What Did You Do To Your House Recently?

[vinceg101]

I employed a painting crew that, instead of scraping forever, did a first pass then filled the gaps with Bondo followed by quick pass with a belt sander. This was on old 1" exterior cedar siding so there was no concern over making a mess outside.

I've seen painters use Bondo on things like metal doorframes but not wood. I'm no painter but I've used it under flooring to get a flat surface before on some really odd stuff.

I thought that was weird too the first time I saw a crew at work final painting a house; a bunch of guys in white outfits with a paint brush in one hand and alternating with a pallet of Bondo and putty knife in the other. The whole room looking like it had measles covered in little grey spots. But I didn't think it was crazy after I saw the results.

I wonder if it was bondo or spot putty? Bondo, AKA body filler, is a PITA and cures so friggin' tough, it's almost impossible to sand it down. But spot putty while it won't fill as deep a gap, sands easier and is more workable in a way. Plus it's one part and it dries, unlike bondo which you have to mix it with a catalyst and have limited working time.

Nah, it was Bondo. One of the reasons they use that is how quickly it cures and hardens; they can use it between paint coats without worrying about it.

[vinceg101]

Jeez, Vince; I open this page and the first photo I see is the window you're stripping, and I almost had a panic attack! I just finished stripping & repainting four casement windows like that! One of them has been reglazed, and am not exactly looking forward to the next three. But it's gotta be done...

If I only had three windows to do I would be dancing a jig. There are SO many more windows to do on this house and it takes SO long to go through them between waiting for glazing to set (that takes about a week), waiting for each coat of paint to fully dry (there are usually four: 2 Kilz primer and 2 finish), then fabricating and installing the weatherstripping. I'm getting faster and the remaining windows are smaller, but it takes on average about 2-3 calendar weeks per window.

But the most recent, and most exciting thing we did with that house though is sell it! ...It's a walkout basement that opens to a sunken patio with a retaining wall around it, so it'll involve tearing out a section of the wall, moving & packing some dirt at an appropriate slope, putting in some gravel and pavers... Piece of cake, right?

CONGRATULATIONS!
Maybe I'm not following you, but don't you just have to resolve that exterior staircase to get access to the lower door?
How is the drainage in that sunken patio?

[davintosh]

If I only had three windows to do I would be dancing a jig. There are SO many more windows to do on this house and it takes SO long to go through them between waiting for glazing to set (that takes about a week), waiting for each coat of paint to fully dry (there are usually four: 2 Kilz primer and 2 finish), then fabricating and installing the weatherstripping. I'm getting faster and the remaining windows are smaller, but it takes on average about 2-3 calendar weeks per window.

You ought to be at expert level by the time you're done then.
Glad to hear it takes you that long too; I kept thinking there had to be some trick to making it faster, but... It's just plain tedious!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Thanks!

Maybe I'm not following you, but don't you just have to resolve that exterior staircase to get access to the lower door?

The angle of the photo makes it look like it juts into the path toward the door, and it does just about a foot & a half, but it should be easy to negotiate around it when driving in/backing out. There's about 10' or so between the foot of the stairs and the threshold of the door.

How is the drainage in that sunken patio?

Pretty good. I was a little concerned about drainage in the patio as well, and found out that the only time it's had water issues was in 2004 when the creek/drainage ditch that runs along the south side of the property was overwhelmed and flooded the patio and basement with about a foot of water. After that event, the original owner had an earthen berm built up and the retaining wall around the patio raised about a meter. When the house & patio were first built in 1995, an 18" precast concrete drain was put in with a grate at the far side of the patio. The drain empties into the creek, and I'm told there's a check valve of some kind that prevents back flow. Still working on confirming some of the details, and what it takes to make sure everything works well, but considering the amount of rain we saw in Sioux Falls last year and the fact that this place stayed dry through it, I'm not terribly concerned. We've had a couple of pretty significant rainfalls recently, and I've been impressed with how well water drains away from the house. That aspect seems to have been thought out pretty well.

