Window installment

Today we switched out windows. Some weeks back, when the windows were delivered, DH realized he needed to distribute them around the house to make it easy for the framers to put them in the right window holes. So he put each window next to the opening it was supposed to go into.

They all look identical, except that some open and some do not. However, some are required by code to be tempered glass, such as the one at the bottom of the stairs; that way, should you fall down the stairs, you will not crash through the window like a character in an old western. Instead, you’ll crash against the window, which may fragment, but it will not shatter, so you’ll have a concussion and possibly broken bones, but at least you won’t be impaled by a million shards of glass. Always look on the bright side, I say.

At any right, the tempered ones look just like the non-tempered ones, except for the tiny word “tempered” on the window sticker. So the tempered window intended for the bottom of the stairwell accidentally got installed in the bedroom, while the identical non-tempered one for the bedroom got installed at the bottom of the stairwell.

Upon discovering the mistake, DH asked the framers to come back and switch them, but then he mentioned he’d probably accidentally put them in the wrong spots himself. So they did not come back to switch them.

This concerned me, since they are large windows, fairly high up, but it went more smoothly than I expected. Yes, DH had to totter on a ladder as we lifted windows in and out of the holes. Yes, he left me standing there balancing one while he went off to look for the dog, who has an annoying habit of wandering off at inopportune times. And a second time – this time precariously clutching the balanced window by its frame from the inside -- while he rummaged through a box looking for his caulk gun and swore. (I swore, too.)

The second incident happened because he realized, after we got the window in place, that we’d forgotten to caulk it. So, after he found his caulk gun, and the caulk, and got them in working order, he held the window from inside by the frame, while I ran outside, and tottered on the ladder balancing the window as he leaned it out from the hole and applied caulk. Then we pushed it back into place and I held it there as he ran outside and climbed the ladder to hold it there, while I climbed down and ran back inside to hold onto it while he nailed it into place.

We could double as a circus act.

But in the end, the windows were installed in the correct locations, and we did not drop them or put them in upside down, and nobody fell off any ladders. Yay, us.

He also has started installing the wiring. So far, this looks less like progress than a mess: there are blue plastic boxes nailed to the walls and ceilings at intervals, and wires that you aren’t supposed to step on lying all over the floor. But it has to get done before the insulation can be installed.

We also tested the sewer pipes (no leaks! Hooray!), and ordered our stove and refrigerator. This is quite an exciting development. Also kind of an unfortunate one, because we aren’t actually going to be ready for them for some time. But we didn’t want to miss out on a good sale price.

That was an adventure of its own.

I’d been watching the prices for weeks, and they had both been on sale for ten percent off, which was still quite a bit more than we wanted to pay. There were no indications it was going to go any lower. But on Memorial Day weekend, a big appliance store put a notice on its website that you had to call to find out the price, for both the fridge and the stove. This usually indicates a special price deal. It said that for two stove colors; slate and black stainless steel. Neither was a color I was longing for but I didn’t really care; so long as the price was good, I’d be fine with avocado green. Actually, I kind of like avocado green appliances. Must be a side effect of having grown up in the 70s.

The fridge only comes in a weird painted platinum, but we didn’t care about that, either. DH is going to build it a nice insulated wooden cabinet. The stove color we’ll have to live with, but we can do that.

So I called, first about the fridge.

“We only had one, and it sold,” the salesman said.

“Oh,” I said.

There was a pause. Then he added, “but it could be ordered.” For the same price as the one that had sold, he told me; $170 lower than the price I’d been watching.

“How long is that good for?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said.

Well, alrighty then. I hung up to await consultation with DH, who was out running errands. But in the meantime, I found the stove page, and instructions to call for those prices. So I did, and got a different salesman. He quoted me a price that was $300 lower than the one I’d been watching. Much excitement ensued.

We consulted, and then I called another store we preferred, and after a few hours got a previous salesman we had liked, but he said he couldn’t match the price. So I began trying to reconnect with salesman number two. This also took some hours. Eventually, I got annoyed and talked to a different one, who quoted me a higher price. I expressed frustration, which magically resulted in finally getting connected with the salesman I’d been trying to reach all afternoon.

He agreed with the stove price he’d earlier quoted me, although he claimed to have made a mistake about the color available; now it was only available at that price in stainless steel. Fine, I said.

Next he said he couldn’t give me the refrigerator price I’d been quoted by salesman number one, whose name I had neglected to collect. Instead, he offered it for $19 less than the price I’d been watching. I did not like that price. He decided he could drop it to $70 less.

DH also got him to agree to waive the delivery charge. Happiness.

Shortly afterward, the salesman called back and told me he’d made a mistake and quoted me too low a price on the stove because he’d gotten the model number wrong. I’d given him the correct model number. He said, however, that he was still going to honor it. Well, good.

But we still have to drive all the way to the (far-off) store to complete the transaction. There will be some trepidation until that is done. DH did, however, get him to e-mail a sales agreement, so at least we do have proof.

And so, the adventure continues. As I write these words, it is raining. It has been raining for several days. About a week in, DH noticed that the siding, which is sitting in piles around the house, said on the label, which we possibly should have read, that it’s supposed to be kept dry. Whoops. But, for crying out loud, it’s Siding! Its purpose in life is to sit on the outside of the house and protect it from things like, you know, rain. Does that not mean it should be impervious to rain???

But I am resolutely not thinking about it. It will straighten out when it’s nailed onto the house, right?!

Right.