In 2018 we re-sided the house. As part of that, we added a ledger board to the back of the house – the future home for the deck that would be built in 2019. When we got around to building the deck, I had the idea of building one without a railing. Because the deck was going to be relatively small (essentially 12’x12′), I didn’t want it to feel claustrophobic with a railing. On top of that, because we have such a large expansive back yard, I wanted the deck to feel open – one of the main reasons I went with 10′ wide steps. It took us a while to get actual patio furniture, something we did this year (2022), but even without the furniture, we’ve gotten a lot of use from the deck. The biggest problem however has been the sun.
Continue reading “A roof over our head…sorta”It is the year 2022 – A check-in
Wow, it’s been a while since my last blog entry. A lot has happened since the last one…let’s try to cover some of that.
Overhauling the house flooring
When I purchased this house back in 2016, I knew the flooring was eventually going to have to go. Initial pictures of the house when i found the listing showed that it had a somewhat dark brown stained hardwood flooring. When I toured the house, the current homeowner was trying to update it a bit, and decided to sand the flooring and overhaul it themselves with black stain. Upon taking ownership of the house, I literally had a weekend to seal it – the previous homeowner didn’t even get to that. In the end, its was a black hardwood floor….which would have looked OK if it had been done right, it wasn’t. So because of that, I knew I would eventually change out the flooring, and over the spring and summer of last year, I did just that. Ripped out the old and put down the new. I have a lot of photos of the process, but I’ll include just a few here.
Continue reading “It is the year 2022 – A check-in”Checking in from the Pandemic
Hello! Greetings! It’s been about four months since my last blog entry, and a lot has happened in that time period. At that time, the onset of the pandemic was occurring, and we had just celebrated Riley’s first birthday. So let’s play catch-up…
Continue reading “Checking in from the Pandemic”Finishing touches…
This weekend saw some more work on the house, and more specifically, the final touches on some aspects.
Almost like new…
Prior to settling on the idea of buying a house, I looked at building a house. The problem was that I didn’t have the necessary amount of money needed as a down payment (40% of the cost) to obtain a building loan. At that time though, whatever the house ended up being, I had the idea of wanting the house to be green with white trim. When I finally settled on the idea of buying a house, especially one with painted siding, I knew at some point I was going to be replacing it…and I still wanted to go with the original idea I had for colors.
Summer Project
Summer is upon us (well, ok, really we still have a few more days) and the housing projects are getting underway (to be fair, they haven’t really stopped)! Last summer the house got a new roof, and this summer it’s getting new siding.
I left work early on Friday to meet the delivery guy. Good thing I got home sooner than the time-frame I gave them for delivery, because they were actually there about 10 minutes early. With the stabilizers in place, it was time to unload my order.
Memorial Day Weekend 2018
The holiday weekend had arrived, and to celebrate, Meghan and I hit up the theater to see ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’. If ever there was a movie that didn’t need to be made, this was it. It was certainly worth a viewing, it wasn’t that bad, but it didn’t add anything to the Star Wars mythos that was interesting. Our faces pretty much say it all…
More home improvement…
The home improvement projects continue…
When I purchased this house back at the end of Winter in March 2016, I knew I was going to have to (well, really I wanted to) make some improvements to this house. It’s a fantastic starter home, and since I ended up being single as I transitioned from renter to home owner, I’m glad I went with a house I could afford while still having money left to make the improvements that I wanted.
Early into owning the home, the first thing that got upgraded was the furnace. It was original to the house, and the house was built in 1967…not at all efficient. While the new furnace was great, the insulation in the attic was poor…even the home inspector told me that. At some point I knew it was going to have to be updated too (only after I had ran all of the new wiring and light boxes I wanted), and well, no time like the present! On Saturday, Meghan and I went to rent a U-Haul. Neither of us have a vehicle big enough to haul 50 bags of insulation and the blower required for the install, so it was a safe way to go. Here are all 50 bags (on 4 carts) ready to load up).
