DIY/ House repair <vent followup>
bewa...@my-deja.com
(sorry, I lost the first thread so I had to re-start it!)
In article <3A05B9CB...@ix.netcom.com>,
Mike and Heather Oviatt <vad...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> I've got a remodeling vent of my own, so I thought I'd tack it in
here.
>
<snip>
> I started out stripping some wallpaper in the family room. The
> stripping went fine, but we quickly discovered that there was more
> damage from a water leak in the bathroom (just on the other side of
this
> family room wall) than we had prevoiusly known about or had been
> disclosed to us. Prior to closing just about everything in that
> bathroom was replaced, and we had seen the inside of the walls and it
> was all dry and had no mold. Well apparently when things got wet we
had
> water trapped between the outside of the drywall but under the
> wallpaper. A rather large piece of this wall had mold growing over
it.
>
(snip small remodelling issue becoming *big* house problem! eek!)
> We're actually moving in next weekend, I wonder how many more
surprises
> we can find before then!
>
Sorry to hear about the remodelling problems. I can't confess that I
have any brilliant suggestions, except that I'm always willing to listen
to vents like these -- not just to helpby being that sympathetic ear,
but also to reassure myself that the annoyance of buying a new home is
atleast comparable to finding 'surprises' later on <g>.
BTW, Heather, what other remodelling do you have in store? Does this
house have a finished basement or do you intend to do that too? Just
curious - I'm always amazed at DIYers, especially those of you who buy
homes *knowing* you'll be doing fixes. I can hardly figure out how to
use a hammer and I never remember the names of all those screw heads :-(
Good thing I've got a handy DH and a mother who is handy (only needs to
be taught something once; she could have been an asesome contractor!).
-Barbara
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
HollyLewis
>homes *knowing* you'll be doing fixes.
Listen, Barbara, if you buy a house thinking you are *not* going to do any
"fixes", you are deluding yourself. :-) Anyway, there are few things more
satisfying, IMHO, than getting one's house into exactly the shape one wants it
in. I mean, it's frustrating when something breaks or leaks, of course, but
it's wonderful to have the capacity to just deal with it. And of course when
you're talking about *improvements* rather than repairs -- well, skilled manual
labor is FUN!
I very much doubt Heather is planning to do a finished basement, because
basements, finished or otherwise, are very rare in California. Especially in
tract ranch houses, and based on where Heather lives I'd guess that's what
she's got.
Holly
drw...@my-deja.com
bewa...@my-deja.com wrote:
>
> but also to reassure myself that the annoyance of buying a new home is
> atleast comparable to finding 'surprises' later on <g>.
Oh, new construction is no guarantee that you won't have trouble with
"surprises." I've been reading about the construction of Celebration,
Florida, and the problems with one of the builders there were truly
amazing -- things like hot and cold water lines reversed, so the toilets
steamed.
> I'm always amazed at DIYers, especially those of you who buy
> homes *knowing* you'll be doing fixes.
Unless you have no interest in decorating at all, you can't escape the
fixes either. <g> One minute you're saying "This house is in move-in
condition," and the next minute, you're frantic to change the color of
the walls...
Wende
Barbara Warner
drw...@my-deja.com wrote:
>
> In article <8ut3hd$c37$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,
> bewa...@my-deja.com wrote:
> >
> > but also to reassure myself that the annoyance of buying a new home is
> > atleast comparable to finding 'surprises' later on <g>.
>
> Oh, new construction is no guarantee that you won't have trouble with
> "surprises." I've been reading about the construction of Celebration,
> Florida, and the problems with one of the builders there were truly
> amazing -- things like hot and cold water lines reversed, so the toilets
> steamed.
Yes, but in the new home situation (in Ontario atleast), that's the
problem of the builder. They must fix it - all I have to do is put up
with the aggravation of listing the defects and making all those
arrangements to get the stuff fixed (and doing lots of waiting). And,
with new materials and new installations (roof, appliances, etc), the
chances of *having* to do major work is much lower than an older house
without recent work in all areas.
> > I'm always amazed at DIYers, especially those of you who buy
> > homes *knowing* you'll be doing fixes.
>
> Unless you have no interest in decorating at all, you can't escape the
> fixes either. <g> One minute you're saying "This house is in move-in
> condition," and the next minute, you're frantic to change the color of
> the walls...
