- Monday: tried to finish off sanding north wall (old section). Ended up by filling nail holes and cracks. This was a mistake. We're supposed to prime it all first, then fill the gaps and spot-prime over that.
- Tuesday: put primer onto whole of sanded area. Now needs filled!
- Wednesday: Took a look at the south wall. It is in better condition than the north side, showing that sunlight is more punishing than rain and wind on the painted wood. Worked the phones to get the best price on our new fridge and freezer. Distraction from progress on house. Went out and ordered F/F. Removed overhead cupboard to make way for fridge arriving.
- Thursday: Spent day at Uni - no renovation work done by me. Lynne sanded and painted over patch on wall in fridge recess, rearranged cupboard contents and worked on fly wire door preparation.
- Friday: Forecast 34C today. I'll start on the south (shady) side. Could come inside and work on freeing sash windows if it gets too hot.
2006-02-17
End of week 6 - stocktake
2006-02-12
Weather is fine and no excuses
I started on the front (west) wall and the bedroom window yesterday. Not much progress, and we had to chop back the weeping cherry tree to get in with the ladders properly.
More progress today - I really need to get started earlier in the day though. After more finishing off bits I had missed, the north wall is mostly sanded back to the bare wood. I had to stop myself from 'just doing a wee bit more...'. The nail heads need to be punched below the surface - Lynne has started on this. We washed it down with the power washer (thanks to J&D) and tomorrow the primer will be applied, followed by a lot of filling and probably more sanding followed by the top coats. There is also at least one weatherboard that needs to be replaced. Maybe I could try... We need a carpenter anyway.
Showed Bill&Ela the state of progress. They seemed impressed with the back area. Ela asked about the condition of the south wall. I was reminded that I had intended to 'survey' it first to check the overall condition before finding a carpenter. Maybe a job for tomorrow if Lynne wants to paint in peace and quiet.
I'm convinced I'm being too fussy about the quality of the finish. More pressure!!!
LITOL home
More progress today - I really need to get started earlier in the day though. After more finishing off bits I had missed, the north wall is mostly sanded back to the bare wood. I had to stop myself from 'just doing a wee bit more...'. The nail heads need to be punched below the surface - Lynne has started on this. We washed it down with the power washer (thanks to J&D) and tomorrow the primer will be applied, followed by a lot of filling and probably more sanding followed by the top coats. There is also at least one weatherboard that needs to be replaced. Maybe I could try... We need a carpenter anyway.
Showed Bill&Ela the state of progress. They seemed impressed with the back area. Ela asked about the condition of the south wall. I was reminded that I had intended to 'survey' it first to check the overall condition before finding a carpenter. Maybe a job for tomorrow if Lynne wants to paint in peace and quiet.
I'm convinced I'm being too fussy about the quality of the finish. More pressure!!!
LITOL home
2006-02-10
Weather is back in charge
On Wednesday it was too warm. I did some work on the West side, but very little visible progress.
Yesterday it rained on and off all day.
Still, I did manage to apply for a job while staying out of the rain. A chance to get some academic reading done too!
Yesterday it rained on and off all day.
Still, I did manage to apply for a job while staying out of the rain. A chance to get some academic reading done too!
2006-02-06
Life in the Other Lane
Life in the Other Lane is the original blog, now hosted here.
It's not really the 'slow' lane - because I've no idea how fast I'm running without anyone visible to measure myself against. After 4 months of being off the hamster wheel, there is almost no-one in my weekly life who looks anything like familiar to me in my former 'working for a living' life. Maybe it's time to start working back towards the old life. I still don't feel massively enthusiastic about it though.
It's not really the 'slow' lane - because I've no idea how fast I'm running without anyone visible to measure myself against. After 4 months of being off the hamster wheel, there is almost no-one in my weekly life who looks anything like familiar to me in my former 'working for a living' life. Maybe it's time to start working back towards the old life. I still don't feel massively enthusiastic about it though.
Life in the Other Lane
Life in the Other Lane was once hosted here.
This blog comes back to life after over a month of silence and a change of host site. The back part of the west side is painted and finished. The front part (older wood, multiple layers of paint and much higher wall) is now fully sanded. Almost the whole area is back to bare wood.
From the vantage point of my second new ladder in 2 months, I discovered that new timber is needed to replace the beam holding up the facia boards on the gable end. This will require builder and carpenter intervention.
I also found dry rot in the southwest bottom corner. Another builder/carpenter job.
Bill lent me a disc sander. Tony provided a second 2.4M ladder and some 'stop rot' stuff. Thanks guys.
This blog comes back to life after over a month of silence and a change of host site. The back part of the west side is painted and finished. The front part (older wood, multiple layers of paint and much higher wall) is now fully sanded. Almost the whole area is back to bare wood.
From the vantage point of my second new ladder in 2 months, I discovered that new timber is needed to replace the beam holding up the facia boards on the gable end. This will require builder and carpenter intervention.
