70. Little White Picket Fence

For many months now, I've been regularly checking Craigslist in search of a sectional couch for a den at my other home.  Of course I never buy anything new... so even though it takes time to find just the right piece of furniture for a particular spot, with patience I know I will, eventually.  For at least 3 weeks I've seen a listing for a huge couch and I passed it over because of the size - it was 13' along one side which was way too big for this room.  But the price kept coming down and one day a little light bulb went off in my head and I realized I could split the 4-piece sectional into two.

Above you can see two of the pieces installed in the den, and to the left are the other two pieces at Grandview.  The master bedroom is L-shaped, and we rearranged things so there is a nice sitting area now.  Dave was gracious enough to contribute his TV and buy an antenna so we can get local channels - pretty important when you want to watch a little news or a NASCAR race over the weekend!  And now we have a really comfy place to do just that.  By the way we paid $300 for the whole couch, which is in great shape:  we love it in both locations!

We did a little more woodwork finishing the top cap by the porch entry, which you can see to the right there.  I am so happy with how neat, square and level everything looks - I really can't wait until it's all painted, it's going to be beautiful.

You may remember a letter from the City that I mentioned - citing me for peeling paint.  At the time I was a little worried, since I really wasn't ready to start painting the house yet and I didn't want a bunch of fines.  I have since had  a few conversations with neighbors though, that eased my mind a bit.  First, Mark, our neighbor directly to the rear of the vacant lot said that he knew of some others that had gotten citations as well, and he was surprised that they were pestering me.  The next week, a guy from a house a couple of doors down said that the City had issued 120 citations last month as part of a push to improve the neighborhood, which I took to be good news.  Then we saw our immediate neighbor Dave the architect, out pressure washing his building - apparently he had gotten a citation as well ( I had been hoping he would do this because his place really needed it!).  The best part was when he told me he actually spoke to the City Code Enforcement guy who said he felt bad about giving me a citation, after all the work I had done!

This week when we arrived we noticed that there were several people on the block that had just painted their front walls and fences, probably in response to their own 'love letters' from the City.  Coincidentally, working on our front fence and wall was next on the list so our timing was perfect.  Last week we dug out around each post and added concrete, so no more wiggly out-of-level posts.  Here you can see that done - as well as the peeling paint that was so offensive to the neighborhood.  Also notice the broken concrete at the end of the wall.

Here is the "before" picture of the wall in front of the vacant lot, with the faux pier look, and 25-year old hand painted ocean mural below.  Now I'm a fan of custom artwork as much as anyone, but this just had to go.  A few weeks ago I actually met the very nice couple that had owned the Misty Shores Apartments since the 70's until 2004 and they were the ones that painted the mural!  I confessed that it would probably be painted over, and they seemed to understand so my conscience is clear.  I did promise to keep the dock theme though - I kinda like it.

Now for the fun part.  Dave brought his pressure washer, and spent Saturday morning going over the entire concrete wall and both sides of the fence.  An enormous amount of old paint blew right off - you can see some of the almost-bare wood in the photo.  Then we hit Lowe's and found a cute little paint sprayer set-up for $199, marked down from $239... add a $25 coupon and we got the whole thing for $175.  Since Dave had done all the  pressure washing, I was going to do the spray painting, but I had a feeling once Dave got his hands on the new toy, I would be relegated to assistant, and I was right!  Hey, I don't mind - he was the one that ended up looking like Casper the Friendly Ghost when it was all over.  Sorry folks, I made a promise not to post a picture of that.

So here you can see the fence with a nice coat of primer inside and out.  Notice the nice little capper at the end of the concrete wall?  I believe my readers here will be the only ones who will know that it's made from three square concrete stepping stones sandwiched together with mortar.

Next week we will put a coat of regular paint over the primer - it's called "powdered snow", a soft off-white.  We got a thumbs-up from several neighbors that passed by while we were working.  I think the City will be pleased as well.

69. Lots of Woodwork

It seems like every week lately something gets knocked off the to-do list that has been on there for a lo-o-o-ng time.  We just sort of sit back and say "what do you want to work on now?"  Nothing is urgent, nothing has precedence, but certain factors do help us decide.  One that I love is the next question: "what project do we already have materials for?"  There is stuff laying around that house that I had every intention of using months ago, but got side tracked by one emergency or another - stacks of lumber, miscellaneous hardware, etc.  By using it now we are cleaning up the place, as well as saving money by not buying much in the way of new materials. The fact that Dave works at a trim and door company doesn't hurt either... he has picked up a lot of stuff free or at cost and has saved us hundreds of dollars.

