The Painters Left Their Key

That means they are done, right? Well, their version of done differs from my version of done, but at least they are gone. I’m happy to have that part behind us! It only took seven weeks, when they told us it would take about two. Jord still needs to do a walk-through with them to point out all the mistakes they made – not to have them fix it, just to let them know that we aren’t exactly happy with the quality of work. We are going to do the touch-ups ourselves, as their finishing touches don’t quite meet our standards. Maybe I’m being a perfectionist, but for the amount of money we’ve spent on painting, it should be perfect. My mom offered to spend this Saturday re-painting the front door. I love the color but when you get close it looks awful, plus they didn’t use a high gloss like I had asked. She is also going to tackle the broom closet, using the same paint from the front door to make it durable. What a charitable thing for her to do on the weekend! I’ll be in Ames for an AΓΔ House Association meeting and Homecoming tailgate, but hope to be back in Davenport in time for trick-or-treating.

To give you a wrap-up of the last few days, this was the weekend of painting. Jord and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in the living room, painting baseboards and quarter-rounds. It took a surprising amount of time for us to tape, sand, and paint two coats. We’re total amateurs, but it’s all done so we have one room down, four to go. We also painted the interior of the china cabinet and put the finishing coat on both chandeliers that I was working on. Although my hopes of having the painting and yard work done this weekend were not met, it’s getting there.

The sliding glass door was ordered on Saturday. The same company that is replacing the picture window will do this job as well. They dumped an advertising sign in our yard that they want us to keep up until they are done, 4-8 weeks from now. I’m afraid it might end up in the garage for the time being. One really great bonus of ordering both the window and door right now is that we qualify for a tax credit. The salesman tried selling us on insulation as well – which we need installed in the exterior walls and the attic, according to the energy audit – to qualify for an additional tax credit, but we’re still mulling that one over. We know it’s something we need to have done; it’s just not at the top of the priority list.

This week, the chandeliers in the sun porch and office will be installed, along with the exterior lighting. It might take awhile to install the light pole we are replacing in the front yard, as the previous one is buried in cement. I was really hoping to have it done by Saturday for trick-or-treating, but I don’t see that happening at this point. Carpenter is finishing up the quarter-rounds and molding work, so it’s up to us to paint and be done with the project. It will be nice to have that done so we can arrange what little furniture we have!