Sanding the front door and knocking down a wall

I must sound like a broken record but it is just too hot to make any real progress on any one project.

This past week we were able to score 2 loads of river rock for free, thanks to a Craigslist ad.  When R went back for a third load the huge pile was gone.  He said there were scrape marks on the asphalt parking lot so we speculate that a landscaper probably scooped up the remaining 5 yards.  It was good while it lasted and saved us about 40 bucks but we will need more in the future.

During one near 100 degree day we decided to go underground.  We hung out in the basement and knocked down a partition wall that made the coal room.  The wall was not load bearing and did not go all the way to the first floor joists.

The wall came down fairly easy with a sledge hammer. There were several blocks stuffed with newspapers from the summer of 1942.  Interesting war articles.  I haven't had a chance to read all of articles but I plan on saving the papers. Apparently the wall was an afterthought and not original to when they built the house.

We now need to wheelbarrow the remains out of the basement.  Thankfully it is a walkout basement.

The front door has been sanded and is ready to be fixed and filled so I can prime it before painting.  The wrought iron straps and door knocker have already been spray painted satin black.  

 

The door color is a medium gray which should contrast nicely with the black wrought iron pieces and white trim.

You can see that we have started to assemble the scaffolding but R needs to make to more foot pads.  One of the jack screws is rusted and he has been working on freeing it up.  But seriously we have not been in a big hurry due to the heat.

Today we made a Home Depot run to pick up lumber to finish the risers on the last stairway on the deck.  The cashier said, "are you STILL building that deck?"  This was the project to saved for the hot weather and it's time to play the shade card.

When we got home we unloaded the lumber, watered the plants, and picked up the last of the plum tree that was damaged in the thunderstorm.  By this time it was 4:30 in the afternoon and we were beat.  As a matter of fact we both had stomach aches and felt nauseated, so we called it quits.