COLOR!! Color! color?

Much of the siding is on the house already. A couple more days and it should be done. The contractor will then install my patio door in back and possibly the porch posts. Although I was originally planning to do all these tasks, the idea of getting this part of it done is very appealing. I will still have all the painting to do and cutting the rest of the porch brackets, all the landscaping and years of inside projects so it isn't like I HAVE to do all of it.

It has been rewarding to do as much as I have on my own. I cherish my independence and my ability to do almost anything I set my mind to. When I hire someone to do something, I want it to be because I CHOOSE not to do it myself, not because I am unable to do it. Of course there are things I choose not to do because I don't want to try them. I have no urge to try snake charming, skydiving or bull riding or things that might seriously damage me.

As I have grown older, I recognized my own unwillingness to suffer pain when not necessary. Granted, climbing up and down ladders all day, lifting boards over my head, dropping boards on my face and hammers on my toes causes pain but that is somewhat necessary. Well, maybe not the dropping stuff on me part.

Philosophical stuff aside, now I really get to pick a color for my house. I have brought home dozens of paint cards over the past 3 years. Getting the right colors for the gables took at least 5 complete color schemes before settling on what I liked best. Since then I have picked many color swatches for siding. I've photo-shopped multiple colors onto pictures of my house, hoping to figure out what I wanted. I did eliminate the idea of the rust/red color and blue just didn't appeal to me for my house. This left me with variations on the yellow/gold tones. It is truly amazing how subtle the variations in colors can be, yet make so much difference. Too much pink in the tan, too much gray in the cream, too much blue in the yellow. Finally, I think I have found the right shade for my siding. It is called "Venetian Stucco" and it is very close to the same hue as the trim on the house but in a much lighter shade. It is hard to tell now if it will be too yellow for my taste but hopefully it will match beautifully and make my house a true gem in the neighborhood.

OH! OH!! OH!!!

This is just so exciting! Actual siding on my house! I LOVE IT!

This being the 4th spring in the siding project, it is about time. It is impressive. I go outside several times a day just to be able to look at the front of the house. I drove by it twice today and even walked across the street to talk to the neighbor so I could look at it from over there. OK, a little OCD maybe but I am very pleased to have this step underway.


An electrician came today to look at the meter and some wiring so he will do some work next week. Another man came to check the furnace and cut the old central air unit off the house. The CA hasn't worked for the past 3 summers anyway so now they don't have to side around the connections. When the siding is done, he will put in a new furnace and central air, much more efficient, since the old ones are 36 years old.

I will start installing the porch posts tomorrow I hope. It may be raining but unless the wind is blowing, I should be able to go ahead with this. I only have two of the decorative brackets cut so will be doing more scroll saw work. I have to do some research on this trim as I'm not sure if every post should have them or only the corner posts.

FINALLY.........

WORKERS HAVE ARRIVED!




Only a couple days late, which isn't too bad given that around here it seems to be very hard to get contractors to appear. They brought in the trailers today and marked their territory. (Guy thing?) Then they set up a neat tripod with a spinning lasar on the top which had to do with determining level. I WANT ONE! They didn't need to look for bubbles, a little beep tone increased in speed as level was neared and became a steady tone when they had it. No more twisting 6 ways to see that stupid bubble.


When that was done, they started doing the corners of the house. The corners of the house are wrapped with 1 x 4s made of cement composite material. They will start at 7 AM tomorrow so I have to be up early to get the dogs out and back in before they arrive. There is nothing like having a house full of little terriers and having work crews at the house.

Triki has been standing in my flowerpots in the south window because she can see the men walking around the yard. Plants that I have babied through the winter, barely kept alive, now the dogs are stomping on them while barking at the scary intruders in their yard. Hopefully they will adjust quickly.

OMG! Unbelievable!

Someone finally called me about doing the siding on my house. It has only been since last August that I made calls to find someone and at least a couple said they could do it but no one ever showed up. Just when I was starting to prepare for spring, figuring I would start putting up the siding as soon as the weather leveled out, a guy calls to say he wanted to look at the back part of the house. He came over the next evening and looked then came back the next to give me an estimate, which I considered very reasonable.

I am on their schedule for next week so will be taking most of the week off. The dogs have to be managed throughout the construction. The gates will be opened by people who don't know how fast a little Rat Terrier can be so no one will be able to go out of the house unless I am with them. I am pretty excited about getting this done, especially this early in the season so I will have time to do the painting during the summer then I can start some of the landscaping.

Tomorrow will be dedicated to clearing the rest of the stuff off the front porch. This includes the stacks of trim wood and porch ceiling boards. I need everything clean for the siders so they don't have to work around lumber, porch chairs and windchimes. After spending the winter in plastic wrap, I'm ready for some solid siding that I can slap some paint on. Oh no! Now I will have to choose a color for the house. Although I think I have it worked out, you would be amazed at how many shades of pale yellow-tan-cream there are. At least I gave up on red and blue.