August 2009 – nicole.groudasfamily.com

A Soffit

Well this weekend Ryan had to work all weekend so I was left to my own devices. Unfortunately it rained ALL day saturday so that meant indoor projects and I got a few things done including building this little bookcase to store tools on the porch:I made it out of some old shelves we had removed from the tv room closet and some scrap pieces of 2×4. It’s quite sturdy and has now organized the porch to my satisfaction.
Sunday the weather was much more to my liking so I got started on the soffit. It needed to be stripped with the heat gun, then sanded, then primed. Luckily we had bought a new 20′ ladder that i could move around more easily than our other ladder so at least I could do this on my own. However it was a difficult project for my wrist and I was aching by the time the stripping was done and in real pain once the sanding was done but it was getting dark so I pushed on and finished – just after dark 🙂

Here is the soffit BEFORE:

And here it is while I was working on it (notice that it’s getting kind of dark on this side of the house):

And here is the final primed soffit:

Anniversary and Vacation

It has officially been one full year since we got married – and we celebrated by working on our house! We also made a trip down to NYC for a few days to see PJ and get away from JUST working on the house.

Our big project was installing the new windows we ordered and then putting up the siding we had removed around those windows.

Dad came out to help install the windows – when he left we had the windows installed (aren’t they beautiful), the siding started, and window caps almost completed (minus the moulding on most of them). We were mightily impressed and compared to our progress the rest of the week this was impressive.

Here are the new windows and siding when Mom and Dad left:

And here they are after working on siding Thur, Fri, Sat and Sunday (around the rain and heat/humidity):

A closeup of the window cap Dad made for us:

And here we our on our Anniversary:

Bathroom window

Ryan spent saturday installing the bathroom window, this involved moving the window lower from it’s original position.

Here’s the original window we started with. Notice how the window goes right up to the soffit.

Here it is after the hole was moved down and the wall is now ready for the new window.

And here is the finished window – outside:

Inside:

A weekend away

We spent last weekend down at Aimee’s house installing some new outlets and light fixtures on their second floor (bedrooms). The only downside was that the work was in the attic and the attic was the hottest room of the house – and the humidity sure didn’t help! But it was a good time, working with my Dad, brother-in-law and husband we got all the electrical done they wanted. My sister and mom bought some new plants and really filled out their garden beds. Ryan also took down a small pine tree for them that was leaning over the garage. All in all a very productive weekend.

Since then we’ve been working on stripping paint from siding. I got 3 pieces done Monday night and we got 6 pieces done last night. Doesn’t sound like much but it really is – considering we only have about an hour each evening. We’re stripping the paint and filling the nail holes. This weekend we’ll hit them with the sander quick and then put a coat of primer on them hopefully. That’s the plan anyway.

And we’re really crossing our fingers that our new windows come soon so that the following weekend we can install them! Speaking of which I should email Marvin Windows and see if they know anything.