Roofed and PaintedI

After a long day of painting, with lots of help from Matt and Sylvia, Becky and I proud to say that the construction phase of the shed is nearly complete.  We need to do one more topcoat of the green, and then paint the trim.  Here are some photos that tell the tale, including the brown metal roof, the shed in it's primed but not painted condition, some interior photos, and finally some pics of how it stands today, with the first topcoat of green. 

How to build a shed:

Step one:  Order a butt-load of wood (huh huh, huh huh huh)

******VERY IMPORTANT!!!***** Step 2: Hire professionals.

Step 2A:
Watch as they build a foundation and level it on blocks:

Step 2B:  The pros (our extremely able friends Dave, Matt and Sylvia) install the floor

Step 2C:  Before you know it, a wall will be framed...

Step 2D: ... and another started.

Step 2E: Once all 4 walls are framed, you can call it a day.

On Day 2, Build a small attached deck and throw on some siding:

 Maybe add a few roof joists:

And throw on the initial coat of primer to prepare for final paint job, which will make the shed match the house.

Work to do...

Well, I know it's been forever since I posted anything on the blog, but it has been a busy, busy start to 2010.  We have moved into the house, thrown a housewarming party, had our team win the Superbowl, elected a new mayor (hooray!), and partied through Mardi Gras.  In the midst of that, I took a trip to Eugene and Seattle with Dad to visit Aunt Cindy and Diana AND we moved our entire company to a new location.

We decided at the end of January to terminate the lease on Becky's apartment, which is where we had been doing laundry until the move.  Since we tore down the shed that used to house the washer and dryer at the house, we have been spending a half day at the laundromat every two weeks.  I have to say that the laundromat on a Sunday morning is simply an unpleasant experience.  Given that Dave expressed some interest in tackling this project with me (OK, mostly *for* me), I opted to get started on this in early February.

The room designated as the laundry room is the room all the way at the rear of the house.  When I purchased the house lo these many months ago, the room was painted a dark grey, and consisted of 2 windows and a closet.  The windows had obviously been covered with tin foil and black sheets (??) for some time and the whole thing had a "crack-y" sort of feel.



We (and by we I mean Dave) tore out one of the windows and added a door to the back yard:


There aren't really a lot of good pictures of this room because almost from the beginning, it was filled top to bottom with "stuff."  You can see the pile of boxes to Dave's left in the picture above.

Anyway, to the good news and pictures!  In the past month we have torn out the closet, repaired the sheetrock,  primed and painted the walls, patched the floors with thinset concrete (twice), laid down linoleum, run plumbing and electrical for washer and dryer, purchased and installed cabinets and countertop, and moved the washer and dryer indoors (just today) for a triumphant first load of laundry in the new laundry room.  Without further ado, here it is!

Blinded

We are currently in the process of installing faux wood blinds (Bali Economy Faux Wood from blinds.com) blinds.  I think they are going to look pretty nice once finished.

For the big windows in the front, we installed 2 levels of blinds, since the "Economy" blinds we could afford didn't come in the 110" length we would need to cover the entire window.  This also allows us tilt / raise the top and bottom separately, which might end up allowing us more simultaneous light and privacy than a single blind might.  Here is a pic of them in the bedroom:

Now on the smaller windows, we used a single blind. This installation was actually more complicated because we decided to "cheat" on the required depth.  We really like the look of blinds cut to fit inside the window frames (inside mount) as opposed to those that overlap the frames on the side (outside mount).  However, in order for those blinds to fit properly inside the windows, they require a 2" depth all the way through.  We didn't have that, but we cheated and built out the frame a little bit, then hid the buildout and hardware with a custom built valence.  Here's a couple of pics:

Cool, huh?

See the special man...

Well, it's been a trying couple of weeks.  I managed to obtain some pretty nice furniture off of Craigslist, but I experienced some rather expensive technical difficulties in doing so.

Mainly, I found a nice cherry sleigh bed in Lake Charles for about $150.  I called and spoke with the seller, who seemed legitimate, and decided it would be fun to cruise to Lafayette (which is 2/3 of the 3 hour drive to Lake Charles) and say hi to the folks, and Claire, Brian and Heidi.  That way, I could stay at Mom's, get up in the morning and finish the trek to pick up the bed.  Unfortunately, things did not work out as I had planned.

Halfway to Lafayette, I got stuck in a traffic jam that lasted 90 minutes and 25 miles.  All of the stop and go traffic apparently was the straw that broke the camel's back for the clutch in my car, and I limped along to Lafayette not knowing if I would make it.  The next morning we managed to get my car to the shop, where the estimate came back at a whopping $1500.  Plus a needed brake job for another $400.

Fortunately, Mom offered to drive me down to Lake Charles and I was still able to get the bed, but what a nightmare!  She then loaned me her car for a few days while mine was repaired.  Mom, thanks again.  You're a saint.  And those of you that helped get Mom where she needed to go while I had her car, thank you too.

Without further ado... the pictures:

Here is the bed with a replacement support (the whiter wood piece).  I had to fabricate this when I realized that the original was missing.  That may have been part of the good price.

And from another angle, the whole bed:

I have also been busy on ebay.  I bought a few antique doorknobs and rim locks (surface mounted "lock boxes") to replace a couple of broken ones around the house.  Here's the bedroom knob/lock:

 

And here's the one for the bathroom:

I replaced the knobs on the front door with something a little fancier:

And, finally, we got some furniture moved!  Hooray, we're in the home stretch!

This is working out!

So, I drove by the house today to see what Dave worked on today.  Yesterday, I had discovered that Riverside Lumber carries and stocks cypress moulding, so I was able to get some casing that dave could use to rebuild the window framing in the entry doors.  To my surprise, when I drove by the front door was hung!  (Remember, you can click on the pictures to see bigger, clearer copies!)

I am REALLY pleased by the way this door turned out.  The back door is on the worktable, ready to hang tomorrow:

Meanwhile, I have been a busy Ebayer.  When I was younger, during a renovation of the house on Baudoin where we used to live, Dad found some great old Victorian/Eastlake doorknobs that we installed on some french doors joining the den and living room.  I purchased some knobs that remind me of those from a seller in Delaware, OH.  Here's a pic:

I think these are going to look GREAT!  Meanwhile, Dave has been ludicrously productive.  The man is an artist, and extremely efficient.  He has:

Cleaned and applied polyurethane to all of the wood surfaces associated with the wainscoting:

And the mantels:

Installed crown moulding on the kitchen cabinets:

Installed the bathroom shower curtain rod assembly and shower:

And here's a pic of the front of the bathroom (ignore the sawdust, it's everywhere right now):

Also, Sylvia stained and poly'd the doors for the bathroom, bedroom, and hall closet:

Bathroom:

Bedroom:

Hall Closet:

Also, I am borrowing Jack's truck tomorrow to go look at and probably purchase this antique table off of craigslist ($190!!! What a bargain!!!):

Antique Table and 4 chairs. Approx 29 in. high,39 in. wide and 59 in. long. Has pop up leaf(such a neat feature,self contained under table) that is 1 ft wide. Dark mahogany in color,not sure of wood. I bought at Auction,planned to strip and redo but hubby says"Has to go-no room". Call if interested.

Anyway, it's been a good few days.  Love, all!