Bogieblog

The Rest of the Exterior Paint

As promised, here are the results from painting the other two sides of the house.

Yes, the color does change from blue to green to gray depending on the lighting - both strength and angle.

These two sides of the house were challenging because the kitchen windows are original and everything was painted brown. She did a fabulous job of painting around the panes.

I am looking at 3 different colors for the front door:

Benjamin Moore AF-505 (Blue Echo)

Benjamin Moore 2136-40 (Aegean Teal)

Magnolia Home MAG011 (Sir Drake)

Yes, this post was started yesterday, but after 3 different errors when trying to upload the pictures, I gave up.

Dramatic Change

First, let me say that for the first time in a long time, I had absolutely NO ISSUES getting Typepad to grab, uploade or publish any of the pictures. That has happened so rarely in the last couple of years that I think it is noteworthy!

The house has had a couple of color combinations since I bought it. Originally it was yellow with brown on top

Last year I covered the yellow with Ben Moore Blue Heather (1620)

One issue I have is the brown. When the sun is on the west side of the house, that side heats up massively. On top of that, the color scheme just stuck out way too much for my liking. People should be looking at the gardens as they pass by, not the house. Another issue is the foundation paint has a bluish tint that didn't quite mesh with the Heather Blue paint. And then there is the edge of white from when I primed the new wood for the new garage door.

However, coming up with a color combo that would go with the windows and garage door (which had been purchased with the original paint scheme in mind) was daunting. And, I believed that I needed two colors for the different orientations of siding. In fact, everyone I had talked too, including the guy I had repaint the house a few years ago, couldn't think of a better color combo.

Then late last fall, I was talking to a gal who walks her dogs along my road, and lives on the next street over (I can see her house from mine). Turns out she paints for a living. She prefers to do interiors, but does exteriors sometimes too. It took us some time, and a lot of back and forth, but we hit on a combination we thought would work. Part of that premise was she didn't believe that I needed different colors between the two different sidings. She started painting last week. She does all her painting by hand, so the going is slow, but I'm liking it.

Ben Moore Tranquility AF-490 (blueish-greenish-grayish and changes color according to the light) for the siding and Jute AF-80 (beige-ish) foundation give the house a whole new look with a dramatic difference. Bonus is that the foundation color is close enough to the eave color that the eaves don't have to be touched. Just the front and north sides are done. I was unsure about my color choices until the brown garage trim got covered - now I love it.

I will have to figure out front door color in the future and perhaps the garage frame (or just the inside portion of the frame) although I may not touch that. I kind of like how it blends with the foundation but has just that tiny strip of rubber showing.

It's supposed to rain Monday and Tuesday so painting the south and east sides may take some more time. She did get the foundation to the south side done Friday, so at least she doesn't have to worry about water splashing up from the ground. It's possible, depending on how hard it rains, that she could do the brown portion as well as under the overhang from the bach porch and stairs, but it is her choice. The east side will not have the foundation painted, as it was never painted with the porch and ramp in the way. We both think that the gray of the block will be fine.

I'll post pics when those two sides are complete.

To Completely Finish the Bath

A little over a month ago, I wrote about the bathroom finally being finished with the linoleum and base trim being completed.

Well, although technically true, there was something bugging me that I finally decided to rectify. The facet/handle assembly to the sink had been there long enough it was corroding and delaminating. I thought it probably started from being splashed with saline and contact solutions, then once it started degrading I wasn't shy about using bathroom chemicals (bleach or peroxide type) on it even though the directions said not to. After removing the water lines and seeing the corrosion there too, I may rethink my drinking the tap water - LOL.

When I bought the bathroom faucets and other hardware for the bathroom, Mediterranean Bronze was a popular color and I really liked it. However, these days there are new fads so I didn't really look into whether the color was still available. Plus, to my recollection, the style with a faucet that rotated was not plentiful. A couple of weeks ago I was in HD and decided to look at their display. Lo and behold, the exact same faucet was there and they had one in the bay. Being the cheap frugal person I am, I got on my phone and googled the model number and found I could get a NIB from ebay for about $30 less (including shipping) - SCORE!