In the photo you can see the two tiers of retaining wall; the lower part is original, and the upper part was added after the flooding. Also in the photo you can see some of the paver bed has failed around the grate and the pavers have sunk a bit in that spot. We're having someone come in this month to get that set right.



Meanwhile, I'm plugging away at getting things wrapped up at the old house, and still trying to get a few things put in order at the new place; the goal is to empty at least one box every day; so far my track record on that is pretty pathetic.

[vinceg101]

Back on the window rehab now that the weather isn't actively trying to kill me (+100 degree temps and lung-choking smoke filled air):
Spent yesterday stripping two sets of these 3-unit bays in the Breakfast Room at the front of the house. Two of these get blasted by the afternoon sun and wind so they're in bad shape:
Kind of a before (this is the front unit):


After I stripped the western side:


This is the eastern inside on the Front Porch and isn't exposed like the others, initially it looked solid and thought it would be a snap to prep; 3 hours later I was left with this:



(Man my hand is sore this morning)

So now to finish these completely:
-Strip the 3rd window unit
-Sanding: two stage 60/80 grit to even everything out, then 150/220 to smooth
-Filling: 1st round of Spackle/Wood filler/Bondo; let cure up 7 days
-Filling & Glazing: Sand first then 2nd round filler and window glazing; let cure up 2 weeks
-Paint Prep: final sanding 2nd round filler, remove all dust
-Painting: 1st coat Kilz Primer; let dry 1 week
-Painting: Light sand 1st coat primer, clean, 2nd coat Kilz Primer; let dry 1 week
-Painting: Light sand 2nd coat primer, clean, 1st coat Final Paint; let dry 1 week
-Painting: Final coat Final Paint; let dry 1 week
-Clean up: Razor off paint from glass, clean glass
-Weatherstripping: Install exterior drip edges, repair any jamb stripping that was damaged from last year
-Window Screens: Have at least 2 new screens made and install

Sigh. So, maybe these will be done by Thanksgiving?

[e28Sean]

What did I do to my house recently? I sold it and bought a new one!

Now I have a garage big enough for both the e28 and the AMG!




I know it's a mess... I'm still unpacking.

[Tiit]

Do the windows above garage have a purpose or just for looks?

[e28Sean]

Do the windows above garage have a purpose or just for looks?

I would say that "just for looks" qualifies as a purpose. The space above the garage is an attic that is all jammed full of heater and witchcraft.

[Mike W.]

Fixed the Bosch Washing Machine.

Yesterday it quit mid load. Lights on, a recurring beep, but no go. After some ado I figured it was not filling with water, it had been on a rinse cycle and couldn't rinse without more water. Today I spent a good hour or more looking for a schematic for it, but no go. Not a ton of useful info online, but some, which suggested the water level controller, and or a plugged line going to it. Pulled it out, tested it, I couldn't figure out what every terminal was to, but it did test good for two stages so I hooked it back up without the pressure tube. Bingo, we have water! Tried running weedeater string thru the tube and then ultra low compressed air, shrugged my shoulders and it works again! Then I noticed a folded up piece of paper, I thought that's poor, it must have been a poor mans anti vibration fix. No, it was a full schematic. Which is now scanned and saved.

[gadget73]

I found the best scraper to do this since whatever dark green paint they used in the 20-30's prevented the next 70 years of paint to adhering to it. Not to mention, NOTHING is taking that green paint off (which is fine by me, it survived 100 years, it's earned the right to stay).

Probably oil paint, possibly lead-flavored. Oil paint soaks into wood and its basically impossible to remove. Makes for a very durable finish, but if there are any attempts to paint over it with latex it doesn't stick, and even oil paint won't stick without at least some scuffing.

