It would sure be nice to have a robotic shopvac that could follow me around, carrying the stuff I need. It surely would. But then, I might as well wish I could wiggle my lips to magically restore my home to an ideal fully repaired, cleaned, and decluttered state. Or a TARDIS. And I definitely want the TARDIS.
Instead, I get to work with my hands, feet, and brain. And now, I'm off to take a bath and get the brown stuff out from under my fingernails.