Den windows

Finally the windows for the large first floor room are installed! I guess we saved the best for last.

These windows are really large, about 6 ft x 3 ft.

I returned once again to Marvin for these windows since I've really been impressed with the french door we bought from them. Plus, they deliver to the house for free!

All of the trim had been removed on the inside of the house a long time ago when we replaced the drywall. So there wasn't really any work to do on the inside. On the outside we had to remove the brick molding and then use a sawzall to cut the nails or whatever was holding the window in.

So I go the brick molding off of the windows and started trying to determine where the fasteners were with a skinny piece of stick. I went all the way around the window and didn't feel anything. I couldn't see anything either. The reason was because there was nothing holding the windows into the frame! They were sitting on the sill. For the last forty years they've sat in the hole not a single screw or nail holding them in place!

Of all the things that I've seen in remodeling this house nothing surprises me anymore, but I couldn't believe this one. I guess the only thing holding the windows in place all that time was the trim on the inside and the brick molding on the outside. No wonder these windows wouldn't raise.

The new windows came with a nailing fin that is suppose to be really for new construction. But I had enough room around the window, since they weren't quite as big as the old ones, to utilize the fin. I have to say it is very convenient. I had the fin on the kitchen window but I didn't use it. It would have made that job much simpler. The french door might have had one too, I can't remember now.

The windows are very nice. The exterior is already the color that you select, I went with bronze. The inside is unfinished pine that is stainable. Screens are integral and are easy to remove. No grids.

Specs:

U Factor = 0.28
SHGC = 0.32
Visible Transmittance = 0.54


$586 x 2 = $1172

Island bar

 The island/bar is finally in place in the kitchen. I had nearly a whole sheet of the bamboo plywood left over from the cabinet door project and I put it to good use for the island.

The maple butcher block top is from another project that I was working on. The top was damaged in shipping and they sent me another one and said that I could keep the damaged one. So I flipped it over and used it for the bar top.

I used about six coats of semi-gloss poly on the surface. It came out pretty nice.

I built the shelf out of some of the drop from the bamboo plywood and the toe kick as well. I could add some doors to it eventually but I think I am going to leave it open.

We bought a couple of stools from Ikea which worked out very nicely. It's become our main eating area now.

Maple butcher block

The best thing about it is that it creates a good bit more storage space for large pots and utensils like the food processor. That is a big plus!

We love it.

Stair Refurbish

I put off rehabbing the stairs for a long time for no particular reason. But in terms of bang for the buck it's been the best project to date. It was basically free. I did have to buy two 1 x 8's for the risers and some construction adhesive so maybe $30.

The treads had the same orange-ish looking stain on them that the floor originally had so that had to be sanded off. The upper stairs wasn't nearly as gnarly as the lower one and was pretty easy to sand.

I stained the treads with some natural and used two coats of polycrylic after that. They looked so much better for so little work I decided to tackle the stairs going to the basement which are in far worse condition.

Oak treads are about $25 apiece now so all twelve would've been $300 bucks.

I didn't try too hard to make them look perfect so the imperfections and holes are still in the treads. I did replace the risers because they were going to be problematic to paint. I also found out that they were originally cedar. So I am going to repurpose them into birdhouses.

I broke several of the treads prying them up and had to glue them back together which wasn't really a big deal. I had about a five foot long two by four and I baited it up with some short pieces of drop and they pried out lickety split.

Upper staircase

The upper stair on the right after the paint and tread rehab. I also stripped the handrail and refinished it and the brackets as well. The stairs to the basement were by far the worst of the two. After sanding them down they still had lots of discoloration so I stained those a dark walnut.

Lower staircase

The contrast with the white risers ended up being just fine though I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out.

The space behind the upper stair was filthy. I think they swept the first floor dirt under there before they sealed it up. It was like a time capsule with Coke bottles and soda cans.

It's been awhile since I've seen a ten ounce coke bottle. My grandaddy had a Coke machine in his shop that kept them right at freezing and they only cost a dime. Those were good Coca Colas!

Free cabinets!

So while driving to the store on Sunday I noticed a heap of cabinets on the side of the road that looked promising. I went back later on and they were in good shape so I loaded them up.

It looked like maybe a bathroom vanity that had never even been used. They weren't box store either, they were custom built, but not too expensive. The face frames are maple.

I have been reworking the garage to get more use of the space as a workshop and I recently finished some wall cabinets. I was just on the verge of building a base cabinet when I found this one.

Today I leveled the cabinet and mounted it to the wall. I mounted a piece of 3/4" plywood on top. I'm banding the edge with some thin walnut I had left from another project.

The drawers were on the pile but they were all busted up and looked cheap so I didn't pick them up. Today I decided that I am going to just hang doors on the cabinet and put a shelf in the middle and forego the drawers.

There were also four unfinished cabinet doors in the same pile. They didn't match the other stuff so they were probably from another part of the house.

I was going to eventually build doors for the wall cabinets that I just built. The doors are 36" which is the same height as the wall cabinet so I can probably just build a face frame for the wall cabinet and make them work too.

So thanks to the person I don't know who tossed out perfectly good cabinets and saved me lots of time and money!

Kitchen Update

A couple of weeks ago the new undermount kitchen sink arrived.

