Due to the continuation of great weather I took a half day today off of work to continue the window panels. Around lunch time I did the final sanding of the diningroom panels and then primed them.
Diningroom panels primed!Another view
Once those were done, it was time to paint the cupola panels yellow (first coat)! Just as it was getting dark we got the last part of the cupola painted!
Cupola has first coat!
And just to see what it will look like, once the second coat is on we’ll be installing this red trim inside the panels. We’re trying out all yellow with red trim but haven’t ruled out having the recessed part of the panels be green yet. I think at this point there is a concern that the red won’t ‘pop’ on the green as much though.
A look with the red trim to get an idea
I finished up the night (after getting a few hours of work in) by getting the second coat of paint on the window sashes so tomorrow they’ll be all dry and can be put back in the diningroom since it’s getting cold out. It would be nice to get a few more windows done, maybe the next 2 on the cupola which are more exposed to the sunlight. Since they’re under the porch I can keep the sashes out even if it’s raining but not if it gets too cold.
Wow, October and it was in the 80’s! Perfect for finishing up window panels! So Ryan and I worked hard this weekend!
Friday night Ryan got home and started right away working on the built-ins! He got the box for one of the bookcases put together so we could see what they’d look like installed – it will be so great to have the storage when those are done. I know he wanted to work cabinets all weekend but due to weather he was compelled to get the outdoor work done before it got cold out.
Saturday we started by getting the rest of the panels installed, it was just a few vertical panels and we were done just after lunch!
Diningroom panels finished!
Back side of diningroom panels
Once they were installed Ryan got to work on finishing up the sanding of the cupola panels. He was able to sand the last 2 of the cupola windows, the large diningroom window panel and we got the cupola windows all caulked. We ‘ended’ the light hours of saturday by priming the first 3 windows of panels (it was pretty dark when we finally stopped).
Cupola windows - all sanded and caulked!Main diningroom window all sandedFirst 3 window's panels all primed!
We didn’t stop there though, we stayed up until midnight priming (inside and outside) of the 3 diningroom windows themselves! They are exposed unlike the cupola so it was important we get these ones painted. It would be great to get all the windows painted but the cupola ones are at least under the porch during the winter and have been primed.
Sunday it was back to windows! I finished hand sanding the last 2 cupola windows while Ryan finished sanding the diningroom windows and got the panels all caulked and ready to go.
Diningroom window panels, ready for primer
Before lunch I got the last 2 cupola window panels primed, including the post against the house which came out great after a good sand.
Cupola - primed!
After lunch we had some surprise company! Ryan’s sister and her husband came up with the nieces for a few hours! The girls were a lot of fun, after a tour of the house progress we went to the park down the road while the guys watched football 🙂
After they left we finished up the outside work, Ryan finished caulking the diningroom window panels and I put the second coat of trim paint on the front of the house (so that is FINALLY done). I continued painting until dark, after dark moving inside to get a coat of paint on the diningroom windows.
Front of the house finally done! (window panes still need to be painted)And started painting the cupola. We've decided we might do the cupola all in yellow with the red trim (still to be added) as an accent instead of green on the recessed parts. The all yellow idea is growing on me and it's definitely easier to paint that way 🙂Window panes everywhere - drying!The large diningroom window panes
Painting just one side of the windows goes MUCH faster than priming the night before so I actually finished up by 9 and went to bed early. With the nice weather sticking around I’ll probably get the final coat on the windows tonight and let them dry through Tuesday before we put them back in. I’m taking a 1/2 day today off of work to maybe get the diningroom window panels primed?? We’ll see how it goes, it’s hard moving the ladder by myself and they should be hand sanded still which is a lot of work.
Great progress for a great weekend though! Almost ready for winter! I still want to get the copper caps on but we can do that on a cooler weekend since it doesn’t involve paint 🙂
Besides taking part of the weekend off to relax last weekend (I was very un-motivated!) we did manage to get some house projects done.
Ryan sanded a few more of the cupola windows after I finished filling the nail holes at the top. While he did the sanding I worked on stripping the post attached to the house. When I finished the stripping I caulked the windows he had sanded. We still have 1 1/2 more windows left to sand and caulk before we can prime them all.
Second Window Sanded!Post strippedBottom of post stripped
We removed the trim around the bottom of the post, Ryan’s Dad is building us new post bottoms and we’ll want to use the same trim from those on the 2 posts that are staying (attached to the house). I can’t wait to see this all primed up and then painted!
What a LONG weekend! Somehow we managed to get everything done from the weekend checklist – that’s almost unheard of since my lists are so long 🙂
Saturday we started the day with a dump run – so the unseemly pile of wood at the front of our house was reduced more than 1/2 at least 🙂 When we got back we started on the Cupola Window Panels again. Our goal was to get everything under the windows (from the caps down) done – and we managed it! We even put on the final window cap piece (which we had to make).
Today we got started on the panels above the window caps, the first piece has an angle cut (since it runs along the window cap) so we started with that one. At lunch we went to home depot to get a few things (ran out of glue for one) and when we came home Ryan’s back was bothering him.
At this point I didn’t think I’d be able to finish the panels by myself (even though there was very little left) so when I saw my neighbor selling some kitchen shelves at his tag sale I bought them (deal!) and moved everything out of my cabinets that we plan to tear down. The kitchen re-org is always a fun one!
When that was done it was still early so i decided to try finishing the panels on my own – and I did it! They are completely done – and most of the holes (below the window caps) have been filled.
A view of the frontFirst and second windowsSecond and third windowsFourth and Fifth windows
Not that they are really completed (obviously) but the hard part is done! What’s left?
