Tag Archives: projects

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And so it begins.

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Tear down of our old rotted front porch has commenced.

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This is the part I’m more than happy to have my husband do.

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It keeps him busy and there’s no finesse or fine tuning required.

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Of course once he starts… he looks around and thinks about replacing more than just the decking.

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And as with any project at our house…

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Rotted wood we never knew about is discovered.

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He was hoping he wouldn’t have to replace the frame underneath…

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But so much of it is bad he’ll have to.

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Sigh…

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Such bad timing.

16 Comments

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My spouse is getting ready to rip down our front porch and rebuild it. And if his contracting skills… or rather his lack of… aren’t worrying enough?

There’s this.

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My glorious rhododendrons, which due to all the rain we had this spring are bigger and fuller than they’ve ever been.

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Yes, the porch is old and rotted.

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Yes, the support posts aren’t supporting anything.

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No, the railings aren’t level.

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But… but…

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My rhodies are huge and just about to burst into full bloom.

They’re also right in the way and I know my husband is going to butcher them so he has room to work.

😱

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Trench #2….

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Work continued on the second drainage pipe ditch.

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It’s hard work.

Hard on your knees… hard on your back.

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Because my husband didn’t want to damage the lawn any more than necessary the trench was dug by hand…. with a pick ax and trowels.

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And once it was laid, attached…

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And covered over, my husband decided he wanted another 10 feet of pipe.

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Which meant more work and more rocks.

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To be continued…

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The wet test run.

6 Comments

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One side of the drainage trench was dug.

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And the perforated pipe was attached to the catch basin and set in place.

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The hose was deployed to simulate rain…

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And water flowed.

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When installation was deemed satisfactory, backfill was added.

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From the lovely little plywood backed dirt piles .

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Hard to believe this took two men almost 8 hours….

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But when my husband is involved there will be some serious chatting along with the working.

😉

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If the man doesn’t have a project, he’s not happy.

13 Comments

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Working with our contractor has ended for now but will resume in a week or two. And God forbid my retired husband should enjoy himself and do something fun. No…

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He’s decided to lay perforated drainage pipe.

You know, the one I told him to lay last year when he installed that drainage box.

Ever since we had the driveway redone last year water has been funneling down to our kitchen landing/porch and in heavy rain we step outside to a river.

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The catch basin was a good idea, but the husband poo poo’d the extra effort involved in laying pipe saying it wasn’t necessary.

Guess what?

It was.

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So today…

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Trench work began.

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With some help from his cousin.

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Rock and clay don’t make it easy.

🥴

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Never doubt me.

19 Comments

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Remember my perfect carpet? The expensive Karastan I chose on day one…

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The salesperson from the store where I found it (they have exclusive rights to the brand and none of the other places we’ve tried can sell it) has been staying in touch after giving us an installation estimate. When I finally told them my husband balked at the price and was looking around for something comparable but cheaper, they wanted to help and said they would check their inventory.

I received this message a week ago.. but didn’t tell my husband until he’d had his fill of fruitless floor shopping.

I’m evil that way.

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To be honest I didn’t think carpet was something you could barter… but you live and you learn.

And save $500 apparently.

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Installation in 8 weeks.

😊

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I think I hear it screaming for a rug.

31 Comments

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Now that I’ve filled the new hutch and dressed the new table, some proper pictures.

The before…

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The after…

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If you’re a wood lover like us, you’d love this table.

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The grain swirls are marvelous.

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I have to admit the custom made Amish hutch turned out a lot darker than I hoped.

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And since the new floor is also darker than I thought it would be…

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I believe a bright new rug is in our future.

Did you notice my prominent placement of the family silver?

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This is going to be an utter nightmare to dust and keep polished, so place your bets on how long I can ( or want ) to keep this look.

The before…

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The after…

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Ceiling, beam, floor, baseboard moulding, back door and dining room furniture replaced… and to think it only took 7 months.

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We’re waiting on the living room furniture delivery now. They promised 6-7 weeks but you know how that goes…

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I’m floored.

25 Comments

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I’m happy to report that our new flooring is 100% complete.

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One last box was just enough to finish the front door section.

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And we are pleased.

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I’m also pretty stoked that we nailed the color match of the moulding stain.

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Floor moulding new, door and window moulding old.

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See the little cove moulding piece on the bottom of the cabinet?

Pretty, pretty, pretty damn close!

(Last sentence must be read with Larry David accent for full effect)

😊

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Before and after….

34 Comments

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Our new flooring is (90%) done so I thought you might like to see a few before and afters.

Keep in mind the before shots don’t show how truly terrible and worn out the old Berber carpet really was.

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Before.

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After.

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Before.

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After.

(With a gaping hole on the upper right waiting for the new dining room set to arrive.)

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Before.

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After.

With the same empty space on the left.

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Before.

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After.

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Another after from the empty dining space.

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Some of these after pictures don’t do it justice as the true color is hard to capture. It’s not as dark as it looks in some and has a much warmer tone in person.

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