Ah, but in a *new* house, the buyers (1) get to choose the colour
scheme, and (2) can then mkae changes later if they desire. With a
pre-existing house, if you don't want pink walls or whatever, then you
skip straight to step two 2, doing it themselves or hiring someone.
Iguess what I'm saying here is that I dn't want to *have* to make
changes to my house, and that other thaon getting a house
constructed/built/bought new, it seems really difficult to find the
perfect mix of major and minor preferences....
-Barbara
HollyLewis
>changes to my house, and that other thaon getting a house
>constructed/built/bought new, it seems really difficult to find the
>perfect mix of major and minor preferences....
Depending on where you live, it may well be impossible to find that "perfect
mix" even if you *do* go with a newly-built house.
'Round here, the only newly constructed "semi-custom" houses are way the heck
out in the far reaches of the metro area, and they're in car-oriented,
architecturally boring subdivisions. Not my cup of tea, in a major way. The
only alternative would be to find a good location, tear down the existing
house, and have a brand new custom-designed one built in its place -- and that
would be prohibitively expensive.
I'd rather fix up my house myself. It's a lot cheaper, and it's FUN. Most of
the time. ;-)
But hey, if it weren't for people like you, Barbara, the old houses I love
would cost even more than they do. So I'm happy to disagree. :-)
Holly
j_w...@newsguy.com
>I'm always amazed at DIYers, especially those of you who buy
>homes *knowing* you'll be doing fixes.
In my area, there is a tax advantage.
If you build a new house or do *substantial* remodeling (basically, if
you gut the place), you will be reassessed based on the market value
of the improvements (buildings on the property.) Most properties in
my area are assessed at their value as of the 1960s - the last time a
county-wide reassessment was done.
The only other way they may reassess is if a deed is subdivided.
Of course, this adds a level when buying a hours: you must check on
assessments. Two properties near each other but in different towns
(about 1 mile apart) that sold within a few months of each other were
compared by my local newspaper (who was already running their Tax
Roulette series.) One sold for around $70k, the other for over $200k.
The former has an annual county tax bill of over $10k, the latter
barely $3k. How so? The one was in what was the 5th largest city in
the state in the 1960s. The other was in a town that became the big
place to live much more recently.
Then again, there are things like this house. It was built in 1972
and had problems from the start, mostly due to shoddy work by a
variety of contractors.
Deb Hardison
Barbara Warner
Deb Hardison wrote:
>
> My thoughts exactly, Holly!! :-)
Didn't see Holly's original so I'm responding here...
> Deb
> >'Round here, the only newly constructed "semi-custom" houses are way the
> heck
> >out in the far reaches of the metro area, and they're in car-oriented,
> >architecturally boring subdivisions. Not my cup of tea, in a major way.
Yup - that was the trend here in Ottawa and Toronto until recently, when
a *lot* of infil developments started popping up in the city centre /
downtown of these cities.
> The
> >only alternative would be to find a good location, tear down the existing
> >house, and have a brand new custom-designed one built in its place -- and
> that
> >would be prohibitively expensive.
> >I'd rather fix up my house myself. It's a lot cheaper, and it's FUN. Most
> of
> >the time. ;-)
I'd agree that some people would find it fun. I would disagree that it's
universally "a lot cheaper" -- we've found that a lot of the upgrades
for our house (where, undoubtedly, the developers are still making
money!), are the same price or cheaper than hiring a contractor or even
DIY (depending on the job and time involved).
And, well, if by cheaper, you mean less money out of pocket, that's
probably true for some things. But, I'd include *time* as a
variable/cost, in which case my doing something may not be cheaper than
hiring a contractor or painter or wallpaper-er? or whomever.
> >But hey, if it weren't for people like you, Barbara, the old houses I love
> >would cost even more than they do. So I'm happy to disagree. :-)
<g>
If I had all the money in the world, I *would* buy an old house in the
heart of downtown Toronto, and get high quality contractors and
repairpersons and all those talented folks, to get it in shape....so I'm
Not against buying an existing house, I just can't fathom doing all that
work or arranging for it, when there are other (new/constructed( options
in roughly the same location and price range.
