Too much stuff

Since I last wrote, we have finished the last jobs at one house and went back to working on another.

This was a claw foot tub that had been "built in" by the former owner. Although I have 2 daughters-in-law who thought it was a great tub, it is gone!!

Replaced by a modern tub and shower with tile surround.

The old sink is gone to recycling.

I built a new vanity and put a different top on it. That finished up the house, we rented it, and moved on.

Once the demo is finished, the first job on  a house is getting the walls fixed and painted.

A newly painted wall makes a bedroom look so much better.

You could see daylight around the front door.

It was a tight fit for the new one. Micah and I were getting worried that we had the door out and were going to have to cut into the top plate. A Saturday, open hole where the door was and if we had to cut the opening taller, a permit is needed before you can install the door. I think we both breathed a little easier when that door slid in after cutting the trim work narrower.

Have gotten a good start on the kitchen as well.

New back door 3 weeks ago. New floor went in today.

Fridge is purchased and waiting to be brought in. We still need a gas range.

Living room walls needed some work, but that is complete.

All painted and the floor is about ready for a new coat of polyurethane. 

I was contacted by a tenant that there was a cold air leak at the head of her tub. I had already cleared half the stuff off the shelf when I took this picture. First of all, I know I am a male and bald so I have very little need for anything more than 1 bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap. Still, really, how many bottles does one use?

I hate clearing off other peoples stuff to do a project they have requested. This woman actually had a lot less stuff to move than the last bath room I had to work in. If you want something changed, it would be nice if I didn't have to move all the stuff. I get calls that there is a leak under a kitchen sink. I get there to check it out and about half the time the cupboard under the sink is stacked full. Not just 1 layer but actually stacked full to right under the sink. There have been times I have wondered if the kitchen floor was big enough to stack all the supplies that are stored under the sink. How do they find anything if they need to use it?  Maybe that is why they have so much stuff stacked in the cupboards, it's easier to buy another bottle than find the one they already have.

On the last house 6 pickup loads of junk had to be carried out and disposed of.

This was the back porch  of the house we are working on now, when I first looked at the house. Maybe a little too much stuff.

I am trying to get our storage building emptied down a ways. The kitchen floor Micah installed today, came out of storage. The wood for the vanity and the sink in the previous house bathroom, came out of storage.  The tile for the tub surround in that house, mostly came out of storage. The paint for the walls this week, came out of storage. 

It's time to use up what we have and get the clutter cleaned up.

Sometimes it's not just the stuff we have that is cluttering up our lives. Sometimes it's what we think is important but really isn't, that is cluttering up our lives. I decided a couple of years back, the only thing that was going to matter to me was building God's kingdom. That's it. Now I am not saying there are not weeks where I have to remind myself at the end of the week, "you let the things of this world clutter up your life, Royce, get your priorities back where they belong". 

But I tell you that if you let God use you to impact others and don't worry about what's in it for you, you can let your worries go and be free to see God at work. And life becomes so clutter free. I don't worry about "my rights" because God's kingdom building comes before my rights. I don't have to worry about my income because kingdom building puts you on God's payroll. He'll supply what you need. Life becomes a lot simpler. Even when things look like they are headed in the wrong direction, you know God is working and it will all work out in the end.

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. who have been called according to his purpose.

 

Shiny

We used to use satin polyurethane, now we use gloss. It makes the floors shiny. I don't know how easy it is to keep them clean and shiny,

but it really impresses prospective tenants. "The floors are so shiny" is what I hear now. It does give a clean new look to old wood floors.

Started work on a house we had purchased back in October. Even though we owned the house the previous owner was still living in it. He had several misfortunes happen one after another. Had 2 relatives die. Just finishing quarantine after traveling out of state for one funeral when they had to go to another funeral for a very unexpected death. They stayed in a hotel room with another couple. The other couple were infectious with covid. The owner's wife was hospitalized a week later with covid. I was telling how we owned a house but did not have possession for close to 60 days at Thanksgiving. I said I can't kick a man out of the house while his wife is in the hospital. Katie replied, "well you can ,but it would make you a bad person". Believe it or not, I do try to avoid being a bad person most days.

It is hard to see in this photo, there are 7 broken windows in the back 3 seasons room.

They were covered by plastic. Most of them by black plastic.

Got those all repaired this week. The center window's bottom pane looks like it is missing. That pane is plexiglass. It doesn't reflect light as well as the regular glass panes. Oskaloosa glass repaired 2  panes with plexiglass. They are installed differently than the others and did not want the glass to break. 

When I walked through the house before we purchased it, I told the owner he shouldn't have his ceiling fan wired this way. Box should be in the ceiling. Wire should be romax running in the attic. There should be a romax connector in the hole in the box. He assured me that an electrician had told him it was up to code. Yea, I don't think so.

Knowing how the bedroom light was wired made me check out more of the wiring. Opened up the porch wall to find this lovely connection. Just bent the neutral wire and hooked it over the feed. Oh the fires we could start.

Found the same thing above the ceiling fan in the porch.

Then there was this lovely set up also behind the paneling. Connections can not be made behind a wall. They must be in an accessible box. I found this while trying to trace why there was no current in the garage. Yea, one of those hook the load neutral wires over the feed had failed and almost burned through. There is a reason for the code.

I started out with pictures of a shining floor. We are called to be a light shining in our world. The space around us should be lit by our reflecting God dwelling in us. Like the difference between glass and plexiglass, we also don't always reflect God to our community as we should.

Sometimes we try to take shortcuts to make our life easier. Sometimes we ignore the laws and rules God has given us. That will make our lives become dark as we fail and no longer have the current of God flowing through us.

I need to think carefully about how my words and actions are seen in my community. Am I shiny? Reflecting God to everyone I meet. Do others know I care about them and love them because God is calling me to pass on the love he has shown me?