Dock Project

Until recently, we haven't really paid any attention to the dilapidated boathouse and dock at Glenlochan since our original Boathouse Blues.  The time had come, however (actually had long ago passed) to give some serious attention to the unusable eyesore.  Marine building is beyond our area of expertise and we don't own any of the necessary equipment, so this project had to be contracted out, unfortunately.  Like in any profession, a contractor is not a good customer to another contractor!

Here's our starting point - the very old boathouse and the pier that could not be trusted:

Demolition and debris removal was the first step:

 The pier hit the chopping block first:

 And then the boathouse was no more:

 

 After we bid a fond farewell to the boathouse and the last of the debris was carted away, new pilings and other materials were delivered:

 Constructing the new dock was the next job:

 Even Tosha had to explore it.

 And the finished dock project:

Construction of the new boathouse is the next and final step.  In the meantime, the dock is available for fishing and enjoying the water and we have been!

Oiling the Ipe

In the crush of getting the house ready for occupancy last year, putting the finishing touches on the porch flooring was the least of our worries.  The ipe flooring has been installed for over a year now (see previous post about the ipe installation) and it was long overdue for its staining/oil/finish seal.  The sun had really faded the wood to grey over the past 12 months and we had various stains and waterspots due to continuing construction - one of the many frustrations of renovation.  Ipe oil, formulated specifically for ipe outdoor flooring, stains, oils and seals the wood in one step.  Rob was confident that the finish coat would remove all traces of staining and restore the wood's beauty; I had my doubts.  Nonetheless, I gamely cleared the porch of the many things we'd been storing there and then scrubbed all traces of dirt from the entire porch.  Here's the clean, un-oiled porch:

Although there are quicker ways to oil a floor surface, I wanted complete control over the coat as it was going on so I did the entire porch with a single brush on my hands and knees.

The results were phenomenal and all in a single coat.  The oil dried beautifully and uniformly, every stain and water mark was gone, and the porch looks amazing. 

I had similar results on the small side porch, see the before and after:

Oiling the ipe will now be an annual event.  It was a bonus that I actually enjoyed the process - fresh air, sunshine, and a great finished project.

Call the Guy

When Rob and I first got married, neither of us knew the first thing about fixing anything.  We bought, for the grand sum of $4000, a mobile home that was our first home (and really our first renovation, although it really didn't look all that much better when we moved on to our next home!).  And, when things went wrong (as they often did on a very old mobile home) because we didn't know the first thing about how to fix anything, we called the "guy".   But, money was beyond tight back then and with two little babies, the "guy" in our case was my Dad - a knowledgeable Mr. Fix It and the price was right!

Back then, we took my Dad's knowledge and willingness to fix anything that broke at our house for granted.  We didn't give a second thought to how we might be interrupting his life to come over to help us.  And my Mom always came, too.  She'd watch the kids, give moral support, and make sure everyone lived through the current crisis.  Dad knew plumbing, electrical, carpentry and he was a master gardener - all skills that we called upon again and again.  And, he showed up at a moment's notice.  This fix-it help from my Dad has continued throughout our married life - even after our jobs took us further away from my parents, if we don't know how to do something, we still call the guy and he'll talk us through it.

Looking back, we didn't realize how lucky we were - all that skill and thankfully much of it has been passed on to us (um, mostly Rob, but I got a bit of it, too!).  I think that's part of why we are so into our house projects - we learned the joys of fixing it ourselves so well from the guy,  Thank you so much, Dad, for all that you did for us and all that you taught us and Mom for all of your support, too!

And, recently, we had the opportunity to help Jake and Ashley in a similar way - we spent a week in Michigan helping to install a privacy fence at their home.  It was a great project and lots of people had their hands in it - Dad was there, as well - four generations in all, so fun and so special.  Here's a few pictures of that fence project week.

Getting the posts JUST RIGHT:

 Jake and I spent a long time sorting through the slats - rejecting many and finding the best boards to use on the fence:

 

 Cross boards and slat sections going up:

Looking good:

A beautiful fence - just needs to be stained and/or sealed (and caps on the posts).

