As expected, the above-average warm weather last week enabled us to tackle a number of painting projects. With the temperatures expected to deteriorate in the next few days, this warm spell will likely be the last time this year we can move along on house painting. Here are a few photos taken this last week.
We started by setting up an outside work table to use to paint the trim boards.
While these were drying the base, or lowest, board on the house received two coats of Behr #25 Barn Red paint. (This base board is now painted on the south, east, and part of the north sides.)
Once the trim and base boards were dry I was able to install the trim boards. Here are before and after shots of one of the corners under the east side bay window:
The south side base board and trim also received paint and some repair.
Here is a photo of the east side of the house showing the paint as of yesterday, November 6th.
The trim boards were not the only items to receive paint. The front porch flooring was scraped, cleaned, and painted as well. Again, before and after photos of that area:
As with any repainting project, the most time consuming element is the preparation. All the old wood had to be scraped and cleaned, a real challenge on the tongue-and-grove front porch flooring in particular.
It may not be apparent in the above photos but some of the window sills and frames were repainted white. We are trying to get as much done as we can before real winter hits. The upcoming week features a forecast of high temps in the upper 30 degree range so we feel our painting activities are about done for this year.
Painting and repairs, a big part of last week’s activities, were not the only projects undertaken. I was able to install gutters on the north side of the garage and the garage addition. This is a high priority project for me; I want it done before the next rain and snow arrives.
One project was done after knocking off painting for the day. I have updated my “Garage Addition” video clip, adding a number of still photos taken during the process. I also worked on my Family page, adding captions to the photos, replacing the stock numbers that had been there.
A final project, not so high priority, was beginning to insulate the garage addition. I had picked up a couple rolls of insulation and wanted to see how much coverage I would get from each roll. That way I could budget for the remaining rolls I will have to buy. It turns out each roll covers about 3 and 1/2 sections (the spaces between studs) and I will need about 14 more rolls for the walls and at least a dozen rolls for the ceiling. Good to know.
The County Assessor stopped by to confirm the garage addition construction matched the local building permit. (We’re sure to see an increase in property taxes next year.)
And, of course, there are always the smaller events and tasks that get done. Some trim work was done on the wall between the old and new garage sections. I put a bunch of left over construction materials up in the garage attic to get them out of my way. Stuff that might get damaged from freezing, such as spray paint and calking compound, was moved from the garage to the basement. A new computer monitor arrived and was installed, putting my two monitor set-up back in operation.
Pam took advantage of the warm weather (and the ability to use the outside hose) to accomplish the bi-annual cleaning of the house cat boxes.
Today and tomorrow will be wrap-up days. I plan to scrape and paint the first floor bay window frame [north side of the house] as the existing paint is flaking off in large chunks. Pam wants to plant what bulbs she has on hand as it appears the rest of her order will not be delivered before the next freezing temperatures arrive. One more lawn clean-up is on the agenda before rain is predicted on Monday. A mix of freezing rain and snow is predicted for Tuesday and I would like the lawn to be cleaned up before that happens..
I have one little anecdote to relate. One of the local grocery stores, HyVee, offers “fuel points” toward gasoline purchases. Recently they had a promotion going and we accumulated a total discount of $1.20 per gallon, limit 20 gallons. It was great to pump gas at $.58 cents per gallon!
Photo Archive
This week’s archive contains old family photos from Pam’s side of the family.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
Indian Summer has been great, but tiring. In retirement, I find I prefer one day of projects, one day of rest. This week it has been work-work-work-work-work. My mind will be more at ease over the winter knowing these projects have been accomplished, however.
Still waiting for a house window replacement and garage/catio electrical, but proceeding to Plan B should those contractors not be available.
Happy Trails.
Wow – I guess you guys are taking advantage of the weather. I must say, I love how the gray and barn red look together at the bottom of the house. Beautiful. Also noted is just how much one coat doesn’t cover. Have you tallied up how many gallons of paint you’ve used thus far?
Downspouts look great.
What WILL you do with all your free time when the snow flies?
Becky:
Thanks for the comment. Yes, we were tackling tasks every day to take advantage of the better weather.
We have not used that much paint yet, about 5 gallons, although we have more in cans not yet used up. Maybe 7 gallons all told. Some of the paint was purchased by the quart as trial colors.
The gutters, we hope, will keep ice from building up in front of the garage doors. Ice was a real problem last winter.
Free time? What free time? 🙂 Pam has a whole slew of projects planned. I will go back to building inside storm windows and putting up insulation in the garage addition. In a couple weeks we will sort through Christmas decorations and decide what to put up. There is really no end of things to do. I hope to spend more time reading, though.
Hope you are doing OK!