$2500 Drippy Faucet

Last fall, our kitchen faucet developed a slow, nagging drip. At first, if you tightened the handles really hard, it would stop. But over time, the drips grew more frequent and more pronounced. So, when we decided to move some plumbing lines in the basement this February, I saw the perfect opportunity to have the plumber fix the faucet too. I provided her with the make and model, and she ordered the replacement cartridges in advance—$40 for parts plus her hourly rate for both projects.

When she arrived and dismantled the faucet, we hit our first snag: the cartridges wouldn’t fit. It turned out the schematics on the manufacturer's website didn’t match our model. After more digging, we discovered that Newport Brass had updated the internal components. We found what we thought were the old schematics and ordered another set of cartridges for $80, and we scheduled a second plumber visit. Unfortunately, these didn’t fix it either.

Frustrated, I reached out to Newport Brass but received no response. Further research revealed I'd need about $500 worth of parts from several different suppliers, as no single repair kit was available for this model. Reluctantly, I decided to replace the entire faucet instead and ordered a Fairfield Bridge Faucet from Perigold for $1,489 in March.

Another appointment with the plumber was set, but delivery delays led to rescheduling—twice. The faucet finally arrived last Sunday, and thanks to a cancellation, the plumber was available Tuesday.

But the saga wasn’t over. We discovered the new faucet wouldn’t fit the existing holes in our soapstone counter, they'd changed the size of the posts.

After the plumber left, I scrambled to find someone to redrill the holes, eventually getting help from the original installers, Portland MarbleWorks, who charged $180.

With no functioning kitchen faucet, we seized the opportunity to dine out for a couple of days. By Thursday morning, the plumber squeezed us in early, and at last, we have a functioning, drip-free faucet. The final cost for this visit and the previous quick visits totaled $360. (The plumber nicely added all the time together in one bill, rather than charging her minimum each visit.)

So, was it worth nearly $2,500 to fix a drippy faucet? It pained me to see gallons of water wasted every day, but $2,500 could have paid for quite a few water bills. But, I'm fully expecting it will be worth it in the long run.

So Close!

Back in February, inspired by our new-to-us media cabinet, I ordered three cherry bookcases from Mission Craft Furniture—the same folks who crafted our lovely bedroom set. 

They estimated a completion time of 4 to 6 weeks. However, after 8 weeks without any updates, I reached out to them, only to be told, "Just one more week!" 

Yet, another four weeks drifted by with no bookcases in sight. Finally, I laid down an ultimatum: finish the bookcases within a few days or cancel my order and refund my deposit. That got them moving!

This evening, the long-awaited bookshelves were delivered. However, the celebration was short-lived. The shelves clearly hadn’t been installed in the frames back at the shop because when we set them up ourselves we realized the shelves didn't look level. We measured and discovered the shelf pin holes were misdrilled, being about a quarter-inch off from one side to the other. Oops!

Regrettably, they had to take the bookcases back to the workshop. It's unclear how they'll rectify this error, but it's certainly not going to please the owner. As for when we'll finally get our bookcases, that remains to be seen. I'll keep you all updated as soon as I have more information.

Update on Thursday evening: They're back. I guess the owner was pretty embarrassed and he made it a priority to fix these. 

We need to unpack boxes of books to make room for the third bookshelf to go in its spot.

Frustrated

I want to say that Portland sucks, but I'm sure it's like this in most cities. About a week ago, the city came through and trimmed the trees on our street. We don't have any street trees (mainly because I refuse to plant them because then the city decides if/when you can remove them). But they also cut down our clematis vine from that ugly pole they installed in our front planting strip a couple years ago. They just chopped it off at the ground level. How was it hurting anything? These are photos of the clematis from last year. It hadn't made it to the flower stage yet this year.

We also got a letter a couple weeks ago telling us our power would be out for a few hours for routine maintenance work. Did they say anything about the location? Nope! Well, it turns out it was in OUR FRONT YARD! 

There was not a word that they'd be working in our planting strip to give us some warning so we could relocate plants. We woke up to a strange noise and I got up and looked out the window and found them drilling a big hole in our planting strip. I didn't get a photo of it, but this is what it looked like by the time I managed to make it outside.

