RetroBlogging

Hang on while I post all of my old entries to this blog. Not sure how long it will take. At this time, pictures are only available up through March, 2004, but hopefully that will get updated soon too.


Peace Out!

We Have Gutters!!!

We now have gutters! Very cool! They are the most basic, plain, simple gutters that one can get. But, they look good and it appears Pacific NW Gutter Serivce did a good job. They did exactly what I asked them down to each bit of detail. That’s got to be the only job that has gone so well with this house. It only took them about 2 hours to do the entire job. I only had them do the lower roof and the sunroom. I didn’t have them put gutters on the dormers. They also put a scoop in for the balcony drain. These plus 4 downspouts was a whopping $545: one of the cheapest additions to the house. All of the downspouts drain to the ground surface. I’m a little concerned that this will lead to more flooding of the basement, but I don’t have much in the way of alternatives. I’m hoping that improvements to the grading will help at least some. Also, I’m going to try and trench the back gutter so that it draws water away from the house. Someday I also want to put a rain barrel in, but probably not until after the house is inspected. :-) Rain barrels are now legal in Portland, but I’d just assume have the fewest things possible that may raise the inspector’s suspicions.

Pacific Northwest Gutter Service
3855 SE 136th Ave
Portland, OR
(503) 760-1761

Done with Sunroom Trim?

I worked a fair amount on the sunroom ceiling. I think I can now say that the trim molding is done. I think. Oops, no, I need to trim the skylight-well, THEN I’ll be done. Anyway, after that, I will still need to do the finish work: fill, sand, stain, and finish. I decided that I’ll wait and put all the stinking stains on when Jenn is visiting her Dad for Christmas. But, I could still do the fill and sand before then.

I know I worked a lot this weekend, because my legs are like jelly. I must have gone up and down that ladder a hundred times. Ugh. I think I’ll take tonight off.

After I finish the trim for the skylight, I need to start work on the stairs. I’m going to do the sunroom first. I’m going to get the stairs better prepared, then put in the raisers. I’m not going to put the treads in until the wood floors go in.

Redoing Sunroom Ply

I have worked on the sunroom ceiling for the past 2 nights. Finally, the vision is starting to become reality. I decided Tuesday night to redo the plywood and enclose the small pockets on either end of the room. This makes for a simpler, cleaner look, but also makes it a lot easier to assemble and make it look decent. I wish I had thought of it sooner. So, I got the new look plywood up last night and started the framing trim molding. I finished the eastern half of the ceiling trim and hope to finish the rest tonight. I like that word ‘finished’. I’m looking forward to using it more often.

I have to say the trim molding looks pretty good. Not perfect, but definitely better than my worst fears. The miter joints are a little loose, but considering the difficulty level, I’m not too unhappy about them. I am hoping a little wood fill and some sanding and they will end up looking pretty good.

Trimming Sunroom Ceiling

I painted the brush work in the office area last night. However, I didn’t work at all on the sunroom. I absolutely must work on that tonight. I still can’t decide how to deal with the wall trim below the rafters. There will be about a ½ inch gap on the top of the drywall between the trim molding and the rafter pockets. I’ve gone back and forth about the best way to solve this little problem. I considered cutouts in the horizontal trim pieces, but I’m afraid that won’t look clean. I’ve considered running a cap over the trim in the pockets, but that may look kind of busy. I’ll need to pick a solution tonight. I figure I need to get that trim installed around the perimeter of the room before I put the framing trim on the rafters themselves.

Finished Wrapping Sunroom Rafters

A nice weekend, though quiet and not as productive as I would have liked. I did manage to finish putting up the plywood on the sunroom ceiling and started work on the trim molding. I set about making the ¾ molding on Sunday. I cut some of the 1x into 1x1 strips, then cut out the grooves. I got as far as sanding about half of them when I decided to call it a night. I may start installing this sanded batch tonight before I finish sanding the rest.

Main Floor Archway

I did take some time to design the trim for the archway in the main hallway on the first floor. I did want to build the classic Craftsman half-height panel-and-frame room dividers with attached columns, but I have realized that there is not much room and I should not make the width of the opening any smaller. So, I thought I’d create faux columns that are just the ¼ inch ply over the existing wall. The columns will each have a base that is about 2 or 3 times wider than the columns and be about 3 feet tall (doorknob and wainscoting height). The columns will appear to hold up a large beam that spans the archway. The beam will have beveled ends pointing up and look somewhat similar to the beams over the front and back porches outside. It looks good on paper and hopefully it will look good in practice too. But, I won’t be able to build it until after the floor is done.

More Crosscuts...

Geez, December is here already. I’m beginning to have doubts about getting the flooring in before the end of the year. Oops. I’ve got to get the sunroom ceiling, the central beam, and the water shutoff valves in before I can even consider starting the flooring.

I’m going to Crosscuts today to get some more oak 1x. I need to get enough for the ¾ molding in the sunroom but should have plenty of leftovers.

By the way, today would have been my Dad’s 77th birthday.