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Wife's away; I try my hand at home repair.

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SW_PA_Couple

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JoAnn's out of town so I was looking for things to do this weekend. Washed both cars and mowed the lawn yesterday; I'm pretty good at that kind of stuff. Decided to repair the kitchen ceiling today; it was damaged by water last February. I'm not so good at this stuff but I think I learned a bit:

 

1. Buy ready-made Spackle paste in tubes rather than trying to mix your own.

2. Wear a face mask

3. Wear side-shield glasses.

4. Let the Spackle set up before you try to sand it.

5. Cover the food, appliances and counter tops before sanding.

6. Don't vacuum the gypsum dust using an ordinary vacuum cleaner; the dust goes right through the bag and shoots into the air, kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, etc., etc.

7. Next time, get somebody who actually knows what to do.

 

I hope I can get this mess cleaned up before she returns.

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LOL...I've had home improvement projects go awry like that before. All you can really do is laugh and clean up the mess.

 

I'm sure JoAnn won't be too mad at you.

 

Teresa :)

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Nothing wrong with a few mistakes, it means you're trying something new. I think it's great that you had the confidence to give it a good try. I think too many folks would hire an "expert" and have to live with THEIR mistakes.

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To quote Red Green- "If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!"

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Good for you for giving it a go. I'm sure she'll appreciate your effort. The artistic ceiling is a bonus!

 

=)

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My wife winces when I tell I am working on the "honey do" list. But occasionally I surprise her and manage not to make matters worse.

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JoAnn has been home since Friday evening. She has not yet noticed the fact that I have repaired the kitchen ceiling. We are, as a matter of fact, both of us, at this very moment, sitting at the dining room table. She is reading her Sunday newspaper, clipping coupons and making occasional comments. I am typing quietly on the lap-top computer.

 

Two things are possible:

 

1. I did a much better job than I suspected and the ceiling looks so good that none of the screw-ups are actually noticeable

 

2. I looks so bad she is really pissed and does not want to say anything.

 

There were guests in the house yesterday evening, all of whom had seen the ugly hole, exposed drain pipe, sagging drywall tape and water stains when they existed. They made no comment but then again, guests do typically try to be polite.

 

I will provide an update when it is available.

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You did fix the leak first, right ?

 

Your repair might be "short lived" if not.....

 

You'll have to trust it wasn't me (this time), but a friend who actually let the leak go, thinking an un-seen problem was the fix. The water just kept building and building behind the drywall. They were sitting at the table when the entire ceiling fell. Thats when I was called for the plumbing repair. lol

 

There is not a doubt in my mind, you keep looking at it.... Don't you ;):lol:

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I could no longer hold off. This evening, JoAnn and I were in the kitchen and I asked her, "Do you see anything different?" She looked puzzled and concerned, "What?" I pointed up. "Michael, oh, Michael! I can't believe I didn't see that." The judgment is, apparently, that I did a good job.

 

I thought women were supposed to have a built-in ability for seeing things that were out-of-place. Maybe this inane talent is limited to "bad stuff".

 

Yes, I did fix the plumbing problem before closing up the ceiling. I'm proud of that too. It sort of looked to me as if the tin-lead solder had turned into lead-sulfate (white color) where the two sections of drain pipe were joined. So I heated the pipe with a Benzomatic torch until I was fairly confident that I have boiled off all of the water inside and brushed some solder flux onto the outside. The already existing solder flowed into the leaky area and sealed it. Should be good for another thirty years or so.

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Lol, I don't know if I could've waited that long to find out whether all my hard work had been noticed.

 

Glad to hear she approved.

 

=)

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