Here's a big one:  the box beam over the bar wall in the kitchen.  The dining room and living room have these great box beams I've mentioned before - I'm planning to paint them all white with that beautiful sky blue in between.  Well the kitchen got torn apart, and when it was put back together, there were two gaping holes remaining, that would eventually be covered by this beam.  Besides being icky to look at, it's not very energy-efficient to air condition a space with such a big opening into the roof crawl space. 

Now, if you had asked about that beam earlier, I would have told you, "don't worry, I'll figure it out when I get to it".  I didn't really know I was going to have a professional trim carpenter on staff one day - but that's the way it worked out!  I'm glad I didn't try to do it myself - I'm ok at rough framing, and great at painting and a few other things - but trim work takes so much patience, I usually zoom along and afterward have to comfort myself and say  "well, at least it's done".  Here Dave is putting up supports for the beam, like he's done it a thousand times before (I think maybe he has).  We put some construction adhesive on each piece and he is toe-nailing them in place with a finish nailer.

This kind of thing is becoming a tradition - we've been scribing little notes all over the place, and Dave surprised me with this one - it is already all covered up but I know it's there underneath that beautiful beam.  At least I know he loves me 141 7/8 worth!

Here is the completed beam, which so beautifully matches the ones already existing in the dining room.  That stupid wire that has been dangling there since who-knows-when I finished the kitchen wiring, is for the light that will hang over the bar.

Here is the view looking back into the kitchen, and you can see some more work that we did - the trim around the kitchen ceiling, and that window is finally finished out!

I'm always learning something watching Dave work - here he is building a box that will slide in the pass-through rough opening.  By doing it this way he can assure that it is square.  I would have started nailing up boards in place, shimming stuff like crazy to get it level etc. - this thing slipped right in and done!

I love this little pass through.  I remember when the idea hit me - one day before I had AC and the breeze was blowing through the house.  The other side is the staircase landing, and I can set things on the ledge or throw laundry through to go upstairs on the next trip.  It is also handy for passing kitty food to each other when it's time to give Miss Dee Dee some num-nums upstairs (what, you put away the barf bag?  Not a good idea). 

Who is Dee Dee you might ask?  Well here she is - she has been Dave's kitty for 16 years and now she loves me too.  When we go to Daytona the dogs are in the back seat and Dee Dee rides in her crate on my lap, and when we get there she has her own room upstairs.  I know what else you might ask - well let me tell you she has no problems with Rufus and Roscoe.  Rufus already knows that kitties are sometimes prickly so he pretty much ignores her.  Roscoe has taken a submissive position - he is very curious, but she just stares him down and as big as he is he has to look away.  She has experience with dogs and they don't worry her one bit.

This is a gift... the kind I really love!  The house originally had solid wood 5-panel doors, like this one.  But two of them had been replaced with "builder's special" hollow 6-panel doors that didn't match at all.  I would have never bothered to replace them but it did bother Dave, and he managed to score a couple of beauties from work for us, and here is one of them installed on the downstairs bathroom.  I am so happy with it and love the way it looks.  It is so nice to have someone at my side that adds so much to the project without asking for anything in return.  PS that knob will eventually be replaced as well, after we paint.

Lastly, a little teaser about colors.  We are itching to paint, inside and out, and are working away to get to the point where painting is NEXT on the list.  That being said, I haven't even decided on colors yet.  I'm narrowing it down - there are a few hints here... I will be sure to let you know when I have made a final decision.

68. Good Fences

OK, if you are all done with your tissues/barf bags, it's time to get back to work!  And now you won't have to keep asking yourself how I get Dave to volunteer on so many projects.  He is what you might call "The Most Helpful Man in the World"  (world...world...world...)" and I can't seem to shake him so I might as well put him to work, huh?

Here he is posing by his latest creation.  While we were selecting some fence posts at Home Depot we noticed a boxed set of gate hardware that looked like it would make the job much easier and more rugged.  It was about $50 but turned out to be a good investment.  It came with hinges and heavy-duty metal brackets that you slip a couple of 2x4s into and then put the fence slats on top.  There is also a cable strung diagonally (you can just barely make it out in the picture) that can be tightened up to keep the thing from sagging over time.  This is a 6' gate and it's pretty heavy, so it needs that extra strength.  Worked like a charm - I would definitely recommend it.