[vinceg101]

I found the best scraper to do this since whatever dark green paint they used in the 20-30's prevented the next 70 years of paint to adhering to it. Not to mention, NOTHING is taking that green paint off (which is fine by me, it survived 100 years, it's earned the right to stay).

Probably oil paint, possibly lead-flavored. Oil paint soaks into wood and its basically impossible to remove. Makes for a very durable finish, but if there are any attempts to paint over it with latex it doesn't stick, and even oil paint won't stick without at least some scuffing.

Oh yeah, 1920's era lead based paint. It's like armor. I followed a regiment of Heavy 80 grit sandpaper and then 150 then Kilz Premium then more sanding.
I'm not doing a full-on restoration to make these perfect, I'm only trying to arrest their decay just a little bit longer. I've been working on the sets of double-hung windows on the side (Kitchen & Laundry Room) which have a mostly hot western exposure. By all rights these units should be tossed in the dumpster they're in that bad of shape; but we're making due. I've been gluing and repairing them as much as I can. I feel good I've only broken one pane in all these windows so far (to be fair it was already cracked).

[Zeta]

What did I do to my house recently? I sold it and bought a new one!

Now I have a garage big enough for both the e28 and the AMG!

Noticed your house number is 528. Too perfect!

[e28Sean]

Noticed your house number is 528. Too perfect!

535 Wasn't for sale!

[garageboy]

Noticed your house number is 528. Too perfect!

535 Wasn't for sale!

You could ALWAYS change the "5" to an "E" if it bothers you that much. Few would ever notice the change...

[tn535i]

Oh yeah, 1920's era lead based paint. It's like armor. I followed a regiment of Heavy 80 grit sandpaper and then 150 then Kilz Premium then more sanding.
I'm not doing a full-on restoration to make these perfect, I'm only trying to arrest their decay just a little bit longer. I've been working on the sets of double-hung windows on the side (Kitchen & Laundry Room) which have a mostly hot western exposure. By all rights these units should be tossed in the dumpster they're in that bad of shape; but we're making due. I've been gluing and repairing them as much as I can. I feel good I've only broken one pane in all these windows so far (to be fair it was already cracked).

I have not found a paint that doesn't come off with a heat gun. It's my favorite tool for stripping layers and layers of paint. I think it was discussed but also have a set of unusually shaped scrapers to use with it and get corners and curves.

Last windows I did I switched thing up a bit. I still use nothing but oil based primer since as you say it penetrates better but then I used a water based urethane house paint from S-W. It was expensive but went on very smooth and I hope it will be a winner. They claim it will still to oil based topcoat also. Another thing you might try even before the primer is some wood hardener if there is a bit of softening or even slight rot in a spot. It's amazing what that and wood bondo can restore.

fwiw our old house has about 25 old wooden D-H windows. All my trim is real wood as well and all the work I've done to fix things I've used redwood, cedar and cypress. About two years ago I had to do the exterior of the dormer like windows below for the 3rd time I think and had to replace the exterior sills and some of the casings that were not the right sort of woods. The sashes still need to come out and be re-glazing but I cheat with the aluminum storms to put that off and help with energy bills. But you can see the glazing is shot on two. I have a different sash out in our den right now (storm there too) that I really need to finish up as it's getting cold. Where to find time. As you say the process takes a couple weeks. Strip, prime & wait one side, flip prime & wait other side, glaze glass & wait & wait, paint inside while glaze dries, more primer on the glazing when it finally dries & wait, finally paint, then another coat of paint each side. Oh yes and you get to work on the casing while the glazing is drying and replace all the ropes that counter balance the windows.

[vinceg101]

I have not found a paint that doesn't come off with a heat gun. It's my favorite tool for stripping layers and layers of paint. I think it was discussed but also have a set of unusually shaped scrapers to use with it and get corners and curves.

I spent what felt like a whole summer in my youth torching a million layers of lead paint off the side of a garage while playing house painter. I think I significantly shortened my life that year. Heat and fire do lay waste to old paint, but I just wasn't interested in going down that route with these. Scraping, sanding, filling and smoothing was my preferred method.

