Grey Paint on the Cedar Shingles and Flip Flop Blowout

We had a stretch of warm weather so I was able to get a coat of grey paint on the shingles.  I was also able to get a coat of white primer on the windows and trim.  I was iffy on whether to paint the mounting blocks for the light fixtures white like the trim or grey like the shingles and now I think white is the way to go.

I was rushing around putting items back in place so I could take a few photos and the next thing I was laying on the deck with my fingers bent back at the palm of my hand.  I was a victim of a flip flop blowout.

I thought for sure that my hand was broken.  Fortunately it was just seriously bruised and swollen.

I didn't break a fingernail on the injured hand but the middle finger fingernail on my good hand hit the step and broke.

So both of my middle fingers are out of commission.  I may not be able to drive without the use of my middle fingers.  It's how I communicate with drivers who lack basic driving skills.  

Today I was able to get one coat of primer on the front and back of the secret project.  I want to get a second coat of primer on it before I paint a top coat of semi gloss Ultra White.  But the weather has turned and we are now in for several days of cold weather and rain.

Reuse Repurpose Recycle

The Last Nice Day Of the Year

The weather today was bittersweet.  On one hand, it was a balmy 71 degrees and on the other hand, tomorrow's forecast is for a high of 40 degrees and a low of 28 degrees with a chance of snow.  It's the middle of November, so 40 degrees is just about normal.  But 70 degrees was soooo nice, but in the back of your head you know that once the cold weather breaks that threshold of being cold both night and day, you are screwed.  You will not see or feel a warm day again until sometime in the 4th month of the year 2017.

It's depressing having a solid 4 or 5 months of cold weather with nothing but grey skies.  So I made the most of today and at least painted the primed shingles grey.  

Today I painted the primed shingles and also touched up some of the grey paint where I missed a spot here and there.  I had hoped to get at least one coat of white paint on the trim but 4 o'clock rolled around all too soon.  I started picking up tools and paint cans at 4pm and by the time 430pm came, it was twilight. 

I almost forget to tell you about this trim that we added. We  added a piece of cove trim where the shingles meet the deck.  This isn't something that you normally do but we have a problem with leaves getting stuck in the gap between the deck and the house.  The leaves decay and then hold moisture and rot the wood.  We are hoping that this small piece of trim stops that from happening again.  You couldn't even see the trim after I painted it grey.  We will not need this trim piece once we replace the decking and run the deck boards all the way under the shingles.

Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. We can run wire for the two exterior lights from inside the house. The wire and switch are already in place.  We just need to install 2 junction boxes (one on each side of the patio door) and run wire from one junction box to the other.

When the rain stops we can start hanging more shingles.  We can shingle in the winter if it isn't snowing or below 28 degrees.  Twentyeight degrees is the point where coats and gloves interfere with being able to move and handle tools.

R had a helper yesterday.  Elvis insisted on laying his head on R's leg.  The day before this he wanted to lay on the shingle bundles.  

 Reuse Repurpose Recycle 

A lot of little projects

What happened?  I thought cooler temps were on the way. Somebody didn't get the memo because 'oh my gosh' it was hot today.  I had to wait until the exterior kitchen wall was in the shade before I could paint again.

When it is this hot, I look for small chores that are in the shade.  One of those was to cut up the windows frames of the casement windows that were removed.  They just needed to be cut in half so I could put them in a trash can and take them to the curb.

We then re installed the post under the deck that we removed so we could pour a new footing and piling.  We used an additional bottle jack and was able to lift the corner of the house (very early addition) about 1 additional inch.  The post looks great (forgot to photograph). It is straight now and not in peril of slipping off of the piling like it was before we started.

While we were under the deck we decided that we needed to add more deck joists.  We took some quick measurements and made a lumber list. The span between joists are more than 16 inches because they used 2X10's.  I have found that it is always best to over build a deck.  We did not build this deck.  Instead we have added missing elements such as joist hangers and rebuilt the steps and railing as both were ugly and not to code.  The deck is huge and elevated 6 feet off the ground.  By adding the extra joists, the vibration from walking should be lessen or go away.

Two days ago I mowed and then raked up the cuttings in the areas where the lawn was extra long.  We picked up the cuttings today and noticed that the lawn needed cutting again.  I will never finish my painting if I have to mow every three days.

Finally around 5PM I was able to paint again.  I painted with just grey today.  I cannot get a ladder into the corner to finish painting until we install the two window units that are leaning up against the house.

Tomorrow is suppose to be hot but cloudy so I am hoping that I can paint the white trim.  We have three days of rain coming so I need to get as much done as I can by mid afternoon.

R pulled off more old shingles today in preparation to install the next window.  I told R that you know your shingles are bad when tar paper looks better than the shingles.  I'm really getting antsy to show you the before photos.  If you thought the before photos of the garden shed were tear down worthy wait until you see the mess we started with on this side of the house.

I was asked to pass along this casting call for a new DIY show.  It doesn't apply to us but maybe you are moving into your childhood home and are getting ready to make it your own.  Well then this is a perfect chance to share that experience with the rest of us.  I'm nosy....I mean.....I'm interested in seeing how you pull that off.

Exterior Family Room Before and After

I am so happy to be done with this side.  It was slow going for a while due to wasps, heat, and sprinkles (no rain here lately).  It felt so good to get that last little bit of grey painted and to climb down the ladder for the last time.

But first before I show you the 'after' photos, let us go back and see what it looked like before the improvements.

This photo shows both the front and south side of the family room exterior.  The photo was taken just after we replaced the rotted sill.  You can see where we replaced the bottom shingles in the front and R was working on the shingles on the south side.

Here you can see the ugly windows that we replaced with restoration windows. Also notice the size of the vent.

We added a 1 X 2 frame around the vent and a 1 X 3 piece behind the bracket.  We felt that the vent was out of scale with the house.  Also painting it white like the trim made the vent stand out and helps to break up the vast area of grey.

And here are the 'after' photos.  We are very pleased with how it turned out.

  This above photo is an 'after' photo of the front of the family room. 

 We still need to add the shutters to the front and south side of the family room. We make those ourselves and probably won't get to that until the winter. 

Next on our agenda is to shingle and paint the exterior of the kitchen and game room.  The kitchen and game room windows will not be here until Labor Day but we have plenty to do in preparation for the windows.  We also have vintage french doors to install in place of the old slider and of course there is more paint removal and painting needed on the barn.

So it looks like July will consist of either removing paint or applying paint.