This morning, I'm sitting at my computer in the basement when I heard a loud click or snap. Since I had a small heater running to take the chill off, I figured the extension bar breaker had tripped. Wrong. It was actually the GFCI outlet that the extension bar was plugged in to. The GFCI is there because it's the circuit for the outside outlets.

I tried to reset it, but no such luck. Oh well, time to replace it. It's only been there for 10+ years. I proceded to kill the circuit at the panel and take the cover off. Aside from signs of old critter invasion, the outlet itself was really fried. One of the black lead terminals was blown out and melted. Ok then. Off to HD for a new one.

I got the exact same kind, brought it home and installed it. I flipped the breaker on and the green light on the GFCI was glowing a nice steady shade of kelly green. Problem is, there was no power to either outlet or the outdoor timer.

Kill the power, pul the outlet, check the wires. Everything looks good. Put it all back together. Turn on the power. Green light and ... no power.

I'm frustrated beyond belief. Now, I'm wondering how much damage the critters may have done to the wiring inside the walls and if I'm going to have to have the whole house re-wired. I'm pretty sure that wont' be cheap.

We have two HVAC units and one or the other of them seems to need maintenance every year. They have been replaced twice also during the almost 30 years since we built the house. Last summer the outside unit for the second floor system had issues and it was more cost effective to replace it. About a week ago, the outside unit for the main floor system started making a lot of noise. We turned it off and haven't called to have it repaired yet. Just relying on the fireplace insert to keep the family room and kitchen areas warm. So sick of HVAC issues

Yesterday I replaced the bulbs in the pendant lights in the kitchen to LEDs - 3 fixtures over the island and 2 fixtures in the other area. Today one of the fixtures isn't working - not the bulbs, so something either went wrong with the fixture or with the wiring. Grrrrr... Oh, and Rick, the GFI in the conservatory hasn't been working for months - so no power in the outlets in the conservatory nor for the outdoor lights on the back patio.

Yes, home ownership is ALWAYS something...

Oh boy, ain't that the truth. It helps to be able to do some yourself of course, to you Rick, but when you need a pro, you know$$.
Our last fun event was the main sewage line in the basement leaking. The plumber we called was a complete and total idiot. At least it got fixed with a rubber boot and no tearing up floor or walls..
There is a weird drip -- I always wonder if the bathroom wall is going to cave in one day... Mark thinks it is related to the water line for the fridge. But it seems to occur in relation to use of the shower.
And I sit here in the living room, trying to ignore a very slow but definite creeping crack in the ceiling, probably leaking at the chimney. Which chimney and fireplace, by the way, the sweep said was completely wrong in design (60 years ago) and of course has leaks too, due to age.

And I've heard stories from owners of new construction as well, so it's not always just age of the building.

Actually, I think newer construction has more issues as they're put up so fast. And things are built so tight these days so they can get more units in the same or smaller space.

I'm going to add pics from my phone, of my stairwell 'filtering' mat...
We started with the black mat which caught leaves well. It was a pack of ten squares that snap together. Then we recently added the blue mat- because it was on the curb in somebody's trash, brand new, and decided we might find a use. It catches the grit and sludge, some. Of course we have to clean the area now and then. But I don't remember the last time we had overflow here.
Now, infiltration on the block walls here and there, whole nother thing. This house was set too low. We've really worked to get the water to go around to the street where it is lower... rain is usually not too bad knock on wood. Unless one gets an extra 15 inches of rain in a year..hahaha.. Snow and ice events see me out there compulsively creating channels for drainage to the sides, out of the central yard area. This despite neighbor in back whose whole yard slopes well away from us.

Thread Name Change.....

The name of this thread was ' Home Ownership ....'

I've renamed it to make it more useful.

I'm slowly (ok, think molasses in January in Maine) getting back in to the whole remodeling thing. In particular, trying to finish the kitchen. Once of the things that I wanted to do was install task and cove lighting. But, I was adamant that it wouldn't be done until Larry decided what he wanted to do with the cabinets. After all, I wasn't going to spend the money and time installing stuff that would be ripped out withing a year, or less.

Fast forward to today. It's now all totally my problem/decision/opportunity to screw it up. There is a large, heavy shelf on one wall that is close to 7 feet off of the floor. Currently, it's used for miscellaneous stuff like a jar blender, immersion stick blender, various bottles of homemade syrups/glazes like apple cider and balsamic. The plan at one point was to clear all of that stuff off and use it for things like cookbooks. I had also planned to hang various pots from the underside, both stainless steel and copper (which has yet to be opened). I was going to put lighting both above to back light the books, and below to highlight the pans. Now, I'm not so sure.

Another thing that I am sure about is that I'm going to cover the shelf with copper, to go with the copper back splash. But, the more I think about putting cookbooks above and pans below, I can't help but think of the extra work that will be needed to remove kitchen grease build-up from the stuff. I suppose I could actually enclose the top with glass or plexiglas and put in sliding doors or something that will keep things a bit cleaner above.

As far as the stuff hanging below, though, I've just about talked myself out of that. I'd still put some sort of soft lighting in, but the question then would be "Why is there lighting here? It's just an empty wall."

Thoughts?

As usual, I have trouble picturing the situation.
I share the feeling (if I hear you correctly) that things on the shelf will need to be cleaned sometimes so best be things easy to clean now and then (or in my case every other year or three ).

I love love my undercabinet lighting but in that case it gives you gentle task lighting, and gentle room lighting for nighttime snacking such as right now.

Maybe art on the wall under the shelf, to be the reason for some light? Says I who have about zero wall space for art in the kitchen and generally zero art in the whole house.

If it were my kitchen, I would leave it the way it is. Place for stuff that you do not use everyday, yet accessible when you need them. I would not put books there since I fry a lot, so the books would get greasy. But I would quickly fill the shelf up with container with extra bigger jar with cooking oil, and another one of saved cooking oil that is still usable, a container of scented candle or scented incense with a container where you burn them (mine is a nice glass or crystall filled with rice and covered with small pebbles (so mice will not be able to eat the rice), and a saucer so the ash falls on the saucer, and not on the shelf). I use them to eliminate fishy smells etc.-

Under that shelf, I would build a special cabinet where I would be able to house all my spices and bottles of sauces. a cabinet has a thick door with shelving (sort of like the door of the fridge), that goes into the cabinet, so you can see everything what is where, and organize (a friend used to have those kind of cabinets in her house, and I wished that I had seen that house before my house was renovated. Family used to work at the Dept. of State, so they had lived in lots of different houses and countries. They are now retired.

Getta load of my refreshed front door! It's the original door newly stripped, putty added, hardware polished.

Nice! How much do you charge and when can I expect you?

Nice!

Rick, you forgot "What is the % of the Fellow Gardener Discount?"

First contractor bid to redo door was $8K, second bid $6K. Ultimate cost was well under $1K. Door stripping some $300, original hardware polishing some $300, door/lock/refitting some $300, paint from Sherwin Williams $30. DH doing paint job? Priceless. Yeah right.

$6-8K to re-finish a door??!?!!??!?!?!?! What did they think they were going to do, gold plate it? Geeze!

Waaaay back when I was in the Navy, we would use floor stripper to remove paint, etc from door hardware. I imagine that the formula has changed since then and it won't work as well, if at all. We would remove all of the hardware, throw it in a bucket with the floor stripper for 15-20 minutes and slide all the old gunk off. A quick rinse, dry and re-install. We never did tell the Chief how we did it.

Well, some say if the contractor really doesn't want to do the job he'll quote high.
We were going to get someone to install interior railing and redo small foyer floor- the quote seemed high.. Mark ended up doing the railing. And we will live with the floor a while longer.

and the other side is if they underbid, they just don't show up!

Ah jeeze..
The other guy we tried for the railing, sounded really good, came once, or maybe talked on the phone, said he'd email an estimate.. nothing..