Tag Archives: projects

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Between a rock and a hard… ceiling.

40 Comments

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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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Snap, crackle… rock.

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The stone veneer installation is coming along nicely…

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Rising up the wall and around the windows.

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But at this point I need to take a moment and complain about the namby pamby fortitude of this product.

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It cracks easily.

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It chips even easier.

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For something that weighs a ton and costs a fortune?

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I expected better resiliency.

Cutting the “easy to install” stone is a nightmare all its own and everything is covered in dust.

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So much so it has to be brushed off every piece before and after installation.

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Thankfully you can’t see the cracks and chips unless you’re right on top of them.

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And I think it’s going to make a huge difference to our home’s curbside appeal when (if!) it’s completed.

😊

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Rockin’ and rollin’.

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Remember the large, oh so heavy batch of stone my husband piled on the barn porch?

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The one I told him was too heavy to put in one place and might damage the frame?

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Yeah.

Serious sagging that had to be propped up.

Why do men never listen? Why…

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Work continues… and the more stone that’s affixed to the house, the less weight and possibility of caving in the barn porch.

I call that a win.

Progress is slow but steady.

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Question… what do we think of the color combination of stone and composite decking?

When this remodel started, I chose decking that would blend with the vinyl siding. It looks very grey in photos but is actually striated with beige-y clay.

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It had already been delivered by the time the husband decided to replace the siding with stone. Special order, no return…. so I’m talking myself into it blending.

What say you?

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Color coordinated or not, it’s what we’ve got.

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And standing on the lawn I’m beginning to get an idea of what it will look like when complete.

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While choking on masonry dust that is.

😉

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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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Twice the work, none of the fun.

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I lost track of the husband the other day and found him outside, in the process of moving stone.

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This is the stone veneer he had the delivery driver drop at the far end of our property instead of closer to the front porch of the house as it should have been.

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I suggested loading it in the truck and driving it over to the garage in sections to save time (not to mention his back) but as usual, he wanted to do it the hard way and moved it piece by heavy *ss piece to the barn porch so it would be off his lawn.

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While he hauled stone?

I picked up the styrofoam, cardboard and straps it was packaged in.

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And there was a lot of that.

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55 sections of stone, roughly 20 pounds each. Back and forth across the lawn… for hours, in the afternoon sun.

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Did I mention my husband is 77 years old?

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I swear the man is a marvel.

He never quits.

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Now I just have to hope the barn porch doesn’t collapse from the weight before he can move it over to the house…

🥴

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This is the part where I cringe…

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Along with all the other things that are being replaced on the porch? You can add the front door. It’s original to the house and has been leaking cold air in the winter ever since we moved in. It’s shifted, barely closes properly and requires me taping it shut every December so the wind doesn’t whistle its way in.

A new door is necessary but that doesn’t mean I want my husband in charge of its replacement. He’s the king of gerry rigging and that’s not going to fly here. I wanted to wait and have a contractor to do it… he says he needs to do it now before he installs the stone siding.

So this is where I get nervous.

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Storm door removal?

Fine.

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Protective glass covering the side panel removal?

Fine.

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But then we moved indoors where the new floor was recently installed.

In order to replace a door you need rough opening measurements… and this means removing the moulding.

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My husband’s track record with this task is not good.

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But thankfully he managed the job without splintering anything.

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I know he’s going to faint when we go door shopping because it will have to be a special order.

Ka-Ching.

This paycheck sucking project never ends.

🥴

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Easy is a relative term.

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We purchased a product for our front porch remodel called Versawrap. They’re PVC covers for wooden support poles that add a decorative element as well as eliminate the need for paint.

We discovered their easy to install claim was a misnomer when we wrapped our first pole… but when we moved along to the top and bottom moulding?

We realized it was an outright lie.

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Easy my *ss.

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There are teeny tiny dovetail inserts which hold the pieces together and trust me, they are not easy to seat.

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I’m not exaggerating when I tell you it took us over an hour to place the first crown moulding section.

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If three sides clicked? The fourth would not.

If four sides clicked? It wouldn’t stay in place.

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Frustration was the word of the day.

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Two sets of moulding for each pole.

Four poles.

This is not my idea of a good time.

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They were supposed to call.

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Our stone was delivered last week… on a miserably hot day.

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Since we spent a fortune redoing our driveway last summer, we’ve been extra careful about turning the wheel too sharply when the temperature and the possibility of damaging it are high.

Which is why we told the company delivering the stone to be sure and call when they were on the way so my husband could be standing out there directing them to avoid damage. We insisted on it and made sure the order stipulated calling prior to arrival in BIG BOLD LETTERS.

We waited by the phone all morning, and naturally no one called. At the precise moment I was in the bathroom and my husband walked around to the backyard?

This.

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A giant truck with two pallets of stone and a forklift not only backed into the driveway, but off it at the same time.

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Needless to say the husband was not pleased.

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The driveway was cracked and sunken in on one side.

Words were exchanged.

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And the stone that was supposed to sit close to the house within easy reach of the project was redirected here.

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Which is actually way over there.

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My husband (being my husband), made the driver wait while he mowed that section of lawn.

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After which two pallets of heavier than hell stone was plopped on a tar free surface.

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The stone comes in 3 foot sections and my back is breaking just thinking about how many trips back and forth will have to be made to ferry it when needed.

🥴

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Slow progress is still progress…

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Half the new soffit is up and a support pole was placed.

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Because I don’t want to be forced to paint them every few years, PVC column wraps were purchased, for a ridiculous $200 per.

Were they easy to wrap?

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They were not.

Especially when the sun was mercilessly beating down.

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Trying to escape the heat…

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Cutting was done in the garage.

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One pole wrapped but moulding not yet added, husband moved on to taping off the windows.

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Progress is slow, but it’s progress.

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