Sheet Rock Ceilings – Looking Good

Though I am but a witness to the sheet rock going up, and not actually having to do it, it is exciting.  This is the time  that things are becoming real.  The rooms are taking shape and it’s all starting to come together.  The ceilings are almost done.  The one ceiling left is the gazebo room, or family room is what I like to call it.  That one being the most difficult is saved for the last.

Gazebo ceiling is the last ceiling to get done.

The living room looks so much bigger than before, I can’t imagine what the walls will do for it.  I guess this would be the time when I should be looking for paint samples.  I will be doing most all the painting as my budget just won’t stretch that far.  Sounds like a winter project to me.  Now for the living room.

Living room ceiling is up

I am hoping to take the week off and get work done around here.  I can’t believe it is already Sunday.  Where did Saturday go?

Status on the posts.  One is completed and drying.  The other one has one coat of the white, it needs another coat of white then taped-off for the colored stripes.  We will be putting both posts up tomorrow and taking down 2 more to finish.  As soon as those are done, I will begin the painting on the outside of the house until the weather runs me inside or I need to paint the walls before moving.  E-gads, moving, that is another expense that I don’t look forward too.

When you come into the entry way the ceilings are vaulted to about 22 feet and the staircase is the first thing that you see.  Then the living room and there is a small bar that is located under the stairway.  As Lynn and I are not much for drinking, we will probably use it more for a coffee bar.  It has a little sink and a place for drinks to be prepared.  This is what you are seeing in the next photo.  Plus Lynn is doing his inspecting.

Lynn, the inspector, is checking it out.

One of the things I am really excited for is the stairs.  There are 3 sections with a 2 small landings, and we added a small balcony that is just above the door.  Spindle rails will go up the side of the staircase and in front on the balcony.  Will post photos when that is done.

Now I need to talk to Gabe to see what comes next after the sheet rock is mudded.  Is it the trim work or the flooring or the painting?

Grassi Refrigeration has installed the two heat pump units.  One for the upstairs and one for the downstairs.  I don’t imagine we will be using the one upstairs very much, just when we have company.  Maybe you are wondering why we are building such a big house for just the 2 of us?  I always wanted a big Victorian house, and when it is done, we can have the kids and grand kids come and visit.  We have been so cramped for space that we had to always bring out the inflatable queen size bed and put it in the living room.

More pictures tomorrow.

Annie, looking for Saturday 😦

 

 

 

 

 

A Busy Week so Far

Decided to hit the ground running this week.  Had a lot of stops for estimates and passed out a few sets of plans.  Have gone to 2 flooring companies.  Asked for a revised cabinet estimate.  Sent an email to the contractor that we are interested in working with, asking to expand the initial estimate to include more work that I know Lynn is not well enough to do.

This has been a difficult decision for Lynn and myself.  It has brought to the forefront Lynn’s limitations.  That is something that is very hard for a proud man, like Lynn, to face.  I’m hoping that he can look past that and see that in going this route, he will get to actually live in our Dream Home.

I tasked him with gathering all the documentations that will be needed by the bank.  He had gathered it all together and gave it to me last night.  Wahoo that is one thing I can check off the list.

Decisions, decisions.  I have seen so many styles of doors, cabinets, laminate flooring, carpeting, faucets, tubs, toilets, smoke alarms and a multitude of other little things that I can’t imagine.

The thing that is scaring me to death is whether I will qualify for the mortgage through the bank.  Cross your fingers and say some little prayers for us.

As much as I want to get this project done, taking on a large mortgage is a little daunting.  I will be smart about it and if it is out of our planned budget, we will continue as we have been doing.

In the meantime I will continue to do clean-up work inside, cut and paint more cedar shakes, work on the posts and do a little painting.  Oh, and there are fences to be mended, a dog to groom, not to mention all the domestic duties (I hate doing) and flower beds to be weeded.  Ho hum, stay tuned for another update later this week.

Annie, the General Contractor 🙂

 

 

 

Winter’s Coming – Trying to get it done

Busy weekend.  Trying to get some of the porch work done.  The roof is done.  Yeah, I am a happy girl.  Did some painting on the balusters, posts, 2×4’s and painted the fascia board.  Cleaned up some of the yard.  There just isn’t enough time to get it all done.  Will be taking down the scaffolding and moving it around to the side of the house, so I can work on the fascia boards that need repairing.  I think I will need to take some time off to get it done.

