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Tag Archives: air conditioning

TWO WEEKS! A Rattlesnake Surprise

Mandi points out where her tub will sit, and the cool piping for the shower head.

Friday afternoon Mandi and I took a jaunt out to the Rattlsnake House, since I hadn’t seen it in a couple of weeks. I saw lots of things, but most important is what I heard, with my own two ears. Garry said, “I’m hoping it will be two weeks and we’ll be done!” And he was even smiling. Well, I’m holding him to it. Two weeks. Counting down…

Progress

Garry was working hard on tiling the master bathroom and laundry room when we dropped by. The first thing I noticed, though, was that it was very cool in the house. Why, there’s actual air conditioning in there! The two big units, supplemented by two smaller ones, are getting the job done, and we didn’t have to do ductwork or anything. Good decision, us!

The master bathroom drew most of my excited gasps, however. Mandi really did downscale that “dream tub” of hers, and will now have a gorgeous rustic setup with a genuine galvanized water trough as its base. It’s going to look really rustic and nice. Chris did a great job on the plumbing, too. The copper pipes are just wonderful.

Yes, that’s the tub. The silver thing.

Of course, it was great to see all the floor trim and to know all the baseboard trim is ready to install as soon as the rest of the flooring goes in. It takes a lot of time to get all the trim ready to go, and it really makes the house look finished.

The upstairs bath is almost ready, too, all tiled and grouted, with the vanity and mirror up, window trim, and the toilet ready to go in as soon as we get the wax ring for it. Then up will go the shower walls!

Even Something Outside!

And lo and behold, there is now fencing up to be Mandi’s “dog run,” and it has a gate so a lawn mower can come in! Now the whole family has a place to be. Plus they have a dog door and the infamous “dog closet” that is under the stairs.

By next week there should be toilets and running water to the bathrooms. I’m looking forward to seeing what quaint solution the team comes up with for the kitchen.

More Pix

Here are photos of most of the things I talked about in this blog.

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Let There Be Light at Rattlesnake!

That big hole is where someday the a/c unit will live. If it has a sleeve.

Hi everyone! This post is a collaboration between me and Mandi. That let us hang out a bit before I go to scenic Irving, Texas to hang out with people from my previous career.

Anyway, Chris and Garry were busy this week and got all the light fixtures installed, and they are getting ready for the air conditioner installation. We are really happy to see the lights, because they make it look more like a real house! They make the empty white box look a lot more like a country home! Their rustic qualities will look great with the kitchen cabinets that Mandi and her dad are going to put in.

But whoops, we realize that one of the fixtures we bought is not there. The lovely dining room fixture! The big fan is where it should go. Mandi says Chris was wondering why there was one open fan box. That’s because one fixture didn’t get installed. It’s in the warehouse at the office, along with part of the master bathroom vanity. Those need to get moved.

Uh, back to the rustic stuff. Even the inexpensive doors we put in look nice with all the dark accents. (By the way, Mandi WILL replace the doors once those darn kids are older and less destructive.)

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It’s Summer. How’s Your Contractor Doing?

This part of the house was sheltered. Much of the time, this guy was working in the blazing sun. This was Septermber.

I always wondered how people who build and renovate houses manage to make is through the summer. And summer is especially hot here in Texas!

When the amazing brick specialist was putting the limestone on our ranch house (see photo at right), I noticed that when he was in the sun, he always had his head completely covered, and drank water constantly. I think, secretly, that he’d built up a resistance to heat, like Lee’s farmer father did. A cool head keeps the rest of you cool, for sure, as does wetting a cloth and putting it on your neck.

Where there are teams building the infrastcture for a new neighborhood between Austin and Cameron, I have noticed that there are a couple of small trailers set up like gazebos, with benches and a roof for shade. Each has one of those misting fans at one end. That has got to be a welcome spot for breaks.

That’s a big fan, isn’t it?

Workers who are inside the house before there’s air conditioning set up can hope that there’s a lot of insulation, like we have at the Rattlesnake house. It really hasn’t been too bad in there. Plus, Chris has some massive fans. Moving the air helps a LOT. We do have a few window air conditioners now, and this week, where it’s been over 100F and very humid, I would not be surprised to find out those boxes have been opened. If it was me, ceiling fans would go in very quicjky, too!

If you’re a redeveloper, make sure your GC is treating the teams well. Heat stroke is not fun, and pushing people to work longer for some deadline is not worth risking their health.

 

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Mandi to the Air Conditioning Rescue, Etc.

Patsy Catsy just hides under the house when it’s hot. What a cutie!

The air conditioning system at the Cameron office suddenly stopped working last week. That was making it hard for Sue Ann and Mandi to work there. It takes a while to get somone out to look at air conditioners in the middle of summer, so poor Mandi was having to work at night or early in the mornings.

Luckily, someone on our team has some common sense. Last night, Mandi checked, and sure enough, we’d forgotten to change the filters. Poor system was just tired of trying to push through the dust.

We feel like the renters we always complain about who don’t do their monthly filter changes! Glad this one wasn’t so expensive.

So the lesson is: change your A/C filters, people! Including us.

Got Any Money? Want It to Make You More?

We’ve actually been looking at quite a few houses lately, and have another prospect our fingers are crossed for. We’re looking for some private money lenders for one of the houses, so if you would like to help us out, give us a call at 512-807-8777 or hit me up for Lee’s private number. Continue reading →

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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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