Believe it or not, we’ve completed a handful of house projects since our big trip. I’ve just been avoiding writing about them so I could draw out or vacation memories as long as possible. … bummmmer.

Our largest project to-date was an install of a bathroom vent fan. When we bought the house we were definitely young and dumb. We were so blinded by love of the house we overlooked all the pieces that we’d just assumed came standard in any and all houses, to name a few:

• Doorbell
• Cable hookups in the walls
• Vents

Wow, the Zellers have really lived and learned since becoming homeowners.

It wasn’t long after moving in that the need for a vent fan in our main bathroom jumped to near the top of our project/expenses list. Opening the window before every shower, and wondering who could see in got old quite quickly. Also, the realization that once winter hit we’d be having some chilly times in that room really got our butts into gear planning how we’d do this.

At first, I was dead set on paying someone to do this work for us. It would be quick and painless and worth every dollar spent to just get-it-done. Unfortunately (or, I guess now that it’s over, fortunately) Kyle had other ideas about solutions. He wanted to DIY with some reinforcement.

My parents were coming into town and if anyone could get the job done it would be Dad. He brought the tools and left his fear of failure back in Ohio. Actually, I don’t he has ever had that fear so he was definitely the man for the job.

It all started out pretty well. But there were more low-points than I can really bring myself to think about again, so I’m just going to post the photos I took and bury this DIY. It was a success, but I really don’t want to re-live it.

However, look how happy my dad is … maybe we should get him back out here.
The Wins: we now have a vent fan, it works, and we saved $400 on paying someone else to install it.

The Losses: I can’t get the dirty fingerprints cleaned off the ceiling in the bathroom, there is a weird hole in the wall next to the light switch, and we now know that the entire house needs to be rewired for electric. Because, of course it does.