New Window Installation

The day of installation arrived. According to Pam, our project manager, the installers were supposed to arrive between 8:00 and 10:00 am. Seeing as how our track record on this project was not going very well, I decided to be up and ready at 7:30, just in case. But, like thoroughly reasonable and responsible people, they arrived at 9:20, prepared and ready to go.

Again, like professionals, they first took the order paperwork that corresponded with all of the doors and windows that they had brought with them and went around to each door, measuring, for the third time, every window and door. Within four minutes they had discovered that the paperwork for our kitchen door was incorrect and that the reverse door had been ordered. The two of them, extremely nice guys originally from some Eastern Block country with muted but recognizable accents, looked over the paperwork together to be sure that nothing was missed. They shook their heads and looked at me.

"Did you want this door to open in the same way that it does now?"
"Yes, all of the doors should open in the same way."
They shook their heads again.

The taller of the two told me that he would call his supervisor and report the incorrect purchase order (based on the paperwork that he was holding in his hands that had been sent to the window manufacturer) and that a replacement door would be ordered and shipped overnight to correct the issue. This process would take about a week, he told me. I thanked him and told him that I would call Pam and apprise her of the situation, just so that everyone would be on the same page. He sort of shrugged in a "do whatever you want" kind of gesture and I nodded. They started dragging in drop cloths, ladders, and a variety of tools while I dialed the all-too-familiar phone number.

Pam answered with the same sickly perkiness and I explained what had happened. She sighed and said, "Oh, why does this keep happening?" I didn't reply. "We have had this same problem recently, but I can see on my paperwork right here that we ordered it correctly." My ass. "But I will be sure to send out the new order right away." Yeah, right. I didn't cross my fingers.

So, another minor delay. No worries. The bulk of the work would be done before my family was to come into town for the San Diego ComiCon later in the week. The two workers (yes only two, and no I didn't catch their names) were amazing. They were quick, precise, intelligent, and very sweet. I would often hear them speaking in their native tongue, which I know wasn't Russian, German, Swedish, or Danish, but which may have been Polish or Czech, but as soon as I would enter the room, they would switch into a near perfect English. I thought that was nice. It made sure that I didn't feel uncomfortable with them speaking secrets that I couldn't understand.

I let them go about their job and tried to stay out of their way. I didn't think twice about answering a phone call from a number I didn't know about an hour and a half in to the project. The somewhat irate woman on the other end of the line was the property manager of our complex. Apparently, she had received an email from one of the HOA Board Members that morning saying that we had started work on our windows in violation of the CCNR's.

Crap.

Now I knew that we had not been completely in line with the rules, but when I realized that we had skipped one step about approval prior to work, I put together all of the paperwork and filled out all of the necessary forms to be sure that we didn't step on anyone's toes and didn't break any rules . . . well, any more rules. I had sent that paperwork over a week prior to the workmen arriving and hadn't heard a peep. Until now.

The property manager was furious. She began threatening us with lawsuits, fines, and other implied actions that I didn't really follow. She was incredibly rude, abrasive, and unrealistic. I apologized and explained that we had never before done any exterior improvements and weren't familiar with the protocol, but upon realization that I had missed a step I tried to complete the necessary paperwork and meet all requirements that I was aware of. I contacted their office to get the appropriate forms, so I was trying to be proactive.

She wouldn't hear it. She just talk at me huffily.

I tried to assuage her fears by telling her that, according to the paperwork that her office had sent me, our windows and doors were in compliance with the community regulations as well as in keeping with the new windows that had been installed by our neighbor only a few months prior.

She informed me that the HOA Board member who had contacted her (we will discuss this woman later) had told her that the window that she can see "from her unit" was not in compliance. I assured her that they all were. She replied, "even if they look like they are, that doesn't mean that they comply." Okey dokey.

So, trying again to find some sort of compromise, I asked her what she would like me to do.

"You need to tell your contractors to stop work immediately. You need to submit all of the appropriate paperwork including sketches of each window, exact locations, dimensions, specifications, and manufacturers information. It will be a minimum of thirty days before you can resume work."

