It has been a hectic week.

Last week I had a pest control company come out to look at something. Seems I had a problem…and it was one that only 900 dead presidents could fix.

There is some damage to some of the sheetrock in the living room that I thought was due to the house settling. There are some places that the paint came off and that looked like plaster underneath. I thought that made sense since the other side of the wall are both the bathtubs/showers. I thought it was done like that because they did not have “greenboard” (sheetrock for wet exposure). I just wasn’t sure how to fin it.

I also might have thought incorrectly…

After my trip I got home and happened to look over at the damage as I walked past. WITAF?!?! There were TERMITES coming out of the wall and falling to the floor. It was like a termite amusement park! I bet they would jump and land and it would be such a rush that they climb the stairs and have another go. At least until my vacuum cleaner interrupted the fun.

So, the first thing Monday I called to get someone out to look at it. They were able to get out in a few days and he verified that was the issue. What looks like plaster is actually material they bring in from outside to build the “tubes” that they travel through and they were building them under the paint…as they ate the sheetrock paper from under the paint. They eat that since paper is wood pulp. Insert facepalm here. Maybe the paper satisfies their hunger and they leave the wood alone.

They really had not done much from what the guy said. I asked him if they have to tear out the wall and he said no. (Whew!) He has done this a long time and is the owner (his grandpa started the company in 1978). He has seen this many times before and says there’s never any internal wall damage. I also learned that they constantly come and go into the ground and back.

He did a walkthrough and showed me in the basement where they were traveling through and it was right below the wall damage. We then went outside and in the concrete wall underneath the damaged wall was a really small crack. He said this tiny crack was big enough to let them in. Bastards.

So they came out a couple of days ago to unleash the $900 kraken. Sixty gallons of diluted kick-ass was applied, both into the ground and a hefty spray (ground was soaked) around the entire perimeter. Then they drilled into the garage floor and sprayed under the concrete pad. They guy told me that they as they travel to and fro the poison gets on their bodies and they bring it in with them. THEN, I guess they actually groom themselves and each other and ingest the poison. The colony will be RIP within about two weeks.

Yeah, it was a lot of money but it is going to be preventing further termite damage for the next 15 years. And, it is something I can probably fix myself. It won’t be easy as I am not a carpenter, but I can make it look decent.

I saw a video of a guy doing the exact same repair but he did not bother scraping the stuff out and it was a shower ceiling. Seemed like a bad idea to not clean it. I will peel back the paint to solid paper, sand/scrape out the tunnels, wipe it down, then fill it and sand. It is probably going to take quite a bit of mud to fill the area.

The sanding is always a challenge as it is really difficult to get stuff to blend, but with an eggshell finish rolled on with a fluffy roller it won’t be as noticeable.

But I have two weeks to think about it since I am waiting until the li’l bastards are done for. I don’t want to fix it but once so I am not in a hurry to do it yet. I have plenty of other stuff going on with the sorting, hauling off, donating, keeping going on. Plus, today I ripped off some paneling off of the hallway and filled some nail holes.

I also have to remove wallpaper borders on the top edge of the wall that were yet another un-good decorating decision. It is always a pain stripping wallpaper and I did not want to use chemical methods. Then…it hit me. I have a steam mop for floors. I just plugged it in, picked it up, and steamed the wallpaper with it. A big-brain moment that made the job much a little easier but it is not enough. It is still time-consuming but it works pretty well, is faster than sanding and it is non-toxic. I ended up buying a steam cleaner that also has a wallpaper attachment so that will make it much faster and easier. It will be delivered tomorrow.

A few days ago I was going to mow some grass and the damn mower would not start. I immediately saw the issue because I noticed last week that as I pulled the rope the engine was flopping around a little on the mower deck. A bolt had pulled through the mower deck. I had to get some grass cut so I dined on danger and mowed.

So, when I went to mow some more this last time, I tried to start the mower and the engine was really loose. The bolts in the back were now very loose so it is not safe to use and not worth fixing. I have to say, four years ago I spent $25 on the mower and put a $20 blade on it so I certainly got my money’s worth. I ended up buying an electric string trimmer to take care of the little bit I keep trimmed back. It plugs in so no pollution or noise. It is good exercise too.

My drive to SD last week really got me wanting to go someplace! It’s too bad I had to rush back since I was really looking forward to making a couple of stops to see and do. I will have to get someplace soon.

It did me good to be out driving and thinking. It always does. I guess it was only a little over two months ago I was traveling around Europe, but I am getting antsy since i have not really travelled much lately.

That is it for now.

See ya next time.

Shawn