Sloooowly but surely...

All of the asbestos siding has been removed and properly disposed of.
The black material on the house now is tar paper, which will be removed.

The east & west sides of the house (in progress)...

The first window, on the side, will be replaced with a fireplace.
A window on each side of the fireplace will then be installed.

Progress Report!

I've waited to have my backyard paved for well over a year and it's
finally happened! I figured it would be a humongous mess in this
process but the guys were very professional and considerate.
Ya can't ask for much more than that.

I want to put a concrete sealer on it but I have to wait until dry
weather to do that. I won't buy patio furniture out until it's
been sealed...'cause it would just get in the way.

It was a very tight squeeze manipulating this Bobcat in my backyard
but the guy was a pro! My neighbor, Charlie, marveled at how the
guy didn't get one wheel onto his property.
Phew! :D

Brad, my other neighbor, was kind enough to let us stack
the pavers on his driveway.

My garage, which still has to be painted and trimmed out.

These last 4 pictures are of the finished work. I still have to seal it...
but that has to wait for dry weather.

The two li'l patches of ground is the only gardening I'll be doing
(in the way of flowers). I'm going to plant a weeping cherry tree,
and install a flag pole and two spot lights. I haven't done anything
here except return the perennials to their beds.

Here's a sneak peak at the shingle siding being installed.
We're still tossing around ideas about what to
do about the foundation.

Well...there it is! :D

Report on LED recessed lights...

Pictures from last October...

This photo is a li'l blurred but as you can see the
amount of light they put out is quite impressive. :D

Love 'em!!!

The back porch...well kinda!

There's really not a lot to show here. Right now we're in
the process of installing 2 more posts on the inside of these
existing posts. These posts are handmade. It takes an entire
day to make 1 of these posts.

At some point (hopefully before winter) I'm having brick laid
between the house and garage along with some areas landscaped.
I want to also incorporate some glass mulch. Have you seen that
yet? It's nice looking stuff! ;D

Sun room

Color of walls in sun room

This is a better example of the tile floor in the Sun room.
They are 20 inch tiles.

As much as I've tried...I cannot get the correct colors.

Sorry for the mess in the background. There's an artist at work.

My li'l doggies. They're easy to tend to.
They're made from scrap car parts.
Really cool!

Office in background...back door to the left.

There is a 7 ft closet in the rear of the sun room which holds
all of the folding tables, chairs, dishes, etc. that are needed
for entertaining. Oh alright...there's other stuff in there too!

Master Bedroom & Office

This was taken right after the last coat of poly was put on
the new hardwood floors. These floors are in the office and
bedroom. They're really pretty and I'm very proud of them.
:D

Color of walls in office

This gives you a fair idea of the office. I still have some
things I want to do in here but that'll have to wait.
Another cold weather project. :D

Color of master bedroom walls






This is the master bedroom coming in from the office.
Still have lots to buy in here too. Yet another
cold weather project. :D

This is the view coming from the master bedroom

This is my 17 foot long closets! When you open a closet
door...a light automatically comes on...and goes off when
you shut the door again. Ohhhhh do I have big plans for
these closets! hahaha! Love 'em! :D

Inside side view of closets

Master Bathroom

The colors are showing inaccurately but this
photo of the bathroom tile is spot on.
Click on pic to enlarge



Shower

What I did in the winter of 2008...
· I did all of the electrical receptacles in the sun room.

· I stained & varnished 18 windows, 20 doors, which
includes bi-folds, all of the moldings around windows,
doors & the baseboards.

· All of the closet doors were hand made, stained &
varnished.

· I helped to install the oak floors. I sanded & stained
them. Someone else was kind enough to apply the
finish for me.

· The flooring in the sun room is 20 inch tiles. I laid
& grouted approx. 75% of them while someone else
was cutting the odd pieces with a special saw used
for porcelain tiles. I also injured my back while
trying to help carry all of this tile into the house.
Ouchy! :\

Finishing woodwork

Finishing various doors

I designed this big ol' rack to hold the doors for finishing.
We drilled a hole in the top and bottom of the door & a
6" nail in the top 'n bottom of the frames held them
on there so they could swing around. It sure made it
easier to work on the doors.

The thing I disliked most
about all of it was sanding the wood. Ugh!
The day we disassembled this rack gave me a big
sense of relief...because it meant I was finally
finished with stain & polyurethane.


That's all folks!