As I stared out of my unit through the new breezeway created by the vacancy of metal and glass in my living room I laughed. I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help it.

I tried to swallow my laughter and I replied, as nicely as possible, "Yeah, that's not going to happen." I explained that I had giant holes in my walls where there used to be rickety, shoddy, single-paned glass windows and doors that shuddered audibly in their frames when a big truck would roll by. I was not about to send away my diligent workers, especially with the provided information (threat?) that no work would continue for thirty days. I thought, with an amused shake of my head, of my guests staying in my new guest room with a tarp stapled across the gaping breadth of the open wall.

She started to threaten me again with fees and legal consequences and I interrupted her, explaining that I would try to put together the additional paperwork that very day and send it to her. I preemptively ended the conversation with a "Thank you for contacting us, I will speak to you soon" and she gruffly said goodbye and hung up.

The actual consequences of my actions now beginning to take hold, I started to panic and nearly ran to my neighbors house, the one who had just had his windows redone earlier this year, and explained the whole situation. He laughed and laughed and laughed, then looked at me sternly and said only, "You should have given them thirty days to reply."

He went on to explain that he had followed protocol to the letter, but his thirty days came and went with not so much as a squeak from the HOA Board. When, in a frothy lather, he went to bang on the President's door asking for some answers, it turns out that the HOA hadn't even been given the paperwork from the property manager. Apparently she only reacts to crises and disasters as opposed to proactively maintaining her client needs.

Needless to say, I scheduled the final door installation one month from my most recent submitted paperwork. If they choose not to get back to me, they can bite me.

And so, the work. I went around the house the morning before the workers arrived taking pictures of all of our exposed doors and windows. I wanted to have a record of the starting point.

Master bedroom.


Spare bedroom.


As a side note, I keep moving the furniture in and out of this room. Lesson? Try to complete every project for one room at one time!! Alas, I had to move all of this yet again. . .


Living room and dining room.


Once the guys came in, they had every door and window out in about two hours. It was amazing. Two guys! I was incredibly impressed by their work, but also incredibly impressed by the amount of air that moves through this open window. It was kind of nice, like living in a castle or a Greek temple.


I liked this window being out as well. The air just flows down the stairwell. It was very refreshing.


And the crappy sliding glass door in the bedroom is gone!!! GONE I TELL YOU!!! Even if they had left it like this it would have been an improvement. Love it.


Of course, I wasn't the only one that loved it. Once I realized that I had three cats itching to get out of the house because of the strangers stomping around, I grabbed them up and tucked them away. One in a closet (don't worry, it's a walk in closet and I gave him food, water, litter, and a comfy bed) and the other two in a hallway blocked off with child safety gates. Once they were safe, I started sketching all the doors and windows painstakingly on graph paper. Stupidest thing I've ever heard . . .


And Voilà! The beautiful new three panel third-third-third window! I love this window! I love the beautiful white vinyl and the symmetry and the clean glass. SO FANTASTIC! (Of course, we have yet to hear from the HOA if this is acceptable. Apparently they do want three panel windows - not specified in any of the paperwork, by the way, it merely reads "horizontal sliding picture window" - but it has been indicated to me that they might have preferred quarter-quarter-half. Which I hate.) I mean, just look at this beautiful window!!!


Oh my gosh! And a functional sliding glass door that keeps out the noise, the UV light, the wind! And it opens and closes in a smart way so that the screen door can also open and close without catching on the door handle! SO INTELLIGENT!!!


Ah yes, the culprit. According to the paperwork, this window is to remain a fixed picture window. Remember when I said how nice it was that the air moves down the stairwell? My neighbor suggested that we install a slider here because HE did and loves it. He leaves it open all the time. And it is really nice. On the cooler days since we have had these installed, I have opened this window and the master bedroom door and the whole house stays cool and slightly breezy. It saves money, too, because I can turn the air conditioner off and just relax with nature's fan. Of course, we have yet to hear about this one, either. Though I do have precedent since my next door neighbor, our adjoining unit, has this same window. Sooooo, come on people.


See the pretty spray foam insulator! Cool, huh?


