Tying up loose ends

Well folks, the weather is turning colder and we’re running short on daylight most days after I get off work. That means we’re having to take better advantage of our weekends..before the snow starts flying!

Finished up some of the trim pieces around the bay window that hadn't been done. Looking pretty good up front!

This past weekend was a long one, thanks to Veteran’s Day. Saturday was a busy day for a number of reasons (more on that below) and my office was closed Monday, so we were able to get quite a lot accomplished in a fairly short amount of time.

Story time: Friday night was spent doing a little grocery shopping and getting ready for my mom’s surprise party the following night. She specifically requested no party, but it was her 50^th – we HAD to! So, Friday night was prep night. Saturday, it was my job to keep her distracted from my dad and sister while they put the pieces together and got everybody rounded up. I find the best way to distract anybody is to have them haul stones for most of the day..

Get to work.

Anyway, the party was a success and the birthday girl was REALLY surprised, so that was a lot of fun. Mom and Dad have both helped me out a lot over the last year and half (..or 25, but who’s counting) so it was nice to be able to do a little something for her.

The day after the party was pretty much a lost cause. I did do a little laundry and a couple dishes, but it was mostly a day of recovery from Saturday’s festivities. I hadn’t over-indulged as much as some, but I had hauled enough of that rock to have difficulty climbing stairs! Basically anything from my butt cheeks down was feeling the burn from all of our landscaping.

This was the process: string line, spade for trenching, gloves for moving stones. woof..

I rolled the stones back out of the trench and lined it with landscaping fabric to (hopefully) keep weeds from popping through.

I'll fill this with mulch - it's going to look so good! :)

I couldn't believe how far the stone went! I thought for sure I'd run out before we got everything done, but we actually had a few little pieces left over. That's good living.

Monday saw more work inside as the temperature dropped – that meant finishing up some of the baseboard and random trim pieces that hadn’t been done before, filling holes, and touch-up painting. This detail work takes a little longer, but makes such a big difference when it’s done!

I had to have my (new) drywall patched to account for the new windows being slightly smaller than the old ones.

I also put in a special order for these grilles to give the look of divided panes - I think it makes the house look better AND is more in keeping with the details in the old pictures I was given. 

Testing out my grilles....ignore the painters tape :)

We also trimmed out the front door and finished up the baseboard in the solarium. I'm always amazed how FINISHED that baseboard makes everything look!

Happy 100th!

For my 100^th post, I have for you (drum roll) MORE WINDOWS! J Specifically, the LAST windows of this renovation – the tall, skinny bay windows in the living room. A pretty fitting 100th post celebration, I'd say!

Before: single pane replacement windows that had some small issues. 

We had a lot of fresh air flowing through the house Sunday afternoon!

First window: DONE! This one took the longest - after we had a system worked out, the other two took no time at all!

Not too shabby!

All I have to say is: thank you baby Jesus for friends and family. I wouldn’t have any of this without them!

We'll trim around the new windows, install the stained glass window above the bay, set my new/old porch columns, and finish up the siding! It's almost too easy...

Look at all that siding :)

House wrapped and sealed, windows in, corners in place!

Windows and doors trimmed with the same PVC product I used last time. A little more expensive, but really easy to work with and rot-resistant. The trim and siding should be here for a long, long time!

Trim in place and the first few courses of siding all around the remainder of the house. All the hard work has been done - now we just need to get everything else put in place!

That might just look alright when it's all cleaned up..

It sure does! A few more pieces up top and we'll be good to go on this side of the solarium.

Paint is becoming a thorn in my side. I'm never this indecisive..I'm not sure why this is so hard!

The really sad part is..I still don't like the samples I had mixed. I really, REALLY like the dark gray color I had initially picked out..I just think it's going to be too dark. Woe is me..

I got the stained glass window all sanded, caulked, primed and ready to go. Dad had a piece of plexi glass made up, too. Growing up in this neighborhood, I guess he had a feeling there might be a kid or two with a BB gun...

It looks really great! Ready to fill the hole in the wall :)
Stay tuned for more - lots of progress every day!

Holding down the fort

See those columns on my front stoop?

Ta-da! We found new old columns in the East Village, downtown Des Moines!

The rings around the columns needed a little work - here I had already chisled out some of the damaged area..

..and filled it in with a new piece.

The new piece fit pretty well, but still needed a little fine sanding to match the surrounding area.

Pretty good fit, wouldn't you say?

Fancy pants! Good find, Dad - and thanks again for all the help!