Week ending 7/10/09

On Monday I worked for half an hour on the windows. I tried to do some prep but need to set aside a big chunk of time. I'm working on undoing some crappy nailing by contractor. He volunteered to put up some trim on the windows, but the nail he used won't drive all the way in. Curiously he left them sticking out a half an inch. I need to remove them and use nail gun and finish nails like he should have originally. Hopefully by Thursday the prep will be done, and then I can do the next coat on Friday or Monday.

On Thursday, I spent 2.5 hours fixing the contractors work. I replaced the bad nails with finish nails and prepped the office window. The progress feels good, any progress really. The windows look a lot cleaner and better already.

On Friday, I had a horrible incident with a company I hired to wash the windows. They were so dirty from the construction that I couldn't get them clean myself. I had hired a company once before and they did a great job so I thought it was a good idea. The short story is that through a combination of bad judgment, stupidity and laziness, they damaged my windows really badly. I'm in for a battle with them. I was absolutely sick after spending so much time hand finishing them. I spent half an hour putting up new paper on the windows, which I never thought I would have to do again. I thought the next time I put anything up on the windows it would be the shade.

Speaking of shades, the new shade came and it fits perfectly. It has a smaller bracket than the prior shade since I stepped down from 3/4" to 3/8" pleats. The new bracket will be much easier to install and I may not even have to be as precise as I would have had to be with the larger bracket.

276.5 hours on the windows to date

Here is a shot of the damage done to the windows. The dogs were freaking out because I wasn't there. It was a Friday afternoon and instead of waiting for me to get there, like I specified twice when booking the service, the crew went ahead and started. The dogs scratched the heck out of the beautiful woodwork and tore the window coverings down.