Really, you had to set them on the plants? You couldn't have put the huge barrels
of gravel on the other side where there were no plants?!

I do not have any recent photos of this planting strip, the plants were just starting to wake up and it was just starting to look happy again. It was pretty well covered with ferns and other plants. This is a photo from a couple years ago.

I was pretty frustrated and upset, so we simply got in our car and went RV shopping. I couldn't watch.

This is how it looked when we came home.

I'm not sure which of these crushed plants will come back. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Update later: I was able to work out some compensation for the destroyed plants. They are going to give us a $175 gift card. It doesn't begin to cover the labor and shopping time, but it should at least cover the cost of replacement plants.

Interlock Roof Finally Started

Dealing with Interlock Roofing has been a bit ridiculous. We actually ordered the new roof late last summer and they told us they probably wouldn't get to our project until spring. They don't install roofs during rainy weather. Yeah, okay, I understood that. 

They finally called us in early May and said they were planning to put on our roof sometime in May or June. We had a discussion about the tongue & groove I said I would be providing, and I ordered it that week and it was delivered two days later and I told them it was here, waiting for them. And then it sat. 

There was no communication of any sort until June 28 (the Wednesday before the 4th of July). We were told they would probably be starting the next afternoon (Thursday) but if not then, they would certainly start on the Friday before the holiday weekend. Yeah, they didn't start then either. Again, no communication revising the start date. Finally, I called on late Friday afternoon and was told the crew showed up and decided not to start before the holiday. I was given the impression they just delayed the project until after the holiday and would start the first day after.

Well, no, not that either. Finally, last week⏤on July 11⏤they showed up unannounced at our door and said they wanted to deliver materials. That was the second day of the fence install. LOL They loaded up the driveway in front of the garage.

Again, you would think their start was imminent. But no. Finally, on Friday I called the company again. I told him how unimpressed I was with their communication. He promised they would start on Monday.

Well, Monday afternoon someone did show up; I think the project foreman. We reviewed the project with him and he figured out the additional supplies he would need and left again. Today, finally they started tear off. 

Since I don't have a drone, I can't post progress photos. They removed the shingles from the backside of the house and they laid new tongue & groove over our little back patio. I didn't take a before photo, it used to be a big plywood patch where the old chimney used to be and a mish mash of various sizes of tongue and groove; presumably whatever the prior owner had lying around. This looks much better.

We had an appointment to have the new gutters installed tomorrow. Yeah, I had to delay that one. 

Update, they sent me some photos:

Fence Half Finished

I have to be honest, I am not too pleased with Rick's right now. They did a fine job installing our fence, but their quote was for only half the fence and I didn't realize it. We had a long conversation about wanting both sides, along with the details about height and extras. I'd made a lot of compromises from the earlier quote, i.e. shorter overall height, skipping the post caps, trellis only in the section next to the house, so I wasn't surprised when the overall total was quite a bit lower. But, it turns out, they didn't quote out the whole fence. 

They finished this side of the fence then sent the final invoice and I was confused and asked when they'd be installing the rest....

Clearly, I should have looked a lot more closely at the bid and compared the total linear feet, but I was distracted and rushed to make a decision. Sigh.

Anyway, given that they only gave us a bid for half the fence, they were by far the most expensive of our quotes. So, when we do the other side after the roof and gutters are finished, we'll be going to one of the other companies.

At the last minute, we decided to dispose of the old fence ourselves. It saved us $250 and we got to pick through for the parts worth reusing.

More News About Our Range

Our Ilve Range finally arrived in Portland, and it's the wrong f-ing color! It is gray, not green. I am not kidding. It is the worst possible color. Needless to say, I am not taking delivery. So, it looks like there won't be a thanksgiving dinner this year.

BASCO is therefore trying to fix it for us. Obviously, it is not really an option to wait for another range to come from Italy. I didn't get the final word yet, but I think we actually ended up ordering the Fisher & Paykel in black because it comes from Mexico and supposedly it will be here by mid-December. They say December, but I don't know if that's a wishful thinking due date. I hope not. I guess we shall see.

