Friday, November 23, 2018

Digging Out A Crawl Space

Alex is down from Boston this week and we are digging out a crawl space beneath the kitchen of Christian's farmhouse. First the center floor boards were pulled with plywood boards cut to cover the hole between digging sessions. Debris and old insulation cleared next so the hot water line could be made smaller for faster delivery to the kitchen sink. Now we are digging the clay out deeper so that new concrete walls and floor can be poured.   

This project is the last big challenge in saving Christian's farmhouse and I bless the boys for their concerted efforts in such cold weather! We are burning the old sub-floor boards in the wood stove to help heat the house in the process. 

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Metal Shed Roof


The boys managed to hand trailer an Ideal Pocket Ribbed custom cut roof into the big barn a night before our first winter snow. Early Saturday, the cool down shed roof Titanium Underlayment was cleared of snow and blown dry with a leaf blower, before panels were centered on it and screwed down. An insulated (black rubber strips) ridge cap was installed last and several inch overhang/drip edge custom cut with aviation shears. The lifetime of this light weight Canadian roof is about 50 years, cost $2.35 a sq. ft., and took a day for Alex, Bill and Christian to install.

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Sanding Walls



Christian is sanding the spackled and repaired plaster walls here by hand with 120 grit paper and I've hung a drop cloth in the doorway to contain dust. The ceiling beam joints are being cleaned with a paint scraper. Although the walls and baseboard trim will be painted "White Dove", the lower half may later be painted "Linen White" to warm the room and add interest.

The french doors opening to the enclosed front porch needed a fixed knob inside and this black coated solid brass oval one came from discontinued inventory at our local hardware store. It was $12.00 as were the parts we needed for an old porcelain door knob nearby. Both finish the room beautifully.




The wall below is painted two colors with a line dividing them instead of a chair rail; as we may do. Bottom images via Pinterest.
 Green in a dining room is lovely and I'm anxious to finish painting the fireplace surround a deep green shade.