Looked forward to making some progress on this 3 day weekend. I am happy to say that we did make some noticeable progress. Still a little bit more before we can start sheeting the roof and put the shingles on. Sprinkling when we stopped working. Looks like it might rain on Wednesday, but we will not get to the roofing part until a week or two. Need to set up the scaffolding to be able to have easier access to the roof. Neither of us bounce anymore and doing it from a ladder, isn’t going to do it.
Saturday I did a little bit of painting to areas I knew I wouldn’t be able to reach when the roof starts going up.
Sunday, Lynn put up the roof rafters and I began putting on the clips. There were two rafters that had a twist in them so they are not battened down just yet, but when the scaffolding is put up we can tackle that job. It was hard on Lynn, but he managed to do them with a lot of resting in between. I am so proud of him. I know he doesn’t feel good, but he will not let me hire it done. He doesn’t want to hire anyone to do what he feels he can do.
Today, I spent the morning putting up the ceiling joists while Lynn used the nail gun on them. We stopped around1:30 as we were both tuckered out. This is all that will get done this weekend.
Tomorrow, Lynn has a consultation with the doctor that will be placing his pace maker. I hope all goes well at that meeting as they have been unable to regulate his heartbeat with medication. His heartbeat is always racing 110 to 140+ beats per minute, and that is the resting heart rate. No wonder he feels exhausted all the time. This has been happening over an extended period of time, so he hasn’t felt well in a long long time.
Things left to do are, sheeting and roofing, building the balusters, and making gates or doors. Then a little more painting. After that I need to finish taking off and replacing the crown molding and fascia on the side of the house, that needs to be done before winter. Then I will be moving inside for the winter. I can work outside in the heat, but I hate the cold.
Now for the pictures.
Annie, palm-nailing queen.
Ready to put the scaffolding upA little detail of the roof rafters and ceiling joistsKinzie waiting on the roof to her dog house, eh, I mean our porchSide view. Not to bad for a novice carpenter.
Saturdays we don’t usually get very much accomplished on the porch. But today I was pleasantly surprised as Lynn felt up to cutting a few boards. I intended on getting some painting done, but decided to put on some of the joist hangers for the ceiling joists of the porch. A little painting came later.
All the boards for the roof rafters and the spacers are cut and ready to be nailed up tomorrow. While Lynn was doing that, I began to put the ceiling joists hangers on a 2×6, actually 2 2×6’s so far. I knew I could do this with my handy dandy palm nailer, so that was my designated job. With Lynn’s suggestion, it was a lot easier than how I was thinking of doing it. That’s why I keep him around, for his wonderful, intelligent, winning disposition. 🙂 Well the first two for sure.
He said I should put the hangers on before we nailed the 2×6’s up on the wall. Good idea, I can do that. So I made sure I had the end hanger in the right place then centered the rest 16 inches apart. Worked wonderfully. Then we put up a chalk line and put up the first two board. There is about 3 feet more to put up, but we have to do a little revising on that first.
After that, Lynn was done in, but I had a little more energy, so I decided to caulk some holes and put some primer on the eves and down one side to make ready for the two coats of green. By that time, I was done for today. Tomorrow the plan is to put up all the roof rafters and possibly some of the ceiling joist, plus put on the two coats of paint before I don’t have access to that area. We would like to get up the sheeting on, but that is just too much to hope for.
So stay tuned for tomorrow’s update.
Annie, the happy weekend warrior.
Coming along. See all the roof rafters stacked on the deck? They will be on top tomorrow.A little bright white primer on the corner, and it appears I will be painting some of the house this year. Ugh.
After a few weeks doing other stuff, I am finally back on the porch. Time is running out before we start getting the fall rain, so we have to get it done. Lynn hates working on it, so it is like pulling hen’s teeth to get him to work on it. He says I am working him to death. I have resorted to bribery. He would do most anything for waffles. Not to be mislead, he has some real health issues, and if all things work out he will be having a pace-maker inserted in in early October. I hope that makes him feel much better.
Yesterday, we did our grocery shopping. Creatures of habit, plus the dog and cats needed food. When we got back home, I did some painting and repairing and putting up tin to repair some of the fascia and made it critter proof. Didn’t work on it too hard.
