We volunteered our help at the Pisgah View Ranch in Candler, NC (population 26,969) for nine summers. In that time we broadened and honed our repair and maintenance skills while deepening our friendship with former Air Force colleague, Nick Muszyinski, and his wife Cindy Cogburn. Cindy was part owner of the Ranch with her three brothers, but she alone managed the Ranch operations after retiring from the Air Force.
The Ranch was sold to the North Carolina State Department of Parks effective January 2020, and with that knowledge, we announced the summer of 2019 would be our last at the Ranch. Nick, ever the opportunist, decided he and Cindy would be the first to make a project list for our Retirement-Chapter 2 life change.
Technically, we weren’t yet on the road with Sid and Arthur, but we had purchased both vehicles, and our future plan was set. So, we loaded Sid with tools and drove from the Ranch to Sumter, SC (population 39,643) and spent two weekends in September and October addressing the projects they wanted to improve their Sumter house for subsequent sale. The list wasn’t long initially; however, as has been the tendency of lists thus far, they grow longer once we start. Here are some of the projects we completed.
In the master bath, the handles on the sinks had repeatedly been turned too far and the valves were stripped. MFI assumed her plumbing poosition and replaced the valves. Easy peasy!
Son Colton’s bedroom door had been slammed shut too many times, and the laminate was peeling. This was another easy fix. I reglued the laminate and clamped it until dry. Was nice having our tools available.
The rain gutter over the garage doors was sagging in the middle. It was supposed to be high in the middle and downward sloped both right and left to drain into separate downspouts. I cleaned the gutter and renailed the gutter nails to the facia board. Voilà!
The rain gutters along the left and right side of the patio doors were incorrectly sloped toward, rather than away, from the house. When it rained, water filled the short gutter pieces and spilled over onto the patio. I reconfigured both to slop away from the house so rainwater could drain toward existing downspouts.
The bases on both garage door jambs were rotting from water infiltration, because the gutter had been sagging in the middle for some time. I cut out the rotten areas and replaced them with new 2″ X 6″ inserts. I sealed them with caulk and painted to match exisiting jambs. Luckily, Nick had a closet full of left over paints.
The last project in the garage was to seal the gap between the concrete floor and masonry wall. This was a pathway for water from outside and unwanted insects. Took a lot more caulk than I had estimated.
One of the more challenging projects was resetting the toilet flange in Colton’s and the guest bathrooms. The existing flanges had been set after the floor tile was installed making the toilets sit too high, and now they were rocking. After watching a helpful YouTube Video, I scored the floors using our grinder and chipped up the tile pieces. Nick supervised from the shower while MFI reseated flanges and toilets.
Nick and Cindy were fully aware that we “worked for food,” and as such, we not only stayed in their guest bedroom but were served terrific meals prepared by one or the other or both. They also share our love of wine, and Nick kept our glasses full throughout dinner. We still needed to locate a local coffeeshop for a periodic workday respite, and we were delighted to find Brubaker’s Cafe and Bakery. See how happy this made MFI?
Thanks Nick and Cindy. Looking forward to your project list when we visit next.
