From rainy days to drizzle days

The rain on Monday put a Damper on roof work, It allowed the Contractor to buy supplies, put up some staging, strip then rapidly paper what they had stripped, before they had to call it a day. Shortly afterwards it would become a downpour.

The next day was still not perfect, and by 3pm they were starting to put paper down on the east side of the house. the "North Wing" was done on the western or front of the house.

The Contractors were approached the first day by my Grounds-keeper about having a job for him, they told him they were all set. 

The second morning, after finding the house had not two but three layers of shingles on it, had them approach the Grounds-keeper and tell him that if they were interested, they could come back on Thursday or Friday, and get paid to move all the debris to the dumpster. 

The contractors made note that they were amazed at the condition of the roof planks, usually, they said after 50 years of so they find a lot of rotted ones, especially around the peaks and joists. These they said, were amazingly solid.

Looks like the locals will be earning their money.

 And they are only..right here...

man cannot live by repairs alone

Sometimes you need,  something you don't need.

Moving outside

The Contractors arrived this morning and started to put together staging, they will be removing the layers of roofing and replacing it with new material. They are also going to re-point the Chimney, (Has to do with filling the grout joints, I don't see any points), and they will be adding gutters.

They are going to zinc strip the ridgeline, this should keep the algae and fungus from regrowing on the roof.  Today they put the staging in place and stripped off the layers on the small roof front. They had it resealed in time for the rain to roll in. They will be back in the morning to begin work again.

the blueness nears completion

This weekend saw the near end of the cabinet door saga. Just in time also., because I am getting sick if painting cabinet doors. 

On Saturday I painted the inside surface on five of the remaining six doors. Standing around waiting for paint to dry is about as exciting as...standing around watching paint dry. I took off on the motorcycle, allowing the panels to bake in the sun from 11am until 4pm when I returned. They came out OK, so I flipped them over, painted them, and went back out. A tip, painting outside at dusk in warm weather, means Gnats, those tiny little flying insects that fly into everything. Luckily the paint surface had cured enough to keep them from becoming a painted in. The following morning was a tad depressing when the paint pealed off in sheets on two of the doors. A repaint cured the problem.

This leaves one cabinet door to be finished.  

Even though the dining room will be painted in the same blues, we are proceeding to the Living room next. This is due to the fact that there are some pieces of furniture which are destined to leave to other people, which are too big to move around or work behind and the people taking them are not ready for them yet. The living room will require the dis-assembly and removal (to the street) of a television entertainment monstrosity. Then it will be just a matter of moving the couch, chairs and table to the middle of the room, covering them with tarps and the cleaning can begin.

As far as little jobs in the preceding rooms, the list is huge. But all of it is piece work and can be attacked individually without affecting things around them. the ugliest is the closet and cabinet interiors. They all need painting, shelf repair and some form of base lining.

This also leaves the doors to the basement, bedroom, den, closets, and bathroom requiring paint. Three of them have received a base coat, all need more.

Garage Permit

the paperwork has been filed with the town for the installation of a drop in motorcycle garage, (an oversized shed with barn doors, and a copy was filed with the local health district due to the property having a septic tank. The town called me up seemingly ready to approve the building and instructed me to contact teh health district office so that they can process the permit. I did as they asked and talked to the health district, who, cannot seem to locate any of the information i gave them. they were to call me back yesterday and seeing as they have not I am reprinting all the information to refile with them.

memory fade

I had earlier come to the conclusion that the flooring I had installed in the kitchen and hall was totally inappropriate, a light whitish/gray stone design is not something you want in a high traffic area. In order to keep this area looking even slightly clean it would require sweeping and mopping daily and if you have any pets this is the last floor color you want. This said, we all suffer from stupidity at times, the other day I was at the hardware store to pick up the garage markers and some other items, the cabinet interiors need painting and relining, and after I looked through all teh selections I chose a pattern that matches the floor. Why?

doors

Removed the remaining doors in the hallway and kitchen tonight, except for one. Set up the saw horses, attached a new garden hose, threw some meat on the grille and started scrubbing doors in preparation for painting. Completed cleaning, grilled a red bell pepper, added a little raw onion and cheese, toasted a roll and sat back. My plan is to paint all the doors on Saturday if the weather stays good. I would rather not do it piece meal, with the entire day free I would be able to paint two coats, drying between coats, flip them and add two more coats. The one door that I didn't remove is the bathroom door, I should be able to clean and paint that one the same day. As for myself I would have no problem having no door there seeing as I am usually alone, but the occasional visitor may feel a little uncomfortable being exposed.

The one door I see problems with is the kitchen closet, this door is louvered, and while painting it won't be difficult, cleaning the louvers enough to hold paint may be. Tonight I washed both sides and there are still areas which need more work. I may be time effective in the long run just to replace it with a new one.

Am still having problems with a couple kitchen cabinet doors, in particular those which were over the stove. They have been cleaned stripped and painted three times now and still have areas where they just won't hold paint. honestly it gets a bit frustrating. The problem is these are not off the shelf cabinet doors, you can't just run down the street and buy new ones. These cabinets were built as a unit in place by my Grandfather and except for a couple twin doors the rest are each different dimensions. 

The roofers should be here this week to begin work removing two layers of asphalt shingles and one layer of cedar shakes from the roof. They will be replacing the roofing, inspecting the wood beneath, replacing any if needed. They will also be installing gutters and repointing the chimney.