The weather here in the beautiful great northwest is starting to turn.  It has been in the high 30’s at night, but will be in the high 60’s during the day for the rest of this week.  It is just a matter of time before it will be too cold to work outside.  For me, that is.  I am hot house plant, and don’t like the cold.

Yesterday I did a little bit of painting but just couldn’t get my mind into it.  But, this morning I was raring to go.  Although, I did have a couple of detours before noon.  You know those detours are a necessity, but then I am back on task.

First detour, I found a deep whole in the horse pasture that could have resulted in injuring one of our horses.  So it was checking the depths and making sure the whole was filled completely.  Wasn’t sure if it was from water or moles.  It was deep and went in a couple of directions, so that took some pounding down and filling.

Second detour was when I was in the pasture, I saw that our little 6 month old colt was getting a hay belly.  He needed exercising.  My husband is the horsey person.  I love to watch them but don’t have a clue what to do with them.  Well we both had a lesson today.  He is stubborn as a mule and probably knew he had a novice cowgirl.  It was fun though and I got the exercise, trying to get him to move.  Gave him a little love and brushing and all was good and I was ready to go back to doing something I know how to do, painting!

Ann & Cheyenne 10-06-2013

Well, as always I wanted to get more done, but all-in-all, it was a productive weekend.

It gets dark about 1 hour after I get home in the evenings and that time is decreasing daily.  Add that to the fact that I am plumb tuckered out by then also.  So another priority is that we get some porch lights up.  It gets dark out here in the country and I don’t like walking from my car to the porch in the dark.  I’m clumsy enough when I can see, much less when it is dark out.

Now for the porch pictures:

The 2×4’s for the railings

The balusters

The fascia board is painted green. Love my porch.

Well, that’s all folks 🙂

Annie, the novice cowgirl

Working Our Way Up the Porch

The railings are starting to go up.  One at least.

Lynn went to Spokane this past week for his consultation on getting a pacemaker.  He is a candidate for the modified pacemaker, but to satisfy the insurance company they have to monitor him for the next 3 months and then get another heart echo, before he is eligible.  Irregardless of the fact, that they have been trying to control his arrhythmia with medications for the last 5 years.  The doctor also changed his heart medication and that has really caused him to be extremely tired and lethargic.  Hopefully, after the pacemaker is in, and functioning well, he can get off of some of the medications he is on.   He feels he is over-medicated, but which one do you get rid of?  Alright this is a blog about DIY Building projects, just thought I would let you know that my significant other has not been able to get into this project, too good.  I am amazed at what he can do, as he will be turning 74 in a couple months.

We didn’t get the scaffolding moved like we wanted this weekend, so I had to settle for working on the railing.  I really wanted to work on the porch by the stairs leading from the side yard, but we have some other things that need to be done first and that involves the scaffolding.  Next week we will tackle that.

Our do-it-yourself center that is closest to us, is Home Depot, so that is where we buy all our paint and most other building products.  I have found that their paint is good if you use a good foundation primer.  I prefer the Kilz Premium Primer as it works the best.  It is worth the extra money if you want the finish to match.  I had primed the balustrades and the 2×4’s before putting them up, then quickly put on 1 coat of the Behr Semi-Gloss White.  It will need one more coat.  Hopefully, I can paint the whole porch before bad weather sets in.

I guess I will be in the roofing business one for time before I hang up my hammer.  We have decided to put up asphalt shingles to match the rest of the house, if we can match the color.  If not, we will get as close as we can.  I would have like to put up metal roofing, but that should be done professionally, and that isn’t in the budget.

This particular blog will be short as I am pooped.  Gotta fix supper, do sock fairy duties, take a shower and get ready for another week at the salt-minds.

Take care,

Annie, the porch wizard.

Storm rolling in from the south on 9-5

First railing goes up

Kinzie the building inspector, fell asleep on the job.

Labor Day Progress on the Porch

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 up

A little detail of the roof rafters and ceiling joists

Kinzie waiting on the roof to her dog house, eh, I mean our porch

Side view. Not to bad for a novice carpenter.

A pain-free weekend and the posts are up.

