Henbogle

graded and gravelled

cutting out the rot

Remember the seemingly endless siding replacement project of last summer?  No?  Well, I do.  It was replacing/repairing some siding on the front ell of the house, and the window in the bath.  Ugh.  Well, I can happily say we are 99.9% complete after recently finishing up a few of the final project components.

We recently installed the new hose bib, graded the soil around the foundation, laid heavy duty weedblock fabric, then covered the fabric with a layer of gravel.  This is to improve the drainage and ventilation in this area, which is in the north corner of the house  and shaded by a flowering crab in the front garden.  The site gets very little

checking for rot

sun, and before we removed an old rhododendron last summer, very little air circulation.  Once that was complete, we moved on to repairing the final bit of rot in the corner trim at the far end of the ell.

Using a shiny new oscillating multi-tool, we cut away the rotten part of the trim, and of course, found more underneath.  Dan kept cutting and checking for rot, and continued

treated with wood preservative, with new trim ready to go in

cutting until only  sound wood remained. We ended up needing a 4 foot piece of the top layer of trim, and a narrow 3 foot section of the underlying trim.  This little tool made a difficult task so easy.  I am so glad we stumbled across it at our local hardware store.

While Dan cut new pieces of trim to fit, I coated the 100+/- year old

caulking the seams

lumber with wood preservative, and once dry, primed it.  We then fitted the new trim in, caulked well, and painted.  We need a final coat of the green trim in the column center, but that will happen once the weather cooperates.

The final part of the project was to replace the wooden skirting covering the last 4 feet of the foundation crawl space.

That section of the house was a porch at some point and was later enclosed.  We removed the old skirting, graded the soil, added some stainless steel chicken wire to deter burrowing critters who find that crawl space oh-so-tempting, and the made new skirting from rot-proof, no paint/stain required composite decking material. The final part of the task was to cover the wire with weedblock and gravel.

Final trim added

The house had old wooden gutters in the front, mostly rotten, of course, which we replaced with plastic gutters a few years ago, before blog and project recordkeeping began.  A big part of this rotten problem we believe was caused by the old gutters, but new gutters must also be regularly cleaned out — the many trees near the house regularly drop leaves and twigs into the gutters.  Water cascading out over a clogged gutter down the house certainly didn’t help this problem.

We also cut back some of the lilacs and hydrangea planted near this foundation, but will need to do some additional thinning to give the area a bit more breathing room.

crawl space and granite foundation, the large board is dimensional lumber stored there by the previous regime

new sheathing and gravel

It is great to have this project crossed off the list.

After the record heat in July, we decided we really wanted more shade for our deck.  We scored a nice used patio umbrella at a tag sale which gave us some relief last summer, but it still didn’t offer enough shade late in the day, the optimal time to enjoy some home-brewed beer on the deck.  As we drove through Belfast, Maine on our way to Cobscook earlier this summer, we stopped at a place that makes shade sails, Sunscapes.

In addition to shade sails, Sunscapes makes all types of tensioned fabric structures, and they are gorgeous and well-made.  You can be sure when we win the lottery we’ll be calling them right quick for a custom-designed shade sail.  Until then, we needed a more budget-friendly option.  Poking around on the interwebs, I found some well-reviewed shade sails on Overstock.  The price was right so we ordered two, a medium square and a small triangle sail, and installed the sails on an overcast day last week.

The sails are made of a UV treated poly knit material.  This is good, as air can pass through the sails, making them cooler and also less prone to sailing off a la Mayflower, headed for the Newe Worlde.  Nonetheless, the sails still need to be securely attached to the framing of the house.  We used lag-screw eyes through the fascia into the framing for the anchor points.

As our deck is bound on three sides by house, shed and barn, we could use the structures for anchor points.  For the final anchor point, we used 14 feet of 1 1/4 inch black iron pipe, drilled through with a eye-bolt.  The pipe comes in ten foot sections; we had a 4 foot piece cut and drove that piece at an angle almost completely into the ground cut end first, protecting the threads from damage with a piece of heavy rubber we had in inventory (this is why we need a barn).  We then used a coupling to connect the two threaded ends.  Once firmly screwed together, the pipe made an excellent anchor point.