So it turns out that the "HOA Board Member" who ratted us out has nothing better to do with her days that sit and stare out her windows at the other unit owners and determine what they are doing wrong. She is a negative, witchy individual that drove by our unit nine times during the installation to stare and give evil glances, but she never once bothered to just come over and talk to me, adult to adult, owner to owner. I think she was frustrated that I didn't stop work immediately. Oh yeah, and she can only see the "culprit" window from her unit because of the landslide. Although she would have to use binoculars. Other than that, no one would ever be able to see this window except for a tiny little opening view when they drive by our unit on the private driveway into the complex. So yeah, I see why it is such a big deal.

New Window Purchase

Since SPF and I first put an offer on our condo, we have wanted to upgrade the windows. The existing windows are single paned glass on rickety metal frames. There is basically no insulation and many of the windows have tangible gaps through which you can feel cold or hot air flowing, depending on the season. We spend entirely too much on heating and air conditioning, and most of that money goes right out the windows. Not to mention that we live on a relatively busy street and can hear everything. The worst of our windows, actually a sliding glass door, you can actually see through a gap in the door when it is "closed" because of poor quality and faulty installation.

About two months ago, we went to Home Depot to get some random supplies and saw a table set up at the end of one of the aisles with two guys discussing Home Depots window replacement services. We decided to stop and talk to them, just to see what kind of expense we were looking at for the future, and it turns out that they had set up the table to promote a 10% savings, no tax sales offer. We were intrigued and set up a home visit to talk more at length as well as get more specific figures to determine if we could feasibly get new windows.

The home appointment took about two hours and two friendly guys measured every window and went over all of the possibilities and options with me. It turns out that, due to the economy and a general struggle to get new clients and make new sales, the window manufacturer, Simonton, was also having a deal on top of the previous two offered by The Home Depot. This is beneficial for several reasons. First we would end up paying about 1/3 less on the final product with the purchase of the windows and the installation. Second, according to our neighbor who recently got new windows installed in his home, our electric and gas bill will be reduced by about half its current cost. Third, the value of our home will be instantaneously increased by the amount paid on the windows, resulting in a 100% return on investment. Fourth, since our previous windows were so poor and these new ones are top of the line, we will get up to $1,500 as a tax credit for upgrading. Lastly, we have a year to pay off the bill with no interest, no payments. All in all, over the course of this year, the overall cost of the windows will equal about 1/3 their original cost, we will see the benefit in our home value as if we had purchased them at full price, we can enjoy a more efficient home with better sound quality, and we don't have to pay it off for a year. (Of course, we will have it paid in full by the time the 0% financing option runs out.)

So, we decided to go for it.

The troubles are many.

Our salesman, a very nice but not entirely together individual, misquoted us on two of the products, one of which is our largest sliding glass door (we have three) which needs to apparently be made of sturdier and thicker glass because of the nature of its size. That would have set us back an additional $350, but as it was his error, he convinced them to let that slide. The other we were misquoted, and paid for, an additional $250, which was returned to us. I know this doesn't seem like a problem, but it delayed the windows by two weeks, meaning that we have paid our bit without seeing any return for that much longer.

As part of The Home Depot in home installation services, you are assigned a project manager who contacts you about the status of the order, helps set up the times for the final measure (done by someone more specific than the salesman, who merely measures for approximates), sets up the final install, and ensures that the customer (me) is happy and content with the progress and timeline of the project. Of course, the project manager's effectiveness is only theoretical. Ours, it turns out, was vapid beyond description. She was friendly with that sickly sweet film that lingers around the really mean popular girls in high school or the sorority girls at the house that is exclusive to perky blonds. You know the type that I mean, every phrase is nice, but the tone is derisive and arrogant. She used words like "super" and "girlfriend" and phrases like "this is going to be so spectacular." I know I sound petty here, but it wasn't so much what she said as the way she said it. She was icky. And ineffective, which bothers me much, much more. (As a side note, I hired the pushiest, bluntest, most arrogant wedding planner that I could because I wanted things to get done, so I can appreciate the occasional need to that type of behavior, but not when it comes to customer service.) She called me to set up the secondary measurement. And then never called me again.

