This morning dawned bright and beautiful without any rain clouds in sight.  I know that the farmers need the rain and I’m very glad we’ve gotten some, but I was hoping for a dry day today so that the roof leak could be repaired.  Prayers answered.

The roof repairman arrived on time (hooray!) and surveyed the damage.  The good news is that our roof is in great shape.  The bad news is that the skylight had developed a leak.  I was worried about that.  Skylights are nice, but they eventually leak no matter what you do and we have two of them.  The “repair” that was done pre-purchase of the home wasn’t done correctly.  Whoever fixed it basically climbed up there with a caulk gun and put a bead of caulk around the edge.  They might as well have stuck a bunch of chewed-up bubble gum in there.  Not only was it the incorrect type of caulk, but it wasn’t applied correctly.  You need to use a trowel and spread the caulk out in all directions, both onto the roof and onto the glass.  Simply plugging in the leak will delay the need for a full repair, but it’s nothing more than a cheap, quick fix.  In other words, nothing more than the bare minimum to hold over for a couple of months.

No surprise here, but the warranty company excludes skylights.  What a shocker!  Oh well, moving on.

I’ve made up a list of 10 tasks for our home DIY updates and put them in a semi-prioritized order.  Lists help me stay on track and know where to go from there.  I’m limiting it to 10 because if I put up any more than that at this moment, then it will overwhelm me!

1. Finish the laundry room side of trim around play room door.

2. Finish baseboards in play room.

3. Finish crown molding in play room.

4. Remove broken guest room ceiling light.

5. Install dry wall patch around light opening and install ceiling fan.

6. Paint guest room walls.

7. Paint guest room baseboards and trim.

8. Replace guest room closet doors.

9. Paint interior of above-the-commode cabinet that I purchased at World Market (naturally I see it, think “Yes, that’s perfect – I just need to change almost everything about it.” and take it home to add to my work load).

10. Find an above-the-sink mirror for the hall bathroom.

So there you have it.  Ten items that I would like to cross off by the end of August.  Anyone who wants to fly out to Williamsburg and help me is more than welcome (though you’ll have to stay in a guest room with a broken ceiling light!).