While most were relaxing and enjoying their 3 day holiday weekend, we were, as would be expected, working away on our 1871 Second Empire Cottage which inches every forward to its eventual restoration. We had great weather but you can now feel the humidity of summer will be upon us before long.
This weekend Greg worked on the second floor area over the porch and removal of the old 1930's shingles while I concentrated my efforts on painting under the side porch, which by the way we hope to soon have gone as we get ready for the new 2 story carriage house and connecting Second Empire Tower, but thats 'down the road" a bit. Right now our goal is completing restoration of the main house.
We have thoroughly scraped and washed down the original wood siding. Joints were caulked and I began by priming the wood for paint. We used a special bonding primer formulated for old wood and I had it tinted the same color as the final paint coats. This saves time and gives you a beter final finish coat. I decided to use the heat gun to strip the frames around the doors although both of these doors will eventually be gone. The current main side door will have a round stained glass window and the new side door entrance will move closer to the front where a pair of double "Brownstone Doors" will go under the new two story Veranda Porch and the rear door to the kitchen is where the new addition will link to the house so it will be gone as well but in the meantime I wanted those areas to look as presentable as possible.
Despite the lack of rain our plantings in the new garden bed seemed to survive the week OK., But I am sure they were glad for the watering we gave them. Oor bed of Gladiolas is doing OK and the Allysum seeds I planted seem to be coming up as well.I still have more plants to bring down but this weekend we really wanted to concentrate on the house itself.
One thing we did do outside is cut down the old spruce tree that was planted too close to the house. This tree which never took off, was an eyesore and had no shade value. It was easy to take down and cleanup didn't take long. I am dreading, however removal of some of the larger older dying trees and I will likely need to hire someone for their removal.The "native garden" located on the eastern right of way and planted by our neighbor Diane, continues to amaze me. Something new and blooming is coming up everyday and Mark and Diane are working hard on the new garden they are planting on the vacant lot across the street. In addition to many native planting, they plan on a rain garden. Our side street, because it is narrow, it acts more like a private drive and being a dead end we have virtually no traffic. Our neighbors and I have talked about how nice it would be to have it gated. Overall a loooong weekend but a productive one.
Knox Hill Project: More Prep and Painting
Reviewed by citra
Published :
Rating : 4.5
Published :
Rating : 4.5