Sunday, I got up with a plan. I was going to get some of the crown molding up and calked and more painting. Wow, did it turn out good, even if I do have to say so myself. It’s wonderful when you are able to see the vision in your head actually coming out the way you envisioned it. Also, lets talk about caulking. It’s a painter’s best friend and can cover up a multitude of mistakes. The crown molding went up just how I planned. Whew, I’m glad it did because I didn’t have a backup plan.
We were able to get 3 roof rafters up (that’s where the bribery came in). We are putting them up with blocking instead of joist hangers. Then we will have to do blocking along the end of the rafters too. The boards are twisting. We got kiln dried, but they still twisted. Very frustrating. It will take clamping and muscles to get them where we want them.
I need Lynn’s help with the nailing because, the darn nail gun weighs a ton. I wish Bostitch or Porter Cable or Makita would make a nail gun with the power of the big ones, but that a woman could handle. It is all I can do to take it off and on the porch. It’s awkward and heavy. Oh, did I mention, I am the tool packer, I pack to the porch and then pack it back into the house when we are done for the day. I see that as my contribution and my aerobic workout. Tonight I added moving about 30 2x6x8’s and 2x6x10’s from the side yard to the back yard. On my feet for 8 hours straight and I am tuckered out.
Doing this porch has been a challenge from the beginning, but so rewarding to see the fruits of my labors. I have to keep reminding myself why I am doing this project… and that is the porch was going to fall in on our heads. Maybe it will last for another 100 years.
Now for the pictures.
Annie, the weekend warrior back at it.
The crown molding’s looking goodA problem corner, had to do some creative patch work.Crown molding from the distanceThe building inspector, aka Kinzie.Tools of the tradeFirst Porch rafters.1 – 2 – 3 roof rafters. More next week
First of all I want to wish my Husband a wonderful Father’s Day. Also, happy Father’s Day to all those out there in Blogville, and I hope yours was special.
Usually, I always have upbeat posts and try to be positive, but this week really sucked. There just isn’t any other word that quite fits.
I try real hard to be patient and roll with the punches, but I have found this past week particularly challenging. On Wednesday I ended up coming home and taking my husband into the emergency room. His degenerative back disease has been getting progressively worse. There really wasn’t much that they could do to alleviate the pain. He is scheduled for injections this week and I pray they give him some relief. That is pretty much why I am the muscle and he is the brains. But I have become increasingly aware of my limitations. Having used power tools, some I am comfortable with and others I tend to be a little leery of. Skill saws and table saws are not my favorite. Try building a deck without either one. Ugh. Though, I do love the palm nailer. That thing is awesome. I took a picture of that little gizmo.
Trying to learn from my husband when his fuse it short, is not fun for me. We end up arguing and the deck still doesn’t get done. Frustrating for us both. The dream house is setting next door and I feel like I am running out of time and afraid I won’t get to work on it this summer. I am stuck on this damn porch!!
This blog is suppose to keep me on track and encourage me. If I write it down, and know that I plan to write it down, I am more motivated to get things done. This week it isn’t working. I did take pictures of some of the progress, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. Oh, I am really throwing a pity party now. Anyway, this is where we are now:
We got the front 2×8 on the posts and have a good start on that, then put in some crossbars. We are almost ready to put on some of the 2×6’s that we will be using for the decking. I wanted to get at least this half of the porch done so we can move the freezer over and work on the other half. Usually a patient person, I am almost ready to throw in the towel. Finishing this half would have given me the inspiration to keep going. Add to that I have a tooth ache, and my knee is swollen (haven’t a clue what that is from). Oh, and the “sock fairy” hasn’t finished the laundry or gotten anything else a domestic diva is supposed to do, done. Thank God for work tomorrow, I can escape into that world where I can master the things I need to.
Have to get back my positive attitude, so I will tell you what I plan to do next weekend. The plan is to get the porch deck framed ( like a picture frame) and get about 8 feet or so of the 2×6’s down and get the freezer moved over there. If I manage to get any of the old decking demolished, that will be a bonus. My 2 week porch has turned in to 2 months so far. Now do you understand why my blog is “15 years and counting dream house!!”
Annie, a very frustrated novice carpenter
Not a very complementary photo, those are part of the clothes I intend to burn when this is done. Using the palm nailer. Love that thing.Some of the power toolsPalm nailer.Front board of the deckMcKinzie, tolerating us ruining her porch.A little bit done.
Lynn reluctantly spending his Sunday, working on the porch. McKinzie staying close.April is supervising the operation.Another detour. Fixing a leakLove the smell of raw wood.Staining the boards Rubicon Red. 2X6
I get a little anxious when the weekend comes around as I want to go gun-ho on the porch. I don’t want to do any of the other things I have to do, I just want to focus on the porch. Maybe a little OCD? But Lynn tempers that side of me. He says groceries first and then we are both pooped by the time we get home. Well, I have a plan for that…. We go to town (20 miles away) and get the groceries, come home and unpack the groceries and put them away, quickly…. Get in his truck and go to Home Depot (20 miles away) and pick up some lumber and other building materials, because tomorrow is going to be a totally “get it done” day. We come home and we are doubly pooped.
Then he breaks the news to me, there is a pipe in the horse pasture that is leaking water and that needs to be taken care of before the porch. Ugh. Double ugh!! Okay, I got to rethink this. If we turn the well pump off Saturday night, the ground will be soft but dig-gable in the morning. We can do that first thing as that is when the shade is in that area.
Sunday morning, up bright and early and ready to dig and get that out of the way. I am the chief-whole-digger as I can get down and into it. (sometimes it doesn’t pay to be healthy) The whole is dug and the leak is found and the repair is made. Let the glue set-up and wait a few hours and test it. In the meantime, back to the porch. 🙂 This is me smiling.
Staining the lumber first with Architect Series Semi-Transparent Wood Stain – Rubicon Red (It is a redwood color). This is an oil stain and I really like the color. It is just what I wanted. I am staining the top and sides so when it is put down, all I will have to do is some touch-up. Besides its easier to stain standing up (wood on the saw horses) than for me to crawl around on the floor. I get down okay, its the getting up that is a challenge.
Got out all the power tools set up for the hubby. Skill saw; palm nailer; nail gun; compressor; hammer; wreaking bar; pry bar; and a multitude of other tools to accomplish the job. Now to get Lynn (the hubby) out there to do some of the intricate detailed foundation of the porch work. Some of the floor joists we are keeping as they are sound and oversized compared to the lumber of today. Some old, and some new.
If you haven’t figured it out by now I am the energetic gopher of this project. I get the ideas in my head and try to explain them to Lynn, and he does the magic of figuring how to make my visions come true. He does tend to get a little frustrated at how my visions keep getting modified and more detailed. They start out simple and evolve, while he stands there and shakes his head.
Took a break from the porch, to turn the well back on, check the leak, and refill the whole. That job is done until the next leak. Nothing stays fixed on a Ranch/Mini Farm. Always something to fix.
Well I got to get back to work, there’s still daylight.
Busy week at work, and life goes on. Some weeks are better than others. Had a Fall Poker Walk at work which was lots of fun walking through the City’s beautiful cemetery with all the vibrant fall colors. Getting out and exercising in the brisk fall weather. Loved that part. Drove back to the office, unloaded the bottled water, and took it in the office. Somewhere between my car and my office I lost my keys. That was on Wednesday, Halloween, and many trick or treat kids walking through the parking lot. I locked the doors so they had to have been in my hand on the way to the elevator. Searched and searched, and just can’t figure out where I lost them. Now for some sticker shock, it will costs me about $60 to replace just the car key. Something about a chip inside. Ugh.
Friday, up at 5:30 and ready to head to work. Drive about 400 feet and realize the car just doesn’t sound or feel right (a girl thing), so I do a u-turn and head home. It is just breaking dawn and I can’t really see outside, but by touch I realized I have a flat tire, passenger rear. Back into the house and call the van to tell them I won’t be riding this morning, then a call to work to tell them I will be a little bit late. Sleepy Lynn wakes up hearing me talking on the phone, and gets enlisted to change the tire. We talk about putting on the spare, but decide to put one of the winter stud tires on instead. Have to take the tire and drop it off at the Les Schwab to get it fixed. Too focused on getting to work, with no coffee running through my veins yet, I’m not thinking too logically. Should have loaded-up the other three studs in the car and get them changed out as it is November. Didn’t think of that until I drove into the tire store. Ugh, that means I have to take the other three in on Monday to get them all changed out. What a way to finish out a week. Still no keys.
Here is the work we got done this weekend. Lynn put in a new mail box. One that is mounted on a railroad-tie, and he just dares the snow plow to knock this one over!! Then he had to replace a fence post that our lovely horse, April, leaned against and broke. Gotta love the animals. Especially, the big furry ones. Work never ends on 7 acres. That’s two things checked off the list. The repair on the 3rd post continues. Have 3 sides glued up, one more side and we move to the Bondo stage. Beautiful weekend, but doesn’t look like it will last, after all it IS November in the great northwest.
Now for some reflecting. We are looking at 1999-2000. Have the floor joists and pony walls in with OSB flooring on the first floor. Winter arrives and we lay down black plastic to protect the floor. Doesn’t work!!! We have created a nightmare. We spend the winter and spring using shop brooms to sweep the water off the floor, and burn up one shop vac sucking the water off the floor. Lynn just sees the dollar signs with reference to loosing that floor. Finally, the spring rains have let up and the dry summer begins. We strip off the plastic and try to let it dry out. Our summers get really dry so we hoped that would save the floor.
Lynn starts taking time-off from the hardware store to work on the house. He is framing the front walls to the house with all the angles of the bays. He loves this part of the job, and he is good at it. But, alas, he puts a nail through the meaty part of his left palm. Luckily, he didn’t nail himself to the floor or the wall, but none the less, it hurt and required a trip to the emergency room to have it removed. No bones were hit, so that was a good thing.
Then came the winds, unusually strong, and as they say in The 3 Little Pigs, it huffed and it puffed and it “blew the little house down.”
Getting ready to put the walls back up, he was walking on the floor and realized that there were some spongy spots. Hmm, that is not good. His remedy, buy some more OSB flooring and lay it right on top. The bottom was dry, at least we thought so. Know where this is going? Unbelievable. We put down more flooring, get walls up with Troy’s help. Lynn’s son. He works on it through the winter and gets the first floor done. Gets the 2 iron claw-foot tubs lifted onto the 2nd floor with the aid of the infamous bucket truck now we are ready for the 2nd floor walls. In the spring Troy has to go back to the road paving job in California. By this time we are into probably 2000 or 2001. Lynn decides he will get a local contractor to frame the rest of the walls on the second floor and frame the roof. The walls were sheeted and house wrap, and we installed most of the 44 windows.
The roof is complicated and high off the ground. The house is still unprotected from the elements and more water seeps through the 2nd floor down to the first floor. Then in 2001, we finally hire a roofing company, Palmer Roofing, to roof the entire house. They were awesome and took about 3-4 days and $11,000, and the roof was done.
We have a house wrapped and roofed and what is next on the agenda? We are going into 2002. More surprises to come.
Stay tuned for more reflections.
Annie, the reluctant carpenter.
Photo taken 2005 House is wrapped and roof is onDated 7-7-1998 The floor and some walls that didn’t get blown down8-16-1997 is the date on this.photo
Last full day of vacation. Lynn and I worked until about 3:30 for Lynn and I put in another hour.
Lynn spent about 4 hours in the lift painstakingly cutting and fitting all the acorn cedar shakes one at a time. I think we are going to run out before we get this one side done. Lynn thought that he would finish that side today but didn’t happen. Ran out of energy before he could finish. I’m sure he will be up there tomorrow while I’m at work.
The last thing we did was remove another post and put the finished one in its place. Oh, it sure is an improvement. Now post #3 is sitting on my back deck waiting for me to take it apart and start working on it.
In the meantime, I have to paint some more cedar shakes. We have 42 cut and ready to paint. I put the primer on the edge then on the top surface. Tomorrow I will add the red which has to be two coats then two coats of the sage green. Looks like I will only have about an hour of work after I get home each day this week. I guess it will be Lynn’s night to cook tomorrow.
I have been taking pictures each step of the way. Every year I take photos that I have taken during the year and make a calendar to send to the kids. This year’s calendar will the be “The Year of the Dream Home.” I am thrilled that we have got done as much as we have. We waited rather late in the year to get out there and get started. We had a wet spring, and I thought we were going to hire some work done as Lynn just wasn’t feeling very well. But in the end, I just made an executive decision. Oh, Lynn hates those. Decided that I had waited long enough, and I went and rented the lift. He thought we should have fixed the “bucket truck.” Oh that is a whole other story. I’ll fill you in on that in another reflection post. Anyway, he thought it would just cost too much. Well, it did cost a lot, but it has been worth every penny. For one thing it has forced he and I both to focus on getting as much as we can get done while we have it. Also, he is doing the work which is always a good thing, because he is a real craftsman and does a wonderful job.
I probably will not be doing too much on my blog until next weekend as I have to go to my real job and earn money so I can pay my bill collectors. Ho hum. Now for the photos.
Annie, back to the real world for the working girl
After yesterday, I didn’t hold much hope that I could get Lynn out there again today. Fooled me. After seeing how good it looked yesterday he was excited about going out there to finish up the trim. He thought it would take about 4 hours and he didn’t even stop for lunch. He said if he stopped he may not want to go back out. What a guy 🙂
I started out sanding and sanding some more on the post and had it ready to paint about 10:30. Put on one coat of primer and waited for that to dry, then two coats of Behr White Semi Gloss Exterior Paint. Letting it dry between coats. Now the post will rest for a couple of days before I can tape and paint the rings. Then on to the 3rd post.
Things went smoother for Lynn as he learned better ways to do things.
I wanted to help, so after he put his time in on the lift, I went back out and tried to face my fears of heights by walking around on the porch roof, hanging onto the lift, of course. That was tough, but I did it a little bit. Put up some of the tar paper, but when I ran out, I couldn’t make myself go back up there. I will try it again later, you can bet your britches on it.
With the day ending, I had some Domestic Diva stuff to do. My friend Mary has a Birthday tomorrow, and she looooves to celebrate her Birthday. I made my famous cheese-ball, past down through the family. I will share the recipe with you at the end. Then I made German Chocolate Brownies. Her request. Tomorrow we will feast. Guess what I am at the end.
Annie’s Cheese Ball – only 5 ingredients (double batch)
2 – pkgs cream cheese (not low fat)
2 – Tbls dehydrated onions
1 1/2 – tsp. garlic salt
1 – pkg (sm) Budding wafer meats (torn in small pieces) (I use chicken)
2 – Tbls Pace Picante Sauce (secret ingredient – I like medium)
Remove your rings. Put all the above ingredients in a medium mixing bowl so you will have room to get your hands in there and smoosh it altogether. There really isn’t any other way to get it done so it is blended well. It will be tackie so just form it into a ball and put in the frig to firm up. Before serving I roll it in pecan chips, but you can roll in sunflower seeds or parsley if there are pickie eaters who don’t like nuts.
I make sure I bring crackers to serve with it. I like Wheat Thins and/or Triskets. I make sure the crackers are plain, as you want to taste the subtle flavors of the cheese ball.
I spent the day working on the post. I have been the “Bondo Queen”. Still not satisfied with the results. Two sides done and two to go. Almost there. Should get it painted tomorrow.
Lynn took over control of the lift today. He actually spent more time in it than I thought he would. He was actually living up to his monicker of ‘ole snap & snarl’. He was one cranky guy this morning. I didn’t even want to be around him. But he eventually came out of it.
He spent about 3 hours working on the right gable. He hopes to finish the trim work tomorrow and then we will start adding the shakes. Maybe have it done by this weekend. One can only hope. He doesn’t trust me to do it. I think my expertise is in the ‘post area.’ Too many angles on the trim work. I spend the day cutting pieces and running up and down the stairs handing pieces of trim out the window to ‘Snap.’ Oh, and mind reading. That was what Lynn expected me to do. Kinda good at it after 24 years, but not perfect yet!!!
I sure hope Lynn feels up to working on it tomorrow. I have to go to work on Thursday and then will be off for 3 more days.
A fairly productive day. Now for some proofing and new shows to watch with the hubby. 🙂
Annie, the Bondo Queen
The right side of the gable with some of the trim.
Put in a full day. Finished putting 2 coats of Cream paint on the shop. Then trimmed the white and put a final coat of white on the garage door. A full day. Not sure what I will start on tomorrow. Need to migrate to the front of the house again, but the weather side of the shop also needs attention. I guess I will wait until tomorrow morning and see what feels right.
I have also been working on the post, will probably do a little more on that in the morning.
Lynn still isn’t feeling up to par, so I am thinking about seeing if he will walk me through the front. I know that I can do it. I did put the cedar shakes on the garage, so I think I would be able to handle the front. We will see.
Too tired to write much tonight, but I did take a couple of pictures.
Going to spend some time proofing the book I have and then some quality time in front of Dancing With the Stars tonight with my hubby.
More photos to come tomorrow. Maybe.
Annie, novice painter and Master and Controller
The front is done. Yea, can mark that of the to-do list.
Removing the blue tape. The way I use it, I need to by stock in the company.
Nice door, now about the rest of the garage. Just need to turn away, that isn’t happening this year!!
15yearsandcountingdream 