Chapter 2

Driving past the sign indicating he was entering the town of Lake Lancer, Ralph noticed the population had increased by what was stated on the sign. He could see the growth of the town by the buildings that appeared to have been recently constructed. To avoid an embarrassing situation he decided to first stop at Dodge Realty to make sure the renters had left his home.

Sally Dodge greeted and welcomed him. Ralph was introduced to her daughter Kelly, who was a very good-looking young woman. If he was twenty years younger she would be on his list as someone he would like to date and become familiar with in several ways. He had those thoughts whenever he would see a good-looking woman.

They informed him that the renters had left and that the cleaning crew assigned had completed the cleanup this morning. Sally had double-checked on the clean-up and said there was normal wear and tear but she didn’t see any damage to the house. She would send the renters the balance of their security deposit after she pays the last utility bill.

Ralph asked her how her business was doing. She said that they were being kept busy because of the growth in the area with new construction and people moving here. He mentioned that he was considering obtaining a realtor’s salesperson license and she said when he does to let her know as maybe she would make him a job offer. Sally also gave him the information on Paul Beckman who was a general contractor and had done some work on the houses in the area that people were satisfied with.

Saying he would stay in touch, Ralph left to go to his home.

Walking into his new home he could see not much had changed since his parents lived in it. There was some aging to the interior and the furniture but that was to be expected. Ralph unpacked and then after giving a good look into all the rooms and cupboards to see what was there and what wasn’t there he headed to the food store.

At the store, he purchased the necessities which amounted to a very full shopping cart. He knew he would be coming back here for more the next day and he needed to start making a list of what to purchase.

Back at his home he put these items away and then looked around at his house deciding what he wanted to do as to the updating. The wall for sure was going and he would call the contractor tomorrow to get the ball rolling on that. The ceilings and walls all could use a fresh coat of paint. The rugs on the floor would go and be replaced with wood flooring in what would now become a great room. The rugs in the bedrooms needed to be steamed cleaned and the kitchen’s countertop would be replaced with a granite countertop, new sink, and faucet.

Other improvements could be made but in his mind, these were the items that needed to be done first. Ralph would devote his time to doing this remodeling type of work and then after they were done he would relax more and enjoy his retirement.

The next morning after breakfast Ralph phoned Paul Beckman about removing the wall and Paul said he would be over after three. This gave Ralph time to roughly compute the square footage of the walls and ceilings in the various rooms which translated into how much paint he needed to purchase. The paint colors for the walls beside the white ceilings took a little time for him to decide what he wanted them to be.

Having that information he did the forty-five-minute drive to Home Depot located not too far from the university to purchase the paint, brushes, rollers, an extension, masking tape, and drop cloths. While he was doing that he also looked at the flooring that was on display. He selected the granite he wanted for the kitchen counter and made an appointment for the installer to come out to do the measuring to replace it.

Back at home, he unloaded his car.

Paul Beckman came over at three-thirty and Ralph pointed out to the wall between the family room and the living room that he wanted to be removed. Ralph had suspected that this was a load-bearing wall which Paul confirmed. He said by temporarily supporting the ceiling on both sides of the wall, removing the wall, and then putting in a beam to support the ceiling, the work could be done and he quoted what Ralph thought was a fair price to do this work.

Ralph accepted his quote and asked how long would it take and when this work could be done.

“It’s a three but probably a four-day job and I can start on it Monday. But let me ask you, what are you going to do after this is done?”

“I will paint the ceilings and walls and then pull out the rugs and replace them with some type of wood flooring”

“The house will certainly look nice and more modern that’s for sure. Painting is one thing but installing a floor while not rocket science, if one man does it by himself, it is a pain in the ass. I say that because of the constant getting up and down to do that installing. I would recommend you get some help in doing that. I can recommend two college students that could give you a hand if you were to do this flooring over a weekend. They could use the money and I think you would be better off with their help. Just moving the furniture back and forth besides getting up and down is a bitch.”

“Thanks and give me the names as it sounds like a good idea. One more thing, add to your estimate the cost of pulling up and carting off the rugs here. It will be easier for me if you did it.”

Now, he could sit on his butt and laugh about it, but these last four weeks had been like work. After Paul’s people had removed the wall Ralph painted all the ceilings and walls in his house. The rugs in the bedroom were steamed cleaned. Ralph had a new king-size mattress delivered. He selected wide wood flooring planks that were quick-lock for the flooring and had Home Depot deliver them. Before installing the floor which was done with the help of the college students, Ralph had screwed in four-inch screws through the sub-flooring into the floor joists to prevent squeaks and he stained and polyurethane the quarter round trim to match the floor.

Paul’s suggestion of employing these two college students to help was a Godsend. This was not the first flooring job they did and in a way, they took over this flooring installation and did it in just over a day. They even helped Ralph in installing the mount for the large flat-screen television he purchased. Ralph was generous when he paid them for their help. He was also thankful that his dad had the necessary power tools to do the job.