Well the need was there, Craiglist brought in the funds, and Chris is always in need of a good project. Let me first sing his praises. I am very blessed that my husband not only has the ability to complete these handyman tasks around the house, but also that he enjoys doing them. Having said that, I am always a little nervous when the project begins. In our short marriage, Chris has managed to complete countless home improvements, but has also busted 3 pipes to date.
The first pipe busted was the main water line to our old house. The picture to the right (circa 2005) shows Chris just hours before. Oh, my handsome barefoot builder... He was building the deck at our old house and was using the post hole digger. It wasn't really his fault though. It was dark (after 9pm), he had finished a bottle of wine (alone), and it was a new house. How was he supposed to know the pipes were right where the deck supports should go? No big deal, our neighbor came over in his bathrobe to search for the main shut off. The second broken pipe occurred while updating the bathroom. There was a border of orange tile that we decided to cover with baseboards. Instead of cutting the boards down, he tried to wedge the 6 foot board behind the sink and toilet. The board wasn't very "bendable" and managed to slip and crack the plumbing behind the toilet. We needed to replace those old crumbly pipes and test out the shop vac anyways. The plumber made a late-night house call, and that was that. The third instance was at our new house. Apparently the old owners cemented the white vinyl fence, surrounding our pool, to the irrigation pipes. Genius. I'm proud to say, Chris really honed his plumbing skills after breaking those pipes.
So post hole digger in hand, Brittany Spaniels on guard, wife ready with flexed muscles and a power drill, he set out to complete this daunting task. It's been several weeks since this project was initially started. He was averaging about 3 posts and 2 panels every couple of days. I went out of town for the weekend for a Bachelorette Party and I get a call. While removing an old fence panel, he was hitting it with the hammer and it went crashing down, only to meet the old familiar pipe. These stupid pipes were coming out of the side of the house. A plumber was called, the pipes were fixed, and Chris was assured that it could have been much worse. So. Good. To. Know.
It's a beautiful fence and he has done an excellent job, so far. I know it will be finished one day. It's actually on his list of things to complete by 2010! You're probably wondering, what's the hold up? Giant tree roots. So the fence building has been put on hold until that problem can be resolved. Should we kill our neighbors tree, or have a jagged or unfinished fence? I think we should reflect on the old adage,
good fences make good neighbors. I don't remember any old sayings about a healthy root system making good neighbors, so I think we are safe to proceed. Timberrrrrr!
Well the need was there, Craiglist brought in the funds, and Chris is always in need of a good project. Let me first sing his praises. I am very blessed that my husband not only has the ability to complete these handyman tasks around the house, but also that he enjoys doing them. Having said that, I am always a little nervous when the project begins. In our short marriage, Chris has managed to complete countless home improvements, but has also busted 3 pipes to date. 
The first pipe busted was the main water line to our old house. The picture to the right (circa 2005) shows Chris just hours before. Oh, my handsome barefoot builder... He was building the deck at our old house and was using the post hole digger. It wasn't really his fault though. It was dark (after 9pm), he had finished a bottle of wine (alone), and it was a new house. How was he supposed to know the pipes were right where the deck supports should go? No big deal, our neighbor came over in his bathrobe to search for the main shut off. The second broken pipe occurred while updating the bathroom. There was a border of orange tile that we decided to cover with baseboards. Instead of cutting the boards down, he tried to wedge the 6 foot board behind the sink and toilet. The board wasn't very "bendable" and managed to slip and crack the plumbing behind the toilet. We needed to replace those old crumbly pipes and test out the shop vac anyways. The plumber made a late-night house call, and that was that. The third instance was at our new house. Apparently the old owners cemented the white vinyl fence, surrounding our pool, to the irrigation pipes. Genius. I'm proud to say, Chris really honed his plumbing skills after breaking those pipes.
So post hole digger in hand, Brittany Spaniels on guard, wife ready with flexed muscles and a power drill, he set out to complete this daunting task. It's been several weeks since this project was initially started. He was averaging about 3 posts and 2 panels every couple of days. I went out of town for the weekend for a Bachelorette Party and I get a call. While removing an old fence panel, he was hitting it with the hammer and it went crashing down, only to meet the old familiar pipe. These stupid pipes were coming out of the side of the house. A plumber was called, the pipes were fixed, and Chris was assured that it could have been much worse. So. Good. To. Know. 
It's a beautiful fence and he has done an excellent job, so far. I know it will be finished one day. It's actually on his list of things to complete by 2010! You're probably wondering, what's the hold up? Giant tree roots. So the fence building has been put on hold until that problem can be resolved. Should we kill our neighbors tree, or have a jagged or unfinished fence? I think we should reflect on the old adage, good fences make good neighbors. I don't remember any old sayings about a healthy root system making good neighbors, so I think we are safe to proceed. Timberrrrrr! 
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