New Year Thanks

TWO MORE LEAKS
The tile installers finally finish. David isn’t happy with my choice of baseboard, so I have them redo it. They also have to redo the shower tile because it’s not draining well. The plumbers come to finish the bathroom fixtures (sink, shower, toilet). We discover a few days earlier that someone has taken a leak, so to speak, in the toilet while it was in our garage waiting for the floor to be tiled. Now, I’m pretty sure it was one of the workers, but I thankfully didn’t witness it. The plumber has to carry the toilet out to the sewer and pour it down the drain before he brings it into our house. We decide to “blame it on” one of the plumbers who wasn’t able to come that day. They love to haze each other; this was the perfect joke. The next leak occurs when the plumber hooked up the shower. David hears water running in the wall when the shower is turned off! The plumber tells us if you buy your shower fittings from Home Depot or Lowes, they try to make it easier on the customer by having it screw on vs. solder on. This is actually harder on plumbers when they tighten it, because they can’t tighten it hard enough to get a good brace on it without it weakening the structure of the pipe. He fixed the problem by ordering us an extension piece and coming back the next day to solder it on.

SO MANY MANY MEN...
There have been more men walking in and out of my house this year than I can ever recall. True, they have all been here to work on my house, not to see me, but nevertheless I have really gotten to know a lot of them and I know for a fact that I will never forget my talks with them! I have heard stories of taking in a teen who lost her parents, a grandmother who used to dis-assemble and re-assemble a tractor on top of a farm roof for a hoax as a young girl, camaraderie between workers that love each other as brothers and have as much fun all day doing a job that can encroach on the most disgusting to the most satisfying at any given moment. I have learned about small business owners who have the stress of supporting their employees through slow and fast moving months and how difficult it is to manage their businesses and their family life. I have heard from a distraught mother who has held down two jobs her entire life, but can’t get it into her young teenager’s head that he can’t just waste his life away doing nothing, so she has to send him across the country to live with her ex-husband to work at his small business. I have spoken to the kindest people, who drive long distances for work, probably have small homes (one too small for an oven), yet are happy to work long hours at all costs to keep the job they have. No matter what they own, they still have the grace to compliment me on my choice of granite. One even advised me on vitamins and olive oil for less dog hair shedding on our new floor. Not all, but some of these people are proud of their work. That’s what I really appreciate, because that’s how I am when I paint or do graphic design for a client. That’s what I see when I look at my kitchen and bathroom… the people, the pride, and the beauty. I am so grateful.

NEXT POST
The story starts at the bottom. Check back next Monday for more bathroom/fireplace remodel progression! Scroll down for the photos.