The Pringle Plan: August 2019

With family photos finally hung, Gary can now visit with family while he bikes!

The latest phase of our move is now complete! Gone are the brown walls in favor of more cheerful color. All the boxes are unpacked, paintings are hung, and most importantly our showers have been modified!

From bland...

to Brazilian Blue!

From winter blah...

to cool summer blues

From cave-like brown...

to a bright cheerful yellow and French white!

Wondering who helped us achieve this transformation? It's all thanks to Go Green Construction! They painted all our walls, took out the despised glass shower doors, installed a new toilet in the Master bathroom, and new shower fixtures in both bathrooms.

Gjovalin Marku, Owner of Go Green Construction, LLC

I can't say enough wonderful things about Gjovalin Marku (nicknamed Giovanni) and his crew! Communication was great, they showed up on time, were sensitive to accommodating the needs of my disabled husband, patient when we added additional items or made changes, and most importantly - it was a pleasure to have them working in our home.

When you've been living like this...

...it's wonderful to see Painter, Tony show up with a smiling face and a HEPA vacuum cleaner to keep the dust down as he sands!

Giovanni puts a high priority on cleanliness. He used the same type of expensive HEPA vacuum cleaner in our condo that he uses in the hospital projects his company works on. Not only does his crew know the level of cleanliness he expects, but Giovanni himself jumps right in working and cleaning right along side his crew. We never had to clean up after they left.

Carpenter John and his son Bob, reinstalled a fallen piece of kitchen cabinet crown molding, installed chair rail molding in the living room, removed the glass shower doors, hung the hard to find Neo-shaped curtain rod from the ceiling, cut open the dining room wall and installed wood blocking for the shower fixture on the other side of the wall.

We ran into a few glitches along the way. It turns out our condo doesn't have wood studs in the wall, it has metal studs. That made the installation of ADA compliant fixtures a little more difficult, as wood blocking needed to be installed in the walls for strength. To keep expenses down, we ended up skipping on the extra grab bars I had added on in a panic after Gary fell in my shower. Gary felt there were enough grab bars in his shower already. But, we did go ahead with opening up the dining room wall so we could have an ADA compliant adjustable height shower head put in. Gary is beyond thrilled with the way this turned out! Go Green Construction hired Dan and his assistant from Cawley Plumbing to do the installation. They all worked together and with us to be sure everything was positioned properly and at the right height for Gary.

With an adjustable slide bar, the hand held wand is at just the right height whether sitting on a shower bench or standing, and the over head extension keeps water spraying straight down so it doesn't blow out the shower curtain.

Not willing to take a risk of Gary falling through glass shower doors, we had them removed. Giovanni scraped and cleaned the glue off, then filled the holes in the tile with a caulk - matching the color perfectly! The large shower, with an unusual shape, required two shower curtains which I sewed together.

In my shower, I just needed a hand-held wand with an extra piece that allowed me to place it at a height more comfortable for me. The original height was designed for a giant!

I couldn't stand the glass shower doors. Every time I stuck my elbow out they roared like thunder! They also made access to the shower for cleaning awkward and uncomfortable. The shower curtain adds some much needed color and pattern, as well as making cleaning easier with a full opening for reaching my new hand held wand to spray it all down.

Some of our friends have been wondering how Gary was going to handle not having a garage with all his tools, a workbench, and a place for his fishing gear. He downsized all, but he does have his own space - which he calls his "office!"

The old saw table is now Gary's work bench, the metal cabinet holds his tools, and his fishing poles fit perfectly in a new rack in the closet...

and he got his favorite color, green, on an accent wall!

We are so grateful to have the move and major projects behind us. No more unpacking to do, the furniture is back in place, closets are organized, and paintings are hung. Some finishing touches will come later: replacing the recliners, replacing a shade, sewing some drapery, and who knows what else - LOL! But for now we are loving the condo life! Here are a few more photos: