It’s Home Improvement time for the Kelleys. We had contractors replace our wood front with new vinyl. We also replaced our 28-year-old windows in the front of our house with new high-tech insulated windows. Diane likes the change. What do you think? Any home improvements happening for you?
Looks great, George!
Prashant, it does look great! Our neighbors have asked us for the name of the contractor we used since their houses are all the same age as ours and need new windows, too.
Looks classy. I’m more into Repair than Improvement right now, as things have gone through a spell of no-doubt-coordinated break-downs.
Dan, our first impulse is to repair, too. But old leaky windows had to go. Diane notices the difference already.
Very nice! Gives the whole front facade a brighter look.
I’d love to renovate both of our mid-century bathrooms (they actually have ashtrays bolted to the walls–did people smoke that much in the sixties), not to mention update our kitchen and freshen up the laundry room and pantry areas. In other words, a complete $50,000+ reno. However, with twins in their senior year of high school and heading for college in the fall of 2016, you know where all of my money is going to right now!
Ah well, back to dream kitchens on Pintrest and plotting my strategy to win the lottery.
Deb, are you looking forward to visiting colleges with your twins? As soon as we stepped on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Patrick knew that was the school for him. Katie’s college experience was like shopping for shoes: plenty of visits with mixed results. As soon as your children graduate from college, you’ll suddenly have a lot of money–it feels like you won the Lottery!
Coincidently, one of the twins has been receiving brochures from RIT, but I think both of them are pretty committed to LSU in Baton Rouge. But they definitely do not want to be roommates–18 years of sharing everything is enough!
Deb, RIT has generous scholarships. Patrick won a $32,000 per year scholarship to RIT. Of course, he had to maintain a certain grade-point average to keep it (which he did).
George, it looks really nice, a bit extraordinary, not the usual run of the mill!
Btw, those “bricks” – are they real or just a kind of decoration?
I hope you have good insulation – from what we saw in Niagara Falls in march in can get pretty cold up there where you live. The new windows probably are a blessing …
Wolf, yes those are real bricks. Niagara Falls is about 20 minutes away. Yes, with arctic temperatures last winter it became clear the old windows had to be replaced with new windows with lots of insulation.
Lookin’ good!
Bill, Diane (of course) picked out the color of the vinyl siding. I insisted on the best insulated windows available. We’re pleased at the results.
Looks great! It matches the rest of the house even better than before. Nice job, Diane (and George).
Jackie wants to get rid of our living/dining room big air conditioner and get a new one before next summer. That’s about the only major thing. They are finally doing a major job on the outside of all three buildings – repointing, etc. Then a new roof and elevators may be in the offing. Being on the sixth floor we do get leaks in the bedroom ceiling, but others in the building have leaks from the side walls so this long overdue project is a good one.
We may have a few minor things done while we’re in Florida this winter, possibly repainting the kitchen or at least retouching the dirty spots.
Jeff, home improvement is a never-ending process. Diane is already planning the next round of projects for next Summer.
It looks terrific. Well worth the cost.
As you know we are in the midst of getting a new kitchen. Which reminds me, where is that guy today?
Patti, I’m always glad when the “Home Improvement” is done and the workers leave. While they’re in and about the house, everything is disrupted. Good luck with your new kitchen!
Looks great, George. You only did windows on one side? What about the rest? We did roof last Spring, windows and screens last year, need to replace part of a fence and do gutters this Fall or Winter. There’s always something. Barbara wants a new washer and dryer, I need to reorganize part of the garage and put up additional shelves…
Rick, we’ll replace the windows in the rear of the house next Spring. Diane wanted to see how these new windows would work out before she committed to replacing the rest. But, she really likes the new windows–I do, too–so we’ll go with this contractor again.
Very snazzy, George.
Next year our house is 20 years old. I’m keeping a close eye on the roof but no problems in sight. In the 9 years we’ve been residents, we’ve already replaced all the windows and the deck door.
Beth, Diane is making a list of more Home Improvement projects. Now that Social Security and “Spousal Benefits” arrive every third Wednesday of the month, Diane has a lot more money to play with.
We did it all last year and the year before. I haven’t noticed any change in the electric bill despite the insulated windows.
Bob, we’re hoping for an improvement with the new windows when the temperatures go below zero.
The best result was that it muffled the neighborhood brats a bit.
Bob, you’re right! There must be some noise-cancelling material in the new windows.
That looks great!
Carl, you just can’t go wrong reading anything Asimov and Greenberg collected between two covers!