What Do I Do Now, Mom?
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2011 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 49 

The Makeover

On Thursday, Dr. Lake brought his class back to the farm.  He had divided the members in his class into teams.  Each team was responsible for a certain room of the house.  The teams had come up with sketches of the area that they were responsible for.  The teams sat down with Witt, Jake and Sarah and finalized the plans.

Witt came to me after everyone had departed and asked, “Dad, how am I going to be able to pay the people for the supplies they need, to refinish the house?” 

“The easiest way is for them to charge the materials and submit the bill to you, so you can review them before you pay them.  Of course that means you or your representative must be available to check to make sure that someone isn’t taking advantage of you.”

I figured this was a good learning situation for Witt.  “Randy and I will be here to assist you, but you need to be the approving authority, since it is your money that these people will be spending.  As Witt and I were talking, my Dad arrived.  I forgot that Dad usually took Thursday afternoons off if he could.  He usually spent the afternoon on the golf course with some friends.”

Witt and I were talking to Dad when Dr. Lake approached us, “Guys, I struck out on finding someone to side the house for free.  I have a friend who is willing to supply the materials, but he says he can’t ask his people to work for free when many of them are already working second jobs.”

Dad surprised us. “Dr. Lake, I’ll pay whatever costs are involved in siding the house.  Does your friend need money up front?”
 

Dr. Lake smiled, “Leon, seeing how it’s you, I’m sure that Jack Willis will be glad to take payment when the job is finished.  Do you want the gutters and the porch ceiling and the fascia done, as well?”

Dad nodded, “I want a first class job.  You and Witt determine what needs to be done.  I’m only the money man in this situation.  Witt’s the boss.”

I asked, “Dr. Lake, when would they be doing the siding?”

“They will be here Saturday, if you agree”

Witt asked, “Won’t the people working on the interior and the siding people be in each other’s way?”

Dr. Lake answered, "Witt, things aren’t going to happen as fast as people think, on a remodeling project of this scale.  You have a lot of decision to make; I’m going to have Mr. Willis stop by and show you the siding options, tomorrow.  He will probably try to convince you to install new windows while you're at it, because the windows are old and leak air like sieves.”

Witt threw up his hands, “Maybe it would be cheaper to tear the house down and put trailer on the property.”

Dr. Lake patted Witt on he back, “I know it is overwhelming, but it will be worth it, as long as you can afford to keep the house as a long term investment.”

Dad was still there, “Witt, your Grandmother and I will provide any capital you might need, as long as you don’t go overboard.”

After dinner, Tim and Witt went to look at the Latham property.  I would've liked to have been a fly on the wall, and heard the conversation that must have taken place because when they came into the house, they were carrying all sorts of sketches.  Witt waved, “Dads, we’ve been looking at the buildings other than the house.  While we’re at it, we’re going to fix those buildings up, and paint them.  We could keep some chickens and pigs there, as well as the beef cattle.

I couldn’t believe that Friday was actually a quiet day and I was able to get the bills paid.  I even balanced my checkbook for the first time in months.  I was relieved that I wasn’t as poor as I was beginning to feel, with all the extra expenditures that I wasn’t use to.  Randy and Jake and their high school crew were working at the Latham house.  Wylie brought me a sandwich, “Daddy, are you going to be in here all day.  I’ m getting bored.  The big guys keep telling me I’m too little to help.”

“What are the big guys doing?”

“Billy and Wade are selling eggs and sweet corn at the roadside.  Witt has all of the other guys at the old house fixing up the barns.  Witt is afraid that I'd get hurt by a nail.”

“Where’s Miss Sarah?”

“She took the girls to the store to look at material to make the curtains for the new house.  Why do they need curtains?  Why can’t they have those things like we have that go up and down?”

I hugged Wylie, “Woman think that curtains and drapes make rooms look prettier.  They’re just something else to get dirty.”

“Oh, that’s why Grandma and Miss Sarah were talking about putting coverings on the windows in the living room”

“That sounds like something my mother would do.  Let's go check on the boys.  Have they already eaten?”

“Walt was driving the tractor and came and took the lunches that Miss Sarah made and delivered them.  She brought our sandwiches here before she and Grandmother left.  Grandmother put out some pork chops to thaw and said you were to grill them with some corn on the cob for dinner.”

