Archive for November, 2017

Outside… so close! (BH #55)

Wednesday, November 29th, 2017

Oooh boy! I’ve been waiting for this post for EVER!!! While the inside of the house is still a skeleton with its guts hanging out, the outside looks…. so much closer to finished! I still have to replace the old fence, stain the deck and finish its trim and handrail, pour a new cement walkway and resurface […]

Priming and landscaping (BH #54)

Monday, November 27th, 2017

I always think I like painting until I begin actually painting. I kind of always end up forgetting how tedious it is – especially all the cutting-in, and how you have to prime before you can even get to the satisfying part, which is watching the final coat gradually quickly up the old worn surface with big swaths […]

Progress inside (BH #53)

Saturday, November 25th, 2017

I should have mentioned that I made some progress on the inside as well before starting the painting outside. In fact, the painting outside was pretty well timed because after I finished all this work here, the electricians took over and I was without power entirely. They’re supposed to finish all their work at the […]

Cinderblock makeover (BH #52)

Thursday, November 23rd, 2017

With the siding almost finished, all that was left was to finish up the cinderblocks underneath. Last week I realized with some anxiety that by the time we got back from our upcoming Thanksgiving vacation, temperatures would be in the freezing range. That meant I needed to get the paint on now now now – and I had only 3 […]

Siding has begun! (BH#51)

Tuesday, November 21st, 2017

The siding is finally going up!!! After having its old broken cement shingles ripped off, the house has been sitting here like this for weeks: Sheets of tar paper slowly peeling off like skin after a bad sunburn. The sad sunburn of neglect. So I’m betting the neighbors were glad to see this: They got […]

Little basement jewel (BH #50)

Sunday, November 19th, 2017

Making one thing pretty at a time. I refinished that basement door! I used citristrip, an environmentally-friendly stripper that works really well, especially on water-based paints. Glopped it on and the paint bubbled right up after ten minutes or so. It was super easy to scrape off. After all the remaining goop was washed off and the […]

Purtification (BH #49)

Friday, November 10th, 2017

First semi-finished wall surface is (almost) in place! Before: After: Since the inspector can see the inside of this wall from the other side, I went ahead and covered up the outside with some 1/2″ insulation and beadboard. It’s amazing what a visual difference a finished looking surface makes, even when it’s not yet finished […]

Bathroom framing done (Beach house #48)

Wednesday, November 8th, 2017

The plumber visited today! Just to make his materials list, but… it means we’re getting close to the finish line! The bathroom framing is all done. I mean, it had ALREADY been done…. until we decided to flip around the back bathroom at the last minute. This is what it looked like before: The TV […]

Color coordination (Beach house #47)

Sunday, November 5th, 2017

If I’m picking out tile, the end is in sight! The bathroom has been framed and the plumber’s going to let us know when he can come out next week. Time to prepare for when he’s gone! Dreaming of the day when the bathrooms are ready to be tiled, I went to my local tile/flooring wholesale […]

Bathrooms taking shape (Beach house #46)

Friday, November 3rd, 2017

First to put down the subfloors: I had to install blocking between the rafters in order to erect the wall between the bathrooms. I also had to remove the now-obsolete attic stairs and replace the joist that they had interrupted – that was not a fun morning. But it got done. I was using the cement boards […]