It's a Rohl Fireclay single compartment sink. It and the mounting brackets were about $700. Fireclay is suppose to be nearly indestructible and resists chipping like enameled cast iron does.
I can attest to the fact that it is much lighter. I was able to set the sink in place alone.

Delivery was free from Allmodern.com.

The old sink was a top mounted sink that came with the house that we had been using for the last two years.

Since the cabinet top was cut out for the old sink, I had to butcher the cabinet to mount the new sink. It doesn't matter though since it will be covered by the countertops.

Counter top installation

Speaking of which, arrived today. A few weeks ago we went to a counter place and ordered some granite countertops, finally. I'm not going to mention the business because I'm not happy with their customer relations. Actually, I didn't even go to the place that I had meant to go to because I read the map wrong (but that's another issue).

Anyway, the installers finally showed up this afternoon as the weather was turning wretchedly cold and windy. In about an hour they had the tops installed and polished. I can't say that I'm over the moon with the install. I've seen some discolorations that I'm not happy about.

They use a very acrid epoxy to join the seams with and it gave me a headache and stunk up the house for a long while.

It is nice to have some counters finally and we are happy about that.

The granite plus installation was about $1200.

The new kitchen faucet is a Grohe Concetto, which is a German mfg. but the product is made in Canada.

The faucet was about $300.

It's very nice quality and has a retractable spray head in the nozzle.

We opted to go with the deepest sink we could find which is 10".

I use a lot of big pots and pans and a two compartment sink is a real hindrance when trying to wash them out.  Hopefully this large sink will meet our needs a little better than the old sink.

Next up...tiling the backsplash. Whoopee!


   

Fence Addition

I began working on the side fence last week. My neighbor suggested it after seeing the first one I built in the back. We're splitting the materials.

There was already a wire fence between the two yards that has been there for a while. I decided to bolt the new posts against the existing ones to avoid extra digging.

Cost of materials $800.

Fence Gate

On superbowl sunday I built the fence gate frame out of pressure treated 2 x 4's.

Yesterday I hung it in the opening. I sat it on top of a cooler to lift it off of the ground.

 Before I attempted to mount the gate, since I was working alone, I screwed a piece of 1/2" plywood to the vertical leg of the gate. The width of the gate is one inch less than the opening in the fence. By using the 1/2" plywood as a shim the gate would be centered in the opening.

I used the plywood like a flange to secure against the fence post and hold it while I attached the hinges and the rest of the pickets. I first clamped it in place to adjust the position of the gate. Then I used a few screws to secure the plywood to the post.

I had to bring the gate up flush with the existing fence pickets so that the gate pickets would match up and the hinges would line up correctly. At the top of the opening you can see the string that marks the top of the pickets. The entire fence is on a slight downhill slope.


Once the hinges were bolted on I removed the screws that were holding the plywood to the post. After I checked out the swing of the gate I removed the screws holding the plywood to the gate. It worked like a charm! A perfect half inch space on either side of the gate.

The final result...

About $820 or around $9 per linear foot (not including labor)

And a week later...

Fenced in

Over the last two weeks we've begun a stockade style privacy fence in the backyard. It is essentially to contain Aggie, who has already lept the wire fence and gone into the neighbors yard.

The fence spans about ninety feet. The week before last we dug the holes for the posts and put them in.

Aggie helped a little until she realized it was to keep her in. After that we were on our own.

Yesterday it was about fifty degrees outside and I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and it was a good day to put up pickets. Today it snowed.

It was about 25 degrees all day long. It was not a good day to work outside. Yesterday was the best day to be outside in weeks. It makes for a strange dichotomy.

If it's a good day to work, do it, if you feel alright. Tomorrow it might rain or snow. You might feel bad. You might be in a bad mood. The world could be conspiring against you. Don't do any work when you are angry. It won't be quality work and you'll end up having to do it twice. Don't even cook if you're mad, the food won't taste good.

You will always run out of gas when it's raining. Your battery will be dead when you are in a hurry. Your tire will be flat on the coldest day of the year. That's how it goes. Do all of those things to get ahead on a sunny day when you don't mind the labor. It will all go better for you.

So it took me two weeks to build the fence (and I'm still not done). So what? Yesterday was a fine day to work outside. Today was the worst of the year. It didn't matter, I enjoyed the work and today I enjoyed the snow!

2.5" of snow that paralyzed Atlanta!

Cedar Arbor

A while back I built an arbor so that the kiwi's I got back in February would have  a place to grow.

It isn't quite finished yet but the vines are growing like weeds. The soil pH must 
be perfect for them. 

The arbor is made from cedar and some bamboo.

Hopefully, next year we'll get some kiwis.

Another view. In the foreground you can see some excavation for a dam (pond). Just what I need, another project...

Deck

Nearly done, with the first half...

Platform Bed

New platform bed base constructed over the weekend. I joined the pieces using half lap joints and dowels, no screws. I still have to rout a rabbet along the inside edge and stain it.

Fence

Yesterday I set 3 fence posts for a new section of fence I am installing on the back of the house. The entire area was draped in Ivy and monkey grass. We laid down heavy paper and then covered it with pine straw. The blue tarp is covering a a stump that is covered with Ivy.

Covering the ivy with paper and straw will cut off the light and eventually it will die. This is a permaculture principle and I do not have to use chemical poisons in the yard. The paper will break down eventually and contribute to the organic material of the dead ivy's leaves and roots.