The Woodshed

No, we're not talking about that famous bar in Brewster. (With the rockinest Halloween party ever, I might add.) We're talking about a shed in which to place wood... Which we have a lot of since Nstar removed the locust from the front yard. Mike decided build one yesterday.

But what of Sandy, large storm affecting out area with high winds today? Well, unlike last year (Irene) there was very little we needed to do to prepare. Tree is down. Kitchen roof is done. All we had to do was to clean the yard, hit the dump, and secure and stow everything on the farmers porch. It's like we have an Easy button or something. "That was easy."

And Mike wanted to build his shed with some free plywood he obtained. I asked him if he could finish the project in one day. (How many unfinished projects do we have in progress now?) well, mike said he could do it and that he'd pay for the wood he needed with Home Depot returns. A project that could be finished in an afternoon and cost next to nothing? Could such a thing even exist?!

I must admit, mike did not disappoint. He built a 16' wood shed that reminded me of a bus stop. (It was almost a shame to put wood in it. I wanted to put in a bench and a schedule.) And he finished it in plenty of time to even load it up with all the wood.

His design was pretty nifty. He built it in the shelter of the hill and used pallets for the floor. That way, once they rot out (an eventuality with wood and ground contact) he can simply replace with more free pallets.

With us both off due to the storm today, mike will be tackling the basement closet doors at long last!

Roofed!

The guys were not roofing as I thought they were in my last post. Mike had just been up there tarping in preparation for the upcoming storms. Storms that ended by the weekend, with enough time and warm temps on Sunday for the guys to complete the entire job!

Mike even managed to give the trim a coat of paint and add siding to the itty bitty portion of wall where the kitchen roof meets the mudroom.

Unfortunately, the job encompassed the entire day, leaving no time to stain the basement bathroom closet doors. Oh well. Perhaps this weekend?

Winter Prep

It's cold. And by my definition of cold, I mean below 70 degrees. The leaves are turning color... the Halloween decorations are up... and the Weather Channel is talking about naming snow storms with name choices including: Athena, Draco, and Maleficent. Ok, so maybe I added Maleficent. (Maybe I should be on the naming committee.)

All this changing of the seasons means it's high time for some winter prep around the house. First thing's first - the kitchen roof. Last weekend, as you recall, we were supposed to be roofing. Well, turned out to be rainy and windy. Foiled again. However, the past two days it's been sunny and in the 60's. Perfect roofing weather. So, the guys have been working in the evening.... in fact, they're working right now as I type. And I hope they plan on finishing tonight because it's supposed to rain tomorrow and the next day. Thunderstorms. Wind. Lovely.

The chimney would be second priority. Wouldn't you know, the guys were supposed to come out and finish that this past Monday. Didn't end up happening for reasons unknown. We are still waiting for the rescheduling call, as we're just 10 feet away from completion on that one. Mike was so excited, he even got a log splitter and split all that locust wood we got from the Nstar fallen tree in the front yard. Oh well, no stove today Senor Lumberjack Breakfast.

Third priority? Well, while we've got chimneys (chimnies?) on the brain, Mike decided to help out our poor old furnace chimney so it could possibly survive another winter. (This one he built years ago, on his own, before having any knowledge of proper chimney construction. It's a bit of a hack job.) Today, having accidentally scheduled a Thursday off a week prior to me returning to work, Mike decided to really have a look at the thing. And wouldn't you know, upon closer inspection, the chimney had some huge hole in it that was allowing sand to enter whenever it rained. Nearly the entire exhaust was full of sand. No wonder the thing ran like poop and made loud noises whenever it kicked on.

As Mike worked to clear that mess and fix the hole, he discovered dead spiders all over the place and more trying to enter through the same orifice. (Yay vocab!) Great. Sand in the furnace exhaust and another grand entrance for the wolf spiders.

He ran to the chimney store, picked up another couple pieces of pipe and replaced the entire lower portion of the stove exhaust and chimney. Already the thing is running quieter, and hopefully more efficiently too. With a new baby around, we've already had the heat on for nearly two weeks and I can feel the upcoming disturbance in the monetary force... oil is not cheap these days.

Still on the agenda - staining the basement closet doors. That must be done before our Halloween party. (Or bust!) Window bottoms would be nice too... we'll see how things go in the next two weeks!

Bought a Bunch of Bottoms... Say That 5 Times Fast

We ordered and received our rubber roofing for over the kitchen! And of course, as if on cue, the weather changed from near 70's to mid-50's. Oh, and it's been raining every weekend, thus delaying any possibility of installation.

This week, we've again scheduled installation for Saturday and Sunday. So far, the weather looks good. Partly cloudy, near 60. Of course, it's only Wednesday and it is New England. Anything could happen within the next few days.

What's that got to do with buying a bunch of bottoms? Well, nothing. Just had to get that roof update out of the way.

Now. On Monday I had Mike back downstairs working on basement bathroom trim. He completed the door trim, closet door trim, and window trim!

Note that this time around, nothing has been pre-stained. That's due to the difficulty of the cuts and fit of most of this trim. The doors were especially difficult, as our wall is thicker then the average door width. Mike had to create custom trim to work with the pre-hung door. Then, of course, the pocket door required more custom trim work. The windows, as you can see, are especially tight to the closet. Those were a tight squeeze. And since traditional window bottom trim is very thick, Mike decided to make custom, thin window bottom trim out of scrap side-trim pieces. It looks great - but took all day to accomplish.

Late in the day, Mike ran out of trim half way through the job and needed to hit the DeepHo for more. I jumped on the opportunity to remind him that we desperately needed bottoms throughout the house. Window bottoms.

Don't ask me why, but every time we trim windows, we forget the bottom trim piece. The large kitchen window we installed two years ago - no bottom. The mudroom windows we installed four or five years ago - no bottoms. The office windows we installed like the first year we were in the house - NO BOTTOMS! Something's seriously wrong with the two of us.

So I took this opportunity to remind Mike to buy a bunch of bottoms. And, I said, Our bedroom closet needs trim. And, the attic entrances need trim. Oh, he's so happy to have me around to remind him of such things. Because he just loves to trim stuff. But once it's done, it's done! No use waiting any more years to finish these things.

Tuesday night, Mike began the laborious task of staining everything - in place. (Hence all the painters tape.) He should begin on the doors tonight. Once those are finished, we can complete those other small trim jobs - the window bottoms, the upstairs closet, the attic entrances.

Oh, and have I mentioned our annual Halloween party? Though the day is always a big one that we look forward to, the day after is almost an even more exciting this year. The day after the Halloween party - that will be 11/4 - we will be demolishing the upstairs bathroom. With the party over and both kids already out of the house, it's the best time to grab up a hammer and whack away. I can't wait.