It is raining as usual and when I checked my workshop I noticed the floor was wet! I quickly determined the back wall was leaking at a few places where the old plywood sheeting joins together. I built that 12 X 12 foot workshop when we bought the house back in 1989 and the wall that faces the prevailing wind and rain is giving up.
I checked Craigslist and found a handyman who claims to be capable of such repairs and sent him a message and a photo. He charges $25 per hour and estimates the job will take three to six hours. I called Brooks and he confirmed that was a bargain. He would do it but it would cost him $100 in gas just to get here.
I messaged the guy back and booked him for next Thursday. I will meet him outside Home Depot with four sheets of 3/8 inch plywood and some 1 X 4 trim boards on a dolly. In the meantime I will move everything away from that back wall. Total cost should be no more than $300, all in. About as much as it cost me to build the entire shop back in 1989.
The wall:
Looks like a job you could be doing yourself. Three to six hours for a young man? Maybe six to twelve for an older guy? After all, you're not doing anything else...
ReplyDeleteI intend to help him but hauling 4X8 sheets of plywood around in the wind and rain is something I will leave to a strong, young body. And $25 per hour is where minimum wage should be so like Brooks says, it is a bargain.
DeleteAnd $25 per hour is where minimum wage should be...
DeleteBah! Too funny...
Bah! Too arrogant...
DeleteKevin, how much should minimum wage be? How much do people have to earn to be able to afford a Mexican caravan?
DeletePlus, my chiropractor charges WAY more than $25 per hour!
DeleteMinimum wage should be $0...
DeleteAnd why does this comment not surprise me!
DeleteIt doesn't surprise you because you know my politics. I happen to believe in supply and demand.
DeleteYes, you can always find some poor guy with a starving family to work for a couple of dollars an hour. Conservative values!
DeleteI thought you and Norma had done what the bears do in winter..stay warm and dry..pity I am not on the island you know with my skills I would have the wall up in 20 minutes!!!!!!les
ReplyDeleteI know Les, I wish you were here! LOL
DeleteI contemplated sending you a FB message this week. You hadn't posted for a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteWe are fine, just fending off the wind and rain!
DeleteLove your wall!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a little weathered to say the least!
DeleteIn my defense..... The back wall is only accessible from the neighbour's property and since the property is a rental that turns over often I seldom get access to it. Plus, the past couple of renters had vicious dogs that would not help with painting. :)
DeleteCroft, at least you are supporting the local economy by hiring someone. Good on you. Besides, I don't like being the only one who doesn't like hard work!
ReplyDeleteThere is lots I am willing to handle myself but sheets of plywood are a little tough to hold up and nail in the wind and maybe rain so I will pay for a little help. I can't see it taking six hours, the topside of his estimate. Even at one hour per sheet of plywood that is four hours. The trim, painting and finishing up I can do myself. I just want to get it stripped and recovered as quick as possible.
DeleteBeach and I were watching the national news last night and saw the pictures from the recent 7.1 earthquake (and aftershocks) in Alaska on the west coast. Croft, did you and Norma feel anything? Sunami warnings were out, but were called off after a decent period of time. I was looking at how ya'll have quakes out there with the sliding plates; the plates seem to be nearer to the surface of the earth than what happens here in SC. The last big one here was in approximately 1890. Summerville was its epicenter even though historically the quake was called the Charleston earthquake. I guess that is because Summerville then was a little one-horse town and Charleston had the most damage because of its dense population. In fact, the earthquake fault runs right down my backyard and into the upper Ashley River. A few tremors now and then (about a 3.0 or 4.0) just barely moves the sofa. The ridge my house sits on was created by the 1890 quake. The rest of the land around it is essentially swamp (low country and alligators).
ReplyDeleteBy the way, it looks like you are going to have another serious building project going on.
We did not feel the last one but I think it was in the middle of the night so we would have been sleeping. We do feel the very odd one, a few years ago I was working in the computer and the desk started swaying. It was quite the sensation! Wow! A fault right in your back yard! Can't get much closer than that. The RV park we stay at in Palm Desert is literally a stones throw from the San Andreas Fault. We have never fely anything but the sensitive instruments they use pick up several small tremors every day, just too small to feel.
DeleteThe action here will start tomorrow morning. There is a little sun today that I hope will last until we are done but I am not holding my breath, we have had so much rain lately!