My Mind's in the Gutters

You may remember that back in February, we lost some gutters. Now that we're out of snowy season and entering rainy season, D and I are trying to find someone to replace them. As usual, we wrongly believed that a couple of estimates would be enough to help us make our decision. But with two contractors disagreeing on what we need, we have to wait for at least one more estimate to break the tie (or, more likely, offer us a completely different set of options that contradict the other two). They are so busy repairing the damage caused by the blizzards, that it will be a week before another company can even come out and give us an estimate.

Before we get any further, here's a picture of the damage, now that the snow is gone and we can see more clearly:

Basically the whole back of our house is effectively gutterless. I think we're talking about 50 or so feet. The real question is what to do with our fascia boards--the wood that the gutters are screwed into. Ours are completely bare wood. They are not painted, stained, polyurethaned, or covered in aluminum (they might be pretreated for termites or something--no idea).

Gutter company A says that the fascia boards do not need to be covered. They will put up a new gutter securely to make sure that no water seeps back there to rot the wood. The gutters will be screwed through the boards directly into the rafters, as opposed to just into the thin boards, so they don't come out again. Gutter company B says that the boards have to be covered with aluminum to prevent rotting, which would soften the wood and rip the gutters out.

DIY websites appear equally divided, so I don't think there's one right answer. It seems to me that the boards don't serve much purpose except to be a place to mount the gutters. From what I read, gutter installation instructions say if the boards are rotted when you take off the old gutter, replace them. It's not a big deal and it doesn't really seem to have a lot of repercussions if they do get a little damp and soft. Plus evidently they haven't until now, so if a gutter is installed correctly they will probably be protected.

Second difference: company A wants to give us cheap aluminum gutter guards with holes in them, probably something like this:

while company B wants to put on high-tech solid ones that uses the water's own surface tension to pull it into the gutter, like this:

Sure it's nice, but it seems like overkill and certainly not a cheap solution. From what we're learning, we will need to clean them either way. Maybe the cheap ones will need cleaning every other year and the expensive ones every 3 or 4 years, but gunk will find its way in eventually.

Third difference: company A wants to put on standard 6'' gutters. They won't fall down, they say, because they will be screwed in more securely than they were this time. Company B claims that 5'' are better because the added weight of the extra inch can be what pulls the gutters down inheavy snow/ice.

There you have it. Two completely different options with very different prices. I don't want to skimp but I don't want to be taken advantage of, either. I'm not sure the "best available" options are all that necessary. Of course I also don't want to cause future grief of gunked drains and rotting wood. I think a third opinion is necessary. And maybe a forth or fifth.

So don't be shy, blog readers. I think I scared most of you away from contributing with my poll last week, which deliberately did not have any middle ground between liking or hating contractors. But I need your opinions now: do we go with company A or B or find another middle-of-the-road set of options?

***

And finally, our garden continues to develop, no thanks to us. We discovered this week that we have roses!

A Poll While We Wait

We are working hard around the house and have a lot of projects in progress. I want to wait until they are done to blog about them but I didn't want you, my readers (all 4 of you...), to think I was neglecting you.

We are about to have our first experience with contractors (windows, in this case, but gutters and electrical work are soon to follow). So while we wait to hang our paintings and light fixtures in the newly-painted hallway, to get our new windows installed, to paint the bedroom closet, and to get some gutter estimates, please let us know what you think with a poll. Don't hold back--let us know how you really feel.

Spring Thaw

In January, I heard our house make a strange noise and it took me a little while to realize that it was our sump pump, doing what it was supposed to do and draining unseen water out from under the foundation of our house. Our sump pump is a very treasured object because of all the bad things we had heard from our more experienced home-owning friends and family about flooded basements. Also it was a feature sorely lacking on most of the homes that we considered buying. But our house has one and we can only assume it is doing its job, since we can't see any water in the basement. For that matter, we can't even see our sump pump:

For a reason that must have seemed logical at the time, the previous owners completely carpeted over the sump pump. There is no slit in the carpet, no little space without staples or tacks. No no, just a completely solidly nailed-in carpet. I'm sure at some point we will have to rip up at least the corner; and I haven't been able to figure out exactly where everything drains...So for now we just take it on faith that the sump pump is doing what it should be doing.

