What I did at my house today...

[phil]

LOL you know you are an old house owner when exercise seems like such a waste of your energy. Boy can I relate... I'm happy to dig a hole but lift weights just for excercise .. really c'mon. That's what people who live in compartments have to do.

I know, right? When I'm working on the house, I do squats, step aerobics, triceps, biceps, and every other kind of cep, not to mention being on my feet and moving all day long, so why do I feel like I still need to exercise?

Oh man, my arms were really getting ripped for a while from doing all the ceiling repairs! Such an isolated movement stripping wallpaper and plastering cracks!

Yes! I have really good muscle definition from doing the ceilings. Since I'm lucky enough to be ambidextrous, I can work with either hand, so both arms get workouts.

I'm still doing the putty on my living room floor. I'm so fussy that I must have spent hundreds of hours doing it. So many nails !!. spending that much time kneeling is challenging so I can do it for a while then I just have to walk away.. I joke with my girlfriend that at least I'm going to be really good at begging !
I'm finally at about 90% done , that's where my enthusiasm seems to start waning. earlier In the year was the ceiling and I skimcoated the heck out of it so I got a good workout there for sure! I better not get started on the stripping! lol.

[awomanwithahammer]

Hmmm...do you want me to tell you at this point about the tool that I use for painting baseboards and that would work great for puttying floors? Going to anyway. I use a mechanic's creeper, lie on my stomach, and roll around the room with my feet, paint can in one hand and paint brush in the other. No getting up and down off the floor to move to the next spot. No wear and tear on knees and back!

[phil]

That's an interesting solution. with the floor already drum sanded I'd be a bit afraid of the wheels leaving tracks that show later in finishing but I guess there are different types of wheels and they could be changed for this purpose.

[oaktree]

I got some doors...one for the closet under the stairs and new front door, which isn't exactly Greek Revival but it's mid 19th century and I love it.

[Gothichome]

Great, your all set. I see paint scraping in your near future.

[Gothichome]

Well, this weekend I got another storm restored, it just need paint now. Also started my winter wine and did some non glamorous work in the crawl space. All and all mot a bad weekend of puttering.

[Willa]

When I've had enough of standing on the ladder, scraping, I turn my attention to the closest ground floor windows.

A pic of the window with one storm off, one storm on:

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I knew the window sill would be really bad on the other side, too, so I pulled off that storm. The wood had turned to a nice mulch, like you would use for your garden. The worst of it had that squeezed sponge feeling, far too wet to be wood. I dug out as much as I could, then stapled plastic over it. I'm hoping this will help the inside, against the interior wall to start to dry out, and to prevent a soaking if it rains. I felt pretty grim as I kept poking and poking looking for where it was finally solid. This is how bad the rot is:

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There is a decorative groove around the edge of the window trim. Aluminum storm window genius had completely filled this groove with glazing putty, so I have been digging this out, frowning.

* Argh ! Why did the forum hardware rotate this pic, taken with a camera ? *

[Gothichome]

Gezzzz Willa, sorry to see that. You have got your work cut out for you. Are you going to be able to get both sills done in time for winter?

[Willa]

Gezzzz Willa, sorry to see that. You have got your work cut out for you. Are you going to be able to get both sills done in time for winter?

Well, that will depend on Carpenter Man. The timeline will depend on a) if he can find someone local to make them, and b) how long this might take at a larger operation like Hoffmeyer's as they are always busy. I have no choice but to pay the c) cost as I need window sills, period.

At least they will be easy to remove when the time comes ?

He gave me some good advice about stapling down plastic and using silicone caulking to seal the edges to prevent further water infiltration. Most amazingly the interior wall adjacent to this shows zero issues at least. I did make a lot of carpenter ants, who were happily living in this moist, woody condo mad and homeless, though.

[phil]

I would seriously question the the skills of your carpenter if he isn't able to make a new sill up I don't think you have a carpenter there. Yea there is some fitting and you need some suitable (thick) lumber but a carpenter should be able to handle this job. Does he not even own a tablesaw? it's just a matter of removing the old rotted wood and replicating it. Yea you might use a multi tool to cut the nails and remove the old part and the sill should have a 4 degree slope so the rain runs outside. Its a bit of fitting but I'd say if he cant' handle that himself he shouldn't be going around calling himself a carpenter. and no you shouldn't need a millwork shop for this. Is the carpenter going to take it back to the millwork shop to trim it here and there in order to make it fit?