Between the rain and the long hours working I haven’t gotten to check out my new roses blooming but I grabbed a quick picture as I got in the car this morning. The grass was too wet to get close so it’s a distant picture 🙂
We’re planning to have a great weekend. Aimee and Jason are coming out, we’re going to get the bathroom finished up (minus the actual door being done) and we might hit Rock n’ Ribfest. We have tons of around the house projects we can work on, I can’t wait.
Ordering Marvin Windows – well each time we learn a lesson. Unfortunately we have not been that impressed with the people that work at the local Marvin place. Last time we worked with someone very knowledgeable but he dragged his feet and I’m convinced didn’t order our windows right away so there was delay. Also one window was ordered wrong (didn’t have the thick sill) so we had to glue on a piece to make it look the same.
This time we got someone less knowledgeable but more efficient at least, ordered immediately. Plus I handed her my order from last time to make sure we got the same types of windows with just a few differences (size, thick sills FOR SURE and no extended sills on the 5 for the cupola).
So this time they arrived in only 3 weeks (compared to 6 last time). And the sills are all thick as they should be. A quick lookover shows they look right. However they’ve been bought out by a different millwork place and evidently 5″ extended sills means something different to this place. Last time we were clear we wanted the sills to stick out 1 1/2″ from the end of the casing so we ordered 5″ (3 1/2″ casing). This time we ordered the same but didn’t clarify and we got sills that stick out 5″ from the casing! Those are some long sill horns!
Luckily our windows are wood so we can cut them no problem but it’s just another annoyance (much better than having to fabricate a thicker sill however). Plus 3 of the windows are surrounded by window boxes so we don’t have to even cut the sills since we need to extend them all around the cupola anyway. But lesson learned for next time!
Anyhow – here are the new windows all stacked up – 8 of them are the same 2630’s i believe and then the one large diningroom window is in the front (3630).
When I got home from work friday night Ryan was working on removing the rest of the siding on the diningroom windows.  We still need to remove the siding behind the electrical feed but otherwise we’re ready to start prepping the outside for the window replacement.
I got a little distracted after lunch reading my kindle book. A couple of hours later Ryan got home (still reading). So that got me motivated to get the tile sealed while he mowed the lawn…
Finally done with the last tile related step! Unfortunately my book kept drawing me in so I finally went back to reading so I could finish by book. It was a new author – Julie Klassen’s Lady of Milkweed Manor. It was very different from what I’m used to reading and I really enjoyed it. Enough so that I started her second book The Apothecary’s daughter before bed.
I did also get started stripping the bathroom door a bit before bed. I’ll try to work on that project in the evenings this week.
The day is going pretty much as planned. I’m just sitting down to lunch while the caulk dries. So far today I’ve gotten the paint in the bathroom touched up, the real switches installed and the caulking done.
Once the caulk is dry I will seal the tile and then it’s off limits in the bathroom until the sealer is dry.
What a great pigroast we had this year! More family came than I had expected and it was a great surprise. The turnout was great and the pig tasted awesome.
The day after was calm but fun, I took a group of the kids up to the “tree” house to clean it up a bit and we had an “adventure” hiking around the woods exploring.
On the way home today we even stopped to see our nieces and Ryan got to hold our new niece for the first time! The girls were adorable and I got a good 10 minutes of imaginary play in after holding the baby for a bit. It was a quick visit, just a stop on our way home but we would have hated to miss the opportunity to see them since we were driving by.
Tomorrow I have lots of plans for the house, Ryan will be in the office but I think I can manage. Most important is to finish up the tile in the bathroom. This includes some caulking, then some touch up painting (where I scuffed the walls), then finally sealing the grout and tile (shower, one wall and the floor).
After that I would also like to get the bathroom door stripped down so it’s ready to be refinished. If I don’t get to that it will be because I’m outside working on building a compost bin 🙂 I’m looking forward to the day!
And just in time, I’ve been feeling homesick just a bit, probably because I haven’t seen my siblings since easter and we’ve all just been busy. Time to pack up and head home for the weekend!
You wouldn’t think it would take that long – especially if the electrical wiring is already done and you’re just connecting the new lights themselves. Here are some problems you MIGHT just hit:
– problem: The screws to connect the screw plate to the box are too large
— solution: home depot #6 screws, cost: 98 cents and a full day (for the trip to home depot)
– problem: The screw plate is made to fit on a circular box not square
— solution: use different holes for the screws – which involves sliding screws and trying to keep them tight the whole time – this is a real pain, cost – 10 min
– problem: The screws that stick out the front of the plate to attach the sconces to are too long
— solution: cut with dremel, then re-cut with dremel, then re-cut until screws work again, cost – 30 min and some scuffs on the wall. By the way I hate saws – and that now extends to dremels cutting things. Sparks – no fun – and if it can cut metal it could easily cut me. Not something I will volunteer to do in the future.
The result:
In total it took over an hour – which is really ridiculous but the lights came out great and they’re supposed to hang upside down but I really wanted sconces that faced up so I gave them a shot and I think they look fine facing up. The lights we chose add a little color to the bathroom and there’s some green in them so I think I’m going to use the green for the shower curtain and towels to tie everything together.
Now I just have a few scuff marks on the wall to touch up .. hehe… but that can wait until Monday. For now I’m enjoying my one victory. And I can finally measure the space we have for a mirror so we can get one!
Last night after work I painted the final coat on the trim (hopefully final coat). I gave it a light sanding before painting so it’s nice and smooth this morning.
I also installed the overhead light fixture since the ceiling is now finished. I still have to install the sconce lights and the real switches but one thing at a time 🙂
Tonight I’d like to seal the grout on the right hand side wall. I also want to get the dehumidifier set up to drain to the basement sink so we don’t have to empty out the bucket twice a day!
Last night after work I taped off the trim and got the first coat of paint done. The Linen White is a warm white. I was a little worried in the bathroom that it’s too close to the wall color but I think it will be fine. In the other rooms where the walls are brighter this color will be perfect! Hopefully tonight I can do a second coat and then I can decide if it needs a third coat or not (seems like it will at this point but I’ll wait and see how two coats look first).
