Welcome to Chez Cliff!

"It’s no working Mr. Cleep," Handyman said to me.

Installing shower doors is really not that complicated.  Yes, it is a bit tedious.  I’m an engineer at heart and I’m sure I can measure and install correctly.  And with this job, I measured, measured and measured again before drilling any holes into my bathroom tile.

After measuring, we installed.  Installation went smoothly.  There was a minor problem every now and then.  But, the framing for the doors went uneventful.  When finished, I checked my measurements and, as could be expected, everything lined up.

Until the shower doors went in.  Then nothing worked.

The two shower doors were banging against each other.  And would not stay in the rails.

"It’s no plum, Mr. Cleep." Handyman said.

"What do you mean ‘It’s no plum’?!?  What are you talking about?  What is ‘plum’?" I blurted.

"Look Mr Cleep.  It’s no plum!  I tell you!"  He pointed to some corners in the bathroom.

I made an incorrect assumption when installing the framing.  I assumed that whomever built my bathroom actually built the room correctly . . . with perfect corners.  What was I thinking!

Fortunately, the clear silicon sealant hadn’t set yet.  The doors were installed backwards.  That is to say the frame was adjusted until the doors worked and then installation occurred.

I look forward to the day when I can say to someone "Install shower doors" and they go and do it.  Obviously, my level of expectation is too high when it comes to home construction.

Great Scott Marty!

My trip to Lake Isabella was replaced with one phone call.  The handyman called me Saturday morning and asked if I wanted to do my bathroom.

Play time can wait.  Getting the house ready for sale is top priority.

Photos to follow . . .

If there’s one benefit to blogging, it’s definitely the amount of help I’m getting.  And I appreciate every one of your comments and suggestions.

Sometimes, I cannot explain my problem because I just don’t know terminology.  Well today you get to endure a picture that I drew.  As Doctor Emmet Brown, from Back to the Future, would say "Please forgive the crudity of this model.  I didn’t have time to build it to scale."

In the sketch, you can see the ceiling, roof-line, and the housing for the recessed lighting.  The blue lines are the shingles.

I figure there is 4 or 4 1/2 inches between the ceiling and the roof line.

The height of the housing is the driving factor here.  The shortest housing I have been able to find is 5 1/2 inches.  This forces the fixture to stick out approximately 1 inch.

The housing must be installed to prevent the heat from the lightbulb burning the roof, insulation, or whatnot.  Contrary to popular belief, fire in a house is bad.

When selling recessed lighting, the sizes can come in 3, 4 or 5 inches.  This, unfortunately, does not refer to the depth of the lights.  It refers to the width, which I labeled dimension "X" in the sketch.

Therein lies my problem.

To every single one of you, have a great Memorial Day weekend.  I plan on spending some time, hiking around Lake Isabella.

I’ll see you back here on Tuesday.  Enjoy!

This morning, my eyes sprang open.  I was irritated as could be with Cabinetman.  I was bound and determined to get answers to all my questions and, if need be, knock some heads together!

ROAR!

I spent this morning, at my desk, mentally preparing for the task ahead.  I was trying to keep in mind that I still want him to finish the work.  One of the areas I am trying to improve upon is motivation.  I’d rather motivate Cabinetman to do the job, rather than threaten him.  I think I ironed out a strategy.

To clear my mind, I did some shadow boxing.  I tried to do ten push-ups.  On push-up number four, I cut my knuckle on a staple in the carpet.  I hate office carpet.  The Rocky movie came to mind.  I chased a chicken around, trying to catch it.  No luck.

The best time to get Cabinetman in his lair is late afternoon.  That was when I was going to go.  Until something unexpected happened . . .

SFX:  Cell Phone Rings
Clifford:  Hello?
Receptionist:  Hi, this is Receptionist calling.  How are you doing?
Clifford:  I’m doing fine, thanks for asking.
Receptionist:  Cabinetman would like to come out and do his final measurements.
SFX:  Handset hits the desk.  Chicken clucks.
Clifford:  Today?
Receptionist:  He’s in the area . . .
Clifford:  Handyman is working today.  The backdoor is unlocked.  He can come by whenever he wants.
Receptionist:  Super!  I’ll call him and let him know.
Clifford:  Did you just say "Super"?

There’s a stay of execution.

Here are some photos of my "challenge". 

I hate that word "challenge".

From the photo, the ceiling in the kitchen slopes down.  I had Wonder Woman cut two holes, for placing the recessed lighting.  But, from the second photo, you can see that the light fixture sticks out about an inch, maybe two.  In the third photo, you can see the insulation, which is pressed flat against the roof line.

Here is the lighting I asked Wonder Woman to install.  It sticks out approximately 5 inches from the ceiling.  It will barely miss my head so I’m hoping that Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t buy the house.

*update*  Let’s all thank Wonder Woman for sending me some info on the light fixture.