-Barbara
> >Holly
TwinkleToes
dependent on what your "perfect mix" is :)
We nearly bought a 100-year old, 3-story (plus basement), all-brick
house last December. It had a lot of its original woodwork, a couple
of original coal fireplaces (one had been converted to gas) with stone
mantles and metal mantle covers, etc. It had a lot of work that needed
to be done (many harvest gold walls, orangey-brown industrial-looking
carpet, no central air, etc). We ended up not buying it because of
some structural issues that the inspector found--we never reached an
agreement with the seller as to who would make what repairs, so the
contract was dissolved. Truth be told, it scared us that some of the
work that needed to be done was _serious_ (i.e. uncapped chimneys whose
interiors were deteriorating and causing carbon monoxide leaks through
the plaster walls). We barely managed to get dishes, laundry, and
vacuuming done in our apartment--major renovations would be nearly
impossible for us to tackle with our current schedules. Still, it
would have been a beautiful house to own...
Instead we built a new house. It is at best "semi-custom", but very
much what we wanted. The architecture isn't all that different from
the older house--very traditional. Yes, it has a garage on the front
of the house--IMHO it is less intrusive to have the driveway eating up
the front yard that's mostly decorative than to have a garage eating up
the functional backyard space. The new house is not all-brick, but the
yards are about the same size (tiny city lots, tiny suburban lots, just
the way the area goes). Inside we still have an all-wood, stained
banister, stained wood windowsills and trim throughout the house,
divided light windows (we payed $10 extra per window to have the grates
installed so all windows in the house look like they have 6 glass panes
each per half window). Our bathrooms are bigger, we have closets (all
walk-in), and all the plumbing and electrical work is up to code. And
there aren't 50 years of paint covering all our beautiful woodwork. If
we had't had the builder finish most of the walk-out basement, the
house wouldn't have cost much more than the old house we nearly bought.
Yes, we do have maintenance issues. We have work that _has_ to be done
soon (like installing some sort of window covering on all windows...a
big job since I detest blinds). I've been dreaming about curtains and
valances at night the past couple of weeks... No, we don't _have_ to
paint the walls if we don't want to, and the builder suggests we don't
wallpaper for at least a year in case there are any nails that pop or
repair work as the house goes through a complete heating- and cooling-
cycle. We have a completely blank canvas of a landscape to tackle (sod
in front, grass seed in back, and one tree are provided).
The difference here is that most of the work we have to do is not
critical to the livability of the house. If I end up being assigned on
a project out of town, and am only around on weekends for 3 months then
sewing up a curtain for the window in the guest room closet can wait...
I would love to have the time to work on an older house someday. For
now, I'm happy that we found a house we love in a good school district
at a price we can afford where we will be comfortable living and
starting a family in for quite a while!
Deb Hardison
of all, we absolutely love the "character" of an old house - it seems as if
the new construction in our area all looks somewhat the same. These days,
you can't pay to get the incredible woodwork in a new house that came with
our old house - plus all the really unique and cool design elements. That
said, old homes do come with a price - you have to be willing to keep up the
structure, fix things more often, and be willing to work on major
renovations. In our case, we are lucky, as DH was a general contractor in
CA (before we moved to MN), so we can literally do all the work ourselves.
And, we like to do projects together - we think it's fun :-)!
Deb
TwinkleToes wrote in message <8v43vr$44t$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
Geri
Barbara Warner <bar...@ncf.ca> wrote:
>
> > >I'd rather fix up my house myself. It's a lot cheaper, and it's
FUN. Most
> > of
> > >the time. ;-)
>
> I'd agree that some people would find it fun. I would disagree that
it's
> universally "a lot cheaper" -- we've found that a lot of the upgrades
> for our house (where, undoubtedly, the developers are still making
> money!), are the same price or cheaper than hiring a contractor or
even
> DIY (depending on the job and time involved).
That's my experience too. We could've built a huge honking giant
mega-house on a sizeable plot of land with custom everything for less
than we paid for our smallish 100-year-old place. And this place doesn't
need major work, except for a kitchen renovation (oh, that tiny thing
<g>). If we'd bought a place that was old and needed work...ack. Forget
it. Even if we did the work ourselves, it would still be prohibitively
expensive.
> And, well, if by cheaper, you mean less money out of pocket, that's
> probably true for some things. But, I'd include *time* as a
> variable/cost, in which case my doing something may not be cheaper
than
> hiring a contractor or painter or wallpaper-er? or whomever.
Ditto. I like doing my own home stuff, but sometimes it's worth it for
me to pay someone else to know it's gonna get done in X amount of time
and be done correctly and be over with. If DH or I are in a work crunch
period (and DH's crunch periods happen without warning), we do not want
to have to think about finishing the dining room wallpaper *after* work.
