Today we cut down the weird little tree at the front corner of our house. When we moved in, the branches went down the the ground & hung out over the sidewalk & driveway. I tried to fix that by taking off some bottom branches, but I cut it too high. So it has been looking weird for years now. Now it is gone. I was worried about it, but I really like it!
Add comment April 10th, 2010
While Bryan is out of town this week, we hired our friend Thayne to take care of a few little projects around the house. He is working as a handyman right now. He is installing a fan in our bathroom, an outlet in the kitchen for the new microwave, & getting rid of the old swamp cooler vent in the ceiling in our hallway (we’ve had central air for a while now).
I had originally asked him to remove the vent, & then patch & mud over the hole. Thayne had the idea to convert it into an attic access, since our other attic access is a total joke. It is a small hole in the ceiling of one of the tiny bedroom closets. We have to clear out the stuff from the closet & flatten the shelving system we installed if we need to go up there. It’s also really close to the edge of the roof, which makes it tricky to navigate. So it’s a go!
I took a few pictures of today’s progress – the new double box in the bathroom for the light & fan switch, Thayne working on cutting a hole in the bathroom ceiling for the fan, & the hole in the hallway ceiling where the nasty swamp cooler vent used to be. He has a good technique for cutting the plaster perfectly so it won’t crack.
Add comment March 17th, 2010
The roof was finished by early afternoon today. I think the color looks nice with the chimney. They used a ridge vent, which is hidden on the top ridge of the roof, rather than the more common turtle vents.
We’ll be painting the stucco on the house this summer (no more white), so it will look even better when that’s done.
The chimney is a real weak spot in terms of leaks, so there is extensive flashing there – including right on the front of the house. From far away it looks all right. Unfortunately, up close it looks kinda hokey. And it is very visible – right at eye level as you approach our front door. They will be coming back out to see if they can clean it up a little, but according to our project manager, it is already “very good work – for roofers”. Hopefully we can disguise any remaining awkwardness when we paint the house.
2 comments March 10th, 2010
After I went to class last night, the roofers finished decking the back. This morning, shingles were delivered, progress inspected by the city, & gutters finished. They were late getting started on the gutters & shingles, because the inspector showed up late. So they didn’t get very far before it started raining. Hopefully it will all be finished up tomorrow!
Gutters done:
Shingles & flashing started:
Add comment March 9th, 2010
Roofers were back today. They were still working on tearing off the back when I went to class.
After:
Before:
Add comment March 8th, 2010
So our roof started leaking this winter. Which was not really a surprise – we were told when we moved into the house (six years ago) that it needed to be replaced. We procrastinated for a while, thinking we’d do it ourselves, but recently realized that it was going to be too big of a job. The roof is steep, the swamp cooler needs to be removed, the gutters are a mess, we need a cricket behind the chimney, & the chimney needs to be flashed perfectly to prevent leaks. Anyway, this project skyrocketed to the top of the project list when we discovered water damage on both the exterior & interior of the house next to the chimney.
Here are the before pictures, including one of the exterior water damage by the chimney. One of the pictures was taken from the roof of Bryan’s truck!
The work is being done by Dave Kemp Roofing. So far, so good. They are hard workers – professional & polite. Today they removed the three layers of shingles from the front half of the roof, then decked & felted it.
A professional framer built the cricket, which in our case, is kind of an asymmetrical shape.
They probably won’t be out again for a few days, maybe not until next week, due to a couple of storms we have on the way.
Add comment March 3rd, 2010
I came across the pictures of this house while browsing ohdeedoh recently. Holy cats! I think my dream house would look very similar to theirs. Spare design, no clutter, antiques, & funky art. Heaven…
Check out this awesome house here. Oh, & they have seven little kids!
Add comment February 28th, 2010
Our bathroom is the never-ending project, but we are one step closer now. We had to use glue to attach the baseboards, because of the bizarre material that is attached to the lower half of our bathroom walls. Don’t ask me what the cuss it is made out of – it might as well be rock. And no, Home Depot/Lowe’s employee, it is not plaster. We have lived in multiple homes with plaster walls & this is definitely NOT plaster. You cannot put a nail through it.
It had this weird curve at the bottom that Bryan had to chip away to attach the baseboards in a proper vertical fashion. Here are some pictures of his hard work today. Now it is up to me to fill in all the gaps & paint (I’ll take pictures of the baseboards when they’re painted). Then Bryan can do the caulking, & the final step will be a little plumbing issue. Then ’twill be done!
1 comment November 27th, 2009
Our dining closet room is a mess. Soon after we moved in, we had the bright idea to strip the paint off the molding so we could have beautiful stained wood trim. Great, until we discovered about twenty layers of paint on the wood & gave up. I also tore off the bad vinyl flooring “baseboards” on a rant one day. And I have painted several swatches of paint on the walls trying to make a decision. Ugh.
We got new windows last year, & it’s about time to spiff this room up. I am painting today (the trim & walls), so I took these pictures to remind me of how bad it was.
You can click on any picture below to enlarge, or click here to see all the pictures.
Add comment August 26th, 2009
Windows that are fresh, clean, and able to be opened.
Alan & Steve from Wholesale Window came today to finish replacing our upstairs windows. Last year they did five of them (living room, kitchen/dining, & bathroom). Today they did the remaining five in the bedrooms.
First Alan covered the inside of the windows with plastic.
Here are some pictures from the outside, before & during the installation.
And here are the beautiful new windows from the inside. I know you can’t really see much, but just understand that they are beautiful & clean & they can open & close. Open & close. And when you open them they stay open. Did I mention they also have screens? Windows with screens. I have died & gone to heaven.
By the way, the boys’ room doesn’t really look like that – the furniture had to be moved around for the install. Normally the blue valances are on. But looking at the pictures, I think the room might look better without them. What do you think?
Add comment March 24th, 2009
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