What I did at my house today...

[lovesickest]

Corsetiere - it's the opposite of fun but you are doing a great job. At some point you will look back at your photos of your house progress and it will just seem unbelievable how far you have come.

(Plus that plastering builds some upper arm muscles. I hope your tailored blazers will still fit by the end of the last room.)

[Corsetière]

Thanks, Lovesickest. I periodically go back and look at the photos I took on my first walk through here, just remind myself what I started with! lol!

[Sinoed]

Well I have a newfound respect for anyone tackling window restoration! This has made me think of having new replacements built (but of course I won't). It's taken two solid days of steady, painstaking work scrubbing, stripping and sanding to remove the glass and clean up this window. I had to sacrifice three panes so hopefully I'll be better with the next window.

I'm still working on the interior corners which have lots of white paint stuck in the beautiful profile. Sixteen lights means a lot of trim and a lot of cleaning - ugh. After I finish this one, I have five more to do, three singles like these and then two that are part of a 16/1 sash window.

[Don M]

Looking good!

[Gothichome]

Sinoed, my learning curve was pretty steep when I did my first windows. Got better at it as I went along. By the time I get them all done I might actualy be good at it. As far as the glass, if it's wavy and will not come out easily it stays in place. If it's a modern glass replacement, I don't mind if it breaks.

[Corsetière]

Beautiful frame, Sinoed! Will be gorgeous when done! #fightthegoodfight

[heartwood]

impressed by everyone's fortitude--lots of good work!

16 lite sash, yes indeed, that's a LOT of tedious work...once scraped, we use 80 grit paper to remove the remaining paint to a smooth finish...one does not need to remove every speck of paint if you are going to paint...when you apply blopentine, often the paint will lift off...if it is still well attached, then it is meant to stay...this will work if you are painting or staining...

I think the project I was so happy to finally complete were 20 over 20 over 20 triple hungs...

great work!
...jade

[Gothichome]

Sinoed, my learning curve was pretty steep when I did my first windows. Got better at it as I went along. By the time I get them all done I might actualy be good at it. As far as the glass, if it's wavy and will not come out easily it stays in place. If it's a modern glass replacement, I don't mind if it breaks.

Gezzzzz, I think I jinxed myself, broke a large pain of wavy glass yesterday. All was going well, spent an hour or so delicately removing cement like putty, glass was loose, ready to push it out of the frame, clink. Dam, seems I missed a diamond point. Up side though, I can probably salvage three panes for my storms.

[Corsetière]

Sinoed, my learning curve was pretty steep when I did my first windows. Got better at it as I went along. By the time I get them all done I might actualy be good at it. As far as the glass, if it's wavy and will not come out easily it stays in place. If it's a modern glass replacement, I don't mind if it breaks.

Gezzzzz, I think I jinxed myself, broke a large pain of wavy glass yesterday. All was going well, spent an hour or so delicately removing cement like putty, glass was loose, ready to push it out of the frame, clink. Dam, seems I missed a diamond point. Up side though, I can probably salvage three panes for my storms.

The worst!
At least you have a plan B!

[JRC]

Let me start off by saying that none of what I'm about to share happened "today," and only some of it was done by me.

First, it's bittersweet for me to share that the long vacant house next door was demolished this last week. But, I was able to get some of the foundation stones to use for landscaping.

Side note: This is a long story, so feel free to skip to the pictures, below. Originally, I worked out a deal with the demo contractor to buy 40-50 of the large stones--or what he called a truck load--for $300, and he planned to haul the rest back to his yard. (he said he usually gets $1500 for a full stone basement)

But, just as they were starting to pile the stones--getting them ready to be loaded, another contractor stopped by, and bought all of the stone. So, the demo contractor told me this, said that the other guy offered him such a good price, he couldn't refuse and that he would bring me back the amount of stone we agreed on from his yard.

After telling me this, I went inside to make lunch. He must have seen that I wasn't happy, and had the machine operator set aside some of the stones, anyway. It wasn't as much as we agreed on, but was as much as I needed.

When the owner came back, (he was gone most of the day, bringing back truckloads of fill) I said that what they set aside was all I needed, and asked how much he'd charge me just for that. He was kind of vague, and said it wouldn't be very much. I said to think about it, and let me know how much he wanted. That was Thursday, and he still hasn't given me a number, even though he was here off-and-on, on Friday, and saw what I'd done with the stones, and even commented that they looked nice.

Now, I'm just waiting to see what he says. This is probably just wishful thinking, but maybe he decided to give me this stone, because he got a such a good price from the other contractor? And, if I bug him about giving me a price, he might just tell me.

OK, so back to the actual work.

Here is how I arranged the stones:
From the sidewalk:

From the porch, for a better view of the layout:


Eventually, I want to fill the area in front of the steps with stepping stones and gravel, and fill the area behind the outer arc of stones with perennials.

Here is a view of the vacant lot next door almost completed:

The absence of the house really changes the atmosphere inside my house. I get a lot more natural light, and my interior colors are changed from not having light reflect off of the pink/orange of the demolished house. The only down side, is that the side of the house that is now visible, (the white, aluminum sided house) is so ugly.