A big box of electrical devices for downstairs arrived the other day…
I’ll admit that doesn’t sound very exciting and perhaps not even post-worthy. But what looks like a boring box of switchplates and outlets to you looks like finally having lighting downstairs to me. No more flashlights!
Rob, our electrician extraordinaire, is downstairs wiring in the devices as I type this…
We chose these because the cover plate snaps on — no screws showing…
Clean. Squared off profile doesn’t hurt… there’s no beveled edge on these. Ridiculous that I even care about such a thing but there you go.
Somebody’s been pulling up the burlap I put down last fall to hold the seed and soil in place on what would become our sloping lawn…
It took a few days but I finally caught the thieves — two giant crows who must be building a nest somewhere nearby. They lopped off a 4′ x 2′ section and started a few other smaller sections before I scared them off. Not that it really matters much now — I don’t really have to worry about the ground washing away any more.
So I trimmed the ratty ends of the burlap and life goes on. Crows.
Ruefully late to the meme, our remodel is finally the site of a planking…
No, not that planking. This planking…
Destined for the floor and ceiling, boxes and boxes of cork planks (Edipo from DuroDesign) have been waiting patiently since last summer…
David and Joe started under the stairs — an out of the way place to practice installing these for the first time. First there was adhesive…
Then the planks went on, staggered…
Almost done…
Sorry, it’s a little dim under there and the shots aren’t so great. It looks nice, take my word for it.
The reason we chose the Edipo was for its linear strips…
We want those strips to run the length of the house rather than the width, because upstairs the angled ceiling that runs front to back is a feature we want to accentuate. Downstairs, the ceiling is flat rather than angled, of course, but it makes sense to be consistent with what we’re planning for upstairs. To that end, the tiling began with a long reference line to keep the planks straight…
The first plank went up and then the boys worked their way down the hall…
You really have to like the guy you’re working with to do this job…
And so the planking continues…
Moving pretty quickly now. This could be done some time tomorrow… well, hopefully.
Very happy with the cork thus far, I must say. How happy? Dancing on the ceiling happy!
Last October, I planted the lawn. Once it grew in, I sprayed it with fish goo and molasses. Now that spring is here, it’s time to baby the grass again, especially since didn’t get much time to thrive before the cold arrived at the end of last season. My latest experiment…
Coffee grounds.
I pick up 5 lb. bags of used coffee grounds — sometimes still warm — from Seven Stars, my local coffee shop. Starbucks also has had a Grounds for Your Garden program since 1995. In season, check your local store for free grounds. (I wanted to try the coffee ground trick last fall but coffee shops were done putting them out for the season.) Check often, because gardeners snap them up quickly.
My neighbors may think I’m crazy when they see me sprinkling java on my lawn, but who cares? It turns out that coffee grounds provide slow-release nutrients to your lawn that green it up, encourage beneficial microbes and attract worms which loosen compacted soil (good for the roots). Bonus: coffee also deters slugs and snails. If you’re skeptical, you can read the research here and find out how to do it here. Poke around online and you can find scads of articles on the subject.
I’ll be scattering some soil and compost over the patchy spots in the grass as well, and then over-seeding. Will let you know how it all turns out. If you drive by and smell espresso, now you know why.
Let’s see, what’s been going on at the homestead since I last had time to share?
Removing the siding on the inside of the deck surround…
Turns out the wall on the west side of the deck was completely soggy to the point of rotting…
It absolutely reeks of mildew and was covered in slimy goo. Gross. The wood on that side is not salvageable, unfortunately. Especially once you add in the carpenter ant damage…
They love wood that’s been softened up by poor drainage. Luckily we got rid of the ants right after we moved in.
So where does that leave us? The walls are temporarily covered in housewrap to keep out the spring rains…
And now there’s a slight pause in the rebuild of the deck while we wait for the engineer to chime in. On what, you ask? Biggify this and check out the deck as the architect imagined it in 1970…
Cantilevered. No supports.
Compare that to how it actually got built a year later…
A single post stuck in the middle. Well, not exactly the middle — slightly off-center so that it wouldn’t interfere with coming and going through the lower slider. Weird.
Compare that to how it looks now…
At some point, posts were added to either end in addition to the one in the center. David and I think this looks a little clunky and have always imagined we’d try to go back to Irving Hayne’s original vision if possible. Next week, Eric over at Structures Workshop should come back to us with drawings and we’ll find out if we can make it happen. Good man. We’ve tapped himmore than once for this remodel.
Temperatures are unusually warm for March in New England — 72 degrees yesterday! So of course I put on my shorts and started prepping the garden for spring. I actually cut my grasses back last week…
My Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’ and Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Avalanche’ grasses were already sending up green shoots. Doh!
The Nassella Tenuissima (Mexican Feather Grass) actually looked like this the entire winter…
Green in the center! That just goes to show you how oddly mild it was here.
Cut back all the Hakonochloas, as well. They likely won’t show growth until some time in April.
I won’t bore you with more grass cutting — I’m sure that was more than enough to do the trick. But did I mention that last August I bought a Mission Black Fig? Oops, sorry. I protected it the same way I did the Musa basjoo banana last December, and uncovered it yesterday.
White tarp (to reflect rather than retain heat) came off…
That revealed the crazy cylinder that David’s going to sink out back in the ground to cover the pond pump…
Then I pulled out the straw I stuffed in around the branches…
And lookie dat! There’s my tiny fig tree!
Doesn’t look like much, I know. And it’s not, yet. I’ll have to reposition this to give it more room, actually. Given its southern position against a warm wall, it should be able to make it through in a New England winter — theoretically, and if I protect it every year. We shall see.
Progress, people! On the front of the house, Joe and David made and added the flashing to the upstairs windows and slider to match what they did on the lower level…
And now the siding is done, top to bottom…
Wait, is that SUNSHINE reflected in the upstairs window? IT IS!
The blue tarp that’s been up since well before Thanksgiving finally came down!
One…
Two…
Three! No more tarp!
I can’t tell you how happy I am to no longer be in the abyss!
Next: the soffit will get closed up…
After that, David and Joe will turn their attention back to the downstairs. They’re going to install the cork on the floor and ceiling. Then it will be time to rebuild the deck.
I still can’t get over being able to see the view…
Painting is done — shall attempt better shots. Siding is still in progress but the bottom floor is just about done. Yay!…
That black mesh in the shot above goes beneath the siding…
Called Cedar Breather, it creates a 1/4″ air space between the house wrap and the back of the siding so that moisture can’t build up there. After all, it’s water that encourages paint and stain peel off the wood, causes rot and mold, and invites insects to dine. Better not to give it a chance.
Around the slider, Joe and David created and installed aluminum flashing to match what they did around the window…
So instead of the bulkier wood trim that used to surround the windows and doors, now we have a nice, clean metal edge…
