Doing What I Can

I had all these grandiose plans to get things done around the house, but with Hurricane Irene looming, I instead set about clearing the yard of possible projectile objects and mowing the lawn. I recently changed the blade on the mower, which always gives me a bit of anxiety, so it's good to run it few times to know that the thing isn't going to fly off. Scary thought.

Also, since Sunday was slated to be crazy in terms of weather, we had to finish up the dumplings by Saturday, which is a day before we usually do it, thus complicating our lives even more. In addition to stocking up on rations and water, I had to not only make and cook dumplings, but clean up all the pots and pans, as well. Then, I moved all potentially dangerous stuff into the barn, which included my ladder setup on the roof as well as various power tools.

I then mowed the lawn, which badly needed it, and picked up some lumber at a friend's house who said he had plenty and gave it to me free. Thanks M.

Now we sit and wait. The weather is supposed to be nice after the hurricane, so hopefully I'll have the wherewithal to keep my feet moving.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Andrea Kratzenberg for the pic.

Moving On to the Eastside

With the hurricane looming, I've decided to leave well enough alone and move to the other side of the house. I still need to finish painting some of clapboards on the west side of the dormer, but we're talking 30 minutes of work, tops, and the boards are primed. The important part, sealing the side of the house from water, is finished, so I can in good conscience start on the other side. Plus, the work can be finished with just our extension ladder, so I don't need to borrow one from KJ.

With that in mind, I moved the ladders to the east side of the dormer and was ready to start ripping out clapboards to get that flashing underneath, but then decided that rather than get too involved, to break things down in anticipation of the storm. Kind of a bummer, because I was feeling inspired, and now it's going to take some doing to get back on track. Momentum is a funny thing in that way. I think if I'm more careful this time around, I won't have to do as much siding replacement and painting.

I also ran into a complication with the ladders. We have a 28ft extension ladder that goes up about 1/3 of the way, which falls way too short, so I use another ladder that hooks to the roof. The difficulty of this is that I have to borrow someone's ladder. On the east side, there is a vent pipe sticking out, so I can't hook the ladder to the roof. I thought about getting the pipe through the steps of the ladder, but that would be a chore. So I came up with an alternative plan, which was met with much skepticism by the likes of JM and CF. I was going to build an extension with 2X4s and rest it on top of the extension ladder. I figure 8 ft. would be plenty, and then I wouldn't need to hook the ladder over the top.

JM thought I was flirting with disaster, but in the end, I came up with a solution to my solution - I will tie a rope to the top of the wooden extension, and then secure that to a tree or window on the other side of the house. That way, the extension won't slide down the face, taking me with it. I think it will work. For good measure, I could always secure a harness, as well, and might do that, though it's a pain hooking up every time. Better safe than sorry, right?

Just a final note, I think the long term plan for the dormer will involve replacing many of the clapboards and possibly installing a piece of trim, but it's water tight for now.

This should be interesting. Until then, thanks for reading.

About 75% Finished With One Side

Progress is slow in these parts, but things are moving along. I finally went up on the roof and nailed in the clapboards, thus securing the flashing. As always when dealing with clapboards, I ended up cracking and destroying a few, so they needed to be replaced. This entailed getting the clapboards, and then cutting them to size and installing them. Not always easy to do when you’re standing on the roof and hornets are flying around your head.

Part of the problem was nailing through two piece of flashing, which required some force. I employed the advice of my father in law, RR, and held the nails steady with a pair of plyers as I gave them a good whack. It worked out well. Now the new boards are in, the flashing is secured, and I think it’s fairly protected from the weather. Now I could probably leave it as it is for the Winter, but I figured that since I’m all set up up there, I might was well paint the trim and the clapboards. Just what I need, something else to put off and weigh me down.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

All Hands on Deck

Our deck is pretty fried, though my Mentor doesn’t think it’s bad as I make it out to be, and he would know. I need to fix that hatch door, however, and like everything in my life, I’ve been putting it off. Part of my dilemma is the cost of materials. The deck is cedar, and that stuff is expensive. To replace the deck would cost hundreds of dollars, and that makes me anxious. However, to just fix the door would be a fraction of that cost.

I finally investigated the matter and found that cedar deck boards are not that expensive, at least I don’t think they’re that expensive. About $1/foot, so to replace the door would cost about $50. True, the entire deck would set us back, but that’s not necessary at this point.

I went to Britton’s and got the wood, and I think I’ll be able to pull this off before Winter... yeah, right. HH did tell me that cedar resists rot, but still needs to be treated, so I’ll attend to that this time around. I think I have the stuff to use, the same stuff I used on the front step. It’s a silicone based water proofer that is water based, so not as nasty as some of the products out there. I was going to use it on the picnic table, if I ever get around to fixing that.

Until then, thanks for reading.

Paint It White

After all my efforts to have a nicely stained front step, with a natural wood look, I've finally decided to paint it white, of all things. Had I done this in first place, I probably could have used a cheaper piece of wood, but the step is nice, and will be more durable because of it.

Now the question is, when?

Until then, thanks for reading.

The Woodpile Grows and TB Calls

Finally got back into splitting and stacking wood, which I really enjoy, as does N. It’s a great way to get something accomplished and hang with my son doing a manly activity. How can you beat that? I’m almost finished relocating the wood blocks, and once that’s done, we’re all set and ready for our next truckload.

There is quite a bit of wood that still needs to be split, and it could take me months to get it all done, but that’s not a problem as long as we have enough to keep us warm over the Winter. The plan is to finishing stacking the second year, and then whatever is left over I’ll stack in the woods uncovered. Then, when Spring arrives, we can just move the split wood over to the dry pile. How’s that for planning? What’s great about it is that it speaks volumes to my firewood OCD.

Also on the wood front, I finally heard from TB, the logger. He hadn’t returned my call for about a week, and he’s generally very professional and reliable, so I figured he was on vacation. Then again, loggers don’t go on vacation during the busy Summer/Fall months, there’s too much to do. Either way, I was ready to start looking for alternates when he finally called and left a message. We were still on, and he said he could get me the wood before Winter, which I had said would be fine. One less thing to worry about.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Almost Done With the Front

Things are cruising long on the home front (literally and figuratively), and though progress is slow, it’s progress, nonetheless. The front entry has been stalled for the past year, and I decided to just bear down and try to finish it. Part of the delay stemmed from the fact that we are going to change the color of the house, and I figured it wasn’t worth it to paint it now and then paint it later. The question is, when are we going to paint it, and what color?

So, I just went for it. I needed to caulk the seams before I could paint, but once that was done, I could begin. Painting short clapboards is a chore when you’re trying not to paint the trim, and I’m a sloppy person, so I’m going to have to re-paint the trim, anyway. Not a bad thing.

I would say the entry is about 90% finished. All I need is finish the trim around the door, and we’re on our way. There is some debate as to whether I should pain the step white. I originally liked the natural wood look, and even went out of my way to get a nice piece of lumber for that purpose, but when I look at it, I think it would look better if it matched the trim. A white step doesn’t seem practical, but what’s practicality got to do with anything?

Until the next time, thanks for reading.