Screen Time

In the spirit of being a DIY maniac, I am attempting to fix something that needed to be fixed from the day we moved into this house: the screens on the windows in the basement. There are four windows down there and because they are at ground level on the outside, they are extremely exposed to the elements. Consequently, they get really dirty and the screens take a beating, so much so that they are falling apart. Some of them literally have no screens left on them, which is a little puzzling now that I think about it. Either way, they are in need of replacing. This is especially true since N has become a gadgetry wizard and is down there a lot cutting, drilling, and soldering various projects in the works. I think it's good to get some ventilation down there.

I was at LaValley's and decided to pick up what I needed to do the job, which I assumed was just some screen. Little did I know that there is a process to putting new screens in that require a special tool and some practice and a whole lot of patience. The first order of business, however, was getting those screens out. At first glance I had no idea how the things came out because it's not obvious. Plus, it's so dirty down where the windows are that I'm not exactly enthused about putting my hands down there. Finally, the windows and frames themselves are covered in dirty, cobwebs, and dead bugs.

I had to break down and get my hands dirty (an understatement if there ever was one) to clean up the windows, but that still left me with the problem of getting the screens out. Again, it wasn't obvious, and I toyed with the idea of breaking the frame to allow the screen to come out. This is not a good idea, but I was clueless as to what else to do.

Since I was also busy toiling away at finding the darn septic take, I did what any self-serving dad would do in the situation: I had my kids do it, specifically N, who is mechanically inclined. After I made lunch I originally asked him to come outside and help me with the digging to find the septic hatch, but I managed to locate it soon thereafter. By the time he came out to help me it was done, so I instead asked him to tackle the screen situation. For the record, I admitted to him that I couldn't figure it out.

He went ahead with it, initially coming to me and saying that he thought it was just one big unit that didn't come apart. Basically he was saying that he didn't think the screens were removable and that we would have to take the entire window out to accomplish said job. I told him not to give up so easily and keep trying. Sure enough, a few minutes later he returned with the screen in hand. I, for one, was impressed. He said he just worked with it and realized how to remove the thing. How cool is that?

Now that the screen is removed, the next job will be to actually put the screen in, which I'm finding is not as simple as it seems. Then again, what else is new in my life? There will surely be a story to come out of this, so stay tuned for more.

Until then, thanks for reading.