Moving on

I think this pleases me. It isn't perfect, a good eye will quickly pick out the errors but the overall look isn't bad. I'm more than half way through the stripping and wrapping portion. I'm actually rather proud of myself, although I am in my third summer of renovation, completing as much as I have was no small task. The best part, all the work has met a standard that I consider acceptable. Some of it is just plain good!


The house should be significantly more energy efficient when I finish everything. The first step was putting new windows all the way around, replacing old, wood sash, single glass windows, many of which had gaps where the sashes met. Aluminum storm windows helped but were not enough to stop the cold winds of a northwest Kansas winter. The last few years I resorted to putting plastic over the inside of the living room windows and when the wind blew, the plastic would "breathe" in and out with the gusts.



The other big factor should be the house wrap I am adding. Over half the house had no wrap at all or totally useless wrap. This shield long ago lost all it's protective properties, looking and feeling more like a child's construction paper that was soaked then dried out. I have occasionally kept my bill from the gas company, which lists fuel consumption for the prior 12 months so this coming winter I will be able to compare to last year to see if the difference is obvious.
On a positive note, I have actually encountered very little termite damage, although there are definitely termites in the area. I have found them from time to time when a log or board is left lying in the yard for some length of time. Apparently, much of this old yellow pine which is used almost exclusively on the original part of the house, is not very tasty to the little bugs. I have found a few boards that they have attacked, probably less than a half dozen, but no active sites.

The front of the house is starting to look naked now, with over half the siding removed. The trim is off the window and will have to be rebuilt as I did not get it done the way I want it the first time. There won't be much time to work on it during the week since days off will be severely limited in the next month or so. Two other workers are out on medical leave now so it will be hard for anyone to take time off unless it is an emergency. Of course, if it starts snowing, THIS could be an emergency.

Craftmanship, Creative Expression or ..........

just the sense of accomplishment? I'm not sure what the feeling is that comes with getting something right on this project but it is a good one. I created a proper sill where none existed before and found myself feeling like I do when I create a sculpture.


My hope, as I renovate my house, is to give it as much of the folk Victorian look and character as possible, within a budget. I replaced the windows with modern, vinyl, double pane windows but I'm trying to recreate an "older" look in the window casings, giving the impression of original without the cost.


The challenges are varied and many. For some windows, I reframed completely and used new construction windows so there was no existing casing present. Some windows were replacement windows which slipped inside of the existing frame after I removed the old sashes. A couple of these had existing casing, including sills, although the style was not consistent as these windows were trimmed in brick mold rather than wide, flat boards.

Others of the replacement windows were trimmed but the previous owners destroyed portions of it in order to apply 4'x8' sheets of masonite siding. Since they wanted quick & easy installation they apparently beat the sills and drip caps with a hammer to knock them out of the way. These pose the greatest challenge, trying to make the remnant of the sill into a smooth surface which will allow for grafting on a new sill extension and creating new drip caps to take the place of those smashed to bits.

The first two efforts at building sills went well. These were not damaged, they were new window sizes and no sill was there after the reframe. Basic theory for the remaining sills is the same though, so I do not foresee major problems but only time will tell on that.

Poor old house has weathered a lot of years and they have taken a toll on it. The old cedar siding is in surprisingly good condition, termites never touched it, despite having made a few attacks on the sheathing beneath it. I hope to "rehome" the siding to someone who can use it as it seems a terrible thing to send beautiful, resiliant wood like this to the dump. On a small application, this siding could be brought back to usefulness and serve even more years protecting structures for someone.

the Answer!

Yes, you can get high painting with acrylic paint. Of course it is all in your head or maybe a little bit in your heart and it won't fry any brain cells. Back in the 60's, we called it a "natural high", one that didn't require chemicals to achieve. Over the past few weeks, as I have worked on my house, preparing for paint and putting the beautiful colors on the gable, even with a 1/4" brush, I have found myself feeling what I can only describe as a "high". There may even be an addictive aspect to it as I was a bit morose over missing my painting "fix" on a rainy day.

Having limited experience with chemically induced highs, I have most often found that sense of warm, joyful lightness in accomplishment, in beauty and in creating beauty. Sculpting something beautiful out of wood, building an ornate porch post, restoring an earlier beauty to the front of my house, all bring me a sense of fulfillment and contentment. I find that there is a point in a creative endeavor where I begin to really see the potential of the finished work. At that point, the project becomes an act of love and working on it leaves me feeling much the way love (or chocolate) does.

