Home Improvement

Like every man...I feel it is my right, and my privilege as a man to be able to fix anything...install anything...pretty much improve anything mechanically related in my home.

Sunday afternoon, I took on the window-unit A/C. Our home is actually half of a duplex which we rent from an absolutely, incredibly generous woman from church. We'll call her Ms. English (cause that's her name). Our half of the duplex does not have central heat and air. We have a gas furnace downstairs for heat, and window A/C units (one in the dining room and one in the spare bedroom upstairs). After a few "nights of a 1000 fans", we decided to install another window-unit in our bedroom. Brilliant idea, I thought...

We had just gotten home from church and a lovely lunch at Jason's Deli (Praise God for free ice cream), and I decided that afternoon would be the afternoon the deed would be done. I began to scope out the landscape of the window, taking mental measurements and imagining the several calls I was sure to receive for guest appearances on In A Fix...

That was pretty much the last time anything went smoothly...

It all began with having to take the window unit we had purchased back to Home Depot because it was cracked. After exchanging it for another and purchasing some additional supplies, it was back to the house. I opened everything up and began to read the installation directions that came with the window unit...
I don't know who writes these things...I'm sure they have more than a 3rd grade education, but wow...not really all that helpful. Confusing was more like it.
To make matters really interesting, the storm windows we have caused me to have to "build up" the existing window sill in order for the A/C unit to fit securely and correctly. So...I drove to the in-laws house, got some wood, came back to the house only to discover I had no nails long enough to work. Luckily, Laura volunteered to run to Walmart. Thanks babe.
After nailing the wood down in at least 3 different places before finding "the sweet spot" (see earlier description of the enclosed directions), I had to lift the unit into place. That went better than expected, but because our windows are so HUGE (i.e. old house) I then had to fill in the remaining side gaps with plywood and caulk.
This is where the power tools came into play. I have a skill saw that I have used once or twice before, but no saw horses...You'd be surprised how multidimensional a good set of porch steps can be though. The cutting went right along with the rest of the afternoon now turning night. Sawdust spraying everywhere...scratched up goggles making it difficult to see the line I had so meticulously drawn...tempers flaring (ever so slightly) as I realized I had to cut more because the original measurements were incorrect (after putting everything back up)...then there was the caulking. This is an art form that has skipped past my array of talents.

Finally, after 6 hours of hammering, lifting, prying up what was just hammered, hammering again, measuring, drawing, sawing...sawing some more, lifting again, fitting, sealing, caulking, sweating, but never cursing...it was finally over. We have A/C in our bedroom now!! Hallelujah!!
My work here...is done.