Tag Archives: projects

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It’s in, but….

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The new door was seated but not quite right, so a temporary doorknob was installed overnight.

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Not attractive, but it kept the bugs out.

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His Lordship is not happy with the new decorative glass. It distorts his bird viewing and I’m sure I’ll hear more about this issue in the future.

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My husband rolled his eyes at the fancy door handle I bought, but it went in easier than most.

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If you can believe it.. a full day was spent making adjustments, shimming, un-shimming, moving, tweaking and leveling the door so it closed properly with no gaps. Wood had to be added on both sides of the frame since the door was slightly too small for the rough opening.

After that, insulation was stuffed in holes…

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Of which there were many because my always in a hurry husband measured the rough opening incorrectly.

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The height was fine, but the width was off by a good 2 inches…

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Which means all new moulding will be needed.

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Sigh.

🥴

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Let the crab walk begin….

15 Comments

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Now that we had a giant hole on the front of the house, it was time to fill it.

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Which meant moving the unbelievably heavy new door into position.

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It may not look like it, but this thing was an absolute beast to maneuver.

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My husband and his friend literally crab walked it across the lawn.

Three steps. Rest.

Three steps. Gasp for air.

Three steps. Regret not paying a contractor to do the job.

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Slowly… it got closer.

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And then? It had to be lifted up the two granite steps.

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Which was even worse.

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Please note my husband is engulfed by an unforgiving yew bush at this point.

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Finally, it was in.

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Though, as you can see….

Not without issues.

🥴

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The project I was dreading begins.

26 Comments

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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…

22 Comments

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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.

19 Comments

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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.

13 Comments

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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..

19 Comments

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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…

15 Comments

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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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Taking nothing for granite.

18 Comments

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My husband is still at it.

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Although the final pieces on top of the windows next to the ceiling are giving him serious trouble.

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Overall… this Versetta Stone is easy to work with. It fits well together in random patterns that look good no matter which slabs you marry.

Problems arise when you have to make small precise cuts around things. Like windows, dryer vents and electrical outlets. Then it’s a bit of a nightmare.

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And we haven’t reached the light fixture, door or inside corner yet.

🥴

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