Which is good, since the ground has been slowly absorbing the several feet of snow that we got last month. And so the sound that seemed odd in January now can be heard every day and has become a regular contributor to the sounds of the house. Which is good, because there is a fair amount of standing water and, as the picture shows, more snow that needs to melt:

Close up of the puddles lining our mulchy patches (stay tuned for our feeble attempts at gardening said mulchy patches):

The sump pump is actually on the correct side of the house, where all that water seems to be collecting (it's just out of the frame at the bottom where the mulch turns to grass), so I guess the previous owners knew a thing or two about basement flooding.

The nice thing about the spring thaw? We're actually starting to see life! The garden is a big mystery to us, since we didn't move in until September when most of the spring and summer foliage was gone:

At least for now that life seems limited to flowers, but soon I'm sure we will see the more unpleasant side of it--the creepy crawlies.

And while it might not be alive, here is a picture of our new door wreath. I decided to show my excitement for spring by creating an artificial flower arrangement for the door. It turned out to be much cheaper to buy a $4 olive wreath branch and a couple of $1-2 fake flowers than a $35 fully assembled wreath. I just wove the wiry stems into the branches, no glue or extra wiring required.

Also we are discovering that even in March, black doors heat up to a pretty uncomfortable degree. Something we may have to deal with later.

Still more on windows

Are you sick of hearing about windows yet? Because I am. But in the scheme of all the things that we could have to fix around the house, windows might be one of the cheaper and less extreme ones. You may remember that as we wait for our new vinyl ones to be ready to installed upstairs, we had a little incident in our basement. Actually, two incidents, resulting in two broken windows. I wanted them fixed quickly so that the litter boxes could again be hidden out of sight in the unfinished part of the basement (they were temporarily in our finished area of the basement, in plain sight of my elliptical machine, which is not a very inspiring view when exercising) and for security.

First we had to decide how we wanted them fixed. My parents suggested glass block windows, which provide extra security, insulation, leak prevention:

Try as we might, nobody seemed to want to install them for a reasonable price. Some people didn't "do" installations at all, only offering to sell us the supplies at much more than we could find at Home Depot. Others would do both, for at least $500/window (which is about what we're paying for our nice new triple-paned argon-filled fancy shmancy ones upstairs that actually have complicated parts), and others (general contractors) would do the installation if we provided the windows and paid them about $300-400/window.

No thanks.

Next we looked into getting some glass cut. Actually pretty easy to have done at Lowes. We measured the window from the outside and brought the measurements there. For $5/pane, we could get glass. For about $35 for a whole sheet (enough for us to cut two panes ourselves), we could get acrylic. It was then we realized an issue we hadn't considered when we thought about buying glass block: fire escapes. Glass block is impossible to break through. So is acrylic. Now, we do have a walk-up door in our basement, but suddenly I wasn't sure I wanted the "extra security" of not being able to break the windows. People can't get in, but they also can't get out. And besides, that's what home insurance is for, right.

So we went with plain old glass and then had to content with the actual installation. It was a multi-step process, which D pretty much took care of all by himself (someone had to take the pictures...).

1. Chisel out all the old glass and glazing.

This was much harder than we thought, since the glazing was pretty much solid as a rock and applied copiously. Here's a close-up of what had to be removed so that the new pane could sit correctly in the frame:

Removing all that crud was what took most of the installation time. I used a little heat gun to assist but mostly it just took a few hours of chiseling. The finished result wasn't perfect but it was clean enough for the new pane to go in. We also had to be careful since the second pane in each broken window was still in tact, so we didn't want to hammer so hard that we broke that one too.