No accidents with the hammer or with the pipe clamp, so things are definitely looking up.  This working on the porch is a young persons job, and I’m not that young.  So needless to say, my back has suffered for the last 2-3 weeks.  Finally, yesterday was pain free, and I totally enjoyed it.  Even Lynn didn’t have much pain yesterday.  Today is a different story for Lynn.  I’m still pain free and I hope it last because I need to catch-up on my walking.  Having to undergo some physical therapy so I have one appointment this week then twice a week after that.  I refuse to wallow in the pain.  There is just too much to  do.  Because it keeps you young if you can keep moving.  At least that’s what works for me.  Plus there are blackberries along the path that need picking.  Then I can make some blackberry cobbler.  Yum. 🙂

Yesterday, we went to Home Depot and picked up the crown molding we will be using on the outside.  It comes in 16′ lengths so we had to take in the flat-bed trailer for that little bitty load.  Felt like we should have loaded it up with more lumber, but I think we have all we will need to complete the job.  Came home and I primed both sides to keep moisture at bay.  They come preprimed, but it is a cheap primer and I want the  paint to stay on and do its job.  The only primer I buy is Kilz Premium Primer.  It costs a little bit more, but is really worth the added expense.  I learned that the had way.   You need a good foundation for the paint.  I’ve tried the paints that have the primer in them, and I am not a big fan of that either.

Today, I put one coat of paint on the crown molding and then Lynn said he needed help repairing another water line in the pasture.  So spent some time digging and repairing the pipe.  It never ends when you have acreages and animals.  We don’t have but 1 horse now and 2 llamas, but will be getting a weanling colt in a couple of weeks so I will need to do some work in the paddock to get it youngster proof, and Lynn has to finish the floor in the horse trailer.

Back to the porch.  Lynn had enough energy to put in the 4 posts and put the headers on top.  He did the cutting and I helped provide the muscle and got to use the handy dandy palm nailer.  I just love that thing.  I got it for him about 6 or 7 years ago for Christmas, but I’m the one that has the most fun with it.  It sure makes the job easier.

The next thing we need to do is start putting up that crown molding and and then the roof joists will go up along with the ceiling joists.  Probably won’t do any more until next weekend.  I’m sure if Lynn feels like it he will be working on his horse trailer this week.  But for now I am a happy camper, cause I’m seeing some progress.  Maybe it will get done yet.

Annie, the feeling good novice carpenter.

Crown Molding, primer and first coat of paint

A closer look at the crown molding

The posts are up and level for the moment.

Love the decking. This ones for you Jodi

Vacation, Anniversary and a little porch work

Took a much needed vacation from work to celebrate our 25th Anniversary and to work on the porch and maybe a little rest.  The weather has been in the 98-100 degree range so that has hampered some of the work on the porch.  I love it, but  Lynn, not so much.  The mere mention of the heat and he is hunting for a cool corner, man cave, with a TV.

What we have done since the last blog post, isn’t much to write about.  We went shopping and got more lumber.  2x6x8 and 2x6x10 for our roof rafters and ceiling joists.  More of those doohickeys that go on top of the posts and joist hangers, and ordered some crown molding that will be used on the trim on the house.  Not able to match the existing trim so we will just have to make due.  Picked out a sagey greenish grey for the trim.  Home Depot called today and said it will not be until Monday, so I won’t get to paint and instal it until a week from Sunday.  Ugh, I hate waiting.

What I did manage to do was put up a trim 2×4 and clean and prime and paint the fascia board underneath.  We also got some aluminum to put under the drip edge to further sheet the water from going down on the crown molding.  The actual trim board around the house is not a good design to keep the water from rotting it.  Living in a very dry climate most of the time tends to help it last longer.  So the aluminum will not be all that great to look at, but it will function better and besides, you really aren’t going to be able to see it that well, and it is only going over the back porch roof.

One of our main goals is to make it functional, nice to look at and keep the critters out.  At one point a few years ago, we had a family of squirrels living in our attic not to mention a very large (vacant) bees hive.  So what we intend to accomplish in the time remaining before the rain and winter weather comes, is to get the roof on and the molding replaced at least on the east side where we get lots of weather.  And call it good.

Lynn is actually incapacitated with his back, so we are basically at a dead stop at this time.  As much as I know about what to do, I don’t have the muscle to do it alone.  I did get some of the hardware on the posts, but we discovered that we actually need to cut a foot off of the posts to make the ceiling  and roof rafters where we want them.  It will still make for a shallow roof incline, but it will shed water and snow.  Also, it needs to be high enough for a ceiling fan, that we plan to put on the porch for ourselves and for Kinzie (our collie) to bask under.  The only thing I can promise is, it will get done before fall.

