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Monthly Archives: August 2017

Even More Air Conditioning Problems?

Hello blog readers! Apparently we have a posting trend going this summer, and it’s the proper use of air conditioning filters! I know, the excitement on this topic can be felt around the world…but at least it’s a distraction from current events.

Yep, that duct goes nowhere. But the one that works is the shiny one.

So, we’ve already talked about the water issues in our Blue Ridge rental property and the BIG problems with the drain pipe at the Bobcat house. Those were both solved by using the correct filters.

And by the way, Carol wants everyone to know that she’s pretty sure the some of the bubbling floors at Blue Ridge are caused by the tenant mopping the wood floor with a very wet mop. Plus, Russell found a leak in the shower, which explains more of it. Aha. Still, the filters WERE a problem.

Hint: don’t wet mop wood floors, either. They make really nice products for cleaning laminate and hardwoods. We love that Bona stuff (not paid advertising).

Next?

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Racing to the Finish Line with Meadow Arbor 2

kitchen

The kitchen is going to look modern and clean when the cabinets are installed.

Our team in San Antonio, led by our project manager, Frank Davey, is moving very quickly through the rehab of the Meadow Arbor 2 house. We hope the new tenants across the street (hooray, Meadow Arbor 1 really IS leased!) are enjoying watching them work.

Last week we showed you that the outside was painted. This week, the inside also got painted a nice neutral gray color with white trim. The kitchen is also gray and white. The cabinet doors were in the process of being painted white the day these pictures were taken.

LR

The living room sure looks big, even with all the cabinets in it.

This living room photo also shows the kitchen cabinets! How handy. This room looks so big painted the way it is. And you can see some of the bedrooms in the gallery below. These used to be brightly colored and trashed by kids. Ah, not anymore!

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More Air Conditioner Filter Issues?

We recently shared some scary photos of water damage to a rental property, along with a stern admonition to be sure your tenants change the filters and avoid the really fancy, sensitive ones. Little did we know that it was just the beginning of our air conditioning issues. And those issues point to a larger issue of keeping tabs on workmanship in the properties we rehabilitate. Take our Bobcat Lair as an example, and take plumbing before we even talk about air conditioners.

A small amount of the stuff that was left in my “finished” bathtub. That sure hurt to sit on!

Bobcat. Will You Ever Be Finished?

Well, the answer to that is probably no, but Anita and I have been finishing off the punch list ourselves, other than a few items we just can’t do. While we could scrape the large mounds of drywall compound out of our tub and remove the purple PVC adhesive from its surface (only dulled the finish a BIT to use acetone), we could not make the tub actually WORK. You see, the Previous Plumber had managed to lose the handle to the extremely fancy faucet, so we could not fill it with water. And, as I’ve mentioned before, the the Previous Plumber installed the tub with the drain and its access panel in FRONT of the tub, rather than at the rear against the wall. To make matters worse, I was informed that it was fine; I was just being a picky client, and that most tubs are installed that way (just none that I have ever seen in magazines, books, television shows, or in person).

Look! I filled the tub myself! And the access panel can’t be seen.

Eventually, a different plumber finally showed up to address these issues. New Plumber went to move the tub surround to the rear (so that the plastic access panel was at least in the back), when he realized that the pipe from the tub overflow to the main drain was just resting in place, not glued in. If someone had tried to take a bath and sat in the tub, it would have slipped down and caused a flood. Wow, thank goodness that faucet handle was missing! He and Anita managed to get that fixed, and the tub now looks OK. The faucet stream barely makes it into the tub, but that’s fine. It doesn’t leak.

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Roadrunner Update: Week 8

Brick house with siding upstairs.

Ruben’s crew almost finished painting the exterior of the Roadrunner house this week.

Old brick is really thirsty. That’s something we learned again this week. The brick at Roadrunner kept drinking up the sealer and paint like a football player drinks Gatorade. Well, at least the house didn’t spit any of the paint back out. Other than getting some of the kitchen appliances installed, painting the exterior is pretty much all that happened this week.

I think the new paint colors go really well with the shingles. We’ll paint the top of the bay window red like the trim.

Tell us what you think about the color choices. I think Sue Ann did a really good job once again.

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Adventures in Ribbon Cutting

We’re really grateful to the Cameron Chamber of Commerce for welcoming us so warmly to Cameron. They hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to bring publicity to our little business and help us meet other business owners, government workers, and neighbors. We held the ceremony last Friday and could not have been more pleased and surprised to see the large turnout!

office

Our office, all decked out, plus me, in my official but rather large shirt.

Mandi and I had decorated the office house up in a patriotic “USA” theme, since it’s close to Labor Day, and Mandi devised an All-American theme of snacks including fries in cups of catsup (real cute), home-made macaroni and cheese, mini corn dogs, red-white-and-blue ice cream (I contributed that, thanks to Blue Bell), chocolate chip cookies, and cheese with US flag toothpicks. We’re leaving the outside stuff up for Labor Day.

Between our publicity and the great work Melanie Reed and her team at the Chamber has done, we managed to bring in a lot of nice, friendly folks. Of course our upstairs neighbors at Andress & 3 were there, plus Jeremy and Courtney from the Bling Box, Rose from KMIL The Ranch radio station, Richard Crowe and Glen Laurence (our wonderful bankers from Buckholts State Bank), Monica and Bobby Schiller from the Milam County Community Theater (of which we are a sponsor), Lindsey Vaculin and the team from the Cameron Herald, Gene and Rene Goecke of Carquest Auto Parts and many of Lee’s new friends from the Rotary Club, a couple of bonus county officials, and George, an interested neighbor who’d been following our Facebook adventures. Whew! Continue reading →

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