Last windows I did I switched thing up a bit. I still use nothing but oil based primer since as you say it penetrates better but then I used a water based urethane house paint from S-W. It was expensive but went on very smooth and I hope it will be a winner. They claim it will still to oil based topcoat also.

Yeah, well, oil based paint would be my preference but I live in California...

Another thing you might try even before the primer is some wood hardener if there is a bit of softening or even slight rot in a spot. It's amazing what that and wood bondo can restore.

Doing that already. It just adds to the time.

fwiw our old house has about 25 old wooden D-H windows. All my trim is real wood as well and all the work I've done to fix things I've used redwood, cedar and cypress. About two years ago I had to do the exterior of the dormer like windows below for the 3rd time I think and had to replace the exterior sills and some of the casings that were not the right sort of woods.

One advantage to having windows nearly 100 years old is that they used old growth woods for everything. The sills and casings are redwood and the sashes are all Vertical Grain Douglass Fir; all of it has some of the tightest, most dense grain you will ever see in lumber.

The sashes still need to come out and be re-glazing but I cheat with the aluminum storms to put that off and help with energy bills. But you can see the glazing is shot on two. I have a different sash out in our den right now (storm there too) that I really need to finish up as it's getting cold.

I remember those days living back east and the seasonal shuffle from storm windows to screens and back again. It was really popular back in the '70's and '80's to install storm/screen units permanently over the original windows (fly-by-night companies sprang up doing the retrofits). Eliminated the hassle of pulling off those big glass storm windows every spring (try doing that on a 3-story Dutch Colonial from a 28' extension ladder )

Where to find time. As you say the process takes a couple weeks. Strip, prime & wait one side, flip prime & wait other side, glaze glass & wait & wait, paint inside while glaze dries, more primer on the glazing when it finally dries & wait, finally paint, then another coat of paint each side. Oh yes and you get to work on the casing while the glazing is drying and replace all the ropes that counter balance the windows.

So true. I'm fighting the short daylight hours right now; if I'm not done painting by 3:00 it doesn't happen. We get a lot of marine layer/fog as soon as the sun begins to fail so that paint can't be wet.

Your house looks a lot like my FIL's in Princeton, NJ. Built back in the '40's-'50's?

[Mike W.]

Nothing glamorous, just some ladder work cleaning the solar panels on the 2 story house. I'd decided to perhaps oversize it a bit in order not to have to clean them, but the fires, smoke and ash made them look like gray felt. We'd had a little bit of rain a week or so ago, which did make a difference visually, but I'd already bought the brush and 24' wand so I went at it. They look great, we'll see next week if output returns.

On a vehicular note, I'm looking at the brush and pole, still saturated with soap, looking at the E36 and said, I'm goin' for it. I've always used a sponge before. The smallish brush, 10-12" probably cut the time in half. And an even bigger reduction on wheels and tires. I'll see what it looks like in the morning, but it sure seems like a quick way to wash the car.

[vinceg101]

Paint, paint, paint. And...more paint.

Taking advantage of a winter Santa Ana Event with its' mild and very dry weather it brought for Thanksgiving this year.
These are primed and ready to go for finish coats.
Just got done with two of the front triple casement units and their last finish coat; doing the last one tomorrow morning.
Then I get to go play with the cars

[davintosh]

One of the more unique features of the house we bought this summer is the house number stone that the original owner had made for the place.



It was placed next to the sidewalk, about 10' from the street. The street, curb & gutter, and sidewalk are being totally redone, and the stone was kinda in the way, so it had to be moved. The thing is huge though; about four feet wide, and about four feet exposed above the soil, and cut from Sioux quartzite. I'm thinking it weighs 1,200 - 1,500 lbs, and probably sank several inches further into the ground in the 20+ years it was there. Thankfully when it was installed, they only put sand under it, no concrete base for it.

