We visited Michael, Sarah, Samantha, and Happy for three weeks over the 2022/23 Christmas and New Year Holidays. As always, they greeted us with a well-thoughtout project list of 42 items. We didn’t complete the list, but with Michael’s help during his vacation time, we knocked out much of it. Some were simple and hardly worth a mention, let alone providing photographs and explanations. Thus, this blog only captures the highlights.
They live only 2 miles from Hollywood Beach where they spend a fair amount of family time. Michael installed a simple outdoor shower to help wash off the sand each time they returned home, and it’s conveniently located at the back corner of the house near their back door. Problem: the downspout was also located there and was in the way when using the shower. They asked us to move the downspout from the corner toward the front of the house. Turned out to be really simple, only took a couple hours, and the new look was exactly what they wanted.
The family also spends time sitting on the front porch: enjoying morning coffee, cooling off during afternoon showers, having dinner cocktails, or just watching the kids play in the neighborhood. Because mosquitos are a recurring problem, Michael and Sarah wanted a fan installed to blow the pests away. And since the old fan/light fixture wasn’t centered front to back on the porch ceiling, could we fix that issue too? As always, MFI took on the electrical scope with Michael providing the muscle for drilling a new hole through the plaster and lath. MFI and Michael patched the old hole, and I repainted the ceiling with a left over can of beige. They love to repurpose equipment and materials whenever possible.
Speaking of repurposing, Sarah thought the old front porch light would look good reinstalled outside their back door. There was an existing outlet with a fixture, which accommodated several spot lights, above where the old downspout had been. MFI removed the old fixture and reinstalled the light from the porch. It looked as if it had always been there.
The kids needed two small backyard landscape projects done. One was along the back of the house near the garage door, and the other was around the tree in the center of the deck we built during our first year of doing Gomez projects. Personally, I love the black river stone look.
The water used for irrigation in this part of Florida is iron rich; and as such, the exterior finish on houses all get stained orange over time. The weather cooperated with sunny cool temps, while Michael and I painted the west and east sides of the house. He opted for the roller, and was done within several hours, while I chose to cut in under the eave, along the ground, and around the nine windows. It took me longer, but we were impressed with all we got done in less than four hours.
West side before…
West side after…
East side after photos only…
There is a lot of grandchild traffic along the southwest corner of the house, so it required some special attention. Unfortunately, I didn’t have paint for the downspout but probably should have tried washing it off in hindsight.
There were three more small projects outside. Two 18″ square pavers beneath the trash and recycling bins had cracked and needed replacement. Seven gate and fence boards were either rotting or warping and also had to be replaced. Happy was a huge help with handing me screws for the boards and screwing them in with the power drill. Since I was working along the fence anyway, Sarah asked me to install her house number facing the alley.
Installers of the hurricane windows several years back did a poor job caulking them on the inside. This has bothered Sarah ever since. She’s been impressed with my caulking skills in the past, so she asked that I address the five large windows in the living, dining, and guest rooms. The greater effort in doing this job was taping so I’d produce a sharp edge, which is what concerned her most. My problem was not knowing when to remove the tape and not adversely impact the edge. Despite several attempts, I was never fully satisfied with the result, although she claimed she was. I asked her to provide AFTER pictures for the four BEFORE shots below, but she never found the time to take them.
The Gomez projects are always fun and challenging. Can’t wait for our next visit.
