Projects Four

Not all of our projects are outdoors, some (actually most) are inside. Below are just a few examples of what keeps us from watching day-time TV and taking naps in the afternoon. People really do that??

After nearly five years one of our windows lost its seal. We put off getting it replaced fearing that the cure was worse than the illness. Needless to say, it was a piece of cake to replace it (easy for me to say). Called them up, they ordered the glass, and sent two nice guys out to replace it. No problem and good as new.

Gator Dust is a polymeric sand mixture. In its fine version, it is used as a grouting material for paving blocks. It has a natural look of sand, but has the durability of concrete - actually better than concrete because it does not crack. In its course form, it is used for grouting the wide spaces (4-5 inches) between flagstone. Exactly what I needed to fill the void between my driveway and my blocked paving ditch. But, there is a problem....it's expensive at $33 a bag!

To cut down the amount I needed (driveway is over 400 feet long) I filled most of the void with a mortar and sand mixture leaving a inch for the Gator Dust.

As you can see, it has a natural look of sand but will not wash away every time we have a thunderstorm.
Another problem solved....and another created. An empty wallet!

Our wise and generous children gave us a gift certificate to have a street sign made over two years ago. They were very wise to insist on a certificate with no expiration date. After much debate and procrastination, we finally have our new street sign. My only concern is.....Is it tall enough to remain visible during the winter?

Now everyone has "junque" around the house. This is how we decided to store ours. Some of you may remember using these things, the youngsters among us may have to ask "What the heck is that?" Ask and you shall receive.

We installed a storm door on the front door. In the summer, the screen provides for great ventilation. In the winter, the glass lets the sun shine in and allows us a great way to watch the snow.

We have two doors to the deck. They are both full view glass doors but without a screen. We, that's Patsy and me, installed two roll-up screen doors. I was a little apprehensive about how they would work but, they work just fine. They let the breeze in and keep the varmints out.

You just think you have seen this photo before. With the upstairs "project" of buying new sofas under our belt, we bought two more for the downstairs. Seen one leather sofa....seen'm all.

Remember these chairs? There were six of them that we striped and refinished. We have finally finished recovering them all. Not quite by Christmas, as Patsy had hoped, but they are finally finished and that is all that matters.

This is a quiz.
If you guess what this is, you will win a one year subscription to The Bugle. To give you a hint...I installed it myself and it knows when I am around. It makes no noise but keeps me in my place.

This is not much of a "project." It is, however, a simple solution to a common problem so I thought I would pass it along. The light switch in the attic is at the top of the pull-down stairs. So....when you are taking stuff up, you don't have a free hand to turn the lights on. When you come down you discover you left the light on. A motion detector on the switch box solves the problem.
Old folks need all the help they can get.

This is the north side of the house. It gets very little sun the winter. We had some heat tape installed to control the ice dams that form along the gutter. But, like anything else, you have to learn how to use it. For example, if you turn it on when it is 20 degrees you are going to get gutters and downspouts full of ice. So, the trick is to turn them on when it is above freezing. Duh. And, something else I learned, a little winter windshield washer fluid (-25 degrees) in the underground drains keeps them from freezing.

This is a really nice OLD mantle. It just needs a little cleaning up. It was a gift from Ken-n-Curly from an old house they renovated in Strasburg, Virginia. The house dates from the 1700's and we think the mantle is about 200 years old..

The mantle has occupied the third bay of our garage for over a year. Now that Brian, Suzanne, Owen and Hayden are going to spend some time with us until they find a place to live, I need the space for another car. Colorado winters are much too cold to have your car sit outside. Unless, of course, you have "buns of steel." Brrrr!

We have been working on this mantle, off and on, for over a year. It had a half dozen coats of paint including two coats of old fashioned milk paint. (Lye was the only thing I found that could remove the milk paint.) The wood is primarily Pine and Popular. We are about to make the pedestals for it to rest on and this is a "trial run" to make sure I measured correctly. It will get a light coat of stain to even it out a bit and finished in clear "tung oil." Perhaps, this time next year, this project will be on our "completed list." I sure hope so!

Well, we have the "pedestals" made (thanks to ken) and all we have to do is give it some stain and a few dozen coats of Tung Oil finish and the mantle will be ready to hang our stockings from. Judging from the nail holes in the top, the previous owners had plenty of children. They also smoked allot judging from the burn marks on the top. But, it's an OLD mantle with lots of character....and stories, I'm sure.

Yahoo!! The end is near! All that remains is some trim, probably black, to cover the white area between the fireplace and mantle. And, perhaps replacing some of the Ikea and Scan furniture with some antique "junque."

The Inspector was here today just to make sure the trim was up to standard. She is a tough cookie but she seems to be pretty pleased with the progress on the mantle

I can hardly believe it! This project is finally completed. Waddya think? I think it turned out pretty cool!

Life on a well.
We have been getting very small amounts of sediment from our well. It is in the form of very small grey clay granules. They are, however, too large to go through the screen on the water faucets. (Not that I would want them to.) Sooo....we had a whole house sediment filter installed to catch them before they reach the faucets. I don't anticipate replacing the filters too often, certainly not as often as I had to clean the screens in my faucets, which was every 60-90 days or so. (I have already looked on eBay for replacement filters....it's the only way to go.)