Welcome to John’s Workshop

Posted on July 5, 2009
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John is making all of the trim for all of our windows. He’s modeling it on the trim that surrounded one of the two original windows that remained in the monster house.

One window that Gene didn't get to.

John with the table saw.

Here is a stack of his handiwork.

Window trim pieces.

And, a partially finished product. This one just needs the top piece. John used primed wood, so that’s why the fronts are white.

The (almost) end result.

This afternoon, I have lots of sanding to do…More to come next week!

Stair Masters

Posted on July 1, 2009
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For the past week, the crew has been working on the front porch and stairs, and the two landings and stairways leading from the back doors. No more ramps!

Mark, our painter, painted the cement block beneath the porch black, so it wouldn’t show through the skirt boards (and would look like empty space behind). This was our architect’s idea and I think it was a pretty clever one.

Starting the stairs.

Sam and Dan started work in the back on the hottest day of the year so far. Because there are no big trees, our back yard is typically at least ten degrees warmer than everywhere else, so John loaned them our picnic umbrella to provide some shade.

A pair of stairs.

Front porch with railing.

Front of house, with porch.

Pair of stairs, with railings.

Bump in the Road

Posted on June 24, 2009
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For the most part, we have not had too many unexpected expenses, which is unusual for a complete house build. There was one expense, however, that was a real bummer.

Before we could get our permit for the plumbing work, we had to have some major, tear-up-the-street work done. It turns out that, back in the 60s when Gene began his grand remuddling, he never let the city know what he did with the water line from the house to the city’s line. Because it wasn’t recorded, the assumption was that the pipe was lead and, because of that, it needed to be replaced with a copper line.

So, thousands of dollars, and nothing exciting to show for it except some new cement in the road. Oh, well, at least it got people to slow down as they drove past.

Road work.

Digging to China.

Dueling cement trucks.

“If I Can’t Swim in the Lake Today”

Posted on June 20, 2009
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Today’s been relatively warm—in the mid-80s—and pretty humid. So, Briar found the coolest spot in the apartment.

Fill it up with cool water, please.

And the Winner Is…

Posted on June 18, 2009
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Sherwin Williams‘ Refuge (SW 6228). The color is (to my amusement) part of the Haute Couture collection, which, according to Sheri Thompson, Director of Color Marketing and Design, “isn’t for those with a follow-the-lead attitude.” The funny part? It came out in 2005, so we aren’t exactly blazing a bold trail with our color choice. We just thought it was pretty.

(This was the color on the far-right side in the paint samples photo.)

Deciding what to paint the house was a major decision, but we think we chose the right color. It’s a medium blue with a bit of green and gray, and it changes depending on whether the sun is bright or the sky is overcast. The white trim looks very crisp against it.

I think it has both a nautical and historic feel to it, if that makes sense. A couple of neighbors have commented on how much it reminds them of the lake. Santosh, who lives across the street, called it “very Nantucket.” So, we have a Nantucket-y, Greek Revival–inspired farmhouse, I guess. Works for me.

The photos don’t really do it justice, so you’ll just have to visit…

Front of house, with first coat and trim painted.

Back of house, with first coat and trim painted.

Body Discovered in Backyard

Posted on June 16, 2009
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Given the general weirdness of the house’s previous occupants, we were bound to find something creepy even after the house was completely gone. We predicted that Briar would eventually dig up a body part, but it was the construction crew who unearthed Ken.

He has seen better days.

Bro-Ken (ha ha)

No new developments on the painting front because it has been raining on and off all day.

Blue Monday

Posted on June 15, 2009
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Before applying the blue paint that we chose, Mark of Bay View Painters primed our house using a blue-based primer. So, now it looks like a giant robin’s egg (deluxe version with windows and stuff).

Step 1

The painters will start on the first coat of real paint tomorrow, if it doesn’t rain.

(Title-related flashback.)

Week in Review

Posted on June 13, 2009
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The drywall crew has been here for three days and they have completed installation for all of the interior walls and most of the mudding and taping. It is so cool to see all of the rooms defined.

Sunny corner of the kitchen.

The fireplace was installed on Wednesday.

The basement floor is finished. Our basement windows arrived earlier in the week—they’ll be in place next week.

Basement floor and basement windows in their packaging.

We knew that we wanted to go with blue for the exterior paint color, but weren’t sure exactly which blue. Our painter, Mark, gave us three different paint sample books to look at, each of them about two inches thick. That’s a lot of paint colors.

Given that each little paint sample is about the size of an address label, it’s kind of difficult to look at a color and imagine what it will look like when it’s covering a two-story house. To help us make a decision, Mark painted some larger samples on the front and the back of the house, where we could see how the colors look in sunlight and in shade.

A range of blue hues.

Our architect, the construction crew, neighbors, and passers-by have been happy to offer their opinions. Dan from the crew wondered whether we were planning to paint the entire house in blue stripes. Although this would make the house easy for visitors to identify, we’ve decided to go with a solid color.

Which one will we choose? Tune in next week to find out…