Posted: April 22nd, 2010 | Filed under: Exterior Siding, Landscaping, Love & Haterades | Tags: design sponge before and after | 5 Comments »
Our exterior with the new horsetail planted is on today’s before and after on Design Sponge. Check it out here. Thanks Grace!
Posted: December 1st, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, Exterior Siding, Landscaping, Our Projects | Tags: landscaping retaining walls modern | 2 Comments »
Well, I’ve been avoiding this hot mess post because I wasn’t sure how to bitch about it without sounding like a brat. Impossible. So here it is. It would appear that I won’t have a front door by Christmas. The Plan was not followed closely enough and now, our wooden stairway has to be rethought. Currently, the way it is designed will drop you on the first concrete step, rather than at the pad on the gravel patio…thus forcing you to step over a wall to get to the patio. I don’t think so. We’re screwed by about 16 inches. We may have to zig zag a bit to make up the difference which REALLY BLOWS. I think it will look weird and awkward and poorly planned…YA THINK?!
Just to make sure I get kicked when I’m down…the tree rats are getting a little revenge. Remember that new paint job? There’s about 4 boards of cedar left on the entire house since we haven’t replaced the door to the crawlspace behind the house yet. They’ve been going for it. Bastards.
I’ve never had a renovation surprise beat me before and I’m working hard to make sure this one doesn’t either. I’ve been a bit depressed about this development since I usually have an “aha” solution to these things by now. I know there’s been a lot going on…distracted…denial.
Today I walked around, looking at the old staircase lying in the mud …(my God all the mud…everywhere)…and realized it was time to walk away….at least until after the holidays. Stick it on the shelf…even though every time I come up the driveway it will scream “failure!!” to me…Talking to the CC, I was reminded of the big picture.
CC: Does it look better than it did…even unfinished?
ME: Sigh….Yes…
CC: Does it add value to the property?
ME: One would hope!
CC: Well, then. Whatever it ends up being, it will be miles ahead of where we were… AND we’ve added value despite the problems.
ME: You’re right. You’re ALWAYS right…..
That’s why he’s a keeper.
Bratty pants here is taking deep breaths and will revisit with a solution at a later date with a fresh mind. In the meantime, we need to fill the beds with topsoil, finish the patio with a layer of crushed stone and basically spend a lot of time shoveling and hauling. I’m still sore from Sunday and I barely made a dent.
So, do I put a wreath on a door you can’t get to?
Posted: August 10th, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, Exterior Siding, Our Projects | Tags: exterior paint | No Comments »
The house exterior is officially done. The windows, foundation and garage door (until we figure that out) have all been painted, so now we can really start to focus on this hot mess of a yard. It’s pretty humid here right now and the idea of tearing out rotten railroad ties isn’t appealing…at all.
Grey Paint on Foundation
Exterior Paint on Windows
Posted: July 27th, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, Exterior Siding, Our Projects | Tags: galvalume siding modern, residential galvalume siding | 3 Comments »
I WIN. Tree rats can eat it…or at least eat something other than my house from now on.
It only went about a month over schedule…mainly due to Nashville Electric’s inability to communicate within its own departments…but it’s done. What a difference!
We are better insulated, tree rat free and looking a helluva lot better to boot. The final guttering etc.. was done while I was away so it was exciting to come home to the finished project. There is one tiny piece of guttering to be fixed and some scraps of metal to be dropped off, but that will take 10 minutes, so in my book..it’s done.
Dale Portman and Barry Choate aka The Coupe did a really fantastic job and brought an awesome crew. They understood what we were going for and did us proud. They stayed on top of things, communicated everything clearly and that is hard to come by these days…Thanks guys!
Now that I have this nice siding…it’s time to paint the windows, foundation, garage door…find some affordable outdoor porch lights….get rid of that nasty lattice….rebuild/stain decking….start rolling change to save up for some serious landscaping..those old rotten steps are crumbling more and more every day…..phew….onward!
Posted: June 30th, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, Exterior Siding, Our Projects | Tags: burnished slate galvalume, galvalume siding, galvalume siding modern, residential galvalume siding | No Comments »
My life in the fishbowl is, thankfully, almost over. Let’s be clear, I am not ungrateful for the hardworking men who have brought me this amazing transformation…but with no window treatments anywhere here and 12 people crawling all over your house at every window and door…it’s a bit unnerving after awhile. I KNOW they don’t give a rats ass what I’m doing, but…you know…it can be creepy.
The panels are all up…now it’s just trim pieces, new gutters and a few soffits left to do so I’m hoping by the end of the week, we’re done.
Posted: June 22nd, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, Exterior Siding, Our Projects | Tags: burnished slate galvalume, galvalume siding, galvalume siding modern, residential galvalume siding, residential metal siding | No Comments »
Metal finally arrived late Thursday, so Friday the first panels went up….what a difference. To be honest, just the house wrap and the edging already made the house look better so this is indeed progress. FINALLY, I’m really able to visualize the whole thing done now and I’m pleased as all get out about it.
