Exterior

Another project 5 years in the making.  We have been sans a step down to the patio ever since we replaced the 60’s solid door with a glass one and removed the subsequently obsolete back step.  The patio door isn’t very high…maybe about 10″ above the patio, but it has started becoming a problem for Zoe, one of our dogs.  She and Porter are both 11, and there just isn’t as much spring in their step as there used to be.

The rest of the family was out of town, so Chloe and I spent some time Saturday making a new step.  We made it a full 6′ wide for aesthetic reasons, although 1/2 of it serves no purpose, as it’s in front of the non-opening portion of the door.  We used some left-over 4×6 pieces that were cut from the playhouse beams, as well as another piece of cedar recycled from our neighbor’s deck.  The construction was deceptively complex, as our patio has a slight slope down to the left, so each 4×6 had to be cut at an angle and to the appropriate height to make the steps level.  Needless to say, I botched a couple and had to do some “fine tuning.”  The top of the step is standard 2×6 cedar decking (new), and the trim piece that wraps around underneath the steps is actually made of cedar fence stock.

That trim piece is something that I am particularly proud of.  When Chloe and I were shopping for the piece, I initially picked out a beautiful piece of 1×6 cedar.  I was a little reluctant about the nearly $11 price tag, since it was yet one more wound in the constant bleeding of our wallets.  In the next aisle, I noticed some 1/2″x6×6 pieces of rough cedar fencing.  While most were the typical broken, knotty pieces, some didn’t look too bad.  After going through about 50 pieces, I managed to find two that were nearly knot-free.  As they were only $1.75/each, I decided to get a couple and take a chance.  Well, to my surprise, they sanded down beautifully, and they look like knot-free, Grade A cedar.  Not bad for $3.50 (and the 15 minutes it took to find the only two pieces that had this potential.)

Step construction, confused Zoe

A wary Porter tests the new step

Completed step. Someone should really fill in that hole in the concrete.

Rough v. Sanded

Last night I had a little time and was able to set the 4th post.  Chloe helped me get everything lined up by holding the tape measure and the square.  We got the diagonal measurements within 1/4″, so I’m quite happy about that.  Later today I’ll dump some concrete around the pier block so that we can build the rest of the structure next weekend.

Looks just like a poster bed

We’ve been promising to build the kids a playhouse for a couple of years now, so we decided that we’d better get to it before they are old enough to move out of the house!  We have been working on the design for awhile now, and we think that we’re going for a modern look (horizontal cedar screening) combined with the post and beam structure of our front porch.

Initially, we are going to build just the roof and the floor.  This will essentially be a wall-less gazebo, which we can flesh out later.  After pricing out the clear cedar strips, we realized that it will be pretty expensive to complete our design, so we may go with plywood walls with shakes.   But by getting something started, we can at least get the girls a place of their own* pretty quickly.

*we are being sneaky and trying to design a structure that will work as a playhouse, yet be able to serve a future life as an entertainment area once they’ve gotten too old.

Our neighbor has been removing his old cedar decking and replacing it with Trex, so it looks like we will be able to finish the entire floor of the playhouse for free!

Keep in mind that this design is pretty conceptual at this point, and we’ve been playing with a lot of different ideas.  If you have any suggestions, thr0w ‘em our way!

Playhouse Concept #1

A few weeks ago we found our porch light in the Rejuvenation scratch-n-dent room.  Over the years we’ve found many fixtures in there.  It’s hit-or-miss, but this time we think we really lucked out!

Night shot

Day shot

Another moderate weekend of work, but the end is definitely close enough to taste now!  The biggest indicator of progress is that the scaffold has been broken down and won’t be set up again for this project.  The only things left on the punch list are:

• strip and re-finish front door
• finish sidelights and trim around front door
• touch up the trim around 6 windows with bronze paint
• paint and install 2 more storm windows
• paint exposed trim on back dormer
• add trim around back dormer windows
• rebuild rotted posts and railings in front of porch

Considering where we started, that is a teeny little list.  It may or may not all get done this fall, but we are at least weather-tight and ready for the rain now.