2. Apply glazing to the empty frame:

3. Carefully set the pane in the frame:

4. Apply more glazing to the other side of the pane. This took a lot more glazing than we thought and we ran out of one tube after just one window (we thought we could use one tube for both the windows).

5. Smooth the glazing with a putty knife and wipe up excess (like that stuff coming out of the caulk gun which fell onto the clean glass just after I took this picture):

6. Let dry, put back into window, and admire. (This picture really emphasizes the difference between new and old glazing--see how white the new one is and how dingy the old one is?)

In all, it cost about $40 (glazing was about $8/tube and we needed to buy the chisel) and maybe 4 hours of (mostly D's) time. It took almost as much time to call contractors for estimates. I think it was definitely worth doing ourselves and not paying for a contractor. Even if they could have removed the glazing faster, I'm sure it would have taken at least an hour or two at some exorbitant labor cost, plus materials. I will give D credit--he broke both windows but at least took care of them quickly and, it seems, correctly. Hopefully the panes don't come crashing out in a couple of days.

edited to add: D thought of the brilliant idea of adding bars to our two back windows, so that we get the security without having the heavy-duty windows. They are only about $25 from Home Depot and we can install them ourselves, plus they can open from the insides, so we are not compromising fire safety. Looks like that will be an upcoming improvement.

An Aside for Valentine's Day

Eight days late, I'm finally getting around to my intended Valentine's post, which is a bit of a departure from the usual home repairs update. In keeping with the "love" theme of the holiday, I wanted to write a post about how much I love our house. Now, it's not perfect and can definitely stress me out (we broke yet another window, but more on that another time) but it is a place that truly makes me feel comfortable and happy. Seems like a good relationship. Not only to I enjoy being at home but I enjoy doing things at home that I never enjoyed doing in our old apartment. Sitting and looking out our window (especially during a snowfall), for example. Or better yet (at least for those friends and family members who get to taste the results): cooking and baking.

I never liked being in our old apartment kitchen. There was no sense in making any significant improvements and everything was as cheap as they come. But here, we are lucky enough to have an already-remodeled kitchen that is beautiful and a place I really love to spend time (which is good, since it's where my computer desk is). And so, on Valentine's Day and in honor of the holiday's spirit, here is the proof of that love--a first attempt at homemade pasta and tomato sauce. A whole Sunday afternoon spent in a kitchen:

 

  

  

(No pictures actually making the pasta--my hands were too full of flour!) Fortunately the results were as tasty as they were fun.

Another unfun "surprise"

I had a great post lined up in honor of Valentine's Day about love and houses but then came this weekend's gutter problems and now another issue today, so a post about love will have to wait.

Last night when D was knocking yet more ice from the roof, I heard a loud crash. D said that it was just the sound of breaking ice but it really sounded like glass. Today I stepped into to the basement to find this:

Here's a picture with the flash so you can better see the evil-looking glass shards hanging from the frame:

Evidently the falling chunks of snow and ice shattered one of our basement windows. We are replacing six windows and none of the two that broke this year. Of course. So I cleaned up the glass pieces (which were everywhere) and changed the kitty litter (which was right under the window and ended up filled with little pieces of glass) and had a wonderful (and, fortunately, tall) friend cover up the hole:

Unlike our last breakage, we are going to have to fix this problem fairly quickly. First, because there is actually a hole, instead of a hairline crack, so it's really cold and also unsafe (though it would take a pretty brave and skinny burglar to get inside). Second, because it's at ground level, the melting snow is going to rip through that cardboard. Now we have to find a glass place and learn how to do some serious caulking. Apparently this is not something handled by windows companies, who only deal with new installations or replacements of full window sashes--nothing as unsophisticated as a pane of glass. Time to turn to google....