My brother and I spent an afternoon with shovels and a borrowed skid loader with a set of forks to get it up out of the dirt and moved to a new location closer to the house and out of danger from the construction going on. No major drama getting it moved, but I'm really glad we had the skid loader for the job! It's a bit thicker at the bottom than the top, so we dug a hole for it about six inches deep, eased it into place, and packed some dirt around it. It's not going anywhere.



The landscaping around it doesn't look all that great, which isn't terrible because it's consistent with much of the landscaping around the place; we plan to do some work on all that in the spring. And the stones that were used in the little garden next to the 1630 stone were all rescued from their spots close to the street; that was a job in itself as several of them weighed more than me. I should be able to find some uses for them around the house next year.

[krhodes1]

My latest garage project in my tiny FL garage - put up the hangers and a shelf for my new QuickJack. I just happened to have just the right amount of space between the end of a wall of IKEA Ivar shelving and the end of the garage to do this. I really need to lower the shelf a bit - that pump is not light at all.

The sad part is that I have had the Quickjack since the beginning of November and have not actually tried it out yet. Was supposed to do the brakes on my Mom's Camry last week while I was on vacation, but the parts were out of stock locally. Annual service time for my GTI is coming right up, and at 4yrs old that is a bigger one with brake and coolant flushes due. So it will get used for that too. But my BMW down here in FL needs nothing, LOL.

-Kevin

quickjack by kevinr1916, on Flickr

[gadget73]

New draft blower in my pellet stove. I had bought bearings to rebuild it, but when I pulled it I found the fan blade was bent and warped, the housing had several screws that broke, the gasket turned to dust, and the entire housing was rusty and generally not in good shape. Found a complete blower unit for 100 bucks. This one has the motor mounted on silicone grommets vs hard mounted like the original. Its vastly less noisy.

After I'm done with heat this year I want to modify that thing to accept a panel air filter. Currently it has nothing so the fan and such get very dusty. The back panel is flat and decent size, seems easy enough to cut a hole and mount some channel for a filter to slide into, then close off the existing slots cut into the side panels.

[jca]

Spent $8k on a new HVAC system. Old one was still functional, but did not heat or cool the house evenly. Particular problem was a cold living room in the winter. New system worth every penny. Transformed the comfort level of the home.

[Mike W.]

Lately? Jeez, I'm getting to hate this place. Actually the house is pretty good but the yard, especially the backyard is just ongoing. As built, 3 sides, all except the front were pitched to the house not away. Still dealing with trying to get just leveling right, although I got it pitched away pretty quickly after we moved in.

But lately. A bunch of fence work in back, put a footer under it and it really cleaned up the appearance of the old redwood fence. I should still replace some rotten boards where dirt was pushed up against it when it was built so they could make everything drain to the house. And redoing the chase and sprinkler piping from under the driveway so I can get it widened a bit and still be able to replace 20 year old PVC if need be. I've got a lot of concrete work I'd like to do, but a ton of prep work before it can be done. I'll have to hire someone to do that, I don't have the skill or manpower to pour a few yards at a time.

But at least the solar is still cranking out Kwh!

[vinceg101]

^^^
That sounds like us, the termites have made short work of our front yard redwood fence at the sidewalk. I've already removed about half of it only because it was a hazard.
We have to redo the entire site at this point, but we're trying to figure out what the city is going to do with a potential re-zoning in which case we're going to wait for the developers to come knocking before lifting a shovel.

[Mike W.]

I didn't mow the lawn today. It did need it, but not desperately. But the young girl across the street, ~10/11 years old, decided to mow their lawn. Then my next door neighbors. Then ours. I guess she got on a roll with the Stihl electric but she's a nice kid and it was a nice thing to do. Now that mower was set a bit lower than I mow, and there's some scalped parts, but such is life. Worse things have happened, much worse.

[tig]

Tore up the backyard by driving Uglina across it.