Finishing filling nail holes
Sand down the panels
Caulk the panels (especially inside the panels)
Prime/Paint the panels
Install the decorative molding inside the panels and caulk/paint it
So plenty left to do but all in all a great weekend. Now the dog is whining for his long walk so off I go!
We got a lot done this weekend! Saturday was a short day because we had a dinner obligation up in Concord but we did manage to go car shopping and I got a new car! I got a 2011 Acura RDX which is a crossover SUV. It’s nice and small so it’s easy to drive and it handles just like the Audi. It’s got some great features (still have my heated seats and sunroof!) but now I also have USB input (for ipods), bluetooth connectivity for my phone, backup camera and more storage space. My new car!
I do plan to get a remote starter installed before winter, but for now we’re going without that feature (I think it will be cheaper to get it installed elsewhere than through the dealer).
Today we worked on window panels, the dogs got the run of the porch again and unlike Fitz who mostly hides upstairs when we’re working on the house, Buddy likes to follow us around, not at all bothered by the saws running. Just wags his tail every time we talk to him 🙂
The window panels are really coming along. We started with the window caps on the cupola. We still have the very top piece of those that we need to make, but we got the first 2 cap pieces made and installed all the way around! Then the sill we installed almost all the way around (one small piece left). Finally we worked on the lower boxes and finished those all the way around. Since it’s hard to explain, here are the pics. The second and third windows now have full panels except for the very top box. 2 pieces of the cap go all the way around the cupola now. Bottom boxes are done all the way around and the sill is almost done. The first window is completely done!
And here are the boys, it’s been a long day (hah!) and they are cuddled up in the A/C. Buddy doesn’t even try to cuddle with me on days like this when we’re home all day. If we’re gone all day he likes to come up on the couch and cuddle. He’s been very good being left alone though, I’ve got my camera on them and they mostly sleep with interruptions to bark at strange noises (buddy) 🙂 I’m so happy they get along so well, I love having 2 dogs! Tough life.
Yesterday while Ryan did some work I got out in the sweltering weather with the pups. They had free reign on the front porch (Fitz stayed inside mostly but Buddy loved watching people walk by). While they did their thing, I painted! I got the second coat of green on after I caulked the frieze board. Once the green was dry I got the first coat of yellow on the trim (finished it up just as it was getting dark). It takes a while to cut in the yellow around the siding but we love the effect so it’s worth it.
Front - almost done!Just to get an idea what the panels will look like with the green, what's white will be yellow.
Today Fitz is at daycare and Buddy came to work with me again. Tomorrow they’ll both be home all day (probably a short day since Buddy can’t hold ‘it’ for 10 hours likes Fitz can). I’m hoping Fitz will be tired out from daycare (hah) and Buddy will be more comfortable alone now that he has been for short periods (plus I’ll put up the camera so I can watch them).
I took the day off today, my friend Sarah came up and we spent the day chatting and stitching. While I was doing that however Ryan was hard at work around the house. He continued to remove the ceiling of the porch and started putting in some supports for a hammock 🙂
Front of the porch, the ceiling is all gone.Just a little bit of ceiling left and some new supports.
I’m looking forward to painting tomorrow but for now – back to stitching!
We could not motivate ourselves to do much this weekend unfortunately. Saturday morning was good, Ryan removed some more of the porch ceiling then we went to the lumber yard to get the rest of the wood for the window panels. After that we spent most of the day down at Kimball’s for my work summer outing which was a lot of fun.
Back home Saturday night all we did was a long walk and watch some more Castle.
Sunday wasn’t much better, no motivation at all. We did put up the frieze board (planed the wood first) and I got it primed at least. So the front is ‘done’ and ready to be fully painted. I still want to caulk the frieze board though before I do the second coat of paint. Frieze board up
Today it’s just a short day at work and then down to my sisters to hang out with her and my nephew! I can’t wait! Then back to regularly scheduled programming.
We had a wonderful long weekend with family. We drove out to Lake Pleasant Friday, getting there in time for a quick boat ride and a late dinner. Saturday the rest of Ryan’s family showed up and we spent the day on the boat, it was very relaxing. Sunday it rained on and off all day so we mostly stayed inside and Monday we drove home. It was a great weekend and since I took Tuesday off to get stuff done around the house it felt productive too.
Tuesday I got the cars vacuumed, the laundry finished up, the dog cleaned up and the front of the house painted!
First coat on!
I also got to enjoy the gardens quite a bit…
Red roses in bloom!
Raspberries and Lilies!
Daisies!
I have two different clumps of daisies that sprang up from last year, they are blooming now, the ones I bought this year were earlier bloomers and are already gone but these yellow ones are quite a treat too!
Another busy weekend working on the house. Saturday we got up nice and early and started working on the siding. First up we had to make the window/door caps. Each piece had to be made and installed then primed. By lunch we had the windowcaps done.
Window cap on!Door cap!Cap on the cupola started.
After a break for lunch we got to work on the siding, it started with some really tough pieces that had to be cut around the window caps, luckily Ryan is really good at that. We got the siding installed all the way up. All that’s left for the front section is the frieze board which we don’t have the wood for yet (and the lumber yard was closed). So I ended the night by caulking the front section.
Caulked and sanded!
This afternoon I got set up on the porch and got the siding sanded and ready to be primed. There was a little bit left that had to be stripped as well but once that was all done I got the whole front primed!
Primed!
Next week we’re away so it will be like this for a little while but it’s SO much better than it was all winter! I also started working on stripping the left side of the house so I can refinish that eventually. I think with a few weekends in July we’ll have the front all buttoned up!
