What can a little paint do?

When we had our original home inspection before closing on our house last year, the inspector told us that we'd want to paint the solid wood garage door before winter (last winter) since the paint was chipping and we didn't want the door to rot.

Well...we didn't get to it last Fall. With weekends filling up with birth classes and baby showers, the clock was winding down to colder weather (not to mention the arrival of a baby) so Chris and Craig, his dad, tackled the job last Thursday.

Chris and I had picked up paint chips on Monday but hadn't gotten around to picking the color to match the house trim before I had to leave for work on Thursday morning. My control freak personality was having a hard time not having input on the color choice...but I let it go. And Chris picked the perfect match - Dutch Boy's Antique White. How fitting, Dutch paint for a couple of Hollanders.

The "before"...

Craig cutting in the panels...

Half done...the new color is quite a bit creamier.

Can't forget the trim...which Chris can paint easily from a 4 ft. ladder...it helps to be tall!

Looks like a brand-spanking new door! All for about $35. Nice on the budget and necessary!

Garage Project #2 : New Garage Door Opener

Who got hooked up with a new garage door opener this morning? 

This girl. This very happy girl and her very tired but happy husband.

The father-son duo stepped up to tackle Garage Project #2: Install new garage door opener. 

 Since our garage has a solid-wood door (read: fun to lift when the old opener died), we had to get a heavy-duty 3/4 HP opener. 

In about 3 hours, Chris and Craig got us hooked up. Down with the old, busted dinosaur and up with the new, functional system. 

Ain't it pretty? You should hear it...or try to hear it. The "Whisper-drive" system is no joke. It's as quiet as a...well you know, those rodents that make me scream and jump on tall things. 

It's got a laser beam to show you how far into the garage to park...pretty fancy.

This is the best safety feature which our last model lacked...the "eyes" on each side of the door that will automatically stop the door if something or someone gets in the way of the closing garage door. And, remember the darn thing is solid wood. No smooshed tools, bikes or people. Makes me happy. 

And...Chris' favorite feature. Dual openers. He gets one for his car now. Guess who's on cloud nine? As the gentleman he is, he gave me the one and only opener for the last opener. It's also got a wireless keypad on the outside of the garage...gone are my days of balancing coffee cups, purses and lunches while trying to maneuver lifting the garage door.

"You want to know how I fixed it?"

What is "it"? Um, the garage door opener that's been on the fritz since the weather hit the close-to-zero temperatures this past winter. Every morning since, it's been a balancing act of travel coffee cups, purses (me only no murses here), bags and lunches while lifting the heavy wooden garage door to get out. 


After we got home from our church's Easter service, we chatted with our neighbors in the backyard. Two year-old Finn told Chris "We need grass" for our yard that is currently dirt (with slight prompting by a speech-pathologist...) and practiced mowing the yards with the bubble mower, on both speeds of course- bunny and turtle. 

During our chat, J.J. asked if we'd gotten garage door opener to work yet. Um, nope. We were pretty sure it had bitten the dust and had been saving to buy a new one. Insert historical data here: It had stopped working once before this and J.J. fixed it by adjusting the down force on the motor. 

Ladder and Finn in tow, Chris and J.J. headed off into the garage to check for a pulse in the good ol' opener. Turns out it had one. Which is when the question was posed "You want to know how I fixed it?" by J.J. with a grin from ear to ear. Sheepishly, Chris and I responded "Uh huh." His response, still grinning, "The lock was on. I just hit the button and unlocked it." Seriously? Seriously? I was suddenly having flashbacks of almost-spilled cups of coffee all winter. Then the financial part of my brain realized that J.J. just saved us $250. For a savings of $250, I will eat crow any day. I am not perfect. But I am $250 richer, technically.

Why do I blog about these crazy moments that make us look a bit loco? Because I have a sense of humor. You have to. We have to. Everyone who decides to renovate a vintage home has to. And if you don't, you'll be walking around with a permanent look of consternation.

Real things of genius...Garage door openers

Ah, garage door opener, how we take you for granted...when you are working properly that is. As the weather turned colder, our garage door opener got a little testy. It would start to go down and then go right back up. So instead of staying in the car (the whole point of having an automatic garage door opener), we had to get out and pull on the door so it would continue to close. Argh. I was sure a new one was in our future until, by process of elimination and a pocket knife, our neighbor fixed it. Ah, garage door opener, I won't take you for granted again. However, if you do decide to flake out and have another tantrum, I now know how to release the garage door and manually open/close it.


And, yes, I am totally copying the beer commercial "Real Men of Genius" theme here.

Off with the old, on with the new....

When we bought the house, we didn't get a key to the side garage door. No big problem since we just used the garage opener...until we cleaned out the garage enough so we could both park in it. There is only one garage opener and I'm not okay with leaving the garage unlocked all the time. I'm not neurotic... I don't think anybody's going to steal anything (nothing worth anything is out there anyway) but it's just a matter of principle. Brand-spankin' new doorknob (with keys), $7.97 at Menards. Peace of mind, Priceless. Seriously? Why would I not buy a new one?

So I did. After inspecting the old knob and not finding any screws or way to remove it, Chris and Craig took doorknob replacement to the next level. 

Doorknob meet my friend, Sawzall...

Doorknob, meet my other friend, Hammer...

 

Now, the garage is well-lit AND the doors all lock. My mind is now at ease. And, come on...you can't tell me they didn't enjoy the demo a little.

Let there be light...

Until yesterday, our backyard was very dark at night...which made it an obstacle course getting from car to house when we get home. Now, thanks to Chris and Craig (his dad), the garage is lit up like the 4th of July from dusk to dawn. Okay, not that bright and not that colorful (I did not go for the "party bulbs"), but a distinctly awesome improvement from pitch black. 

Here's before...

 

Here's the work in progress...

 

 

And here is the after...