I am so tired of this. Though, possibly not as tired as Jeff, who does the cooking.

Range Rant

Do you guys remember this drama from last May? Our BlueStar range started on fire and we called out the fire department to put it out. (Jeff thought the gas line was burning and couldn't reach to get it turned off.)

We went back to BASCO in May and ordered a new range but we decided to try an induction range from Ilve that came in emerald green. Boy, was that ever a mistake. It was originally scheduled to come in mid-August, but it didn't. Then they gave us a revised date of the end of October. Well, I spoke to BASCO again yesterday, and now they're saying we won't get our range yet and they don't want to give any delivery date. 

I am so frustrated. First, BASCO sucks at communication. They basically ignore the situation until I call in looking for my range and then they have to figure out what's happening. And two, what was I thinking ordering a semi-custom range during a pandemic? Sigh.

Anyway, it's not actually clear whether we'll have a range by Thanksgiving. Finally, now BASCO will let me cancel the order (I put down a 50% non-refundable deposit) but do I really want to get in the back of the line for a new appliance?

So, I may start looking around and see if there is anything else that can be found. The space is 36" and most hardware store ranges are only 30" so I doubt we can walk into Lowes or Home Depot and just buy something off the floor.

On the bright side, Jeff has gotten quite good at cooking with the Instant Pot and toaster oven. He's been amazing dealing with our kitchen situation, but I am past ready for it to end, so I need to get on the phone and start calling around and see if I can find a different option.

Front Planter Destroyed

New renters arrived to move into the house next door on Monday when our snow was so bad and they decided to drive across our front planter (even though I ran out and told them it was there) and then they got stuck. Duh. Then they spent a couple hours trying to dig the truck out of it. Sigh. I feel sorry for all the plants they killed. =(

I don't have any recent photos, but this is how it looked on Jan 2. The ajuga was looking pretty good for being in the middle of winter. And the ferns were getting established. I'm most disappointed about the purple iris being destroyed. I had also planted quite a few bulbs in there, but I don't really remember how many and which varieties. Presumably, they were crushed, but I guess we will see.

Irritated

Sigh. Another ugly Portland installation. The city doesn't even notify you it's going to happen; they just show up and put it in.

I'm definitely going to plant a vine on it next spring.

I also wanted to remove the massive black walnut tree between the houses in the side yard. It is way too big for the location and tends to drop branches on the roof, but apparently, Portland won't let owners remove trees on their private property once they are more than 20" across. So we are stuck dealing with his huge tree and paying $1500 pruning bills every five years or so.

Refrigerator Panel Finally Repaired

Yes, it's been broken for a year and a half. It had been broken for so long, we had quite gotten used to opening it from the little metal ridge on the edge. It's pathetic that it's taken so long, but initially, I had hoped the contractor would repair it. When he refused I had these illusions that I would fight him and make him repair it, but I never did anything. I'm not good at confrontation. So, FYI, Craftsman Design & Renovation doesn't stand behind their work.

Originally, the frame holding the panel onto the refrigerator was simply stapled to it. No glue, no screws, nothing besides the staples. So, every time we opened the refrigerator door, it was slowly pulling the panel off the frame. After four years, it fell off in Jeff's hands.

Well, this time, Jeff not only glued the frame to the panel, but he also put in a number of screws from the backside to secure the two together. It should be a lot more secure. And once he finished, he was a little embarrassed it took this long. But, I'm just glad to have the panel back. Thanks Jeff!!

We've both been busy this month participating in National Novel Writing Month, usually called NaNoWriMo. We are both on target to meet the 50K word goal by the end of the month. I've been working on a novel set in the medieval period and I do quite a lot of google searches and I kept ranting about Pinterest. Pinterest has basically ruined google searches because quite often the picture you like leads you to Pinterest, which doesn't load the pin, it loads some page of pins and the image you want may or may not actually appear. I kept ranting about it, and then Jeff wisely looked up how to exclude Pinterest from search results. (Jeff is my hero.)