The unfun part of snow

Our house has received a lot of snow this winter. It's been very pretty and we've been very fortunate to not lose power, unlike many of our neighbors. Unfortunately the gutters are getting hammered. The snow is melting, then freezing into, onto, and over the gutters.

The front of our house gets the majority of the sun and is suffering most acutely from the ice issue. I've been knocking off the snow and ice from the edge of the roof every day. It hasn't been too hard, since I can reach the roof with a shovel from the ground.

I haven't been worrying about the back of the house since it's perpetually in the shade and shouldn't get the snow-melt to ice issue.

Wrong.

I think the kitchen vent in the bottom of the photo may have contributed to the extreme melting. I knocked the ice off, but the gutter was "linear-ized". That is to say, the gutter has changed in shape from a "U" to a "I". That'll probably have to be replaced come spring. Unless it can be bent back into shape.

Unfortunately that wasn't all. 

This portion of the gutter toppled down when I tried to knock the ice off it. The screws just ripped out of the wood trim. When the snow goes away we'll have to evaluate whether it can be bent back and salvaged. Probably not, though.

Unfortunately, the gutter looks like a continuous piece, so the entire gutter for the back of the house may have to be replaced.

Not Quite Easy

I spent Saturday painting the trim of the stairwell and then stopped before edging the gray because I realized there was a slight problem. The handrail. It's going to be pretty impossible to paint the wall without removing it but suddenly I was stumped as to the best way to do that.

I suspect the best way to do it (i.e. the way to not ruin all the holes and make them unusable) is to remove the screws holding the hardware to the actual wood handrail. Would the holes still be small enough then to slip the handrail right back into place when I'm done painting? It would be much easier to paint the wall if I removed the hardware at the wall, but I suspect I will do more damage to the plaster and have to fill the old holes and create new ones. That seems like a lot of unnecessary damage to the wall. Though maneuvering around them with a paintbrush doesn't exactly sound fun.

Either way, we're going to have to take one set of hardware off. See the second one up from the bottom of the picture?

Not only is the spacing completely off (the hardware appears to have been installed completely at random and we don't really care about that too much) but it turns out that it's not actually attached to the wall anymore. We can slip the screws in and out just by tugging on them. So however we remove the rest of the hardware, that one will have to come out entirely and be moved, which means holes to fill, new holes to drill (in both the handrail and the wall) and Spackle to sand. No wonder I lost my momentum on this project.

So the question for you, reader, is whether or not to remove the 2 screws on the handrail or the 3 screw on the wall, for those holders that are still functional. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Another weird problem: now that we fixed all the hallway light bulbs, we discovered  that the switch on the right (which we thought went to the light with the broken bulb) actually doesn't go to anything. We thought one went to each light, but the black switch on the left apparently goes to both, leaving us clueless as to what the one on the right goes to. At some point, we'll have to have an electrician come and sort that out.

And just because I can, here's a picture of the morning after a big snowstorm. The snow was so thick and wet that it was slipping down our roof in one giant mass. We had some pretty monstrous icicles too but D knocked them off so that we wouldn't be impaled. I especially enjoyed watching the "hat" on our lamppost slowly shrink throughout the day:

Time for Round Two!

The holiday's are over and D is days away from finishing his thesis, so home improvement is back on the to-do list. This spring, we turn our attention to the upstairs. Now, those of you who have seen our home have noted that readers who have not had the pleasure may not even realize we have an upstairs to begin with. That was at least partially deliberate (very astute readers might have wondered about the extra bedroom I mentioned in this post). You see, we don't like to acknowledge that we have so much space. And since we have a Cape Cod-style house with a door to the stairs, we like to keep it closed and pretend it's a coat closet. But the time has come to recognize that behind the door are two more bedrooms and a full bath.

So we are going to finally begin work on the upstairs, specifically on the hallway and the future master bedroom. We're limited because we don't want to do any major painting until the windows are installed (probably early March) but there are small projects to keep us busy until then.

