Hello to all the ships who pass in the night.
As I might have mentioned, this spring I wanted to replace the siding on our house. I don’t think that’s going to happen, but we will have enough money to have the window frames, soffits (sp) and porch repainted. And maybe new guttering. YAY! So I’ve been making appointments with painters to come and give me estimates. Yesterday a man by the name of Greg came over and talked with me. He was in business with his daughter, and had twenty years of painting experience. His daughter’s name is Sonya! What an excellent sign! Both were very nice, asked questions and gave good answers (when it comes to getting estimates on home repair, I follow the lawyer’s mantra when they’re in court: “Never ask a question you don’t know the answer to.”)
“What type of paint is best on home exterior?”
“How warm does it have to be to beginning the paint job?”
“Will you prime all surfaces before you begin?”
“It’s probably lead paint, and I garden. Will you put tarps on the ground to catch all the flakes you scrape off?”
Greg said he really wanted the work and would supply references and a copy of his insurance papers before the job. I like people who tell me, “I want this job and I’ll do right by you.”
Someone else is coming over this afternoon. She sounded too foofoo over the phone . . . like she was going to do decorative painting. I explained that it was exterior painting, not interior painting and she still wanted to bid on it, so we’ll see how it goes.
When I told my boss that I was taking yesterday afternoon off and why, he said “Why don’t you two paint it yourselves?”
Me: I don’t do stuff like that. I don’t want to do all the scraping.
Boss: I enjoy that stuff. Last summer I painted the front door and garage door. It’s something that I can see—the accomplishment of it.
Me: I guess you don’t show your grandkids a spreadsheet and gush, “Hey kids! Grandpa did this all by himself!”
Boss: Exactly!
Me: I want to pay someone to do the grunt work. But I’ve bought stencils and when the porch is done, I want to do some stencil work on it.
Boss: Oh? What stencil?
Me: It’s a stencil of Dubya and his butt with a bullseye on it.
Boss: Get out of my office.
It’s a rare thing . . a Republican with a sense of humor
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Blu, you know at a certain age, that stops working with kids. If I asked Spawn to get me another Brownie and refill my tea, he'd say, "Do it youself!" Then, both he and Brother Beast would hold out their glasses to take with me to refill.... I didn't beat him enough when he was little.
Soffit:
1. The exposed underside of any overhead component of a building.
2. The exposed underbelly of Bert.
Actually, having kids do stuff for you works fine, so long as you are not in a hurry. I imagine Emma does want the work to be done by 2007, so having Liam and his posse do it is not an option.
unless your house has some kind of special windows (historic, stained glass or other ) look into having the windows replaced. You might be surprised at the price . The ten grand from your sister should cover it. ak 2 2
If a contractor offers you a list of recommendations, absolutely, without fail, on pain of regretting your decision until your dying day, CALL THE REFERENCES and if possible, go and see the actual work. This seems like more work that it should require, but take it from me (who now has a $15,000.00 roof) you'll not regret it.
Why don't you ask Tracee if she'll paint them for you.
Post a Comment