Yesterday was the day to get the project done. I didn't think to take a picture of the old faucet before removing it, so here are pics after it was taken out

New faucet installed

When I opened the box, I hadn't paid much attention besides making sure the style and color of the faucet were what I expected. When I went to do the upgrade, I realized the box also had a new drain stop in it, which was a bonus as I believe originally they came separate. Then I realized there was one major difference between the old and new faucets. Did you catch it? I'll wait while you think about it for a minute.

Differences in Linoleum

NO, this isn't a lecture about composition or methods of making linoleum - LOL. On a forum I frequent I had shown picture of the finished bathroom floor. A gal, who has an incredible memory, had thought it was the same linoleum I used in the basement.

My response to her:

The bathroom linoleum is not the same as I placed in the basement. That was a roll of Lifeproof in Travertine Plank cut off the huge rolls at HD. I still have a partial roll downstairs. That linoleum has too long and narrow of a pattern to go well in the bathroom to my eye. The "planks" are 24" X 5", with a "flowey" pattern and not much definition between the "planks". It made that bathroom look even narrower. Although, I probably would have defaulted to it if I hadn't found the roll that I found.

The sheet product I placed in the bathroom I bought in a pre-packaged 8x10 roll. The cushioning is different and the "tiles" are about 18" X 9", with much better definition and more of a "rock" pattern of random flows.

There may not be much of a difference, but the difference is very striking in how it makes a small room look and feel.

Here is a comparison of the two:

 

Finally Completed Bathroom Remodel

I remodeled my bathroom a couple of years after moving here. September of 2016, it was all complete, except for the flooring and window trim (which was completed that December). I deemed flooring as a non-DIY project since the toilet would have to be removed - and most likely it would take 2 days (and if I DYI'd, it would certainly take longer). I only have one bathroom, so the lack of a toilet would be, um, inconvenient.

As a result of my having issues with trying to find a handyman who I trusted to finish a job, and my procrastination, and my general cheapness, my bathroom has looked like this since 2016

At least I had a piece of scrap linoleum to protect the floor from getting wet between the tub and sink. Also, I scored a packaged piece of linoleum that was just the right size and color from Lowe's or Home Depot several years ago (basically a remnant from the manufacturer - not a remnant from the BBS). Don't ask the color or brand, I threw away the packaging without taking a picture of the label. I can tell you it was a fairly luxury-type linoleum with padding so I felt I had scored big when I got it.

I finally found a local handy man and got all set up to have the work done this past Thursday and Friday. Part of my preparation was also having this delivered on Thursday morning

It was fortuitous that I had pellets delivered earlier this spring and placed such that the porta potty could be dropped between the pellets and the big tree on the north side of the yard. This means the neighbors across the street don''t have to look at it thru their living room window - especially since it will be there until at least next Thursday (next time they are in the area).

Part way thru the installation

Amazing how much of a difference the trim makes

The handy man was smarter than I would have been - he had the foresight to install the trim before re-installing the toilet

Only 8 years to finish the project - LOL.

Almost Done

It's been a while, but the replacement for my porch, and changing the ramp to stairs is almost done. Course it is supposed to rain for several days and they have another job so it may be a bit. That's okay.

Now just have to wait a year before I can stain the wood a darkish blue to finish the look.

They just need a couple of hours to finish the railing caps. Will save a piece in case I want to install below that first step - haven't decided yet whether I want that or not. Have to do some path work before I really make up my mind.

And the Winner is . . . Part Two

Yesterday the rain moved out faster than the weather people anticipated, so I got out there and finished up the planned exterior painting.

See that ladder there on the west side? Why yes, I was stretching to reach the top area to be painted from the the top rung (not the top of the ladder). Considering my trepidation with heights, and the fact that I had to put the ladder on blocks of wood (not pictured), I impressed myself.

Proof that I got it all painted. It took about 5 hours for me to get one coat of paint on those two sides. Fortunately my plan was only for 1 coat as I can always do another next year if needed. I was moving pretty slowly because I threw my left hip out last weekend (which also takes my knee with it) and it is a challenge to walk, much less climb ladders or kneel down.

