Fire It Up!

Today was spent on a couple of tiny projects.

But first, my last contractor came out to make a bid.  Like every other one, he said, "What a terrible design."  He then described how he doesn't understand how these houses get approved, but he said that the building code guys check the heights of steps and stuff like that, not whether or not a valley is going to carry rivers of water into the side of a house.

And like the first bidder, he highly suggested making a cricket to divert water away from the house.  Sure, you could fix the corner where the water hits by putting in correct flashing, but why not get the water away from the house altogether and never even the possibility of leaking again?  No argument here!

So he came in about the middle of the pack at $850, but he guaranteed that the area would be "bone dry."  He talked with confidence, and unlike the roofing contractors, he thought I could "at least" get five more years out of the roof.  It's so frustrating when these guys are just trying to sell you a new roof!  Aggravating, really!  And it's so refreshing when a guy comes out with honesty.  "I'm not going to be the cheapest, but I'm not going to be the most expensive, either."

I just appreciated the professionalism, the honesty, the knowledge, the experience, and the confidence.  I called him back later and said, "The job is yours."  He was appreciative and hopes to have it done early next week (but possibly this weekend depending upon how jobs clear up).

That's the last big project (that I know of) outside of the French doors!  Everything else is just me getting my toosh into gear and updating or fixing stuff inside!

The rest of my day was spoken for!  I sold a piece of playground equipment that I had restored and helped Dad plan out his retirement!  It was a packed day!

But once back at home this evening, I decided to get some small projects done!  First, I removed the GreatStuff insulation from the upstairs exterior door and killed some more black mold before mudding a very large section where the drywall had been knocked out.  Because it's behind baseboard, it will probably only receive this one coat.

Removed the insulation, cleaned up the black mold, then mudded.

So maybe SOME of the insulation didn't get cut far enough back...  :)

I ripped off all of the "overgrown" insulation.  Ready for new trim!

So I'll have to buy new trim (the old ones are literally rotted out at the bottom from the extensive water leak), stain, and replace for that door to be 100% complete.

I then sanded and did a second coat of mud on the garage entry door.  It turned out looking pretty nice!  I'll sand again and paint!  I'll also have to buy new trim, stain, and install for this door to be complete.  It will be nice to have those wrapped up.  Nagging projects!

Sanded and mudded!

Then this evening I decided to try out the fireplace.  I did what any normal man would do.  I removed the wood from the fireplace, opened up the damper, turned over on my back with a flashlight, and looked up the flue!  I saw a clean shot all the way up to the top of the chimney!  No bird nests, no excessive creosote, no blockages!  So I lit myself a fire and just sat and stared for a couple of hours!

Seriously, a nice relaxing night.  It had been probably almost two decades since I've actually had an actual fireplace fire that I was in control of, and I quickly learned that less is more!  I had a decent sized fire going on (think firepit-style), but I could hear my flue making noises from the heat!  And as the fire died down, it just looked better in the fireplace.  More cozy!

I can REALLY get used to this!

But one thing is for sure:  I sure do love open fires in a house!  They are wonderful!

(And another thing is for sure:  We are nuts as humans having open fires in houses!  When you see the popping wood throw out embers against the chain metal and think about small pieces getting through and landing on carpet, it's amazing we don't have more fires!  Seriously, we have large fires in our houses.  It's almost hilarious!  But I love it.).

I watched some videos on cleaning the flue, and it doesn't look that hard to do at all.  I might as well save $125 and do it myself, right?  I'll have more times to do it down the road, I'm sure.

All in all, a peaceful but productive day.