Disappointing Week

We received a quote from the painter. Boy, was that an eye-opener!

The quote came in at $14,371.00 including tax. (Tax was $940.00) And that was not for the entire house; we exempted some parts of the east side that need repairs to the siding.

Paint was quoted at $50.00 per gallon. ($40.00 per gallon for 5 gallons of primer.) Our regular paint costs about $20.00 per gallon. (Behr #25 Barn Red.) The painter had assured us he could come close to our per-gallon price but he didn’t. He would not use Behr; all painters seem to have a particular brand they prefer and try to “color match” to other brands. Total material came in at $2,800.00.

200 hours of labor, at $35.00 per hour, added $7,000.00. Other charges included the use of a boom truck at $2,400.00. Miscellaneous items such as tape, masking paper, sanding supplies, airless paint sprayer, and pressure washing added another $1,230.00 to the total.

Pressure washing came in at more than the price of a new home-owner type washer, $480.00. (New washers start at around $300.00.) The painter’s outfit is a trailer-mounted rig capable of cleaning all types of surfaces at very high pressures. We were concerned his rig would damage the somewhat fragile old siding on the house.

We can’t afford to go with his quote. On to Plan-B, which is doing more work ourselves. Plan-B will include renting a boom lift for weekend use, purchasing a used pressure washer, and continuing to paint by hand. A summer of hard work looms along with a late summer completion date but that is the way it will have to be.

Another house project took a step forward as we took delivery of two new windows to be installed in the upstairs guest bedroom. Replacement is a warm weather task but we had ordered the windows early as delivery times were very long and prices were going up. As it is, this pair cost us almost $300.00 more than the same pair we had installed in The Snug in 2020. We had determined the guest room windows are the worst in the house and replacement is required for comfort and energy efficientcy.

The owners of Busti Lumber, here in Elma, sold the company and retired as of April 1st. Busti (pronounced boost-e) is where we ordered windows, purchased siding and paint, and picked up incidental lumber and hardware over the last couple years. Dale and Tina were of great help to us and we will miss interacting with them. I have not yet met the new owner(s) but probably will over the summer.

In-house projects moved ahead. Pam has started a new sewing project. Becky finished an embroidery panel she was creating for her daughter, Caitlin, as a birthday gift. I digitized several more VHS tapes and it was fun to revisit events such as Felicity learning to walk back in 1984. I just wish conversion did not take so long!

The weather was dismal for most of the week. We had snow flakes in the air on Thursday and a thin layer of new snow on the ground by Friday morning. The snow did not stay long, but it was the third week in a row where we had more of the white stuff. The next few days look better but the 10-day forecast has more below-freezing nights and daytime high temperatures in the low-to-mid 40s. Normal highs are in the low 50s and above freezing at night.

We had planned to phase out the bird feeder and suet feeders by mid-April, but colder conditions have kept birds at the feeders in large numbers. I bought another bag of bird seed for the main feeder and refilled the suet feeder. We are still enjoying watching the action and have spotted a few new birds in the mix.

I started a “garage” project; resurrecting my 1987 portable generator. Built by Kawasaki, I used it on camping trips during the late 80’s and 90’s, and we used at The Lot for a few years. The engine was not running well when I retired it. I am going to have to clean / rebuild the carburetor and get all the old gas and varnish out of the fuel tank. The generator is not large (900 watts continuous, 1,100 watts surge) but would power the refrigerator in an extend power outage.

Outside work was limited due to the variable weather, but we did get a climbing frame for the wisteria plant. Runners should be able to wind around the frame for the next few years and display flowers as they bloom. Wisteria is an old-fashioned plant and Pam though it appropriate to have some around our Victorian homestead.

The week was not one of our best but we tried to move forward with projects. There are always things to do. I’ve sold a couple items on eBay and keep a few listings active, for example. Still, the painting quote set us a-back; we now have a new path forward. Such is life!