A Whale of a Project

Time for my annual blog update.We'll take it from the top - the roof.

Oh the roof! What do you do with a beautiful slate roof that is 124 years old and has completely destroyed box gutters, rotten fascia and soffet, and approximately 20 bird nests in it?

We didn't know either. Since we bought the house, we've mostly annually hired a slate roofer to patch up the tiles and do basic maintenance. Since slate roofing is a true artisan occupation (and not artisan like the description of fast food lately, but artisan as in "requires someone with skill, expertise, and an artistic sense), that got pricey after a few years.

Additionally, our roof had box gutters that were completely rusted out, filled with tar, and not working at all. That was exacerbating our rotten fascia/soffet issue, causing drainage issues that could be damaging our foundation, and generally not working.

So we got a bid a couple of years back for the box gutters only. It was roughly what you'd pay for an entire asphalt shingle roof. And it did nothing for our fascia/soffet situation. And putting that kind of money into it assumed that the slate was worth saving for at least another 25 years, which it likely wasn't. It was a risky option.

We talked about just ripping the whole thing off and doing asphalt shingles. But we hesitated to do that for a few reasons.

1. The very best asphalt shingles last 40 years. That puts us around age 75 when it's time to replace them. Not something we want to do.
2. When you've come this far with a really special old house with a cool roof, it's a shame to replace it with the same style of materials being used on brand new construction.

We were both really intrigued by metal roofs. The new style of metal roof is EnergyStar rated, efficient, and hailproof, fireproof, and windproof. They come in cool colors. And they last 80 fricking years.

After we decided to go after this giant project, there was time spent getting bids. There was time spent looking at other metal roofs the contractors had built. We decided to throw in the siding - bite the bullet and just do the entire exterior of the house.

Then there was WAY TOO MUCH time spent negotiating with banks (Kiss off, PNC. Your customer service during this made me close my account of 20 years.)

And now? After working towards this since roughly February? Roof work is underway.

Here's the garage, with siding, fascia, and soffet:

 

Here's the garage roof and siding and dog (now we have to do something with that crap door and window).

 Here's the house with metal on the back and the last bit of slate on the side:  

Here's the side with the new siding, fascia, and soffet:

 

We're probably 75% there. We've had some weather delays lately. So cross your fingers for dry days. Maybe I'll even post all of the "after" pictures before 2015.

New fence!

New fence! New fence! New fence!

It's pretty exciting. Today we did clean-up - cleaned up the yard mess, and cleaned up the 2nd floor to prepare to drywall the actual walls. But first, the new fence. 

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I don't have a "before" picture for the next one, but this area behind our garage has traditionally been a place to dump extra dirt and rocks, and for the dogs to poop. We've made it the compost area, and it's fenced off from the dogs until the new grass comes in.

The dogs approve of the new fence.

Most of our drywall work has been put on hold because of the state of the second floor. Since we can't throw away building materials in Crafton, we were saving them all for another dumpster week.

Turns out a 15 cubic foot dumpster is a little big for what we needed this time, but at least things are cleaned up now.

Wonder what the phone number is for the dumpster company?

Blog guilt: I haz it

"Amy..."
"..."
"Aaaamyyyy..."
"...what?"
"AAAAMYYYY!"
"What, who, who are you?"
"I'm the ghost of Blogmas past."

Yup. That's my not-so-witty way of saying I keep thinking of updating the blog. Generally I think of it in the middle of the night, when I'm not sleeping anyway. But since using a lit screen at night isn't recommended for insomniacs, and I'm not my sharpest at 3:00 in the morning, I never seem to make it to post about our house progress. Excuses. I haz those too.

I've been up and around off of crutches for awhile now. I've been able to tend the garden that Mike planted for me this spring. Isn't it gorgeous?

We've had lots of cucumbers and tomatoes, and I've been canning the extra.


With the help, hard work, advice, and company of Mike's dad and my dad, we've finished hanging the drywall for all of the 2nd floor and hallway.


I could take lots of pictures of my beautiful ceilings, but this one showcases the challenges of drywalling an old house:


Other summer projects have included planting lots of flowers and resealing our front porch. It was hard enough to get that thing built - we don't intend to let it rot back off.


