Tag Archives: DIY

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Bye bye old door.

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And so it begins, the project I’ve been dreading.

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I get worried when my husband has to repair/replace something inside our home. He’s fine with rough carpentry and rustic places like the barn… but the house?

Where I have to live?

I prefer professionals.

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I was cringing the whole time he and a friend were removing the old front door…. and lost count of how many times I said be careful.

Note – he wasn’t careful. And it was the friend who put a drop cloth down on our brand new floor.

Thank you friend.

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The fact that they got it out in one piece without breaking the glass is a miracle.

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I think even the husband was surprised.

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Giant hole in the house?

Check.

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Door frame on a shrub?

Yup.

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There was even a door under the truck.

The reason for that placement was clearly above my pay grade.

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And now that we had a big hole, it was time to fill it.

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After checking to make sure there was no rotted wood underneath as was the case with the other two doors we replaced.

Thankfully all was well.

To be continued…

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The project I was dreading begins.

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Remember our old… I’m estimating 50 years… front door?

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The one we have to replace before my husband can finish the stone siding on the front porch?

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The one that was impossible to replace in that particular configuration.

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The one for which we ordered a replacement but have been waiting forever for it to arrive?

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It arrived.

And Holy Macaroni Batman! The thing weighs a ton. It took three delivery men 20 minutes to manhandle it 10 feet.

I was afraid they’d damaged it but when my husband removed the packaging it looked fine.

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Yes, it came with handles.

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Though the ones on the right were put on the wrong way.

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I’m not looking forward to my husband installing this door. Careful and precise are not his favorite words and it may require a lot more finesse than he’s capable of delivering.

Sigh.

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He’s not happy unless he has a project. Or two…

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Remember when I told you about the husband putting his new (old as dirt) treasure in the shed?

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Besides being a tight fit and hard to maneuver, there’s no room for his beloved zero turn lawn tractor …. so a few days after he bought the treasure?

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Construction began.

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Yup.

Another project is underway at Casa River.

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Shingles have been stripped…

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And framing has begun for a shed extension.

You know, like the one he tore down a few years ago.

🥴

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Sigh…

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A railly good time.

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The third railing section was done…

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And though it was the smallest, the last section proved the most difficult as well.

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There was some considerable sputtering during its attachment to the stone, so I kept my distance until completion.

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Voila! (which spell check always changes to viola)

Railings are done.

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And though it took me over an hour to convince my husband he had to rehang my plant brackets…

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He shimmied into the small space and did just that.

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A little more tinkering with the electrical outlet…

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And we’ve reached the point where there’s no more to do until the new front door arrives.

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So now we wait…

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Nothing to rail about.

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Railing section number one was complete thanks to my brilliant painters tape idea so we moved on to number two…

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The unfinished staggered stone making a nice tool shelf.

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It’s really starting to look like something now.

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More like a porch and less like a disaster zone.

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Of course the husband wouldn’t listen to me at the beginning when I told him the height he chose was wrong. I wanted it a few inches higher, but no… he knew best.

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Which means the yew bush on the far right completely blocks the first railing section from view.

🥴

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Two down, two to go…

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Painters tape to the rescue..

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Every once in a while I have a good idea.

And every rarer once in a while my husband has to admit it.

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He’d been out front struggling with those silly balustrades popping in and out of the top rail for an hour on the second frustrating day when I said “Why don’t we just tape them in place until we get them lined up?”

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He grumbled and swore it wouldn’t work, but ya know what?

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It was the perfect solution.

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Time consuming, yes.

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But we lined those babies up and snapped that top rail on smooth as butter.

The hardest part was him admitting it was my idea.

🤣

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Another easy to install part of the project proves to be anything but…

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Since we have to wait for the custom made door to arrive (they said three weeks when we bought it, but now they’re saying five, which probably means six. Sigh.) the stone work had to be paused and we moved on to the oh so easy to install PVC railings and balustrades.

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If nothing else, we’re learning easy is a relative term.

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Numerous pieces and parts.

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Which my husband has the maddening habit of putting on our glass top stove. 😳

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The bottom rail was simple enough, but when it came time for the balustrades?

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Not so much.

Oh, they’re easy enough to seat in the bottom holes, but as soon as you line up a few on the top rail? The rest pop out. It’s not a one person job, so I helped.

Turns out it’s not a two person job either.

Which is when our contractor happened to be driving by and stopped in to say hello.

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Guess what?

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It’s not a three person job either.

No matter how many hands we had holding things in place, the damned things wouldn’t line up properly.

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We twisted, we turned, we finagled to no avail.

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And after an afternoon of frustration?

I’m wondering if we can’t just leave them like this…

🥴

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Between a rock and a hard… ceiling.

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In case you’ve been wondering how our stone veneer is installed…

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Each piece has a metal flange with holes for screws attached to the top. You stagger the seams and there’s a little cutaway groove in each so they fit snuggly. Which is great…

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Until you reach the top and can’t fit an entire piece.

The flange and a portion of the stone has to be cut away, so how do you attach it?

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Serious thinking and strategizing was required because like most men, my spouse refused to follow the manufacturer’s directions… which called for industrial adhesive.

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I suggested masonry screws and was shot down.

See that piece on the top left?

It’s just wedged in there tightly. No screws, no adhesive. Just a hope and a prayer it doesn’t come loose and whack me on the head.

Wish us luck.

🥴

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Stone cold

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The stone work continues and it’s been …

Challenging.

Yes. Let’s go with that.

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Cutting around the dryer vent was extremely unpleasant since rounded cuts had to be made.

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A new tool was purchased.

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And my husband now owns a grinder with a masonry blade.

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I doubt it will surprise you to learn an entire day was spent making adjustments.

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I snuck a few pictures but played it safe and stayed in the house during the majority of the cursing work.

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Aggravating? Yes.

But it turned out well in the end and we’re beginning to get an idea what the finished product will look like.

😊

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