We were all pretty tired at the end of this project! 

Picking up Sticks

The yard at Glenlochan has been sadly neglected for many, many years and, since it's been a construction zone for the past three, precious little has been done to it by us, either.  We are slowly beginning to tackle it.  Rob planted grass seed last fall, which is sprouting like crazy, and he recently re-seeded the entire yard.  He picked up branches, trimmed the boxwoods that we really want to keep, despite their scraggly, non-uniform appearance, and picked up the many things that a long winter had deposited in our yard.

On a recent sunny day, Joe and the other Rob came out to give us a hand in clearing all the horrible brush that had been growing in the yard unchecked for so long.  It was a lot of work, marked by malfunctions.  The wood chipper we rented refused to work and had to be returned, the chain kept coming off the chainsaw, which led to much down time for the necessary re-assembly.  Despite the issues, a lot was accomplished due to good old fashioned elbow grease and fire power (and non-power tools like pruners and rakes).  Where was my machete when we needed it?  We couldn't locate it, unfortunately. 

This is the kind of mess with which we were dealing - lots of prickly brambles throughout, so it was easy to get "caught" and there was lots of de-tangling of various people throughout the day.

Tereasa and I provided lots of helpful encouragement!

Action shots:

And, at the end of the day, we had many large piles like this one - just waiting for when the wood chipper is repaired and ready to reduce these piles to mulch.

Like the house project, this yard will be a long term project - a marathon, not a sprint!

Thundersnow...Whaaat?

We had a new first this week, thundersnow.

Disclaimer - thundersnow has absolutely nothing to do with renovation, not in VA, not in Philly, not anywhere.  End disclaimer.

We've had so many significant snow storms this winter that I've lost count.  The last big one was a doozy though - a "long duration event" as the excited weather and news people chimed repeatedly.  Phase two of this storm, it was announced, could include thundersnow.  I thought it highly unlikely that we'd be lucky enough to experience thundersnow - especially since I hadn't even heard of this phenomenon until the dire predictions for this storm began.

But, sure enough, the snow was falling heavily as we headed to bed and just as we were drifting off to sleep, we saw a huge flash of light and a large boom of thunder.  Luckily it repeated the pattern several more times so our disbelieving minds were able to confirm that yes, we were actually experiencing thundersnow - thunder and lightning in the middle of a snowstorm - how cool is that?  I was so excited I could hardly fall asleep.

Unfortunately, no pictures to document this potentially once in a lifetime event. 

You Say Shoe Molding, I Say Quarter Rounds

Although shoe mold and quarter round are words often used to describe the same thing - the trim strip between the floor and the baseboard - they are technically a little different.  Quarter rounds are based on a true radius, so they are, literally, a quarter of a round.  They have a nice profile that adds a terrific finishing touch to the flooring and baseboards.  Shoe molding, on the other hand, has a narrower profile and is not based on a true radius.  It's a great choice for some applications and it is a bit less pronounced, but we are using quarter rounds in Glenlochan.  And, per the previous post, these will be painted to match the base board and not stained to match the floor (another personal choice issue).  Unfortunately, most of the quarters rounds have been here (see below) for the past two months and not painted and installed yet:

Behind the couch was the only place we could store them even partially - they are 16 feet long and very awkward to move.  We did install quarter rounds in a select few places already - behind the toilets and sinks for example (see below), since it would be too difficult to do after the toilets were in place - but most of the rooms are completely sans the trim.

So, this past weekend was "quarter round painting weekend" for me.  I managed to get every inch fully primed and also painted with one coat of paint - 8 long pieces at a time, and the breezeway was the perfect place to set up three saw horses for this long project.

Although they all need one more final coat of paint, I'll apply that right before we install each piece.  Otherwise they will get too dinged up in the pile of painted quarter rounds, below, and will need too much touch-up.

Now, we just need a weekend of good weather (and not 13 inches of snow like we experienced in Philly this past week) so Rob can set up the saw outside and get these cut, and installed.  That installation will, of course, produce even more nail holes to keep me busy and out of trouble.