Palm Springs Meiselman Reborn

Is that 7 years bad luck?

The Missus and I have been up since 4 o'clock this morning and I am about to drop dead. The reason for the ungodly hour is that the heat during the day is so intense right now that in order to finish up work in the house we have to start before dawn when it's only 80º out.

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We had the shower enclosure installed yesterday. Everything was going in just fine until... tap tap tap... "Uh, Ma'am? I'm afraid we have a little problem..."

That's never good, and rarely is it ever "little" when said that way.

They cracked three of my tiles. I immediately got on the phone with my sales rep at the glass place. I don't want to mention the name of the glass place until we get it all figured out, so I'll just refer to them as "Tragic Glass" for now...

So my gal at Tragic Glass apologized and promised to pay for the repairs. About an hour later, she calls back saying she didn't have the authority to make that promise and she'd see what she could work out.

As it stands today, I don't think they are going to pay for it, which infuriates me. It's not the money really, the repair cost in nominal in the grand scheme of things ($60) ... No, it's the principle. You installed something, you broke something, you fix it. I was clear on the other side of the house so I know I didn't break the damn tiles.

Aside from broken tiles, it's gorgeous and I'm very pleased. I'm not that crazy about the handle, but I think we can find something else that will look a bit better than that 80's tubular chrome.

We've been sealing the VCT floors, which has turned out to be twice as much work as I anticipated. It's HARD work too. But the pay off is worth it. They shine so bright they look like glass. As I was on my hands and knees scrubbing, the Missus walked in and said in a very sad cute little voice "I'm sorry Cinderella..."

And then I turned her into a pumpkin...

The End is in Sight

We're getting down to the wire now. Almost everything is in place. We're waiting on the bathroom vanities and the kitchen countertops. Everything else is punch list stuff... paint touch ups, polish the floors, staging, etc.

We were hoping (again) to have it ready to put on the market before we go on vacation in two weeks. And we probably could, there's not much left to do. But we've decided to wait until we get back so that we can be here when the offers start pouring in (::grin::).

Last time we sold a house when we were on vacation, the faxes and phone calls almost put us over the edge. We'd rather enjoy our time off rather than nail bite and worry. So, we'll list it when we get back.

Kitchen

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The most dramatic changes sine the last update have been in the kitchen. We have all of the cabinets and appliances in place and we're just waiting for the countertops and a few backordered door fronts.

IKEA cabinets are ingeniously designed. While you do have to assemble them yourself (they arrive in flat boxes), actually hanging them is a breeze. The upper cabinets come with a metal channel that attaches to the wall behind the cabinets. Level the channel and screw it into the studs. Each cabinet has 2 square blots on the back that slide into the metal channel. Bada bing bada boom. Done. No ledger boards, no futzing, it really couldn't be easier.

The microwave on the other hand was a bit more of a challenge. There is a metal mounting plate that affixes to the wall behind the micro and then a series of bolts screw into the top of the mirco through the upper cabinet. The template that comes with the microwave for drilling and cutting the holes in the cabinet needs to be TRIMMED to fit tight against the wall. Nowhere in the instructions does it mention this. Trust me, after being totally PO'd by mis-drilling the holes, I searched and searched. It doesn't mention cutting the template. Also, mounting the microwave is definitely a two-person job.

Also installed a new skylight in the kitchen. The old skylight was the original from 1959 I believe. At least it was identical to the one we have in our own home and others that I've seen. It had been painted over at least 5 times and had 40 years of crud on it. And much like the rest of this place was only attached with one screw. Hard to get a good picture of the new one with the light shining through but trust me, it's gorgeous and a vast improvement.

Doors

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We replaced all the interior doors (6 of them) with double glass laminate wood doors. They are all hung, primed and painted. It's a great look.

Sliders

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The new found welder of my dreams (Stone) has been helping us out with a few things. last week we disassembled the aluminum sliders and replaced the wheels and buffed the frames. They look brand new. I no longer throw my back out trying to open the damn door, it glides like a dream. As someone mentioned to us, a sticky slider can break a deal faster than termites. Replacing the wheels is not difficult, but locating the parts can be tough. You have to make sure you get an exact match, or some modification will be required.

The missus has also been tackling the closet door sliders. This is one, if not THE, last of the "ick" jobs.

Sand Blasting

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We had all of the concrete sandblasted a few weeks ago. It's made a remarkable difference. It's a LOUD, expensive and very dusty process but in the end I am very glad we did it. Unfortunately, our neighbors were not as pleased. Rather than address the issue directly with us, they chose to call the city to report us. Fortunately for us, no permit is required and our contractor was doing everything by the book. Unsatisfied with the results of their phone call, they came over and started yelling at the workers who strangely enough couldn't hear a word they said because they had EAR PLUGS in. They just shrugged and the neighbors sulked back home. In the end it was only 4 hours of noise and dust.

Honestly, I feel bad that we angered them that way but let's be frank, the things we are doing to that house are improving THEIR property value and I have to wonder, would they prefer to have the drug dealers back? With all the yelling, cops, broken beer bottles and liberal use of the word FAG? I don't think so. Sorry, but there are somethings you just have to live with for a few hours.

Windows

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Now that all of the major dust producing jobs are out of the way, we've started cleaning windows. As anyone with hard water will know, years of built up water spots and cloudiness are a pain to deal with. And sometimes replacing the glass is your only option. We used "Simple Solution" a product developed locally by a plumber who is also a basement chemist. This stuff works miracles.

The windows are so clean now they look like art hanging on the walls.