Warmer weather = project time

So now that we’ve been taunted with warmer weather for a few days the itch to start cranking on some of these house projects has re-surfaced! I get constant motivation/inspiration from Morgan over @ the Brick House Blog. She agreed to mock up a few ideas for our little brick house last year and it’s been too f’ing cold to really get started on any of them. Right now we’re sort of getting this project finished (a cool wall unit fabricated from black gas pipe and pine boards) that we seriously started like over a year ago. Don’t let the “instructions” fool you…its a bit more complicated to actually assemble properly! The first time we just screwed everything together hoping it would all fit together. Right. So this time we’re measuring everything (down to 1/16th of an inch) so all of the components are the same length. Big thanks to Mr. Pipe Wrench! I’m doing a lot of sanding and re-painting of the pipes so it looks “right”.

Queso.

First things first I can’t wait to get some paint up on the trim…I think that’s going to make an assload of difference! Its a slow process though…gotta scrape off decades of old paint to reveal the lines of the original woodwork. Good times with Mr. Heat Gun and a scraper! This shit is tedious, but also rewarding. I need to say thanks to Jade over at OldHouseWeb for all of her window wisdom!

So once all the old (probably lead) paint has been scraped off its time for rejuvenating the wood with this mixture of boiled linseed oil, Penetrol, and Turpentine. That shit really soaks into the wood…which must really be starving for moisture, or whatever. Anyway…it feels like I’m doing a good thing for the woodwork, and its cool to be able to admire your handiwork on a regular basis.

Then…on goes a coat of oil-based primer! Once that dries I can FINALLY put some color on. Patience is not one of my finer qualitites…so being diligent with the prep is really a taxing experience. See I KNOW that if I flub the prep then the finished product will either:

a) look like ass

…or:

b) look OK for a short time…THEN look like ass

So its been an exercise in patience to say the least. Once the color goes on the house will really look great. The only problem I foresee is that once we start doing the trim the house won’t look “done” until ALL of the white trim is changed to Benjamin Moore “Gray” (sorry, no link because their crap site doesn’t load properly on the three Web browsers I have installed on my Mac). It sounds totally boring (the color really is called “Gray”) but its going to look kick ass agains the brickwork.

Katie is Hell bent on a new door for the side entrance. We’ll see…but that may be a ways down the road. I do sort of hate it. Its ill-fitting and the hinges are loose in the jamb (screws have nothing to hold onto I think). There are WAY too many things to do…and I have a problem with distraction. The f’ing basement still isn’t really finished and I’m finding all sorts of other things I want to start on! Finish what you start lunkhead.

🙂