I will be hiring someone to do the underside of the eaves next spring. I also need to take care of the white around the garage door from when I primed the new frame (back in 2020 - LOL).

Now that I am done with the painting for the season, it is time to find a chiropractor to force my hip back into place.

And the Winning Color is -

Saturday I brought home a billion color samples and Benjamin Moore Blue Heather (1620) was my choice. Saturday was not a good day for painting as it was cold with intermittent rain. Yesterday, although heavily overcast, was a bit warmer and no rain. I was able to get two coats on the backside of the house and one coat on the south side of the house. It makes quite the difference and I didn't make a total mess of things.

The guys will be surprised when they go back there today since the two sides they see driving up are the north and front side.

 

Back Porch and Stairs Are Useable

Friday a lot of progress was made on the renovation of the back porch (Previous post, "Slow Progress"). They still have some finish work to do on the porch and stairs, but I am able to use them - and I love it!

The non-pressure treated material is Trex decking in the color "Foggy Warf".  If I were going by the website pictures, I never would have picked that one; I would have opted for something close to the color of PT lumber. But, I trusted Zak (the owner of the company doing the work). When I had indicated I didn't want a darker brown, he suggested Foggy Warf as a way to help tie in the color of the (blue) shed to the house. After seeing pictures from one of his actual projects, I agreed.

The porch sections still need railings as part of the contracted portion. However, knowing that I have excess material, I have asked them to cover the pressure treated boards of the base framing also.

And of course the stairs still need railings as part of the contracted portion. And for an add on, I have asked that they also cover the PT transitions from steps to porch sections.

There is one piece still needed under the door sill as part of the contracted work. The white against the house is the flashing material.

See that dark piece in the picture above? Well, the home improvement center apparently messed up the order and added two pieces of Trex "Clam Shell," which is described as, "an easy-to-match shade of medium grey". In my opinion,it isn't a medium shade, but on the dark side. The home improvement store was informed of the mess up of materials upon delivery (they were extra pieces), but they were uninterested in taking them back at that time, nor have they been interested in picking it up since then (probably cost them more than just writing them off).

Anyway, I had not planned on those dark pieces being part of the build, but realized early Friday morning, that those would be perfect to break up the porch sections and stairs as visual notice there is a level change.

There is also other visual touch up work that I have added. It drives me crazy that there is a waffle pattern at the side of each step, and Trex offers no end caps whatsoever. Zak has figured out a way to deal with that. (the below is a snip of the first picture that is heavily cropped/blown up, so is a bit blurry)

I have been thinking over the last couple of years that I would like to change the yellow portion of the house, and now the new porch gives me both the incentive and the visualization of that new color.

Rooms Without a View

I'm having some work done on the back side of the house. The ramp and back porch started tilting towards the house in the last couple of years directing rain water and snow melt right to the house. So replacing with a larger back porch (not much bigger), and changing to shallow steps. But first things first. While they have the porch/ramp off, they blocked in the basement and garage windows that are useless (and of which at least 2 of the 4 panes in each were broken/missing when I bought the house) and of which the sills and framing were rotting away.

The ramp/porch removed. Last year I had crawled my way under the ramp and installed concrete backer board over the windows and rotting sills to keep them from getting even wetter (or letting critters in).

Both windows removed and blocked in

Close up of Garage then basement windows blocked in

Basement window from inside. There were some challenges they had to overcome including the safe, that is 600# empty, so wasn't going to be moved out of the way.

Someone on a forum asked why I didn't just replace the windows, or put in glas blocks. Well, here is why not:

Those are where's Waldo pictures - find the windows - LOL. The basement window is under, and partially blocked by the ramp so doesn't really supply any light, nor does it supply an egress (not that the window opened anyway). The garage window is blocked by both the ramp and railings.

In 2017 or 2018 I had covered up inside the basement window with rigid foam insulation and sheetrock,

I had already torn that section out last year when I thought I had someone to do the block work (without removing the ramp). But they bailed on me after doing the outside painting.

Hopefully the new porch and stairs will be installed next week. We'll see how well the weather cooperates as we are entering an unsettled pattern.