In the pictures located below this entry, it’s hard to see how everything pulls together. I have taken a picture of the front of the house to give you a better idea what everything looks like.
This was the last weekend for the next several months that we didn’t have to be anywhere or have something specific to do. So as I usually do when I have spare time, I worked on the house. I started with the gutters. All of them were terrible essentially letting water pool next to the house. In the back this was especially problematic. Everytime it rains, it turns the corner of the house into a mud swamp. To combat this, I added swivel outlets to the ends and then added a 10 foot plastic conduit to redirect the water away from the house. I only had the front one completed when last it rained. It worked like a charm. It will be interesting to see how the two back ones do when it rains.
That completed, I started to work on the outside lights.
In a word, they are hideous. Again I can see how they might have been cool during their day. However, that day has long since passed. I know that Home Depot is having a sale on light fixtures so off I go. We are getting our roof done soon and the color we picked was black. And I knew Lynne was painting the door black as well so I knew I wanted something with black in it. Thankfully, the only outside lights they have left on sale are black and at a great price - $25 for two lights. I think I need four (Two in the front, one in the back downstairs, and one on the side of the house) so I get two boxes. However I neglected to think of the upstairs deck. Oh well. Down comes to two old lights in the front and up goes the new ones.
What a difference! It really makes the front look like it has a bit of class. But then I realize that the brass house numbers look out of place. Lynne has a specific look that she is going for so we take a drive down the street and she shows me what she wants. I am a little concerned since I believe the design she wants is a special order. Back to Home Depot I go. I am in luck again. The exact design she wants is a standard item and it’s in stock. $30 and I’m out of there. Installation is pretty easy. The numbers are stick on. They give you a template to layout the numbers. I test several designs and finally choose one that I think will look nice from the street. I take down the old numbers. Drill holes for the new design and screw it in.
I think it really accents the lights and completes the overall look I am trying to achieve. This doubly so since Lynne has painted the door black.
That covers Saturday.
Sunday brings its own challenges. Since the morning is so beautiful I decide to give my grass a good cut and then fertilize it with Fall/Winter fertilizer. Because I’m anticipating this to be the last cut of the year, I give it an extra short cut. Normally I leave it a bit longer but it really looks good short. This will be another conversation to have next year. This takes about three and half hours. Next up is the backyard fence.
Earlier in the Summer, we told the boys that if they paint the fence, I will install a basketball hoop for them to play with. They got about half way sanding the fence and then gave up. It looked terrible. While I consider this a Lynne and the boys project, I really was getting tired of looking at the fence in such disarray. I also wanted to give spraying a try. Looking at several reno shows, they make it look easy. It wasn’t. I wasn’t able to get the stain to the correct viscousity so I have a very uneven spray. Out came the roller and brush. This wasn’t much easier as the boards are so uneven. That said, I was very pleased with the result.
Trim pieces need to go on and then all of the trim needs to be painted but it’s better than it was.
I had a box making class a couple of weeks ago with Doug Haslam. The class was awesome! And the results were better.
One of the things that movitated me to get into woodworking was the boxes Joel and Braden brought home from school. They are pretty cool pieces of work and when they explained how they built them, I said, “I can do that.” Soon after I had a Ryobi BT31000 tables and the tools haven’t stopped coming.
Since I’ve cut down on home improvements for awhile, making boxes is the next best thing. And they’re pretty simple so I’m excited to build a few.
Here’s another picture before I go.
Enjoy!