But let's, for a moment, return to the secondary measurement. I was asked to be available between 10:00 and 11:00 for the appointment. No worries. I planned to be ready at 9:45, just in case the would be measurer was early. Don't get me wrong, I don't laze around in bed all day, but I have a bad habit of sitting at my computer in a towel for half an hour or so to check emails, play Farm Frenzy 2 or Wordscraper, and do anything else that I feel needs to be done before breakfast. Of course, none of these things are actually necessary for my survival, but it has become a habit. Don't judge me. This fellow showed up at 9:00. An hour early. I was lucky, really lucky, to be out of the towel and into real clothes. It bothered me that he was early by that much time. But what bothered me much, much more is that he spent about 8.23 minutes with me, running around and measuring all of the windows, handing me paperwork, and dashing back out the door. He actually seemed annoyed when I wanted to verify that he had the correct type of glass, type of window, and the additional feature of the keyed sliding glass door. He very brusquely described all of the windows and doors to be ordered and I barely caught that he didn't have the correct glass type listed. He muttered about the ineffectiveness of the salesman (who honestly did his best) and I wanted to say "well, the reason that you are here is to be sure that everything that will be ordered will meet my requirements in case the other guy missed anything. So, stop running around like chicken with his head cut off and give me the time of day before I spend all of this money." Needless to say, when he left I was less than confident that I was going to get the order that I had placed. He assured me (over his shoulder as he ran out the door) that my order would be placed that day (a Thursday) and that the project manager would contact me to schedule the installation on Monday.

So now let's return to the PM, let's call her Pam. I didn't hear anything on Monday. Nor Tuesday, nor Wednesday. Come Thursday I decided to call the number that (thank God) I had written down when she first called just in case I had any further questions. She made up some excuse (which was very long and intricate) about why she hadn't called me and informed me that there was some problem with the windows. Okay. She "wanted to verify the opening direction of all the sliding glass doors" because there was conflicting information between what her salesman had written and what her measurer had written. "Now, if you are inside and facing out, which way should the bedroom door open?" I told her from the left to the right. "I knew it," she exclaimed with a disgruntled and over-exaggerated sigh. "This one was mislabeled, because all of your other ones open the other way. I just knew this was a problem." "No," I hesitantly said, thinking very carefully about the other two doors. "The other two open in the opposite direction." "Oh, I see. Yeah, we have that written down correctly. Super! Thanks for checking!"

A lot of red flags went off at this point. Had the order even been placed? If yes, were the doors, any of the doors, going to be correct? And why had she not contacted me when this "issue" was first realized on her part. Or, for that matter, when she was supposed to call me initially to set up the install? If I hadn't called, would I ever have received my order? With too much enthusiasm, she assured me (at this point not very assuring) that she would contact me in one or two days time to be sure that the order had gone through and that the correct doors would be arriving. She would, she told me, at that point in time schedule the install. I didn't feel "super" good at the end of the call. Actually, I felt fairly certain that the order would arrive incorrect, if indeed it arrived at all.

I was not surprised when she didn't call back in one or two days time. Or three or four. Again, I called to see what was going on. Apparently there was yet another issue with the order. She couldn't tell me what, only that it was going to delay the order and the install.

The really bizarre part is that the next day the salesman showed up at my door with a form for me to sign saying that they had overcharged us the $250. Okay. I am still not sure if that is the problem that was originally referred to or not. Very strange.

I gave it a week (I had things to do) and then called Pam back, wondering if everything was set to go. "I was just going to call you, I had plans to call you earlier in the week, but then I didn't for whatever reason . . ." my house burned down, my dog ran away, I turned into an alien. I stopped listening and tried to interrupt her to see if we could actually schedule an install. "Sure thing! We can do . . . no, I've already booked that day" (then don't offer it to me) "Hmmmm, maybe we could do this Friday, but then again the doors might not be in yet . . ." (let's shoot for maybe having the product in before installing) "Okay, I can fit you in next Friday or I could probably get a crew in on Saturday." "Monday or Tuesday works best for me, actually." And so it was scheduled for Monday, the crew to be arriving between 8:00 and 10:00am "Though they will probably arrive between 8:00 and 9:00 just to get a head start." Which, technically, is still between 8:00 and 10:00.

