This past weekend we rented a bucket lift with the aim of completing the painting of Heart House. This was done, and more as well. Here are photos taken during the days we had the lift as well as a before-and-after comparison.
I have previously published other bucket lift weekends and do not want to be repetitive, but there are a few shots taken during this episode that can be shared.
First, here is Pam doing some detail work from the bucket.
I scraped and painted the NE corner of the house, the last area still in the mint green that covered the house when we bought it.
Before I put in the next two photos, note the “skirt” on the tower in the first photo. Close inspection will reveal the skirt is not in the second photo.
One of the ‘other’ jobs done was the removal of most of the skirt from the tower. The north and east portions were taken down as well as parts of the west and south sides. The skirt was sagging and very rotten in spots and there was some damage to the underlying shingles. If you look closely, a blue stripe is now where the skirt used to be. We think removing the skirt improves the look of the tower and house in general.
Part of the east wall, 2nd floor, received an additional coat of paint to bring it up to the minimum of two coats we had put on the rest of the house.
A finishing detail was added: A new address number plate was installed on the front entrance.
Finally, here are before and after photos of the house. The first is from the original listing. The second is from this past Monday.
It has taken us 5 summers to get to this point, and there are still maintenance items to complete, such as repainting or replacing some of the porch spindles. An old house is never finished 100 percent. We have taken this old home about as far as we will take it, leaving other work (replacing more windows comes to mind) to future owners.
I am going to close out this post with a few miscellaneous photos taken around the yard recently. The first is our peonies in bloom, quite a show this year.
This shot is somewhat whimsical as it features one of our neighborhood squirrels taking a rest on one of the suet feeder brackets. It stayed on the bracket for several minutes, just enjoying the nice day.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
The gymnastics required to get in-and-out of the bucket lift basket – truly special. Old bodies in their 70’s are not flexible enough to manage repeated efforts in this regard. The geriatric bucket lift model should include a small elevator to get a person into the basket from the ground. Or a ramp. Or something. Just sayin’.
Happy Trails.