Here are some pictures and plans for what's going to keep us busy for the next month or two:

First, the hallway. The door on the left leads to the living room (here's an old picture for orientation of where the door is from the living room side)

You can see that thanks to some woodwork trim, there's a neat upper edge that divides the lower level from the upper level, which is very convenient when it comes to painting--they can be different colors and be painted at different times (which is good considering the upper half is going to take lots of fancy ladder configurations to get the ceiling and walls above the stairs). This month we're focusing on the lower half.

We're painting it Knitting Needle, the same color as the living room and painting all the trim white (it's all that pale yellow the previous owners seemed to love). We're also hanging new hooks from that band of wood above the light switches. We removed some pretty ugly ones but want to continue to use it for storage. We bought

3 sets of 3 Bjarnum hooks from Ikea that we think will look nice either in use or closed. Here they are in both positions:

Project two is the walk-in closet (not original to the house, obviously, since they didn't own so much junk in the 1950s):

Since the structure is all Closet Maid, I can make a lot of changes without having to totally start over. I'm planning to move the wire shelf down, since I am not 6'5'' like the previous people apparently were, and I might swap out the inefficient shoe cubby with something that will hold more. You can see the air-conditioning duct (the silver thing) that runs through the closet, so I can't mess with that much. Also since the closet is so big, I want to paint it. I'm leaning towards a silvery blue and hoping to find one of those really cheap cans of paint at Home Depot that was mixed and then returned. It's a closet, so I'm not that picky. Now's the time, since once it's full of clothes it will be impossible to empty out.

And finally the bedroom. You can see from the color that it was a little boy's room before. Though we're not going to do anything until the windows are installed, we're planning ahead and trying to decide how we want to decorate.

It may not be clear from the pictures but we have two dormer windows that bring a lot of light into the room. Each window also has a tiny shelf ( a little too narrow to sit on) and also "attic" doors on each side for storage. We like that the sloping ceilings end fairly high up, so the room is open and airy instead of claustrophobic, like a few Cape Cods we've seen.

Right now, we're planning to paint the walls a pale sage green and use blues and grays as the accent colors. We want our furniture to be shades of black and white stain and paint (D is a proponent of mismatched, eclective furniture though I tend to prefer buying in sets). We want a lot of storage and so have been looking everywhere for various storage beds (alternatively known as captain's beds). We've found a few good solutions by Pottery Barn, Gothic Cabinet Craft, and Blu Dot but Ikea beat them all out in price and customizability (that's not a word, but you know what I mean).The Ikea Mandal is really cheap and we can paint it whatever color we want. We bought one this weekend and I'm considering if it would be possible to stack two of them, for added storage space and height. Structurally, it does not seem impossible, though I can't find evidence of anyone else doing it...

The headboard (sold separately) is pretty cool and we might decide to buy it and install it somewhere else, but it doesn't quite do it for me as a headboard.

Other ideas for the bedroom: painting the ceiling a soft gray instead of bright white; installing a ceiling fan; installing wall lamps on each side of the bed; finding a headboard we like; turning one of the dormer cubbies into a little vanity area for me; finding plush, gorgeous rugs; finding the perfect floating nightstands that have a drawer (Most are just shelves. The drawers on the bed necessitate having a nightstand attached to the wall, so it doesn't block the drawers from opening).

And that's what's going on with us. As always, suggestions are always welcome. We really have no idea what we're doing, we just pretend like we do.

Killer House, the Sequel

As I'm writing in the office, I hear a familiar scratching/scraping noise. Can it be? I go outside, shake the downspout, and yes, hear frantic scratching from a little furry critter.

We have gutter guards over our gutters to keep leaves (and squirrels?) out, but there is a small squirrel-sized gap near the top opening of the downspout. I suppose that's how they are getting in. The why is, unfortunately, unknown. What is luring squirrels into our downspout? Are they trying to build a nest? Did they store a bunch of nuts in it? Do they think it is a slide?

