I have tackled a few projects over the past few days. Some were easy, while a few were difficult.
Logan’s Fan
The ceiling fan in Logan’s room sucked. The lights would flicker and the design dulled the brightness of the bulbs.
I removed the old one with no problems and fortunately the wiring was pretty much the same for the new one. The hardest part was balancing the motor on my shoulder while pushing the wires back into the ceiling. The crappy thing was that I had to basically install the entire thing before I could turn the power back on and test it out.
As you can tell, even without the lights on it makes the room feel brighter. I think the light colored wood blades help counter the navy blue walls. Anyways, the moment of truth came and I flipped the switch…everything worked and the room had more illumination.
Payton’s Bed
I have been meaning to cut some slats for Payton’s bed. It has three slats, but it needs a few more because of the mattress/box spring combo. Lindsey bought one of those mattresses with a built-in boxspring, which was convenient for shipping purposes, but when you push down on one of the edges, the whole thing can slide between the slats. So, I decided to install a few more. I have a new saw, so it was super easy. This was not a hard project, but I just wanted to brag about having a new circular saw, haha.
New Grill
A few of you may remember a Facebook post where I asked about the advantages of a wood pellet grill. No? Well I asked that question and I received a ton of responses. Our grill was in bad shape and I decided it was time for a new one.
I bought a Pit Boss from Lowe’s. The box was huge and I had some troubles actually getting it out of the vehicle. Lindsey could barely lift it (the box was 205 lbs). Once it was out, I just pushed it into the garage. It ended up taking me like three hours to put the thing together and it was honestly harder than I would have expected. Not because the pieces are complex, but because it would have been nice to have an extra set of hands. It was tough putting the legs on because it is so big and awkward. Anyways, it works great and I am excited to make some fun meats.
Riding Lawnmower
A gift to myself was a riding lawnmower. This house has a bigger yard and even though it is flat, it takes me a good bit of time to cut. Lindsey finally relented and agreed that I should get a riding lawnmower. Remember when I wrote about my first time cutting grass? Well this was my first time with a riding lawnmower and you could probably tell. I totally did not think about the grass blowing out the side at times and it definitely went all over the place (I had mine set for mulching, so the clippings just went straight down before). At one point, I had to go over to the neighbors driveway and use the leaf-blower to clean up my mess, haha. Also, I am bad at remembering the size of the cutting deck. No, I did not run over anything, but instead, I was being totally inefficient at times. Oh well, I will get better.
Dining Room Light
We hated the light in the dining room. I mean, look at it! It just looked so stupid in the dining room and with our new table, it looks out of place.
I need to mention that I honestly have no electrical skills whatsoever (honestly, I have no skills in any department). But, I can follow instructions and if I do not know how to do something, I will watch videos. Now, if I do hook something up and it kicks a breaker or does not work, then I call a professional.
The light Lindsey picked out came with awful instructions. It was just a picture with almost no words. I took the old one down and gave it a shot. The first thing I did though was wire it together and make sure it actually worked. It did, so I decided to move forward.
For some reason the light could probably hang from a ceiling like at my dad’s old house. On top of that (those are from the bars and chain it came with), the actual wires are like fifty feet long. Once I got the height where I wanted it (I ended up not using any of the bars, just the chain and I took out a few links), I trimmed the wire down to a more manageable length.
I had Lindsey give me a hand and hold it while I wired it and connected the light to the ceiling. She was a trooper and only complained a little bit about her shoulders burning once or twice. Anyways, I think it looks really cool. Lindsey is not sold on the bulbs (the daylight bulbs, she thinks we may want to go soft white).
Outdoor Spigot
The pipe connecting the outside spigot is broken. I bought a new pipe and some of those shark bite connectors, those the kinds that require no soldering or welding…you know, because lack of skills. There is still a leak, but it is from the faucet itself, not the pipe or connections. I tried a sealant, but the leak is still there. So we are past my plumbing skills. Fortunately next week we have a guy coming out to give us a quote on A/C and he also does plumbing so Lindsey is going to ask him to take a look. I am not afraid to admit to my limitations.
Decorations
This house has way more wall space than our old home and Lindsey is trying to buy decorations for all of that space. It is not going well though because she is also super indecisive and needs to actually be at Home Goods to see the things. She had me hang this HOME sign today and I think it looks nice.
I wish I could say the projects are done, but that is nowhere near true. Just a few things I have lined up…
-Finish the playhouse area (mulch)
-Finish painting all the trim (oops, I got sidetracked)
-Entryway floor
-Remove the clothesline poles
-Remove rails around patio
-Firepit
-Outside electrical outlet (that will be an actual electrician job)
-Fence (we got a quote, just need to figure out when we want to do it)
-Chair rail in Logan’s room
-Landscaping–some kind of stone around the mulch, may end up as a 2021 or 2022 project
-Kitchen cabinets–2021?
-Bathroom remodel–2022
-Composite deck all the way to the end of the house, just over top of the patio (2028-2030)
-Complete kitchen remodel/expansion into the playroom (probably 2032)
Okay, some of those are a little out there, haha.