Here is the full view of the fence - the small leg at the bottom of the pic with the little gate was already there and we tied in to the end of that.  It took a lot of discussion and tossing around of ideas about how to connect things and where to put the step downs since one end of the fence is about 2' lower than the other, but I love the way it turned out.  You can see the little hacked-off mulberry peeking out of the corner, it may not look so great there but after a month it already has so much growth I know it's a happy tree!

And of course you know who else is enjoying the new fence... if you can make them out way in the distance you can see the doggies romping in their new yard!  You can also see the dark brown fence that remains between us and the blue house.  One day we're going to work that thing over too - it needs a post or two and some slats will have to be replaced as well.

I had applied for the permit for the fence and gate a couple of months ago, before the demo was even completed.  For some reason people always think that permitting is such a pain in the butt, but I haven't had any problems.  The drawing I gave them with my original plan had a 3' retaining wall and a 4' fence, with a 14' gate in it.  The permitting department made one change:  they told me I was only allowed a 4' walk-through gate since they don't like people using the vacant lots for parking.   When it was finally time to build the thing, we decided on no retaining wall, a 6' tall fence and a 6' wide gate, so naturally I expected the inspector to have something to say about it, and I wondered if I would have to submit a permit change and pay another $31 to boot.  The day the inspector came all he did was comment on what a nice fence it was and how good it looked!  I really think all that "jumping-through-hoops" they make you do is to intimidate the people who don't want to do a good job.  You build something solid, safe, and that looks great, and the City is happy.  I've had a great experience with them and I would say they were lenient, if anything, once they see you are really trying to improve things in the neighborhood.

That being said, let me mention that the City of Daytona Beach is doing everything it can to improve the "Surfside Village Historic District" where Grandview is located.  And how are they doing this?  By showering the residents with what I call love letters... detailing all the things that are wrong with each house.  It's part of a campaign called "Daytona Beach Proud" where City employees are sent around on a regular basis to pinpoint any code violations.  It's a big job, and I am not really complaining, but it is a little scary when I realize that my peely paint might get me a fine.  It scared me more at first, but after numerous calls to the city with no return calls, and talking to someone who said the City gave out 120 "love letters" last month... I don't think it's really something I have to worry about.  I've already decided that if push comes to shove I'll just tell them I will paint when they clean up the slummy/drunk loser hangout right outside my back door.  Trust me, they do NOT want to get me in a public hearing because I would invite Channel 2 news cameras to join me for what would really be a great show.

Now for some more fun stuff.  Dave and I hit a few garage sales one Saturday - our first time doing so in Daytona.  We made quite a haul including some great tools and this brand new floor register I found for .50 that replaces the rusty one shown here.  It was even labeled "Marvel" which is what I did when I found it!

I put my electrician skills to work in the basement installing outlets in the ceiling so we could have some lighting down there.  It is no longer a dingy cave!  While I was working on that, Dave built me those shelves you see there, so we could clean out the "tom boy pantry" in the kitchen, in anticipation of trim and paint up there.  Then we worked together and mixed up some mortar to fill in a few places in the floor and wall.

Part of getting the place all nicely organized and clean was to install supports in the rafters for all our scrap lumber and miscellaneous - getting everything up off the floor was a big relief.  Especially since I am a klutz and would regularly trip over or bang my head on one item or another.

Oh and I almost forgot:  On the day I was there by myself to meet the City inspector, my washing machine stopped working!  I was so bummed out (I'm putting it mildly) I took off the front panel and became so frustrated I began searching Craigslist for a replacement (which would cost as much as someone to fix the dang thing).  Then I remembered Episode 52:  Ice, Pantry and a Kitchen Window in which I vowed to NEVER AGAIN give up and call an appliance repair man.  *sigh*

Fortunately before I dissected the entire machine I did a little Googling and  that's when it hit me:  the switch that is engaged when the lid closes must be broken!  Two little screws later I had this in my hand, and I didn't even have to bend over!  I guess I had dropped the lid so hard last time I knocked the thing loose, and since I couldn't find a tiny zip tie just then, I fixed it with that piece of string you see there.

Put it back together and it worked like a charm... I think my washing machine was just as happy as I was, don't you?