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A Little History

Orangeburg Pipe Collapsing

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A Little History

After many financial trials and tribulations, Bob and I were finally able to purchase a home. That was in March of 1995. The house was what real estate agents call "in need of TLC" or "Handyman's special". It was just what we were looking for.

The front yard was a wreck and the back yard was worse. The interior wasn't any better: leaky windows and doors, cheap carpeting, old kitchen cabinets and countertops, barely working appliances, creaky plumbing and an ancient swamp cooler. There was no air conditioner, the roof was nearly 20 years old and the driveway was only half finished.

But the place had good bones. Block construction on a slab, north-south orientation, good window placement, and solid ductwork. We could renovate this place, we thought, and that's just what we set out to do.

We've replaced all the windows and doors, tore down paneling and added drywall, removed wall paper (layers of the stuff), added new flooring throughout the house, painted, and painted again, and again. We've built a shed in the back yard and added a pergola (a fancy way of saying semi-closed in porch) to the front of the house and renovated the kitchen.

We had the pros hang the cabinets and install the countertops in the kitchen, and also called in the pros for installing the air conditioner, a new furnace, and the installation of a new roof.

A house, though, is like something organic, always requiring "nutrients" in the form of updates and repairs. Toilets overflow, faucets leak, and floor tiles come loose. As the late, great Gilda Radner used to say, "It's always something."

Bob learned many of his 'handyman' skills from his father; I've learned mine from Bob and from my day job at a well-known home improvement store. (ok, Home Depot) But where Bob is analytical and precise, I'm intuitive and free form. Together, we figure out how to keep this old house up and running.



Article copyrighted: Shelly McRae
Reproduction of all or part by permission only. Contact shelly@justaz.com