This Old House

I've mentioned that a beautiful new office is in the cards for me. Handyman/carpenter Tom finished installing the counter/desk, and building a new bookcase for the corner. The Jazzman has finished painting the walls and will get to the trim in the next day or so. I want to paint the floor (ratty old linoleum) as I saw in an episode of Trading Spaces. I'll try to get to the primer before I leave for NC on Friday.

The other tasks we found for Tom included the west window in the library. The brick wall had risen up or the window had sagged down, to the point that the window sill was angled in rather than out (\ instead of /). Over the years, water has been draining into the house—rather than out to the yard—during heavy rainstorms. As a result, the plaster and molding under the window was destroyed. Tom figured out how to cut the window sill so it was angled out and the Jazzman spent time planing and rasping and sanding to smooth it out, then priming it. It's gorgeous, or will be gorgeous when Jazz paints it.

And there was one more item that bothered me. At some point between 1927 and 2009, the owners decided to replace a couple of the old radiators with baseboard heating units. In doing so, the holes were not repaired where the water pipes came up from the basement into the radiators. When I pulled up the wall-to-wall carpeting on the first floor before moving in, I discovered the lids of tin cans nailed into the floor in four strategic places. It took me months to realize that's what the owner had done to cover up the holes under the carpeting. Without carpeting and tin can lids, I could imagine some visitor in elegant high heels falling into the 1½" square hole, breaking an ankle, and suing my pants off. (Yes, yes. That's what law school teaches us.)

Tom—brilliant Tom—found some wood left over from the other projects and cut it to fit the four holes, fitting it snugly into the holes. The result is that I no longer have holes in the floor. Yea! As soon as the Jazzman varnishes the patches to match the hardwood floor, you'll never know what happened.

Did I mention that I love having brilliant men around me?!