I also found dry rot in the southwest bottom corner. Another builder/carpenter job.
Bill lent me a disc sander. Tony provided a second 2.4M ladder and some 'stop rot' stuff. Thanks guys.
From the other blog site
Taken from former blog hosting site:
West Side Story - Posted at 21:14 on 2005-12-29 by Alf
Tried to get the west side (front of house) door prepared for painting before Christmas. No such luck. Just got the door paint all stripped off today, and some more sanding is still needed, as well as stripping and sanding of the door surrounds and at least one window. None of the this allows for the pressing need to get a serious ladder and make progress with stripping the front barge boards, shingles and weatherboard replacements. Carpentry skills and ladder endurance tests are on the near horizon.
Raison d 'etre - why I am writing this blog - Posted at 19:20 on 2005-11-19 by Alf
This is about me learning to blog, learning to reflect and to share and to keep me thinking beyond the everyday activities I am involved in. It's a way of getting beyond just 'being in my head' and working on home renovations while considering my career resumption options. The blog is also a journal of what and how I am doing with renovating my house. It is a 1926 California Bungalow (i.e. weatherboard). It needs a major repair and clean-up after 12 years of being very 'lived-in'. The major work is on the outside - wood repairs, surface preparation, painting. The project started on 10 November, when I started scraping and sanding paint off the fascia boards above the back door. The first full week was an exercise in slow progress, with a mix of warm sunshine and a hot day. The weekend brought rain, and I decided to take a break to let me start afresh next week. I found that it is hard to estimate how long jobs will take. I also learned that I am probably too fussy about quality to get this job done in an acceptable timeframe.
West Side Story - Posted at 21:14 on 2005-12-29 by Alf
Tried to get the west side (front of house) door prepared for painting before Christmas. No such luck. Just got the door paint all stripped off today, and some more sanding is still needed, as well as stripping and sanding of the door surrounds and at least one window. None of the this allows for the pressing need to get a serious ladder and make progress with stripping the front barge boards, shingles and weatherboard replacements. Carpentry skills and ladder endurance tests are on the near horizon.
| Weather drives progress - if you let it! - Posted at 19:19 on 2005-12-15 by Alf In summer, the days are often warmer and sunnier than is healthy for spending more than a few hours outside. Despite several very warm (above 30C) days in the first half of December, the back of the house is now finished. Standing in the garden, the place looks great! This allows us to see progress in a well-used part of the house while we are relaxing. This could be called a 'quick win'. The West (front) and North sides are now being prepared and pressure washed. Today was 33C, so only 3 (early morning) hours were put in outdoors. We can't claim to be 25% complete yet, because:
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| Jammed mulcher and broken bolt - Posted at 19:05 on 2005-11-30 by Alf The mulcher jammed solid late on Monday, despite being treated very sympathetically. On trying to remove a plate to clear the jam, a bolt head got mashed and now needs to be removed with an extractor. The tool recommended at the shop is not biting the inside of the (now drilled out) screw. I have broken my 4mm bit in the process and am now jammed myself. I need to come up with a new way to solve the jam and the damaged bolt. This is all a bit of a bummer, since I'd nearly finished mulching the severly pruned tree cuttings on the north and south sides of the house - most of which we'd chopped back on the Sunday afternoon. Today is St Andrews Day - but there was no haggis. |
| Getting in the swing - Posted at 19:04 on 2005-11-28 by Alf I suppose I need to get used to sitting down for 10 minutes a day and updating the blog. I've been working better (getting more done) recently. We even showed some neighbours the back of our house today. The part we've been concentrating on so far. As of today, the weatherboards at the back are washed down (thanks to Bosch power washing equipment on loan from friends) and ready for their first coat. We did no painting today though, since we had to mulch up a whole load of tree branches we chopped down to make space for painting the South wall. More pruning has also been done today, and my hands (and neck) are sore from shoving branches into the electric mulching device. My ears are a bit numb too. It's a noisy business. |
| The Place I Left Behind - Posted at 19:43 on 2005-11-19 by Alf This is the idyllic location I left behind in Scotland:
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This is about me learning to blog, learning to reflect and to share and to keep me thinking beyond the everyday activities I am involved in. It's a way of getting beyond just 'being in my head' and working on home renovations while considering my career resumption options. The blog is also a journal of what and how I am doing with renovating my house. It is a 1926 California Bungalow (i.e. weatherboard). It needs a major repair and clean-up after 12 years of being very 'lived-in'. The major work is on the outside - wood repairs, surface preparation, painting. The project started on 10 November, when I started scraping and sanding paint off the fascia boards above the back door. The first full week was an exercise in slow progress, with a mix of warm sunshine and a hot day. The weekend brought rain, and I decided to take a break to let me start afresh next week. I found that it is hard to estimate how long jobs will take. I also learned that I am probably too fussy about quality to get this job done in an acceptable timeframe.
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