Sidelights look much more distinguised with their new bronze paint

Bronze-painted storm windows re-installed

All rafters painted!

The lazy (but fast) way out of the mess of a back dormer...covering it with metal!

Looks done from this angle (except for the plywood, of course)

Considering it was a weekend of mediocre productivity (my helper couldn’t make it on Saturday, and I only worked two shorter days), we still accomplished quite a bit.  The key is that we have so many different little projects and areas going at once that it feels like we’re constantly knocking things out. Here is a shot of the side yard, with the scaffolding now in it’s 8th position.  If I were starting all over, I think I would have dumped another $60 into the thing and extended it enough to cover a full side of the house.  I’m always having to manage around the scaffold’s position, so at times it can get inefficient.  Such as when it has to get left in place while we’re waiting for paint to dry for touch-ups.  But regardless, we’re actually done now with all the walls (yes!), so it’s only purpose in life is to serve as a platform for the straggler rafter tails and accompanying gutter.

And what do you do when a windowsill is too messed up to save?  Well, if it’s on a dormer that’s tucked way up in the back of your house where no one can see it, you just cover it with sheet metal!  I couldn’t figure out any way to salvage the chewed up thing, so I found flashing in the perfect size and just encased it.  I will paint it to match the rest of the trim, just in case anyone goes to the back corner of the yard and looks up, but I can pretty much guarantee that nobody will see my “cheat.”  This worked so well that I am also going to cover the gable ends with metal.  These areas just aren’t worth spending the hours and hours they’d require to do it right, and I’m in a rush to at least get this area good enough to make it through winter intact.

Galvanized sill

I took yesterday off, so that I could be home to work with my helper.  He was able to put in a rare full weekday day, and I wanted to stay enough ahead of him to keep him busy.  Although the picture doesn’t look that much different than the last shot of this side, we got a ton done yesterday.  All the areas have been prepped, and much of it has been painted.  After we work again on Saturday, we will be able to move the scaffolding into its next-to-last position!

Subtly better

Things are really feeling good.  Three of the dormers are done, sans touch-ups, and we have moved the scaffold over to the other side of the house.  The end is clearly in sight now!

Dormer #3...check.

Cheap labor

Primed jambs and sidelights

Completed west side

The tallest platform shoes ever

One of the lingering prep issues with the exterior was the drip cap on the dining room bay.  It was suffering from the double injustice of being the most exposed on the ground floor (because of the bay) and having been installed improperly.  In several areas of the house, the drip cap was horizontal instead of sloped.  With our big eaves it’s not usually an issue, but the dining room catches more rain than any other area.  And if there’s no slope for the water that builds up, what’s going to happen?

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any moldings that matched the profile of our drip cap.  McCoy had one that looked right, but it was 1/2″ narrower than ourso match our house’s (F890 on pg 27 of their molding catalog.)  So, I ended up buying a Cedar 4×4 and table-sawing my way to new drip caps.  I can’t remember which took longer, making them or installing them, but they came out great.  Sadly, my “brilliant” idea of adding  a drip groove feature to the caps was one of short-lived glory.  Once I installed the molding below, I realized that my groove was going to be covered by caulk

Horizontal cap + rain = not so good

Old v. new

8° of freedom

Not yet rotten!

My helper and I put in a combined 20 hours yesterday, and I finished the body color on two of the dormers. He primarily focused on the rafters and ceiling on the right side of the porch, as well as the foyer window. We got just enough done that we were able to move the scaffold to the next section of the house! He is going to show up a few morning this week to paint the next set of windows, as well as finish up the eaves and rafter tails above.

Just a few accents, touch-ups and a stained door away from being done in front

Location #5 for the scaffolding

No more blue visible from the front!