We were given a sheet of paper discussing what we needed to do in preparation for the install - take down any blinds or curtains, move all furniture away from the windows, and leave a 4 foot radius around every window to be replaced (inside and out) to be sure that the work can be done. Pam assured me, yet again, that she would call on Thursday or Friday preceding the work to remind me of what I needed to do.

When she didn't call I was half tempted not to take anything down and to, instead, stack all of my furniture against the windows in protest of inadequacy. But, instead, I wrote it down in my date book and followed protocol.

A four foot radius around some of our windows is actually a pretty difficult thing to achieve. I had been wanted to move our bed to the center of the wall for some time. So, this was an excellent opportunity to do that. It is a beautifully crafted piece of furniture, and immobile as a dead elephant. To even think about moving it, it was necessary to take the cumbersome and unruly mattress off of the bed first.


Even with the weightless box springs, the two of us had to shove, prod, scramble, pull, and drag the frame the necessary two feet to the front of the room. I know it doesn't look like we did much here, but trust me, this was no easy task.


I left the drapes up in this room so that we could sleep unmolested by the streetlights and the early rising sun (which gets up about an hour after SPF, but still earlier than me) but this new space is wonderful and bright. We also moved his nightstand and replaced it with a folding chair that I could easily maneuver in the morning.


Everywhere else, the curtains came down (along with the rods because I want to raise everything by about an inch or two so that they don't drag on the ground). Take a good look at our doors. Say goodbye. (An interesting fact - this particular door is mounted so that the sliding part of the door is on the outside of the house. That doesn't seem like it would be a problem until you include a screen on that side as well. Then, you have to scrape the screen past the door handle just to open the one door and have the screen in place. It was one of the more insane aspects of our condo.)


Ahh! So bright! This glass is so thin and has no UV reflectance! So penetrating and evil! I'm melting! I meellttttinnnngggggg . . .


This is the door with the visible gap between the wall and the "closed" door. So stupid. Also, this is the door through which we get the most sunlight, which sets off the thermostat which is right behind where I was standing when I took this picture. So some places in the house are very cold while others are scorching hot. It depends where in the house is too hot or too cold based on what season it is. This doors leakiness as well as the placement of the thermostat are to blame.


So once all of the curtains, rods, and furniture were moved (we moved the garden outside this window after I took this picture) we were ready for the installers.

Check back later for that story. My fingers can't even begin to type that saga just yet. I need a break.

Crisis Mode

I saw this Discovery Channel show once about how wildlife survives forest fires. We always think about everything running out in a mad panic, a la Bambi's family, but what I thought was interesting is that lots of animals can't escape via land, water, or air because they are too small. I don't remember what they said about small woodland creatures, but I do remember what they said about insects.

All sort of insects - centipedes, moths, spiders, ants - crawl into specific types of flowers that have a sort of insulation layer where the heat of the fire doesn't get them and, if the flower isn't actually burnt up, the insects can survive. What's interesting about this is that they are all in there together. Natural enemies, predators and prey, big and small, they all end up inside the same flowers just to survive. And the really fascinating part is that they don't attack or eat each other during the blaze. They have a sort of imposed truce associated with surviving the disaster, as if they all understand that the future of everything - of their lives and the lives of their spawn - depends on them coexisting harmoniously during the crisis.

The reason that I bring this up is that I have three cats that can't stand to be in the same room as each other without extreme hissing, fighting, and brawling. But right now, now when I have two guys in the house ripping out every existing window and sliding glass door in the place (more to follow) they are coexisting beneath the bed. There is no hissing, no bad blood, they are merely aware of a new threat and deciding, even needing, to be in the same place for safety. Nature is so interesting.

The Office - Take 2 - Day 12

The Office is nearly complete. The two main problems with moving back down from Santa Barbara is that I lost my closets and I lost my dining room table. I also lost this hallway. As I mentioned previously, the repair work done by the HOA association on our interior walls resulted in our hanging art being taken off the walls. It all ended up here. Any additional art that I also had up in SB (a couple of new pieces that I acquired because I need to have art on the walls . . . need to . . . ) also ended up here. (This is a repeat image, for ease of storytelling.)


