I've written about this lattice before, a long time ago. So long ago, in fact, I didn't feel like dredging through the archives to find the original post.
I probably wrote something about how horrible it looked, with all the crooked slats and bald, paintless patches. Or something. Who cares? It no longer looks that way.
Nor did I care to look up the post on its progression, to this:
Oh, sure, I could blame this on the entropy trolls, those charmless sprites who work at our dilapidated home the way feral dogs gnaw limbs off little kids. But that wouldn't be fair.
Because the lattice, which once graced the balcony outside our master bedroom, has, since October, looked like this:
Note the much-improved view this empty hole affords. Not to mention it's much handier in case we take up bungee jumping onto the driveway.
I should add the entire balcony looks like this, not just this one space. We have a neighbor who refuses to talk to us, since his definition of "curb appeal" just doesn't extend to gaping fissures and peeling paint. Others have tired of dropping such subtle hints as, "when are you going to fix that mess?" and now grit their teeth in resignation.
My husband meant well when he started work on this last fall. He couldn't have predicted record rainfalls, which ruined a record number of weekends, or his own waning interest as other, more urgent matters dug into his limited free time.
Now he wants to hire someone to finish the job, just as soon as we a) win the lottery and b) find a contractor willing to do a piss-ant repair job when the hot housing market has them all busy with real work that pays bigger bucks.
Meanwhile, at least it's easy to find our house. It's the one with the pregnant woman and toddler bouncing from bungee cords.
I never thought I'd miss renting. I blame the commute and blogging, too.
Posted by: plosh | May 09, 2005 at 12:11 PM
Is it a job that really needs a full fledged contractor. I have a son that is a carpenter that might appreciate a little side work. We live in riverside
Posted by: Susan | May 09, 2005 at 10:39 PM
It probably doesn't need a full-fledge contractor. Just someone with a little more time! My wife says, yeah, we're interested.
Posted by: plosh | May 10, 2005 at 08:08 AM
We've had a hole in our kitchen ceiling for the past 5 years. Ever since one contracter opened it up to see if he could tell where the water was leaking in from the porch above.
Several thousand dollars and angry calls to the better business bureau later, it still leaks in heavy rains.
We're in no rush to close the hole.
Posted by: psychotoddler | May 10, 2005 at 11:23 AM
I have a father in law who has helped in some of these situations, including the repair of our latticework at one point. Hint: if you get latticework, don't put it where a large puppy can get to it.
Regarding holes in the ceiling (psychotoddler), we bought our house with a roof cert in March 1997. By December 1997, El Niño had hit, and we were having roof leaks. After struggling for several months with the guy who provided the roof cert (he would patch here and there, but wouldn't really do anything), we brought someone else in to re-roof the back of the house, took the roof cert guy to small claims court, and won. (And he even paid us.)
Completely off topic: you might recognize a couple of the characters in this story, recently posted to the "Random Picture...Random Story" community blog. The story is based on this empoblog, which is itself partially based on some things I read here and there.
And if you think you can do better (and believe me, you can), you may want to consider contacting Buster Van Buren and joining the Random Picture...Random Story community (Blogger ID required). Basically, Buster posts a random picture every weekend, and the contributors spend the week trying to come up with stories to match the picture.
Posted by: Ontario Emperor | May 10, 2005 at 01:14 PM
Very cool, OE. I'm too busy right now to join that blog, but what a fun idea.
Posted by: Anne | May 10, 2005 at 02:18 PM
Ok, I'll tell him about it and show him the pictures and see what he says. I think he can do it. He helped build Pechanga. Have you heard of that Indian casino.
Posted by: susan | May 11, 2005 at 09:09 AM
Re Pechanga (sorry, Empress, but your comments area seems to be going all over the place), I've definitely heard of it. I've only visited the "new" Pechanga once, and only briefly. Haven't seen any of the other "new" casinos in Southern California yet. It's still not Vegas, though...
Posted by: Ontario Emperor | May 14, 2005 at 08:18 AM