“Wylie, my boy, let’s eat our sandwiches and cookies with some milk and then go check on the guys.  I don’t like the idea of Billy and Wade sitting out there with money that people might try to steal.”

“Daddy, Wade takes any of the paper money and stuffs it in his underpants so people don’t see it when they stop.  The people feel sorry for the guys and buy lots of eggs and corn.”

Wiley and I climbed in the car and stopped to talk to Wade and Billy.  I looked in the boys' cash box and there was only a basic amount of cash, “I guess you guys haven’t been too busy, today?”

Billy was about to answer when a car with four ladies pulled up.  The driver crawled out, “Hi, guys, I brought some friends with me.  They didn’t believe me that you have the freshest eggs and produce in town, at the most reasonable prices.  I’d like three dozen eggs and four dozen ears of sweet corn.  What we had last week was so good that I want to freeze some.”

Before the car full of ladies had departed, the guys had sold nearly thirty dollars of merchandise.  After the ladies had departed Wade took the bills and stuck them inside his jeans.  I looked at him, “You really aren’t putting the money inside your shorts are you.”

“Dad, I’m not that dumb.  You never know what germs are on money.  I have a money belt on under my jeans.  When it gets too full we take it to the house and empty it.”

“What do you do with the stand when you‘re gone?  Don’t people stop and take what they want?”

Billy turned down the cover that read, ‘ Sorry! Closed for today.  Stop by tomorrow, for the fresh produce and eggs.”

“Guys, why don’t you close down for today.”

Billy started to argue, “Dad, this is the busiest time of the day.  Please, can’t we stay open for another hour?  Wade give Dad the money that’s in your belt so he won’t be so worried about us.  We have to get ready to pay everyone for their help, tomorrow.”

Wylie and I went to the Latham farm and Witt had everyone busy cleaning the area of trash.  Walt was using the tractor and a large mower like apparatus to cut the grass.  Witt was checking the buildings to see how much repair was going to be needed.  He had a big pile of new wood that he and Tim were going to use to replace rotting planks.

I stopped in the house to see how Randy and his crew were doing and they had torn out all of the old plumbing fixtures and were starting to replace the pipes with plastic tubing.  Randy looked up at me, “We’re going to take Sarah and Witt to pick out new fixtures tonight after Mr. Willis has been here.”

Wylie and I went back to the house to fix dinner, since no one seemed to need or want us.  They had there own routines.  I think that Wylie just enjoyed having my individual attention.  We made individual servings of scalloped potatoes that Wylie wrapped in foil so we could grill them.  Everything was on the grill when everyone finally surfaced from doing their chores.  The girls had set the table without being asked, and I had Billy and Bobby serve the meals as I took them off the grill.

We were finished eating and the young people were clearing the table when Mr. Willis arrived with Dr. Lake.  We went into the living room and Mr. Willis showed us the samples of siding that Witt could choose from.  Witt asked, “Does anyone have any ideas which color of siding would be best?”

Dr. Lake answered, “Witt, it is your house, so it should be something that you like.   I suggest that we take Mr. Willis to your farm so he can get a feel for what we are talking about.”

I looked at the other children, “We’re going to the Latham farm, if anyone comes looking for us.  Walt, you’re in charge.  Call me on my cell phone if you need us.”

When we arrived at the Latham house, Mr. Willis immediately said, “You need to have the house roof replaced.  There are shingles missing.  I’m surprised that the roof isn’t leaking.”

Witt grimaced, “The house has had several leaks that have caused some damage to the ceilings in the bedrooms.”

“Now’s the perfect time to replace the roof, before we start to side the house.  I can call a roofer friend of mine and he can be here by the time we decide on the type and color of siding you want.”

Mr. Willis was checking the windows, “Mr. Latham, you really need to consider replacing these windows while you’re doing the remodeling.  You can feel the heat coming in around the windows where there are spaces.  New windows would lower your heating and air-conditioning bills considerably.”

Witt looked at me with questions in his eyes.  I reminded him, “Remember, what my Dad said.  They’ll spring for the funds as long as it’s reasonable.  If you were to decide to sell the property, I’m sure that you would be able to get your money back, and more.”