In the meantime, I get to kick back and read.  I most favorite thing to do.

Annie, the lazy-on-vacation carpenter 🙂

A little of the trim board.

Getting ready for the crown molding

Some post hardware goes on

Got some tools of the trade.

Prep Work Behind the Scenes

This weekend saw a little progress.  You know unless I am seeing a lot of physical progress, I refer to it as “a little.”  Yesterday after grocery shopping and having lunch, I went outside and screwed down the remaining decking.  Of course it took a couple of hours.  Slow but sure.  As I get older, it takes longer to get things done.

Today, I painted the 7 posts that I have for the porch.  They are 4X6 posts that will be used for the upright posts and the headers that the ceiling joists will be sitting on.  I know, confusing right?  At least it is for me, so I have to think about it and roll it around in my mind.  I see it kinda like a puzzle and all the pieces have to be put together in the proper order and, you just can’t rush it.  I am learning patients, everyday.

On another front when I was cooling off after lunch, I was cruising the internet in search of fascia moldings.  We have to replace the 5 inch molding along the roof line.  It has held up for 100 years and is finally looking tattered and torn.  In other words awful really really awful!!  We need to replace about 60 to 70 feet of it.  Of course I am not finding the exact pattern.   I think we will probably have to substitute something similar.  We cannot afford to have someone duplicate it exactly.  Even the ones that they have in the DIY centers are expensive.  It’s on the weather side of the house, so I would rather have pvc or urethane as it would hold up in the weather.  On the weather sides, we have a hard time keeping paint on wood.  I am open to any suggestions or if you are aware of a company that is affordable, I am all ears.

I am attaching photos of which I am truly embarrassed to be showing, that we have let it get this bad.  But the inside of this home had been the focus, then the front porch, now the back porch.  In between times we are working on the dream house.  I hope I at least get most of those projects finished by the time I retire.  That gives me about 4 years.

Back to painting.  I began painting some of the slats that will be on the railings on the back porch.  I finished 27 of them.  As with all my painting now, I begin with Kilz Premium Primer.  It is the best I have ever used.  It is exceptional in adhering to the raw wood and makes a great foundation for paint.  It also has to wear off my hands.  I tried many primers over the years and finally saw this primer in Fine Home Building Magazine.  If you ever need really good information, that is the magazine to buy.  We have found lots of good information in there.

I follow the primer with Behr Paint Semi Gloss from Home Depot .  We have so much dust here that the Semi Gloss sheds the dust easiest.  It has shown to be a good paint and holds up well.  I don’t get the paint with the primer in it as that is unnecessary when using the Kilz Premium Primer.  We shop at Home Depot as it is the only DIY center close to us.

Next weekend begins my vacation.  I am going to take a week off to work on the porch and celebrate our 25^th Anniversary.  25 years of DIY, I am surprised we have made it this long, working together on these project we tend to have some short tempers.  My husband is dreading it, because he said I am trying to work him to death.  He dreads the weekends and says he feels guilty if he isn’t out there working alongside of me.  That bothers me because I don’t want him to feel that way.  I know that he does as much as he can, I just wish we could afford to pay someone to get this done, but until I win the lottery, I guess this is as good as it get.  I think you have to play the lottery to win, hmmm, I guess we won’t be winning the lottery any time soon.  Hopefully, we will include a few fun things, like going to breakfast at the Maple Counter and lunch or dinner at a good restaurant.  Can’t be all work and not play.

Well it is back to work tomorrow (the paying job) for another week, then some much needed vacation time.

Until next weekend, stay out of the heat, and I’ll see you later.

Annie, the happy porch lady 🙂

Final coats on the posts

Slats being primed

Posts are done

Slats are done

Sad looking trim

Missing trim

Above the porch.

Happy 4th of July – Progress on the Porch

Happy 4th of July America.  This holiday gives you pause to count your blessings that we live in a country where we have all the freedoms we enjoy.  If you work hard you can achieve your dreams.  You know we are not wealthy, but we have our health, a roof over our head, food in our belly, and the right to worship as we choose.