The sails came with the needed hardware and line, although we opted for sturdier lag screw eyes.  The most difficult part of the process was determining where to place the anchor points.  We were lucky that our camping rain fly is the same dimension as the large square shade sail, only a lot lighter, so we were able to try some scenarios with a lightweight screw hook.  Once the anchor points were ready, it was a simple process to hang the sails using the included hardware.  We hung the square sail first, then worked under its shade to determine placement of the small triangular shade.

Once completed, our motivation to scrub the gutters and finish scraping and painting that area was rewarded with the shade the sail provided.  The sails have been up since Tuesday and we are very pleased with them.  I suspect that in addition to making the deck cooler, it will keep my laundry room in the shed and the kitchen a bit cooler, too, a nice extra benefit.

before

after

Sunday, we finished the kitchen project.  It is so good to finish this project.  I gave the sink cabinet doors a thorough cleaning and we re-hung the doors and put away all the cleaning potions, etc. that live under the sink.  The last step was returning the food processor and other appliances to the kitchen counters.

I will give the other cupboards and drawers a good cleaning over the next few weekends to rid them of construction dust, but for all practical purposes, it is done.  Now, on to gardening season!  Let the seed starting begin!

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I had a slight snag today when finishing up the backsplash.  A little slip of the sharp utility knife and I had a deep cut on my thumb, naturally occurring after my doctors’ office (which has Sunday hours!) closed, argh.  So it was off to the

ER for a few stitches.  I did manage to get most of it installed.  There are probably three more panels to install on the stove wall, but they will have to wait until next weekend.

Before I cut my finger, I managed to finish painting under the sink, and the wall between the stove and the counter.

I especially like the adhesive covering for the outlet and switchplate covers.  It went on pretty easily and really blends into the backsplash.  I used a nice sharp Exacto knife to cut the holes for the outlets, screws and switch. Once that is done, we will install a slim piece of black molding at the bottom of the backsplash and seal it with silicone caulk.

I need to install some hooks and/or shelves under the sink cabinet and give the sink cabinet doors a good cleaning, but the end is in sight.  My thumb will slow me down a bit but by next Sunday I should be healed enough to make some soil blocks and start some seeds.  That’s good, because we’ve had a lot of snow-dissolving rain and mild temps and the snow is melting!

Yay spring!

The end is in sight.  Today we painted the interior of the sink cabinet, adjusted the cord length on the pendant lights, fiddled with the outlets to bring them flush with the new backsplash, and cut and fitted the counter wall  backsplash into place.

We still need to cut and fit the backsplash for the stove wall, but we are getting closer to the end.  The backsplash material, called Fasade panels, is amazing to work with, pretty easy to cut and handle, and I love the way it looks.

Tomorrow I will give the sink cabinet another coat and adhere the backsplash to the walls with special tape and or construction adhesive.  Then on to the stove wall, and a good cleaning and rearranging and we’ll be done.  Just in time for seed starting in earnest.

The sink is in, the faucet is in, the water is connected, and there are no leaks.  We’ve made the template for the backsplash, but ran out of time to before we could install it, so I guess we know what next weekend’s plans will include.  We are getting close.

So far, I love the sink.  It is big, but makes it so easy to fill a pot of water for pasta, then later wash said pot and leave it to dry.  It came with the heavy duty stainless steel grid which rests in the bottom of the sink, and a nicely designed, easy to install stainless drain basket with built-in stainless strainer to catch food scraps to feed the compost.

The faucet handle is a little different, but was also amazingly well-engineered.  It was very easy to install, and the pull-out sprayer has a very flexible hose (unlike the stiff plastic hose on my former faucet sprayer) which is weighted and fastens to the faucet neck with a strong magnet to hold it tight.

The sink material has a nice feel, smooth but it is hard — I don’t think it will be easily scratched.  It is black with barely noticeable flecks of an iridescent material.  It is very quiet compared to the stainless sink, and warms nicely and seems to stay warm from the water.  All that and for a very reasonable price  –I think it was a good choice.

With close supervision, Dan fastens the clips on the new sink.  We managed to get the sink in and water connected, but there is more to do….  I can say already that I love the sink and it is going to be fabulous for seed starting, as a whole flat of seeds will fit in the sink.

The countertops are in.  Tomorrow, the sink and faucet.