Are You Handy? 2

[SPOCKED]

I finally got this enormous stump out of the ground!! See..

We're going to be staking out this area for a stone driveway, so very soon some landscape ties are going in to level off the area. This ash stump was entirely in the way. It turned out easier to remove than I thought it would. The main tree had wrapped around a second stump so I couldn't dislodge it until I realized what was going on. Then it was just a matter of leverage and shoveling and pulling and more shoveling.

We're deciding on paint color for the unshingled sides of the house so we slapped on some primer and applied 3 candidates...

They are in order from left to right: Cranberry Whip, Pottery Red, and Athenian Green. We ultimately decided on the green, but we loved the Cranberry so much that we decided to use it for our doors (which we think will contrast really nicely).

We went to the Depot today to buy the exterior colors so we can get started. We also bought a new storm door (which we spent the rest of the afternoon installing), new door locks and handles to replace the disgusting brass, and new outdoor lamps to replace the ugly ones you see above. Installing the storm door ate up the rest of the day so everything else has to wait. As usual, there just isn't ever enough weekend to get stuff done

 

[RJDiogenes]

I like the Pottery Red, but Athenian Green is nice, too. Also, it's kind of melodious.

 

[Gertch]

Wow, that's big. Glad you're no longer stumped.

 

[SPOCKED]

Wow, that's big. Glad you're no longer stumped.

Hey, the see-through 'lattice' is a nice little adjustment. Very clever!

I like the Pottery Red, but Athenian Green is nice, too. Also, it's kind of melodious.

It tends to blend in nicely with all the woods around us

Here is the outdoor lighting we'll be replacing the old lamps with..

it's going to look so much nicer

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ I like that design. And you're right, the green will go good with the woods.

 

[AstroSmurf]

Very nice SPOCKED. I love that green and the red looks fantastic with it. But those outdoor lights are just awesome. They have a nice classic old world look about them that is very nifty. Where did you find them at?

 

[Gertch]

I like the looks of the light SPOCKED. Similar to what was in our house when we bought it. The ceiling fixtures where in a similar style.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

Good work SPOCKED, you guys have really put a lot into the place.

Gertch, can you put another frame on top to hold the heaters in place? It would give you constant pressure along the whole perimeter of the heaters while only covering up a total of 4" for the length of it, if the bottom frame is 2x4.

Been busy at the old homestead lately. A couple of weeks ago I removed 12 trash trees from the back of the yard - some silver maple, hackberry and a couple others.

This weekend, the neighbor and I stained the fence we share. Nearly 2000 square feet of cedar board on board fence so there was a lot of brush work involved.

The yard looks a lot better, and gets more sun so some sod is going down this week - probably one pallet.

 

[SPOCKED]

Very nice SPOCKED. I love that green and the red looks fantastic with it. But those outdoor lights are just awesome. They have a nice classic old world look about them that is very nifty. Where did you find them at?

We actually found them at Home Depot - both in agreement we'd found the perfect style

 

[RevDMV]

Really nice work SPOCKED, I like the choice for the lights as well.

Here's a before and after of our yard redo, I need to take some shots the line up well to really show the difference. (Although a large chunk of this was contracted out, I still did some handy work here and there)

 

[SPOCKED]

^ Contractor? What's a contractor??? Your work paid off Rev - it's a beautiful, clean and open space. What I wouldn't give for a level yard like yours. Love that arbor way in the background, too

 

[RevDMV]

Contractor = Person who takes checks and disappears...

Thanks, after two plus years of no yard it's nice to have space to hang out in. Next up in the arbor is seating and a fire pit.( I'll do this myself )

 

[Kirk's_Tights]

Depends on what you mean by handy.


Either way, on all accounts, yes, I am handy and also like to use my hands in many fascinating ways.

 

[SPOCKED]

Either way, on all accounts, yes, I am handy and also like to use my hands in many fascinating ways.

If, by that, you mean swinging a hammer, then I could use your help this weekend

 

[RevDMV]

Ah, the old punch line to the question, "I'll do anything you want."

Paint my house.

 

[Tim]

Either way, on all accounts, yes, I am handy and also like to use my hands in many fascinating ways.

If, by that, you mean swinging a hammer, then I could use your help this weekend

And if it doesn't?

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

I don't know how handy/skillful it was, but it was a crap-ton of work:

63 square yards of sod later we went from this:

to this:

 

[An Officer]

Great yard. Very nice work. I can see your shadow in the first shot.

 

[SPOCKED]

Nice work, bro.

I'm just taking a little break right now. It's a gorgeous day but I think we're looking at rain tomorrow so my window of painting oppertunity is quickly closing. Here's the job so far; I'm even happier with the green now than I was last week. The old battleship gray HAS to go!!!

I've cleaned and scraped the next section but I need to get some wood putty in a few places so in the meantime I took off the kitchen door (behind the brown storm door above) and prepped it for painting. I have the first coat of "Cranberry Whip" on, and I'm just waiting to apply a second...

Hopefully it will be dry enough to rehang tonight. The best fun was removing the crappy old brass (colored) hardware. The new lock and handle is going to look so nice.

Hey, I got the first lamp in this afternoon too

 

[trampledamage]

The red looks gorgeous on the door SPOCKED - it's going to look great next to the green.