This is what the top of your gutter looks like directly above your rain spout. If you are wanting to put your

rain chain in this same location – then installation is super easy. You just take off the rain spout, insert this piece:

Into the hole and hang your rain chain from it.

But…. if you are like me and like to make things difficult – then you will need to seal off your old gutter hole and make a new one. I sealed the original hole with a piece of flashing metal I had from a previous project. I cut it so that it fit flat into the gutter and had a couple inches overage on each side.

I used this gutter sealer that my roof guy gave me. Anyone in the Portland area has to call these guys for a bid. Fisher Roofing was so generous when I had some roof questions while considering the purchase of this house. (was that just a year ago?)

I put the sealer around the hole of the gutter and then again around the edge of the flashing.

Then I drilled a 1″ hole in the gutter on the side of the house.

[Insert Photo of hole]

Then use this to hang the chain and that’s it! I’m building a rain garden to be at the end of this chain but photos of them to come!

Whoops! See that? In the picture below? That’s a hole in the roof – we got a little overzealous on installing some pot lights in the window seat by the front door. I’ll apologize in advance – there aren’t as many photos of this process as other posts. That’s because it was raining and there was a hole in my roof and there was a little urgency in the air. Sorry ’bout it.

First things first…. cover the hole until we figure out what to do. Yup. That’s a 4′x4′ piece of plastic. What can I say? I wanted to make sure the rain didn’t end up in my house.

After a trip to Home Depot, we ended up with this caulking/tar product called Roof Patch to fill the hole and attach a new roof shingle.

A piece of metal to cover the filled in hole.

And some roof shingles. They came in sets of three at the Depot

So first I filled the hole using the Roof Patch and a caulking gun and then I lifted up the shingles above the hole and slide this piece of metal under it a little and made sure to really stuck. The Depot employee said that more caulking was better then less – so I really laid it on.

Then I cut the 3 shingle sheet into a single sheet and then used a lot of the Roof Patch to make sure the roof shingle stayed put!

Best ReBuilding Center Trip EVER! Although I have to admit, I bought these items about two weeks ago. So yesterday’s post might make a little more sense now – those single pendant/transformer dealios are that much better of a deal now!

A local lighting company went out of business. (Which makes me sad and I hope to learn more details later) but they donated 6 Palettes of their lighting product to the ReBuilding Center. Amazingly – I happen to need a lot of lighting! So I made a big leap and pretty much bought everything I loved. I spent a lot – but to find shades in this high of quality at a surplus store is pretty great.

These are the three types I decided on.

So I think that I will hang these as individual pendants in the apartment.

and I was able to snag 5 of these Beauty’s for the upstairs kitchen track lighting

Brand new – in the box with all the pieces.

I got each of these for $35. I paid $175 total for all 5. Given the situation I’m in for the lighting situation in the kitchen these are amazingly perfect for what I need. They match the wall color and they are the perfect size. After bringing these home – I realized I probably could have gotten them online for close to the same price, I am much happier having supported the ReBuilding Center and not creating demand for the creation of new product.

And look at the retail price on these! OMG. These were $653 in the store. I paid $150. I know that’s a lot for just the shades, but they are so neat! I’m allowed a splurge once in awhile…. right?

What a great weekend it was in Portland! The sun was out and the Building Surplus store were filled to the brim! Below is a picture of everything I brought home. Although I was looking for a sink cabinet for downstairs and didn’t find it – I found all of this great stuff instead!

Pendent Lighting
Our price: $135 for 5
Online Price: $86 for 1
Savings = $295

Indoor IN BOX Recessed Electrical Box
Our Price: $1.00
Amazon: $9.87
Savings=$8.87 

Lighting IC20R 5-Inch IC Rated Remodel Universal Housing
Our Price: ($3.00 each) $12.00 for 4
Amazon Price: ($26.52 each) $106.08 for 4
Savings = $94.08

Our Price: Free with Recessed Cans
Amazon Price: ($6.90 each)
Savings: $27.60

White Baffle Trim
Our Price: Free with Recessed Cans
Home Depot Price: ($9.49 each)
Savings= $37.96

Old Work Electrical Boxes
Our Price: ($.50 each) $1.00 for 2
Home Depot Price: ($1.92) $3.84 for 2
Savings= $2.84

Lutron EcoDim Light Switches
Our Price: ($5 each) $25 for 5
Amazon Price: ($18.48 each) $92.40 for 5
Savings = $67.40

Decora Electrical Plugs
Our Price: ($.50 each) $1.50 for 3
Online Price: ($7.62 each) = $22.86
Savings= $21.36

Halo White Trim Black Baffle Trim Kit
Our Price: ($3.00 each) $6.00 for 2
Amazon Price: ($15.32 each) 30.64 for 2
Savings= $24.34

Intense 4″ Shower Trim Wet White/Satin Nickel
Our Price: $5.00
Online Price: Couldn’t find but ranged from $16.00-$30.00
Guess Savings = $9.00

Glass Shade – Vanilla Creme
Our Price: $20.00
Online Price: $39.00
Savings: $19.00

Our savings from todays shopping trips:
$607.45

That’s Electrical on a Budget!