Summer of Spending

I've decided to let it be that.

Yesterday, I went to Lowe's (I needed a particular garden tool) and while there, made arrangements for someone to come and measure for a replacement storm door. The one I have is one of those metal-clad over plywood ones; it's quite old and the metal has started to corrode and expose the plywood. So not only does it look ugly, but when we get heavy rain, the plywood gets wet and swells up, making the door hard to open and close. And I'm sure it could be growing mold.

As fixes go, this one's fairly cheap; I think I'm looking at about $300-350 all told.

I did also look at the Pella windows in Lowe's; they're expensive but not as expensive as I thought. If I'm eligible for the "pocket" replacement (I don't know if I am; it depends on if the sills are still fairly sound) it would be within the mental budget I set for replacing them. Depending on labor. I know they say that someone who is a "competent" DIYer can do the pocket replacements themselves, and I'm arguably probably at least "competent," but it's a matter of having the time to do it - I think I'd rather pay an expert to do it (especially if the windows have shifted off true as the house settled) and then I don't have to worry about what happens to the old windows - they get hauled off for me as part of the installation fee.

And I have to admit, if new windows are more noise-deadening than the old, single-pane (or rather, multi-pane-glazed-into-a-wood-framework) windows, that would be welcome. It seems my neighbor is fostering a new dog (he's a cop and I think sometimes he "adopts" dogs that are involved in neglect cases) and it whines all the time. At least at night they take it indoors, but still, the whining gets hard to take even during the day.

So that's something else I might look into. And I would get the low-e glass, which would have the added benefit of letting less heat into the house in the summer.

I'll just have to look into it more. This is frankly something where I'm willing to pay extra to get reliable workers - a lot of my friends "know a guy" but usually when pressed, they admit that their "guy" will come and partly finish the job, then disappear. And I most definitely don't want that, ESPECIALLY when it comes to a job where they are removing a part of your house that provides protection from the outside world.

I'm thinking maybe, if I do it, I will schedule it for the time in August when classes are out, so I can be home while the workers are there, just have a couple days' block when I will be around (and also be available to move furniture and stuff; it seems like they have to be IN the house to do the window replacing, which I admit skeeves me a little bit; I don't like people tramping around my house that I don't know.)