I'm going to share the solution with you guys, in case you're interested. When entering a search in google add -site:pinterest.** at the end of the search, i.e.

medieval clothing -site:pinterest.**

The two ** are wildcard characters because pinterest has a number of domains so the wildcard characters get rid of all of their sites.

Finally, Basement Faucet

We've been really flaky lately. We've been writing our book and binging too much on Netflix/Youtube lately. But a call from Jeff's friend, Erik sent us back into productive mode this week. First up, he and Jeff installed the faucet in the basement bathroom.

I still haven't oiled this soapstone counter. I need to go find the oil in our master bathroom.

We discovered the hard way Craftsman Design & Renovation didn't seal around the hardware installed in the basement shower. We had to open up the wall from the back side to dry it out.

I'm debating whether I go back to them and whine about this. It's been four years since they finished, but this is pretty unprofessional.

We also worked on the master bathroom, but I'll do that in a separate post in a couple of days when we finish.

Tile Almost Finished

As usual, this will turn into a rant about our tile guy. So, he finally came back for two days on Monday and Tuesday after ditching our job for almost two weeks. Yesterday, he stayed until 10PM! It looked like he might actually finish this week, but nooooooo......he has yet another more important customer. He probably has half a day work to finish this job, but we get to wait until next week (or given his usual pattern) the week after.

Anyway, here is where we are right now.

Aaron and Jeff are still working on the backyard, but it's still mostly moving around dirt so there really isn't much in the way of pictures to post. They're pretty much working when Aaron isn't busy with his other jobs and when the weather is nice enough, so they work maybe two days a week. I think Aaron and Jeff will be laying the patio stones soon.

A friend of ours bought a new house and has been giving us a bunch of ferns that we've been planting in our rain gardens. I should take some pictures of them.

Bathroom Photos

Barrett of Reiner Tile & Stone didn't show up again today. During the last 2 weeks, he worked a total of five short days. The earliest he showed up was at 1:40PM, and that was on the day where he emailed me the night before and told me he'd be arriving at 9AM. Sigh. I truly don't understand how someone can run a business like this. I get particularly irked when he sends a text to me at around 11AM and says he's "on his way" and still shows up at 2PM. WTF? If Jeff and I had jobs, it would be impossible to work with Barrett because he is so unreliable about showing up when he says he will.

Anyway, the tile is moving along. Here are the photos of the tile to this point.

Pinterest is Broken

Do any of you guys use Pinterest? Have you noticed they broke the feed?

I totally get that they needed to add ads, but why the f**k do they have to add a bunch of unsolicited pins from boards I don't follow?

I follow over 2500 boards, surely there is content available to show in my feed...  I don't see any settings I can change to just see pins from boards I follow, so I assume I'm stuck with this. I used to enjoy poking around Pinterest to find good pins, but now my feed is mostly unusable.

Since it's quite easy to go back and look at my own pins, I still pin stuff in order to keep track of sites for future reference, but I honestly don't see the point of browsing anymore since 90% of the feed is stuff I'm not interested in.

Have any of you Pinterest users found the same problem? Are the pins in that feed actually useful to you?

Update later: Apparently, I'm a little slow on the uptake. I've noticed that my feed was steadily getting worse and worse, but I didn't really realize until today that there was practically nothing in it I wanted to see. Lots of bloggers have talked about the new feed, called the "Smart Feed."

I did finally figure out how to get rid of the unpaid pins. If you click in the box next to the user name and board name, an X appears. Click on the X and then select an option from the menu that pops up. I went ahead and told it to stop using my boards for inspiration. It was tedious, because I had to do it for every board, but I did remove the "Picked for you" pins.

My feed is still full of a bunch of ads for stuff I have no interest in, but at least I can now see some of the boards I actually do want to follow. I guess Pinterest has done me a favor; I now have very little desire to spend hours browsing their site.

Do you guys have any suggestions for what is next? Instagram?

Update in August:

I found an browser extension you can install to block the sponsored content. I just tried it and it WORKS!

You can download it here for free: pinBlock. While I had almost entirely stopped using Pinterest, I may spend a bit more time there again.