Living in an older home · · PAGE 3.

September 8, 2013: The date at the left matches the photos on this page.  The lease was signed and we took possession on September 1, 2013.  We started to find some of the little things that suffer with a house built in 1972.  The age of some items in the house is causing them to fail.  An older couple lived here up until he died and she could no longer live alone in the house.   It sat vacant for over 400 days before the new owners bought the house from the bank.  It took them about a month to get it ready to rent.  One of the first things we found that broke easily was the plastic that holds the toilet seats to the fixture.  I found out how expensive and how long it takes to get a seat that is color-matched to the ceramic toilet.  These toilets are a bit close to the floor and we ordered risers to make them easier to get up and down.  Anyone out there who has a hip replacement knows what I mean.  This one is in the master bathroom.  All three toilets got the same molded seat treatment with the white seat seen here and the white riser that was added a week or so after this photo was taken.

The shower in the master bath had no door when we signed the lease.  I bought one and had to cut the metal frame parts down to size to make the door fit.  I did that job in early September and did not take any photos during the work.  I used the skills I developed while building my airplane to finish the aluminum door frame before final assembly.  I did not take this photo until October 2, 2013. You can see I blacked out the camera flash reflection from the mirror.

We finally got moved in around September 25, 2013.   We had been moving things from storage all along, but the day we brought the bedroom furniture is when we really moved in.  The old air-conditioner had been running for about a week before we moved in.  It gave its last and was replaced with a new Trane heat pump on Friday September 27, 2013.  Ah, cool, dry, air-conditioning at last - - until October 1.  Nothing stops a Trane, except a bad solenoid in the compressor unit outside.  It worked for a few days then died.  It was an easy fix when it was properly diagnosed and the solenoid was replaced under warranty of course!  Here is the new air handler in the utility room between the garage and den.   I snapped this photo standing in the open door from the garage.

Everybody wanted to be sure the power panel could handle the electrical load.   This one is original to the house from 1972.  The circuit breakers were suitably rated and all was fine.  The one that powers the garage door gave out a few months later.  That was only about five bucks at Lowe's and very easily replaced.   My first job after high school was working as an electrician's assistant.

The air-conditioner compressor is outside the bathroom window on the east side of the house.  It was the solenoid in this unit that failed a few days after the initial installation.

October 27, 2013:  I got out my hedge trimmer to work over the bushes up front.  This is the "before" photo of the area near the garage door.

Those are the same bushes seen from street level.  The grass tells the story of the dry weather we have been having.

You can still see my electric cord and the red hedge trimmer through the bush near the porch.  The brick wall hides the front door from this viewing angle.   It is behind that down spout from the gutter on the right.