OMG! Lots of Windows Being Replaced This Week: Ideas? Advice?
It's the middle of January. In the mountains of New Mexico. During one of the coldest, wettest winters on record. OMG, what the heck were we thinking?!? (Sigh!) Anyhoo, we're having most of the windows and door walls replaced by Anderson Windows this Thursday and Friday, barring any weather related hold ups. And, thankfully, the weather forecast for those days is supposed to be pretty decent . . . but we all know how those can be off (LOL). Thankfully, none of our 15 skylights are being replaced, but it's still a LOT of windows coming out and going in and I'm starting to feel very, very stressed and overwhelmed.
Of all the rooms in this house, only the study, dining room, front foyer, and master bathroom won't be having windows replaced. The laundry room, bedroom hallway and 2 other bathrooms have skylights but no windows.
Have any of you gone through something similar? I could really use some helpful ideas on how to handle all of this.
We've been told by the Anderson Window people that for this install:
- To have all curtains/drapes and rods removed.
- Move all furniture back at least 4-5 feet from any window or door wall being replaced.
- Move all patio furniture off the patios where door walls are being replaced.
- To remove any artwork from the wall around a window being replaced.
- Keep pets corralled and safely away from workers.
Have you see our house?!? OMG, there is artwork and furniture everywhere!
- Drapes & Rods: I can handle taking all the drapes and curtains down. Unlike most homes, we don't have all that many as our home is surrounded by several acres of our own land, as is all of our neighbors. DD is still home from college on Winter Break. She can get the rods down. I wonder if I have to remove the rod holders, too?
- Our 2 Dogs: we're thinking we can put their crates in our large master bathroom. Boarding kennels and day kennels are over a 30 minute drive away and the workers are arriving at 8AM both days. We wouldn't want to leave them overnight someplace.
- Furniture: They told me to move it to the middle of each room. I have a call into Anderson as to whether they bring in drop cloth type covers for the furniture and floors or should I plan on draping my furniture (including 2 cream colored linen sofas in the living room . . . ugh!) with sheets?
- Artwork, Lamps, Statues, Etc : I'm wondering just where I can store it all safely for a few days since pretty much every room is being worked on. I'm not worried about anyone stealing it, just how to keep them someplace out of the way and where they won't lean on one another denting the canvases. Our laundry room is also the exit to our garage, so I hate to pile things up in there. DH needs to work in his study every evening and he doesn't want too many things stored in there. The front foyer is one place the workers will be coming and going through. Same with the bedroom hallway. The powder room will be kept free for the workers to use. That leaves the guest bathroom and the walk-in closets in the laundry room and MBR. (Sigh) My head is spinning!
- I'm still trying to figure out what to do about my beautiful hanging light fixture (on a rod) over the sink area in our kitchen. It's surrounded by all those windows, which are all being replaced. At the moment, my idea is to take off the glass portions and bulb and store them safely in a closet for the duration. Then tie a cord to the end of the rod and gently pull it a bit toward the middle of the room and attach the cord to a sturdy nail driven into our wood ceiling. Good idea? Bad? Alternatives?
- What about the cold? It's 13-degrees here today and we still have snow on the ground from before Christmas! Do they take out a window and immediately pop in the replacement? I'm hoping that they complete one room at a time before moving on to the next. That way I could at least start working on the finished rooms when they're done. As it stands right now, pretty much every room we use all day long, except our study, will be unusable all of Thursday and Friday. Do you think that it would be too pushy to ask that they complete ours and DD's bedrooms on Thursday so that we can better sleep in there that night? I'm picturing a lot of stuff piled up on both beds with other furniture shoved right up against them during the day on Thursday.
Oh, and Friday is our wedding anniversary. Great timing, eh? We have reservations at our favorite restaurant in Santa Fe, Geronimo, for dinner that evening. Our hair may be standing on end by the time we get there, but we intend to try and enjoy our celebratory dinner.
Ok, any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.
Comments (16)
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoLynnNM
8 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (23)Hi Handel, I just saw this; perhaps you have already accomplished your project. I live not far from you, and we had a similar problem. We had a thicket of blackberry bushes covering about 1/2 acre. The bushes were tall enough that there could have been an old vehicle or two or even a small building buried underneath the vines for all we knew. We cleaned it up in a season without spending a lot, and mow this area about 3 times a year (4 times would be better). Ten years later it is still fine in the countryside setting; our uphill neighbors who drove past after we completed the project would say "good job". This is a rocky slope (darned glacial till!) with scattered mature alder trees. This is what we did: 1. Hired someone local who advertised blackberry brush clearing. He said he would turn the blackberry bushes into "chopped salad". He used a mower behind a tractor and worked slowly and patiently, chopping up a sliver, rather than a swath of brush, at a time because of the mass of vegetation. He obviously was experienced in doing this. 2. The tractor operator came back later, after the chopped vines were no longer viable, with a rototiller behind his tractor. He rototilled the slope twice, which turned under the chopped vines and helped smooth the bumpy ground into more gentle contours. 3. I hired a laborer to work by the hour, but paid more than minimum wage partly to encourage his interest in finishing the project. We raked up loose vegetation and wheelbarrowed it to a compost pile. Any visible remaining blackberry roots we ripped out with the aid of a hand cultivator. 4. We built wire bins along the fence line in which to dispose of rocks; they are mostly about golf-ball size to grapefruit size. (Our neighbors have gullies in which to toss rock, we don't.) We didn't want to leave rocks on a surface to be mowed. 5. We picked up some old downed branches from underneath the alder trees. We limbed up the trees quite high to give an open feeling to the "pasture" using a ladder and hand saw. We put the limbs through our chipper-shredder. 6. In the fall we hand seeded the area with an "ecology" grass mix. what we do now: Before mowing, we pick up rocks which have been recently turned up by moles and we check for downed alder limbs. My husband has a riding lawnmower with a mulching blade. He sets it to its highest setting. Unfortunately, on two sides of us there are abandoned horse pastures which have been overtaken by blackberry bushes. Vines intrude across the fences to attack my husband as he rides by. We manage to get out about once or twice a year to prune these back and put them through the chipper-shredder. We use a string trimmer around the trees, the rock cages and the fence line a couple of times a year. I've tried to establish more trees in this area, but not many have not survived because I haven't adequately protected them from antler rub. What I would do differently now: I would look into hiring goats for the first pass on the blackberry bushes, then follow through with mowing and rototilling. This might be more expensive, but it would be fun and a nice experiment. -m Here is a link that might be useful: Snohomish goat brush-clearing service...See MoreNeed Advice: New Construction vs. Replacement Windows
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoLynnNM
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LynnNMOriginal Author