I could see Witt gulp, “Mr. Willis, let’s replace the windows.  What do you recommend?”

“I recommend that you put in thermal pane windows.  They will provide you better protection against the weather.  That may delay the installation of the siding, because it would be better to have the windows installed before we start the siding.  I’ll have one of my technicians come tomorrow to take the measurements for the windows, since they aren’t uniform in size.”

Witt looked at Dr. Lake, “Dr. Lake, will that interfere with your people and their interior design work?”

“Not really, tomorrow is probably going to be spent totally taking out existing walls and replacing insulation.   If they start putting up the drywall, it will be easy enough for them to work around the window openings.”

I noticed that Witt and Tim seemed to be talking about each decision.  The outcome of the evening was that the roof was going to be redone with black and gray type shingles.  Witt choose a blue siding without a middle ridge, even though that was what Mr. Willis had recommended.

I asked, “Mr. Willis, why did you recommended the middle ridge?”

“That's what the workmen prefer because it is easier for them to work with.”

Witt asked, “Does it have anything to with how well it will last and protect the residents against the elements?”
 

“Nope.  The insulation panels we put up first take care of the elements. The siding will have a lifetime written guarantee regardless of which style you choose and you will never need to paint it unless you decide to change the color.”

I hadn’t realized but my parents had been there listening to the conversation.  My mother piped up, “Witt, you’ve made some good decisions, but why did you choose blue siding when almost everyone is going with neutral tones?
 

“That’s why I chose blue, so it doesn’t look like every other house in the area.  If you look closely at the houses that have been sided, they all look the same with small fake shingles.  I want my house to look different, and you heard Mr. Willis say that the only difference is that the small fake shingles are easier for the technician to work with.”

When we were at the house, Dad asked, “Witt, how do you want to handle the financing.”

“Granddad, I want to talk to the Dads about that.  I want to be able to not owe anyone money if I can get around it.  I’m committed to having our old home remodeled, but I don’t want to be saddled with a large debt, now that it looks like I can go to a good college.”

Dad had a gleam in his eye that told me he was pleased by Witt’s response, “Just let us know how much money you’re going to need, and when.  You need to give us a couple of days notice, so we can count all of the pennies that we’ve hidden under the carpets.”

On Saturday morning when I woke up, Randy was still asleep.  I figured that I wore him out the night before.  I went to check on the boys and their bedrooms were all empty; even the three littlest ones weren’t in their room, which was unusual for this hour of the day.

I went to the barn and Billy and Walt were doing the milking.  I asked, “Where is everyone else?” 

Billy answered, “They were taking care of the pigs and the new beef cattle.  Wylie was checking on the chicks.  Witt and Tim were going to the Latham house so they would be there when people started to arrive.  They want us to bring them some breakfast.”

I went to start some breakfast, since there were going to be some hungry young men if I didn’t.  I was frying the bacon, figuring I would make fried egg sandwiches for everyone.  Randy surfaced and put his arms around me, “Why are you up so early?”

“Dearest Randall, the boys are all scattered about, doing whatever.  Witt and Tim are at the Latham farm so they can be there when the workers start to arrive.  Why don’t you take these egg sandwiches to them and I’ll take care of the young guys.  I’ll get them settled and I’ll join you, even though I’ll just be in the way.  Witt has his mind made up as to what is going to happen.”

Randy hugged me, “Ritchie and the Corn boys are going to meet us at the Latham house this morning, so we can start installing the bathroom fixtures.  We’ll have to work around the students from Dr. Lake’s class.  It will be interesting to see how much gets done with all the people floating around, today.” 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: It looks as if the Latham house project is getting a good start.  It is so nice to see all the cooperation between all the workmen. Everyone seems eager to help get the house redone, and that is so pleasant in this day and age. 

Witt is quite the responsible young man, isn't he? 

It looks as if the girls are finally getting their heads on straight.  They are finally getting the help they have needed for a long time, and they are learning that they have responsibilities. 

Hank and Randy are becoming more and more of a couple. They love each other, and they both love the kids. 

I can hardly wait for the next chapter, to see what will happen next.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/28/11