Collapse and Chaos - Part 3

 From April until September 2021, the orange fence greeted me each time I looked out the window or went to the back yard.

During the same time frame, I was busy calling contractor after contractor after contractor.

Because of the huge drop off at the back of my garage and the type of repairs I needed done, I found few who wanted to do it.  Winter was fast approaching and I was getting stressed out over whether it would be fixed in time.

My insurance wouldn't cover the cost of re-bricking my garage and because of the type of damage, the brick could not be repaired.  So, I had to find a contractor who knew how to remove brick, fix the back wall, remove 4 windows, put in one new window, and one new door.  Plus square up the walls as best as could be.  

In meeting with several contractors, I insisted they have workman's comp insurance in case someone fell off the roof to the concrete below.  I also told them upfront, I wanted lien waivers before they were final paid.  One contractor was offended that I asked for insurance.  He claimed all his employees were independent contractors.  Ha!  I have a background in payroll and construction.  Plus, he started to get verbally abusive in his text messages.  Pass on that dude.

I finally "settled" on a contractor because I was running out of time.  By this point, the garage was scheduled for repair in October 2021.  We had some adverse weather so it ended up being November before work was started.  Yikes... I was worried.

I decided on a vinyl siding color.

Materials were delivered.

 

Demolition Commenced.  It was quite the mess for a while.

New siding, door, and window.  I had them close off 4 windows that faced the neighbor's garage and the back of the garage.  I didn't really need those views or expense.

Every time I have to deal with contractors, I'm always dismayed at the fact that as a homeowner I have to ensure the workmanship is up to par.  Otherwise, they'd just do a half-@ssed job and think it's okay.

One day, I came home to find they had installed the gutters and downspouts.  The one at the back of the garage was 32" above the ground!

This meant during severe rain storms, the water run off would come shooting out at a 90-degree angle and then hit the ground.  In lesser storms, it would drop to the ground right below and cause a washout hole.  I can't believe they thought this would be okay!  I had them come back and originally wanted to replace the aluminum gutters with a flexible plastic that ran the length of the garage wall in back.  Nope!  I had them fix it right.

Additionally, they were to repair the corner of the concrete. 

 

Originally, they built a concrete form that looked like this:

Obviously, they didn't know what they were doing because when the form was taken off....

That's wood from the plywood they used to create a form, and they didn't even smooth out the edges of the concrete.  As you can see, it looked like crap!

Since it was now December, they had to wait until Spring 2022 to come back and fix it.  They had to hire a retired concrete guy.  This is how it should've been done to begin with.

 

Finally, the outside of the garage was done.

Until Next Time,

Marvelous Monday Update 7/22/2024

My area has been having some marvelous weather the past few days.  Temperatures in the mid to upper 70's/low 80's with no humidity.  Partially sunny days.  Ahhhh... I could live in this weather all the time!

How was your weekend?  I was busy, busy, busy!

CASITA

When I bought my 2017 Casita travel trailer a couple months ago, there were some things that needed attention.  One of the bigger projects is removing the oxidation that occurred while the previous owners had it.  Oxidation is the natural process that takes place due to the air reacting with the gel coat on the fiberglass which causes a cloudy film, thus taking away the shiny exterior.  I don't think the previous owners ever removed the oxidation.

With the right products, time... lots of time, elbow grease, and a "can do" attitude, that shiny exterior can be brought back to life.

Tools Needed:

•  A rotary polisher.  You can do it by hand but it will take longer and is a LOT harder work.  I purchased my polisher from Harbor Freight.  Because I spent over $50 that day, I received a free torque wrench.  Awesome sauce!  I needed one for the Casita and Anderson WDH.  Win, Win!

•  Polishing Pads.  The wool buffing pad shown in the photo above is to remove the oxidation.  I also bought foam pads for polishing and waxing.

•  Meguirs Fiberglass Restoration System.  There are other products on the market, but this is the one I chose.  It's an all-in-one kit:  First there's the Oxidation Cleaner #49 - Removes oxidation, water spots (in my case water streaks), and scratches from the fiberglass while restoring shine.  Second, High Gloss Polish #45 - Creates high gloss finish and restores valuable oils to feed/nourish the gel coat.  The last step is Pure Wax #56 - maintains the gloss while adding durable, long lasting protection.  I purchased this from Amazon.

Friday night after work, I got out my ladder and set to working on the upper half of the passenger side of the Casita. 

I can clearly see the reflection of my house on the upper half that I worked on.   It looks amazing!

Saturday morning, I got up and started working on the upper half of the front.  I was only able to get the the passenger side done before the sun came out.  The Meguirs instructions say to use these products in the shade.

The shine is evident on the left side where I worked on the oxidation.  The right side is dull and flat.

Since the sun was shining on the front, I moved to the back and worked there for a bit.

I removed all the oxidation and then called it a day because my arms were sore from holding up the 6 lb. polisher for hours, two days in a row.  My legs were sore from climbing up and down the ladder.  Up and down, up and down.  I'm happy with the amount I got done, though.  It's going to take several weeks to get the gel coat completely restored.

ETEGAMI

It's been a few years since I've done etegami painting.  If you're interested in learning about etegami, you can see my previous post HERE.  I'm sending out some RAK's so I wanted to include an etegami with each one.

COOKING

I have an abundance of rhubarb from one little patch beside by garage.  

Earlier this summer, I made rhubarb muffins on two different occasions.  I also made strawberry rhubarb crisp.  I recently found a recipe for Rhubarb "Tea" that I tried over the weekend.  It's more like a punch than a tea.

It's very refreshing and delicious!  If you have dogs, it's not safe for them to eat/drink.  It's toxic and can cause serious illness.

Here's the recipe in case you're interested.  I changed the name to Rhubarb Punch and I changed up the recipe.

RHUBARB PUNCH

4-5 c. Water

3-4 c. Rhubarb, chopped (fresh or frozen)

1/2 c. Sugar (adjust to taste)

Juice of 1-2 Lemons or Limes, for added tang

Fresh Mint Leaves or Lemon Slices, for garnish (optional)

Rinse rhubarb and chop into 1/2" pieces.  In medium sauce pan, bring water and chopped rhubarb to boil over med-high heat.  Reduce heat to simmer 15-20 minutes until rhubarb is soft and tender.  Add sugar and use immersion blender to blend everything together.  Adjust sweetness to your preference.  Allow rhubarb to cool to room temperature.  Add lemon or lime juice.  Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.  Serve over ice cubes.  Garnish with lemon slices or fresh mint leaves, if desired.

STITCHY STUFF

I finished a spring-themed mailart for an exchange.  I can't show it in it's entirety until it arrives at its new home.  Here's a sneak peek, though.

A couple of weeks ago, I started Mrs Martha 1776.  I consider this my souvenir from the trip I made to Virginia at the beginning of July.

Floss Toss for Mrs Martha 1776 by The Primitive Hare

Mrs Martha was a needlework market exclusive in 2023.  It's considered a semi kit as it contained the chart and fabric.  I swapped out some colors and brands of floss.

I love the fabric.  The white floss doesn't show up very well so I'm thinking I'll backstitch around it with a tan-gray.  What do you think?

Until Next Time,

Collapse and Chaos - Part 2

 Traveling Back in Time... It's now March 2021 and the snow is melting. The sun is shining.  And I was left to look at the mess left behind from the building collapse in January.  The view of my backyard is not pleasant... at all.  

Demolition and clean up has started.

The wall in the previous photos is literally holding up the back of my yard as well as the neighbor's so it cannot be taken down.

A peek into the inside of the building....

What a mess it was!

Once the building was lifted off my garage, even more damage could be seen.  It was heartbreaking and stressful.

Demolition and clean up took a few weeks.

The building owner on the other side had to have the entire peak of the roof taken off and re-built.

It's difficult to tell, but from the top of my yard to the collapsed building floor below is 12 feet or more.  It's quite a distance to fall.  

To "protect" people from falling over the edge of the wall, the owner of the collapsed building installed 4x4's and a plastic snow fence. 😕

I made a call to the City Engineer to get this rectified. Have I said that the owner of the building is cheap?!  And at that point, the view of my backyard wasn't getting any better.

Until Next Time...