Hick finished up his work on the back of Pony House this week, putting in gutters. He says the discoloration on the bottom of the walls can be cured with power-washing and a little bleach. I think the whole house-back needs to be painted white. Hick wants a stain.
"It ain't gettin' painted white."
"The back of the house should match the rest of the house."
"The Pony don't want the house white. He wants it blue-gray."
"Well. Then the back should be painted blue-gray."
"That will be up to The Pony."
Yeah. I'm pretty sure The Pony has not been a fan of the wood look. Anyhoo... Hick had some gravel poured behind the house. Partly to help with drainage, and partly because he was contemplating a concrete driveway coming in from the side street. So The Pony could have off-street parking, and not deal with the running water that forms along the front street during storms.
Hick met with a guy Friday night to show him the area, and tell him the plan. The guy said he would get back to Hick with an estimate.
"How much do you think that would cost?"
"Oh, probably around $3000, or $3500."
"I don't know if we can swing that right now. We've used up all the money allotted to Pony House."
"Pony has money. He can pay if he wants it. Or it will just raise the cost of his house that he's paying for."
Hick received the estimate on Saturday afternoon.
"It looks like we ain't gettin' a concrete driveway for The Pony! That guy wants $6500! That's crazy!"
"Yeah. I think The Pony can do with a gravel driveway. What will that cost?"
"I'll need another load of gravel. This one doesn't go all the way to the road. Maybe two more loads. The whole thing will come to around $450."
"That's a lot more reasonable. And gets The Pony off the street."
There's a saying around these parts. 'You can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh!t.' And also, more common: 'You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.'
One thing's for sure. We made The Pony a safe, livable house. Not the Taj Mahal.
I love the chicken salad saying, lots more colorful than the silk purse saying.
ReplyDeleteI heard that one from my principal when I was coaching the volleyball team. You might imagine the context.
DeleteThe gravel will look nice and the dirt won't get splashed on the house when it rains. I like the idea of blue/gray paint.
ReplyDeleteJust being off the street will be a plus! The water goes rushing along the curb like our flooded creek when there's a heavy rain. I think paint will do wonders for that little house.
DeleteI vote paint, send me a mail in ballot. $6500! Didn't you just buy a house for that?
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh! Maybe you can mail back 20 or 30 ballots, the better to convince Hick!
DeleteWe just bought a tree for that, with a house beside it.
Go with the gravel and let The Pony save up for concrete if he wants it. The all wood back doesn't look so bad now it's finished but paint would certainly help to weather proof it. Was the wood dark at the bottom to begin with or are those planks absorbing ground moisture? That could be a problem.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure The Pony would rather spend his own money on fancy electronical gewgaws than on concrete! The stain could also weatherproof, but I vote for paint, to match the rest of the house. The dark wood is from mud splashing up during rains.
DeleteOntario had bad weather last weekend as well, my sister had 0 power for 72hrs! One place had a tornado as well. My mom wants a shed put in and they were asking $2600 Canadian. She said nevermind!
ReplyDelete72 hours! That's worse than my paltry 21 hours! We might have had those 60 mph winds, but at least no tornado. Hick could probably build a shed for less than $2600, but the way lumber priced have skyrocketed, maybe not.
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