When it was a zillion degrees this summer and our bedroom air
conditioner died, I could have gone out and bought a new one and
installed it myself (it's an in-wall thing). But why, when I could call
someone who showed up two hours later and had the job done in an hour?
Mike and Heather Oviatt
HollyLewis wrote:
> I very much doubt Heather is planning to do a finished basement, because
> basements, finished or otherwise, are very rare in California. Especially in
> tract ranch houses, and based on where Heather lives I'd guess that's what
> she's got.
You got it. We have a cement slab foundation and a nearly flat roof, so
no attic space either. Basically, what you see is what you get.
We've got the family room back together, just need to install some
baseboards and get the faceplates on the outlets. The only other work
we've got to do now is some more painting and figure out window
coverings.
We moved in last weekend and this is the first time I've read a.n. in
nearly 2 weeks (2800+ messages)!
Oh, we got a new refrigerator yesterday and the new stove should arrive
soon. We'll be able to eat real meals again!
Heather O.
HollyLewis
>> variable/cost, in which case my doing something may not be cheaper
>than
>> hiring a contractor or painter or wallpaper-er? or whomever.
>
They're called paperhangers. :-)
Anyway, I agree that one's time is a cost, but if carpentry or painting or
paperhanging is interesting, satisfying work, then the cost of one's time is
outweighed by the pleasure generated in that time.
I will pay through the nose for someone else to do things I could do quickly
but would hate doing (which is why I hire a housecleaner) or don't know how to
do and don't especially want to learn (which is why we hired someone to install
our new water heater), but I would rather spend six weeks of my own time on a
project I could have hired someone to do in two days if it's a project I will
enjoy doing and the product of which will be more satisfying because I've done
the work myself.
Plus a lot of the things that I enjoy doing, or at least don't hate, are things
that it *would* be prohibitively expensive to hire someone for, because it's
simply not possible to hire someone who would do the work to my perfectionist
standards. (AND, contractors around here are so busy that you can't pay enough
to get one to show up any time soon -- they're booked up to two years ahead for
major projects, and at least six months for minor ones.)
Which is why I did the sheetrock repair after the water heater installation,
and why I did all the painting in our house.
>Ditto. I like doing my own home stuff, but sometimes it's worth it for
>me to pay someone else to know it's gonna get done in X amount of time
>and be done correctly and be over with.
In theory I agree. But this situation just doesn't arise very often. Partly
because IME contractors *don't* finish on time and often *don't* do things
"correctly" by my standards -- and partly because, for me, the process of
making the phone calls and so on to find a contractor and make the arrangements
to have the work done is FAR more hated than just doing the work myself. In
your air conditioner example, I would have procrastinated for two weeks about
finding someone, and then when I finally made some calls (hating every moment)
I would have discovered that the soonest anyone could come would be three weeks
later, and I would have spent hours dithering over whether to hire the guy who
could come two days sooner but charged $100 more, and then I would have spent
the next few weeks second-guessing myself over the decision of which guy to
hire, and then I would have lost some work time due to having to be home when
the guy showed up, and then the installation would have some problem and I
would have to call the guy back to complain....
For most things, it's faster and easier and better to do it myself. ;-)
Oh, BTW, when it rained several weeks ago we discovered that the new vent pipe
for the water heater wasn't flashed properly, and it leaks badly. I called the
plumber right away and although he was very nice about it, as far as I know
they still haven't shown up to fix it. If I weren't rather ungainly right now,
I'd be seriously considering climbing up to the roof to deal with it myself.
Holly
Barbara Warner
HollyLewis wrote:
>
> >But, I'd include *time* as a
> >> variable/cost, in which case my doing something may not be cheaper
> >than
> >> hiring a contractor or painter or wallpaper-er? or whomever.
> >
>
> They're called paperhangers. :-)
<grin> Thanks! That's the word which was on the tip of my tongue (so to
speak)...but couldn't get out.
> Anyway, I agree that one's time is a cost, but if carpentry or painting or
> paperhanging is interesting, satisfying work, then the cost of one's time is
> outweighed by the pleasure generated in that time.
