Saturday, November 07, 2020

Home improvement quarantine project #2

Simultaneously with my painting project, Tom jumped on the fence project. 


Years ago, we installed a fence around only two sides of our property because our neighbor Howard asked us not to erect slats on his side. Now that Howard lives in Texas, Darcy and I voted to enclose the rest and add two matching gates. Tom was not a fan of the fence idea until he went outside one day to see our neighbor's overgrown hedge poking through the chain-link fence on to our side and way over the association's six-foot requirement on top. 

It took him an hour to cut it, and by the end, I had him on board the fence project. 

Unfortunately, no local fence company wanted the job because it was too small, and most companies had a backlog in ordering the fences. The materials were just not there. Even getting a response to our inquiries was a chore, but finally, my friend gave us the name of the company who put in her fence, and when Tom called, they were very helpful.

He drove to Tampa that day and ordered the fence and parts--the downside, he had to install the fence. It took a week for the materials to arrive.




First, he removed the chain-link gates we had on either side of our house, installed not long after we moved in. I was thankful I was on the painting project because our weather was in the low 90s and the poles were set into the ground with concrete. It was sweaty, dirty work, took him two days to accomplish, but he did it. 



The accompanying fence instructions and YouTube helped assist Tom with the rest. Every night, he skipped working out in the gym to come home and dig a hole or two, using a shovel and his gloved hands. 


Me: "What you need is a post hole digger."


Tom: "I'm impressed you even know what that is and that you know the terminology."


Me: "Please. My father taught me more than how to get along with people. If I weren't so busy on this other project, I'd have that fence erected!"


We both knew that was a lie, but I took the points on knowing tool terminology, and he took the satisfaction of having a wife that was not only gorgeous, smart, and handy but well versed in most subject matters.



Over the weekend, he really went to work. Borrowing a post hole digger from our neighbor down the street, he dug the rest of the holes and set the poles in concrete. I assisted in making sure the poles were straight, he second-guessed me and brought out the level, and it proved I knew my shit. Once the poles were ready, I hauled the slats from the driveway to Tom, who put them together like a puzzle until we had ourselves a fence line!





The gate took longer than I anticipated and required some assistance from me, but by the time Tom was finished on Sunday night, I was damn impressed. My man can put up a fence! He had to cut some slats when he got to the end, but getting to wield a power tool made that worthwhile. In the end, Tom was filthy and covered in dirt, but the fence looked great!


The next week he started on the opposite side because while we have a fence there, it ended at our neighbor's fence, so that every time her lawn guys came to mow, they could see us in the pool. There wasn't a lot of privacy, and I convinced Tom we might as well finish the job correctly. Out came the chain-link fence, and Tom extended the line to go past our pool pump with added slats to install a gate.
 


Maddy and I helped with the gate today, and the project is now in the books. Look at us, go! 

Project #3 is Darcy's closet. We found a guy, who showed up Friday to check the area, but he wanted too much money and wanted to use pre-fab crap that wouldn't allow us to do exactly what we wanted. 

Him: "The height is 87, but I can only go 84 or 79."

He also didn't quote doors in the price, and when those were added, it was $700 more. I kept texting my cousin, who has mad skills in this department--well, actually, I was corresponding with his wife--and we all agreed this was a no-go. 

I suggested Tom discuss it with our neighbor across the street--he who we really wanted for the job--and when he heard the news, he agreed he could get to it maybe next week.

Fingers crossed! Project #3, coming! 

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