I didn't get an image of the dining room table when it had stuff on it, but trust me, there was a lot of stuff. There was no dining. No room. So, YAY to a clean dining room table. I really love it. Makes me happy.


And then the process of decorating all of the other spaces became an imperative. I want to get two other small images of matching size to place on either side of this one to really accentuate the long space. But I always liked this image. Kurt Ross. Really pretty and very simple.


Also, I have a lot of hanging art. This one is from a local artist, but I didn't know where to put it. I had some boxes on the top of this bookshelf, but why not think outside the box? I don't need to hang all of my wall art. Some of it can just be, sort of, leaned up against the wall.


I always liked this image. Once I get around to painting the hallway/vanity area of the office, the yellows here will pop and not be so out of place. This is still the green wall. It isn't so oppressive here, but it still is awful in the hall.


One of my best friends gave me this for my college graduation. I wore it that day. I dried it out and put it in this shadow box. I think it looks nice in the new spare bathroom. Plus, good memories.


This is my favorite. I always like to have one wall dedicated to family photos and snapshots. I am a photographer, yes, but there are different kinds of photographs. I don't always want the perfect, clean, art photo. Sometimes the snapshot of your childhood pet is the best image in the world.


This is also a favorite. My sister painted it of the two of us when she was in high school. She won a Best in Show award for it, it was written up in the local papers, and she gave it to me as a gift. She is incredibly, incredibly talented. With visual arts and with writing. I can only show you this, but trust me on both accounts.


My murder wall. Six ravens with room for an image of more. Different media, different cultures, different styles, but they all work together somehow. I love it. This is new to this house. Three of these were hung in Santa Barbara - one that I made and two gifts - and one was a Christmas present. Awesome.

The Office - Take 2 - Day 11

So, as I left you the office, hallway, and closet were in disrepair. But, aha! On day 11 of this adventure, the closet has been demolished and can now be refilled, even though not yet remodeled. So, SPF started filling in the crawl space first. The remaining remnants of our musical instruments (now on the wall) went in towards the back. Because now they are out to be played!


But there was still a great deal of junk in the hallway that had to be dealt with.


And in the office.


One of the first things that I had to do was anchor this shelf - which was made originally in Indiana to hold all of the CDs that SPF had at the time with some extra space and has now been overfilled twice over, but still holds many - and that serendipitously fits in our closet with the shelf down.


Once it was anchored, I started to fill it up.


All the way to the top!


And then I crammed in everything from the hallway, the office, and everything else that had as of yet been displaced because of my move back down to SD from SB.


Lots and lots of stuff.


And then I cleaned up and was able to get the office back in working order.


Really nice working order.


With access to the hallway and the bathroom and everything!


Ahhh, awesome. An office/spare bedroom with a private bath and a view of the lagoon. Really, I couldn't do better if I were employed. Except for the whole compensation thing.

The Office - Take 2 - Day 10

The progress of the office/spare bedroom now moves into the hallway to the private bathroom. The hallway which contains the closet and all of the stuff that doesn't fit in the closet. Which is a lot of stuff. Which is now back in the bedroom and the hallway. We have a lot of crap.


And a lot more crap.


And a crappy closet that has one shelf that is too high and not level. Stupid shelf. Stupidly designed closet. Unfortunately, this space isn't useful or functional at all. Pretty much we can't store things efficiently in here.


So we pulled everything out of the closet (refer to previous image of junk-ridden bedroom.) The empty closet, however, has to be demolished so that we can add some stuff back in. This closet is going to be redesigned just like the other closets in the house, but, financially, we need to save up a little bit before we can order it.



Upon the demolition, we discovered that the carpet was installed around one of the walls. The walls were poorly installed, but now we have a big hole in our carpet. Sigh.


Demoed closet!


And demoed spare bedroom. :(


The closet being out in the hallway and in the bedroom is distressing me greatly. My lovely spare bedroom has, yet again, become a closet in the interim. The major benefit of blogging a couple of days late is that I know the end of this story. You'll just have to wait and see. :)