This really isn't the first time I painted. I painted the garage once and it only took 5 years. For some reason the creative senses didn't get aroused over garage painting. I started down one side, rounded one end, ran out of paint, then got sidetracked. Did I mention I have ADD? By the time I got ready to paint again, the color I was using was discontinued. So, started painting with a new color from where I left off and then, you guessed it, the same thing happened again. This was all in the days before you could take any paint chip in and get it matched. Finally, with the third color used, most of the garage got painted, in part because my son joined in and finished up the west end. That project didn't leave me with a particular love for the process of applying paint.

The difference in how I feel about painting my house must be related to the lengthy consideration of color schemes, the careful recreation of shingles to take the place of broken or lost ones and the painstaking painting of one shingle at a time to achieve the pattern I hoped for. It has become a creative work rather than a paint job. Anticipating the completion of the project, how it will look with new colors and textures, how it will all fit together when it’s done leaves me with a sense of excitement and impatience.

It has now been nearly two weeks since I last painted. Having passed up one pleasant weekend day due to feeling a need to catch up a few inside chores, I find myself unable to get back to painting as it has been overcast and rainy almost every day since. Humidity is high, doors are swelling and painting in that doesn’t seem like a good idea. I’m looking forward to some dry sunny days that will draw the moisture out of the wood so I can move on with painting. Meanwhile, there is always the basement to clean out. EWWW! At least the stairs going down there look good.

Looking good......

I'm certainly glad I decided to take step by step pictures of my renovation of my house. Looking at them, it is hard to believe the change so far yet there is still so much to do. In May of 2008, I took this picture of the house before starting to work on it. As you can see, the masonite siding was deteriorated and warped. The gables were dull and peeling. There was definitely a need for a face lift on the old house.

With all the color applied to the gable, I think it looks pretty good. It is definitely a BIG change and is eyecatching. As of today, the paint on the gable only needs touch-up but this project will hold for a while as I started priming around the porch today. There is a second gable on the house, facing south. The house originally was L shaped with a gable on both "ends" of the L. The porch was added at a later time as was the extension to the back which probably doubled the square footage. The south gable will require more scraping than I had hoped but the old paint can't be left as it is. I just hope it doesn't require as much work as the front gable did. I'm anxious to get on to painting the second gable.

Can you get "high" from painting? Well, that is a subject for another blog. For now, I gotta go.

The blues......

No, not me, the house!


The house has both shades of blue (turquoise actually) on now. I picked 2 shades of the same color so the darker would give a shadow effect to the lighter color. I'm not sure there is enough difference between the shades, I will have to "watch" it for a few days. I will finish the rest of the darker shade tomorrow before going to visit my father.


I live on the main street through a small town in western Kansas. I'm sure I make an interesting sight, perched high up on a ladder with a 1/4 inch paint brush, painting the edges of shingles. Suffice it to say I'm not a "dainty" woman and I hope I look, at worst, eccentric. With my pack of little spotted rescue dogs, I can already pass for the "crazy dog lady" of the neighborhood so eccentric isn't bad. Hopefully, when I get everything done, I will be known instead as the creative, handiwoman in the really cute house.

PAINT! PAINT!

At last, real paint! I've begun applying colors to the house, it is a lot more fun than my memories of house painting. This includes the part where I use a 1/2 inch artist's brush to slip paint into the crack between shingles. Deciding which order to paint the colors in is proving to be a major challenge. I started with the darkest color called "Autumn Ridge", because it was in the eaves clear to the peak and because it is a real standout color. Of course I ended up with my hands covered in rust colored paint as I didn't take a rag with me and when dark rust drops started landing on the white primer, I felt compelled to try to wipe them off. It is my hope that the lighter colors will cover the dark smudges and drips. It appears that no matter what order I apply the colors in, I will be doing touch up work, probably with that 1/2 inch brush.

I finished the first porch bracket and even painted it. As I applied color to my scroll saw work, I wondered if I would find this process as enjoyable by the time I get to the sixth bracket. The actual application of color to a cut piece of wood or scalloped shingles would not strictly be described as enjoyable, fun or fulfilling yet these are the feelings that accompany this project. It is more like the feelings that go with creating a sculpture than what painting the garage did for me. I am looking forward to starting with the "Butterscotch Sauce" paint tomorrow. There are large areas to be covered with this color so it is not likely to be completed in one day but starting will be exciting although I could forgo the part where I am on top of the 20 foot ladder. Shades of acrophobia!