So what's next? Walls and a new fence. That's right - new fence!

Snowpocalypse and the Icicle of Doom

So it snowed last weekend, as you may have heard. Here's what it looked like after Mike spent three hours shoveling:



Thanks to below-freezing temperatures and daily snow showers, the snow is still here. It's quite unusual for over two feet of snow to stick around in Pittsburgh - usually we'll get rain or a warm snap within a couple of days. We have had some cold and sunny days, though, which have created...

THE ICICLE OF DOOM:



To give you a real sense of the size of this thing, look for the stockade fence at the bottom of the frame in the picture above. See the tips? That fence measures 6 feet tall. The Icicle of Doom has been making me lose sleep for approximately four days now.

I'm afraid that it will fall and A) knock over the fence, B) rip off our gutters, C) rip off the side of our house, D) kill somebody, or E) all of the above.

With both of us off of work for the holiday today, it was time to take action:



While Mike went after the IoD with a hand saw, I cleaned snow off of the garage roof. A few local buildings have had their roofs collapse, and with 4-8 inches of snow forecasted for tonight, it was time to lighten the load.



Other than that, there is not much to report. We are stalled on gutting the rest of the second floor as there is nowhere to park a dumpster on the snow-covered streets. I'm also delaying on more wood trim paint stripping work until it's warm enough to open windows. I think it's time to start planning my garden.

My best impression of a car

When Mike and I bought the money pit Duper Dwelling last September, we went to the local Busy Beaver hardware store. Lo and behold, they had motion lights on sale. Since our garage is at the back of our property and it faces a community park full of bored teenagers, we decided to get one for above the garage door.

In March, when cleaning out the basement, we found our motion light. It was still in its bag, covered in dust. Then we forgot about it again.

When fall came around, we found it again. I started hinting to Mike that it sure would be nice to have that motion light installed since the days were starting to get shorter.

While our garage has power, it did not have any switches. So motion light installation would include switch and box installation, as well as cutting a hole in the garage. For a job like this, we called my dad in as reinforcement. He and Mike installed it last Saturday and my dream of a year came true. But they did not adjust it. Every time a car drove by, our shiny new floodlight turned on.

So tonight we calibrated it. Mike stood on a stepstool while I walked back and forth in the street, on the sidewalk, waving my arms and pretending to be a car. I'm sure it was quite a sight for the neighbors.

I have no pictures as it was dark outside. But trust me, the light looks great and I looked like an idiot.

Fall - the season for grouting

Today, Mike grouted the bathroom tile. Isn't it beautiful?


Speaking of beautiful things, I was thinking today that we're fortunate to live near lots of pretty trees but not actually have any on our property. We only have to rake the leaves that make it over our fence, but we get to look outside and see these two beauties.




We can also look outside and see the lynching out back.


Let me zoom in on this one for you so that you can get the full effect.



Apparently our neighbors are really into Halloween. Or hangings. It takes all types, right? Right?

I can only imagine how they plan to celebrate Christmas.

It's been a big month here

Whoo-eee. It's been a big month at the Duper Dwelling.

We got a new Weber (thanks Mom & Dad D!):


We finished sealing the front porch:


We bought and assembled two Adirondack rocking chairs:

We finished mudding and sanding the drywall in the second floor bathroom:




And now we're keeping ourselves busy arguing over paint for the bathroom:

Next on the agenda is paint, tile floor, and then hallelujah we get to install our toilet, sink, and yet-to-be-ordered bathtub.

Well, now that THAT is over with...

We were kind of busy doing this:


But now that we're hitched, work on the house has started again. The upstairs bathroom is now fully insulated. We need to make one repair to the drain pipe and then it's time for walls (yay).

Our roses are blooming, and our horrid privet hedges are trying to take over the neighborhood. Spring/summer has brought a lot of yard work with it. You all have seen how neglected the inside of the house was. Now just imagine the outside.

Today I planted flowers while Mike battled the privet beast.



Tomorrow I'm planning to scrape paint off of the garage door and hopefully start painting it. We just need to squeeze that in between some family time and trips downtown to see bands playing at the Three Rivers Arts Festival (Black Keys last night; Medeski, Martin, and Wood tonight). Back to work!

Outside