Building our dream home is one our dreams.  Granted it has taken a looooong, time but we have worked hard and have enjoyed the fruits of our labor.  With a few detours.  The present one being our back porch in the little house we live in.  So now that I have led into that, here is our progress for today:

A day off work at the office, but a day of work on the back porch.  I did take some pictures as I wanted to record this project and have a look at the before and after pictures.  Today Lynn put up another trim board and cut away some of the obstacles to it laying flat.  Then he cut the deck boards to size, about 10 of them, then went in to get out of the heat and recuperate.  That is when my job began.  I drilled pilot holes so I wouldn’t split any of the boards then screwed them down with 3″ deck screws.  Love to see progress and watching the porch be transformed from something that I was ashamed of to something that I am proud to show off.

My two week project has turned into March, April, May, June & July, maybe August project.  Not regretting doing it.  Just sometimes get impatient with myself that it takes me and Lynn so long to do any project.  We always envision the projects going much faster and smoother.  I guess it teaches us patience.  I should be about finished with learning patience, and I am ready to graduate.

Lynn managed to mow the weed infested back yard on Tuesday.  Looks so much better.  It is dried out weeds, but at least they are all the same height, so it doesn’t look so bad.  Looking at the back yard and front yard, just lets me know what other areas of this house have been neglected.  My wish is that someone stops me the next time I am in Home Depot and offers to do a yard makeover.  I want a rich luscious green lawn with underground sprinklers on a timer and well groomed flower beds with beautiful butterfly bushes and humming bird feeders.  Weeded and no fox-tails in the lawn as they burrow under Kinzie’s fur.   I absolutely hate fox-tails.

Nodded off for a minute in dreamland, but I’m now back awake.  Well maybe someday that wish will come true, but I don’t think it will happen this summer.  Ho hum.  I will just have to settle for a beautiful porch.

Our plan for this weekend is to finish up the deck of the porch and begin the railing.  Back to Home Depot to get the railing material and I will then get out my trusty paint brush and begin more painting.  Oh, I can’t wait.  But for tomorrow I am back to work at being a paralegal and loving that job too.

Take care and thanks for reading my little blog 🙂

Annie, the tired patriot porch builder

This is looking from the back kitchen door out toward the yard.

Doesn’t that look so much better?

Porch Deck about 3/4 done. Then the railing and roof.

Finally got the dryer vent put together and it will stay that way with little screws.

Next to the stump, not able to dig, so we improvised.

We get to remove the 4×8 sheet of plywood and get some more done.

The Treasures you Find when Demolishing an Old Porch

Well the demo continues.  Working on the floor of the porch has been interesting to say the least.  While tearing up the floor we are trying to preserve some of the joists underneath as some of that wood is stronger and bigger than you can buy today.  Pulling up flooring of tongue and groove, rotting floorboards.  Cleaning up as we go along and putting all the old pieces of wood in the burn pile.  Boy are we going to have a bonfire when we are done.  We have to have everything burned before July 1st when the burn ban goes into effect through Labor Day.

This has been an adventure, I would rather have skipped.  Though looking ahead to the awesome porch I envision will be the payoff.  Assuming it turns out as nice as the picture in my head.

Now you are not going to believe what we found underneath those rotting board.  A tree stump, that they just built the porch around.  I am talking about a really really big tree stump!!  I believe it must have been cut down 90 to 100 years ago.

We have not uncovered the whole stump, but it looks to be about 3 feet in diameter.  I took a picture, but not sure how good it will show the enormity of it.   This house was built in 1898, but not sure when the porch was built.  Probably sometime in the 20’s or 30’s maybe.  The man that lived in this house before we purchased it had live her for almost 50 years and raised a family here.  I believe the porch must have been put on before he moved in.

This porch will be the last major repair/replacement we will have to make in this house.  All of the rest of the house has been renovated inside and the front porch was done about 5 years ago.  The only other thing I would like to change is the aluminum siding.  I really don’t like aluminum siding.  Oh, and maybe the windows.  They don’t leak but they have wavy glass in them, and though it is vintage, I don’t like to look through it.  I don’t want my vision though the window to be distorted, my eyes themselves will do that on their own.  Need to quit thinking about what I would still like to do to this house as I hope to get on with the Dream House we are building next door.  Remember that project?

I took some pictures of the back porch demo, I hope you can see some promise in them.  It really has nowhere to go but up, right?

Stay tuned for next weekend.

Annie, the novice porch planner.

what a dirty mess.

wow, what a stump

A tree stump

Standing back for a clearer view of the mess.

Lynn with the saws-all