Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Closet Conundrum

Several weeks ago we headed to Home Depot to pick up some closet doors, only to realize that six of them were the wrong size when we got home. Since we had already hauled the old doors to the curb, we were left with no doors for close to three weeks.  This led to our room feeling like a storage unit/dorm room. The addition of the TV my parent's gave me for my 17th birthday isn't helping the decor either. What? I get attached to things.


 Meanwhile, our old closet doors were parked on the curb waiting to get picked up (If you call the Mayor's office at 311 you can make an appointment to collect up to 7 large items of trash). The only problem was, no one ever came. So after two weeks on the curb, we took matter into our own hands:




In order to get rid of large items yourself, you have to take them to the Fort Totten Transfer Station. It's an experience. First of all, don't count on your GPS to get you there - it'll let you down. You'll end up driving in circles cursing and confused - but that just might be what happens to me each time. So, you finally get there, and you are "greeted" by someone who asks to see your ID to prove your DC residency. Then they tell you where to go. Here's where things get odd. You essentially pull into a parking lot and throw things on the ground.  A large excavator rolls around on top of it and moves it into large containers.



If you're lucky, you get to throw away your trash inside. When we had to toss our old kitchen counter here, I didn't think I could do it. Visiting a stinky trash heap mid-July is not a fun errand. 




Thankfully, this trip took only a few minutes. We headed back to Home Depot to pick up our newest closet doors and return the ones that were the wrong size.  Finally, it seemed the closets would be fixed.


It took more time to picking up and throwing away the doors than it did for Dan to install them!

7 comments:

Melissa at HOUSEography said...

Gotta love DC services! So worth it though - looks great!

Benny said...

Thanks Melissa!

Anonymous said...

I've been to Fort Totten at least 6 times since buying our rowhouse 2 years ago. The best was when we were waiting in line to drop off an old chainlink fence one Saturday morning. A guy spied the fence and asked us to pull over so he could take the metal for scrap. We let him have it, and saved a trip to the pit. Quite the adventure...! Reba

Painting Contractors Atlanta said...

Thanks for sharing great home improvement idea's with home improvement post your great blog with us.

Benny said...

Reba,

Wow. I think there was a guy next to us last weekend was there to "pick up" items and not drop off. Yikes!

Benny

Rental Property said...

I really enjoyed this info..I would expect same in next post.

Tapping World Summit said...

Your new closet looks great and fab!

Injuries Obtained

  • Sprained Toe/Foot: 1
  • Blood Blisters: 2
  • Splinters under fingernail: 1
  • Bird Shit on me: 1
  • Eye Injuries: 3
  • Burns: 0
  • Falls off ladder: 0 (this is because we don't have a ladder yet)
  • Headaches: too many to itemize
  • Broken Bones: 0
  • Bandages Needed: 5
  • Electric Shocks: 2
  • Stiches: 0
  • Bruises: way too many