Yes, I agree! It's a matter of finding something which *is*
"interesting, satisfying work". For me, that includes all sorts of
cooking and baking, but doesn't include many house repairs. So, it is a
rare occasion when I buy store bought desserts, for example, but also
rare if I do carpentry or painting myself. Luckily for me, my DH is much
handier than I, and much more interested in household things, so I'll
gladly trade him an apple pie for some basic wiring work or whatever ;-)
(snip)
>
> For most things, it's faster and easier and better to do it myself. ;-)
Ya, I can understand that...I'm like that with other things; I often
take a really long time to make a simple decision like where to rent a
car -- I'm a detail oriented, control-freak, bargain hunter....which is
a horrible combination if I want anyhting done quickly! <laugh>.
> Oh, BTW, when it rained several weeks ago we discovered that the new vent pipe
> for the water heater wasn't flashed properly, and it leaks badly. I called the
> plumber right away and although he was very nice about it, as far as I know
> they still haven't shown up to fix it. If I weren't rather ungainly right now,
> I'd be seriously considering climbing up to the roof to deal with it myself.
Yes, I agree that one of the major downsides of hiring someone else is
working on *their* schedule, not your own. (Although, given our
preferences and schedules around here, it's more likely that the slow
contractor would still get the job done before Mr. Procrastinator
Himself, aka DH! And I'd still be trying to figure out which
wrench/spanner was which....weeks later!)
-barbara
> Holly
Geri
holly...@aol.com (HollyLewis) wrote:
>
> Anyway, I agree that one's time is a cost, but if carpentry or
painting or
> paperhanging is interesting, satisfying work, then the cost of one's
time is
> outweighed by the pleasure generated in that time.
>
> I will pay through the nose for someone else to do things I could do
quickly
> but would hate doing (which is why I hire a housecleaner) or don't
know how to
> do and don't especially want to learn (which is why we hired someone
to install
> our new water heater), but I would rather spend six weeks of my own
time on a
> project I could have hired someone to do in two days if it's a project
I will
> enjoy doing and the product of which will be more satisfying because
I've done
> the work myself.
Well, yeah. If I *like* the work I'm happy to do it. If not, I won't do
it just to make a point.
Again, I agree. But we've also had crazy-a*s lives for much of the last
two years and simply haven't had the time even to do the things we like
to do. This is literally the first weekend in six weeks that we're home.
I could be wallpapering the dining room, but I'm not. And I may call
someone to do it (even though I enjoy paperhanging) because I have so
many other things that take priority right now (major work deadlines
that were simply too good to pass up, even though it makes for a hectic
couple months; a very sick pregnant SIL; a grandfather with a broken hip
to whom I have promised transportation on a number of days; etc etc
etc) I could wait until life calms down and do it myself, but I want the
new wallpaper up, dammit! So I might suck it up and call someone.
In
> your air conditioner example, I would have procrastinated for two
weeks about
> finding someone, and then when I finally made some calls (hating every
moment)
> I would have discovered that the soonest anyone could come would be
three weeks
> later, and I would have spent hours dithering over whether to hire the
guy who
> could come two days sooner but charged $100 more, and then I would
have spent
> the next few weeks second-guessing myself over the decision of which
guy to
> hire, and then I would have lost some work time due to having to be
home when
> the guy showed up, and then the installation would have some problem
and I
> would have to call the guy back to complain....
Okay, then you obviously don't overheat like I do :-) I was literally
nauseated by the heat and had a migraine for three days. There was no
room for dithering about it. It had to be done right then...either by me
or by someone else, and this was a cost-be-damned situation. That
decision was also made easier by the fact that we live about 80 feet off
the ground. Dropping an air conditioner from our height is a major
public safety issue and not a risk I was willing to take. (No joke;
every summer a few people in NYC are killed by air conditioners that
fall out because of improper handling).
Robin
> In theory I agree. But this situation just doesn't arise very often. Partly
> because IME contractors *don't* finish on time and often *don't* do things
> "correctly" by my standards --
This is part of the reason Eric does so much of our car stuff. We'd
never get an oil change at one of the quicky places because they don't
do as careful a job as he does. And it's frustrating to have tires
mounted and balanced and have them over tighten the lug nuts so that
when you *have* to be able to get the tire off by hand--on the side of
the road--you can't.
> Oh, BTW, when it rained several weeks ago we discovered that the new vent pipe
> for the water heater wasn't flashed properly, and it leaks badly. I called the
> plumber right away and although he was very nice about it, as far as I know
> they still haven't shown up to fix it. If I weren't rather ungainly right now,
> I'd be seriously considering climbing up to the roof to deal with it myself.
<sprays coffee> Now *that* is a great mental picture.
--
There's no need to e-mail me a copy of a follow-up; but if you do,
please identify it as such.
j_w...@newsguy.com
that:
>sometimes it's worth it for
>me to pay someone else to know it's gonna get done in X amount of time
>and be done correctly and be over with.
The house I currently live in is a perfect example of how paying
someone does not guarantee things will be done correctly. I have
found many examples of shoddy work, sometimes even dangerous (e.g.
wiring circuits where everything is wired "correctly" except for the
breaker, at which black and white are reversed, resulting in the
fixtures being live all the time and the switch being on the dead side
of the circuit.) The only reason it was done in X amount of time is
the contractors would have had to pay fines if they didn't - the state
had a rule that they had X days to finish from when they broke ground.
Had that rule not existed, it could easily been a year or more later
before this house was finished as the contractors would have sooner
dealt with the government contracts to repair the damage from a flood
in a neighboring county.
I understand the underlying point, but just wanted to make that
observation.
HollyLewis
>now,
>> I'd be seriously considering climbing up to the roof to deal with it
>myself.
>
><sprays coffee> Now *that* is a great mental picture.
>
You know how supposedly one of the signs that labor is imminent is the "nesting
instict" kicking in? You hear all these stories about the husband coming home
to find his wife cleaning out the deepest recesses of the storage closet
shelves or painting the kitchen or things like that?
Well, DH is totally convinced he's going to come home from work some evening in
January and find me up on the roof. :-) (And he said that *before* we
discovered the leak.)
Holly
Jen in South Florida
>You know how supposedly one of the signs that labor is imminent is the "nesting
>instict" kicking in? You hear all these stories about the husband coming home
>to find his wife cleaning out the deepest recesses of the storage closet
>shelves or painting the kitchen or things like that?
things like this happen in our house all the time, and I'm definitely
NOT pregnant! sometimes I just have to clean something....
Jen
M & K Gaines
force myself to clean something, it will trigger something to make me
go into labor!". So, I'm outside mowing the lawn, planting new things
along the walkway, trimming the bushes, etc... Got the house
(especially the laundry) totally clean. Even cleaned my car. Mark
kept saying "oh, you're nesting". Nothing, nada, zip. Just made me
tired and cranky that people kept calling and saying "you *still*
haven't had that baby, yet?!? Aren't you *2* weeks overdue?".
kellie
In article <3a19c5d6...@news.mindspring.com>,
--
kellie
http://homestead.juno.com/gainesmkj/gainesindex.html
KathyK
M & K Gaines <gain...@juno.com> wrote:
> I wish that would have been the case. I kept thinking "maybe if I
> force myself to clean something, it will trigger something to make me
> go into labor!". So, I'm outside mowing the lawn, planting new things
> along the walkway, trimming the bushes, etc... Got the house
> (especially the laundry) totally clean. Even cleaned my car. Mark
> kept saying "oh, you're nesting". Nothing, nada, zip. Just made me
> tired and cranky that people kept calling and saying "you *still*
> haven't had that baby, yet?!? Aren't you *2* weeks overdue?".
>
> kellie
Kellie, she was just waiting for the perfect day to be born. I happen
to think that people born on April 13th are pretty darn special.
--
Kathy
TDC Snow White, Keeper of Sockpuppets
born April 13
aMAZon
HollyLewis wrote:
>
> >> they still haven't shown up to fix it. If I weren't rather ungainly right
> >now,
> >> I'd be seriously considering climbing up to the roof to deal with it
> >myself.
> >
> ><sprays coffee> Now *that* is a great mental picture.
> >
>
> You know how supposedly one of the signs that labor is imminent is the "nesting
> instict" kicking in? You hear all these stories about the husband coming home
> to find his wife cleaning out the deepest recesses of the storage closet
> shelves or painting the kitchen or things like that?
I know that only too well! We decided that what had been "The Office"
in our old house was to become "The Baby's Room". DH kept delaying
moving the twin bed to the room. I got fed up with this one day,
and, at 8 months pregnant, moved the frame and mattress myself.
He was absolutely shocked when he got home! Fortunately, I hadn't
precipitated anything.
(Family legend has it that my mom was cleaning out the pantry
when she went into labor with me two months early.)
Holly, if something like that kicks in for you, lie down until
the urge passes. :-)
--
aMAZon
zesz...@worldnet.att.net
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood."