A Repair and a Hidden Treasure

So Ohio Edison called me last Monday to tell me the box around my electric meter was rusted, and needed replaced. I said, "Oh. Don't you do that?" Nope. My responsibility. Okay, no biggie. This house came with a one-year pre-paid home warranty, so I thought I'd check and see if they'd cover it. According to the paperwork it looked like they would, so I put in a service request, and the next day a local electrical contractor called me, and came out that afternoon to look at it.

While he was here, he noticed something else which he said would be a problem. (Of course ... these things always mushroom). Specifically, this ...


... is apparently bad. That little junction where the wires from the street meet the wiring at the house isn't supposed to be within three feet of a window. Obviously, it is. Now why in the heck that should matter I have no idea, but he said when the local inspector came to check the replacement of the box (which would be required), he'd surely flag that. Fortunately, having that moved away from the window isn't that big a deal - it doesn't involve any rewiring, just literally unhooking the straps holding it in place and moving the whole thing away from the window. So while it's annoying and will cost extra (the home warranty won't cover that), it's not too major.

After the electrical contractor made his resport to the home warranty people, they initially told me they wouldn't cover the meter box, because it was cosmetic. I told them that Ohio Edison was requiring it because they said if it's not fixed it could become a fire hazard. So how is that cosmetic? (other than a burned down house wouldn't look very nice). She put me on hold, came back, and said "Oh, okay. We'll cover it." But the electrical contractor they first sent out wasn't qualified to do that work (wtf?) so they'd have to send someone else. Which they haven't yet, so I'll have to call them again tomorrow.

Groovy. The joys of homeownership.

However, another of the joys of a new home is discovering hidden treasures. I once again failed to take a good 'before' picture of this, but nevertheless, in the Dining Room of Doom, the former owners had put in a dropped ceiling. I am not a big fan of dropped ceilings, and that room was dark and cave-like as it was, the dropped ceiling really didn't help. I was really curious to see what was above those panels, which would determine how hard changing the ceiling was going to be. I had no idea - knowing that room used to be a porch that was later built in to a full interior room, I figured it could well be about anything. Or maybe nothing, maybe just open all the way to the roof rafters.

The other night I finally had to know, so I took a broom handle and lifted up one of the panels. What I found astounded me. Having a hard time believing it, I quickly shifted several of the panels out of the way, and sure enough - there it was.


A beautiful wood board ceiling. In perfect condition. I was totally thrilled! I mean, that's a great ceiling. I have no issue with that. It's charming, it's got character. It's beautiful!

I have been very concerned with this room, because every single thing in it needed something done to it, and I was kind of overwhelmed by there being so much to do. I was afraid that it was going to involve major (and expensive) renovation, basically gutting the whole room and rebuilding it - something we aren't ready for this year - but I didn't know how long I could live with that room in it's current incarnation.

But once I saw that ceiling, that changed everything ... because now there was one thing that didn't need anything done to it (other than the dropped ceiling taken out) to lighten and open up the room. Which meant I did in fact have options to 'fix' this room, this year, soon, and for relatively little expense.

Yesterday and today the Dread Reverend took down the dropped ceiling and re-wired the light (which had formerly been attached directly to one of the ceiling panels). The difference is amazing!




Yep. It's gonna be gorgeous. Those places where the top of the paneling is uneven don't matter, because we're going to put up a wide molding strip along that edge, painted in a contrasting color. I don't know if many people put a line of molding 6" down from the ceiling, but ... yeah, I don't care. I'm keen on using what works, and I think it'll look kind of interesting - if it's done well.

In light of this discovery, I am ready to start tackling the renovation of this room. The first thing we're going to do is paint the paneling, instead of ripping it all out and re-doing the walls like I initially considered.

We're also going to get a new door.

This one is too dark for this room, not only in its surface color, but in that a solid door in a room that already doesn't get enough natural light isn't working for me. On top of that, it has that big mail slot in it which isn't working right, it doesn't close all the way, and there's no seal on it anymore. This is probably one of the largest contributors to this room being so cold back in February and March (although it's not the only one - there are other cold air issues that have to be dealt with in the dining room and kitchen). We did start stuffing a detachable coat hood in it every night, which helped a little, but ... not enough.

What I'd like to put in this door's place is something like this. (no mail slot - we'll install an actual mailbox outside)


It would let so much more light into that room. Of course, it needs super, super insulated glass. Pella sells one that has triple-pane Low-E insulating glass with argon. I'm sure it's expensive, but if I'm going to stick an all-glass door in a room that I already have trouble keeping warm in winter, I want the most insulated door I can get my hands on.

We're also going to be getting rid of this silly shelf.


Yeah, I'm sure it served a purpose when they put it there, and it is handy for accumulating junk (hence the fact we've got stuff laying on it despite I can't stand it ... it's just too convenient). I haven't decided what's going in that big useless "window" between the kitchen and dining room, although the Dread Reverend had a really awesome idea involving water that I'd like to explore.

We're going to replace the carpet too, with something lighter in color. I initially wanted something like stone tile, but the Dread Reverend's all about a low, close-weave carpet. I don't think I have an issue with that (it might help with warming up the room in winter), and it shouldn't cost much at all since it's such a small room.

So - paint, a door, carpet, and something with that shelf. Then we can start on phase 2 - banquette seating, and a display area for my mom's china.

There's every chance that the room which was initially my least favorite in the house could well end up being one of my favorites - at least initially, because it'll be the room that I get to completely re-do to our own personal tastes, wall to wall. Most of the other rooms, for the time being I'm still stuck with at least certain elements of the former owners' decorating style. Like the wallpaper all through the downstairs. Yeah, it's all nice wallpaper, no hideous ugly patterns, but it's not what I'd choose. Eventually we'll replace it, but not right away, so for now I have to decorate around it.

But that dining room is going to be totally our own creation. It's going to go from hate to love in very short order.