Whatever their reasoning, I didn't want to leave it inside. It'd probably stink a lot to have a rotting squirrel in your downspout come warm weather. I carefully disconnected the downspout from the system and this time a grey blur emerged and scampered away to the nearest tree. Oi.

Killer House

A couple of days ago, our house did something bad.

As I was getting ready for work I heard a strangely loud scraping noise from our office. I thought it was the oil company filling up our heating oil tank, but there was no truck out front. The noise kept coming back every few minutes, so as I left, I walked around the outside to try and figure out what the noise was. 

The scraping/scratching noise got increasingly frantic as I approached the corner of the house. Something was stuck inside the downspout of our gutter system. Either a squirrel or a big rat. It had fallen down all the way to the bottom and was trying to climb out. There, fortunately, was an easy solution to the problem - just unhook the bottom of the downspout and shake out the critter. Unfortunately, the freezing weather and fall leaves had resulted in the bottom foot of the downspout being filled with a solid block of ice and leaves. I couldn't knock it out and I didn't have the time to bring out rounds of boiling water to melt it. 

The high for the day was to be over 50, so I figured I would come home and the ice would be soft enough to knock out. The furry creature could last the day.

Wrong.

I kicked out the ice and then out came a squirrel popsicle. I guess hypothermia set in. 

Bad house! No killing!

RIP, stupid squirrel.

Initial Thoughts on Windows

In the last two weeks, we've had four in-home estimates and one online estimate. I think we've almost made a decision, but I can blog about that later. For now, for the benefit of anyone else reading this that might buy windows (which is a small crowd, since--as I hope--most of these readers are far more knowledgeable and experienced homeowners than me), here are my thoughts on the estimate process.

1. Subscribe to Angie's List. Or at least pretend to.
Most of the companies ask where you heard of them. If you say anything but Angie's List, you'll get a pretty neutral response. But mention Angie's List and suddenly they sound impressed and excited. I'm convinced that your ability to rate them for others to see actually means something to them. So don't subscribe for the reviews (they have not been particular helpful) but just for the power to review. Or just tell them you have Angie's List, because they'll never know.

2. Ask for print versions of the warranties for both the contracting company and the manufacturer.
I have been amazed at how much we have been lied to on our warranty coverage. The problem is that EVERYONE is lying, so you can't eliminate a company just for that. "How much does it cost to replace a broken window?" "Free." "What about labor?" "Free." Except they don't tell you that after a year or two, either or both of the supplies and labor will probably be pro-rated until eventually you're paying full price. I don't mind taking responsibility for my windows, but I mind that these people are not telling me the truth. (Finally by the end we asked very pointed questions so that there was no way out, and then we got honest answers: "Do you pro-rate your labor costs?" "Well...we follow the industry standard of pro-rating after 2 years..." Gotcha!)

3. Most people will bring a sample window but some don't. If you're a visual or tactile person, ask for one to be sure.
First, I thought it was weird, but then when one guy didn't bring the window sample I found myself immediately not wanting to hire his company. They all look pretty much the same, but somehow having something to touch can really help. I bet asking for them when you make the appointment would guarantee that everyone brings a model.

4. Learn your figures.
The minimum energy efficiency on the window to qualify for the tax credit is strict and could change. There are u-factors and solar heat gain coefficients and air transfers. Everyone will tell you about them whether you want to hear about it or not ("I know, I know, the last 3 guys before you all told me about them!") but you should probably read about it from a neutral source before you start.

5. If you're like us and only do minimal research beforehand, you will not get enough information from the first person to give you an estimate.
We ended up getting much better at asking questions with each visit so that now I realize that I did not get even half the necessary information from the first guy.  In fact, our first salesman (probably sensing I didn't know much) tried to sell me on things like virgin (non-recycled) vinyl (which apparently is an industry standard, not a special feature), metal locks (again, all of them come with that), and not using day laborers for the installation (no one has admitted to using them; they all claim to use in-house reputable staff). We could probably call back for more info on the things we now realize are important (like the warranty, see point 2), but that company isn't making our final cut either way.

