Raising the roof for her birthday...

Well, more like knocking loose the siding.

This is a special day.  One of us is having a birthday.  It isn't Izzy.  Isn't me.  That narrows it down.  We aren't going anywhere to celebrate this momentous occasion - more on that in a bit.

Our sweet daughter called this morning.  They are enjoying time off for their fall break at school.  There is a box that arrived that Joan hasn't been able to open until this call.  Inside the box...

New rain-boots.  Joan had mentioned that she was looking for some new rain-boots when we were in Friday Harbor this summer.  It is supposed to rain this weekend... pretty sure one of us will be looking for puddles to stomp in.  Joan said, "Look!  They match the teal accessories in the house!"

I am really hoping it won't be raining in the house.

And that leads me to why we aren't going anywhere to celebrate Joan's birthday: we had a small leak on one of our bedroom windows right after we came back from the PNW.  It poured that day - 2 1/2 inches of rain.  If the hurricane shutters had been down, we may not have had a leak... won't really know 'till the builder tears into it.

First thing this morning (really - before 8:00), the workers were here...

The good news is: this is the builder who built the house; he knows how it is put together.  The bad news: the hurricane shutters are going to have to come off.  They are designed to not come off in a hurricane... this isn't going to be a quick job.

I go out, look at what they're doing, pace a bit, and try to stay out of the way.  I cringe each time they pull out another screw... I saw what short work they made of the dock yesterday...

That is going to be a while in the making... quick to tear it out.  Sigh.

It took 3 hours just to get the hurricane shutters off... and some cutting.  "It's OK," Pete said, "I have the shutter guy scheduled to come put this all back together.  He will bill you separately."

Of course he will.

Siding coming off, windows coming out...

Looking at the wood that will have to come out, the leak isn't anything new.  Since that photo above, the house is opened up all the way down, below the windows.  It looks like a big wound.  Pete tells me they will have the windows back in tonight... "Probably won't have the siding back on; for sure won't get the shutters back up today.  First thing in the morning.  Oh, maybe in the afternoon - I have to be gone in the morning."

I learned to speak "contractor" years ago... translation: it's going to take longer and cost more than we talked about.

Happy Birthday, Joan... I got you a big ol' hole in the side of your house.  ;-)


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On edit: file this under "OMG"...

With the siding off, wood off, and insulation pulled out, we made a moderately horrifying discovery: in the insulation, there was a wire with the insulation stripped off a part of it.  The wire looked like a pig's tail, and in the middle of the twisted wire: a drill bit.

When the hurricane shutter company originally installed the shutters, they caught this wire while drilling a hole.  It must have pulled the drill bit out of the drill.  Instead of opening things up to see what they hit, they just drilled another hole.  It is amazing we didn't have a fire.  The wire went to the lights on the outside of the house (street side/driveway).  We rarely use those lights; only if we are loading or unloading something from the truck or cargo trailer... and we generally don't do that after dark.

On the bright side: the insulation and wood have been replaced; the windows are back in.  Hopefully they will be able to reuse the siding, since that style of shake siding isn't made anymore.  There will have to be some inside trim work and painting done, but we will do that.

Of course, the hurricane shutter guy didn't come back this afternoon, so hopefully we will see him in the morning.  I won't be holding my breath.

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Little Izzy is not happy with all the banging noises and the voices of the workers that she could hear through the holes where the windows used to be.  You might think she would just hide... no, she comes to tell me to, "Make them stop!"

"It's OK - it'll only be for a day or two."  She doesn't care.  Every time they pound, she looks suspiciously at the door.

I haven't told her they will be working on the dock and our steps to the front door, yet.  Yep, there will be more pounding.

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With the work being done on the house, we didn't get our usual routine of lunch out and some kind of outing.  Instead, the birthday girl made breakfast and lunch; did laundry.  On her birthday.  Not the way I planned things.  I did grill supper.

We had a nice quiet evening around the house: a nice visit with Steph on the phone and opening cards and more "deliveries...

Happy Birthday to my Honey.  I'm happy a young chick like you hangs out with an old guy like me.  ;-)