6. Get the REAL price.
Make sure that the final estimate includes everything and not just the standard price/window. Some companies include capping (putting aluminum or some other substance on the remaining exterior wood to protect it), material disposal, and grids but in the price/window but others apparently don't. Make sure there are no hidden costs. We had to ask specifically "does the price include X?" to be certain.

There are probably more but I wanted to jot these down while I was thinking about them. I'm sure I'll have plenty more to say when we decide on a company and start the actual replacement.

I'm hunting wabbits!

Not these:

But these:

As I put away our Christmas decorations and straighten up the house, I thought it would be a good time to ask how different people clean their wood floors and rugs. It was so much simpler (though a lot uglier) with our beige wall-to-wall carpets in our last apartment. Now, we have varied floor coverings and bare (polyurethaned) wood, which makes clean-up a lot harder.

Doing next-to-no research, I was prepared to use a vacuum weekly plus a wax or oil like Murphy's Oil occasionally. D, doing much more research, discovered that oils are unnecessary and even harmful for floors. Vacuums can be bad, especially if you set the bristles spinning, which can wear off the polyurethane. Our hard-core Dyson animal, so great for our old carpets, isn't even very good at hardwood. D is a proponent of microfiber dustmops, but I apparently am not very skilled at maneuvering them and tend not to pick up very much as I go.

After a long debate, D also finally agreed that a tiny amount of moisture very very occasionally will also not kill the floors, giving me license to use a Swiffer once in a blue moon. The dry mop just never made the floors feel very clean.

He dust-mops while I vacuum our rugs, which is actually difficult, since they are small and the Dyson is large. Plus I have to pick up the beast and carry it around to each area rug, which is no fun (though nice exercise). Then I use the hose to suck up the pile of dust bunnies that D gathered. I also use the hose to try to get into crevices and corners (like under our love seat) where the bunnies seem to gather and where the dust mop can't reach. Together, this seems like a lot of work, especially since we aren't even cleaning the upstairs yet. And even right after cleaning, I start to see the bunnies emerge from hiding to taunt us. Last week, after D started waking up very sniffly every morning, I moved our night tables and was appalled to find a whole litter of bunnies that must have though we would never find them. I sucked them up right away, but it got me wondering where else they are hiding. Is there no end to them? I think maybe I preferred our carpets, where the dust lived far more invisibly in non-bunny state (it was still there, but I couldn't get under our furniture to see it).

So what do you do?

A Post About Windows

I had a plan for my first post of the new year. I was going to talk about how now that the holiday season is almost over (and it was an amazingly beautiful and relaxing one in our new place), it's time to get back into the season of home improvement. I was going to talk about how we have a contractor coming to give us an estimate on windows for our upstairs, and talk about all different configurations we are considering. I was. Until this morning.

That post will have to wait because this morning the home ownership gods decided to remind us that we are not always in control of our own repair decisions. At 10:00am on what the weather channel is calling a "blustery" day, this:

Made contact with this:

 Here's a closer look:

We're very glad that it did not shatter the window pane, though it certainly woke us up (it's the side window in the downstairs bedroom where we sleep). For now, we taped it up on both sides:

But we're not sure what to do next. As I mentioned above, a window contractor is coming to give us some upstairs estimates on Monday, so we can have him check this out too. However, we don't want these windows replaced, we just want a new pane. Would this be a better job for a glass specialist? D thinks that it would be worth calling a few places and asking if they are familiar with repairing older windows, to make sure that the window frame isn't damaged during the repair. I have no concept of how much something like this usually costs ($10? $100? $1000?) but obviously it has to get done.

Well, at least this post still turned out to be about windows. More home improvements on the horizon!