KEEPING THE WATER OUT

Four months ago we rebuilt several sills on the French doors.   We took time last week to continue working on those thresholds to prevent water coming in.  Donnie and I measured, cut, sanded and installed thresholds on all four upstairs sills.

We used fir for the threshold

  In order to create a tighter fit between door and threshold, we trimmed the bottom of each door.

When each door was cut there was a pronounced scent of fir.  That a piece of wood over 100 years old could emit such a scent was wonderful.

From the bottom up.....sill, threshold, door.....perfect fit.

                      

ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?

Completion of a recent project brought a huge smile to my face.  Our friend and general contractor Donnie said to me, "It doesn't take much to make you happy, does it?"  And, truthfully, I must say that is an accurate statement.  I have so enjoyed these past few weeks working on this house.
   We suspected, and the roof work revealed, that the sills of the four 7 foot windows leading to the porch roof were in need of serious repair.

 As with most of the materials used in the original construction, the wood used in the making of the sills is no longer readily available or reasonably affordable.
  Here comes the fun part... Instead of paying someone to mill the sills and door frames, we've done it ourselves.  Fortuitously, my brother owns a 10 inch planer which he has been kind enough to loan us.  We located 3 inch thick rough cut fir at a local mill and planed it down to 2 1/4 inches.  After a run through the table saw to form an angle, cuts with the circular saw to notch out each end, and a pass over by the palm sander, we have 5 beautiful new sills.

(primed and ready to install)

This beautiful finished product brought a tremendous smile to my face!

IT'S A JUGGLING ACT

    This renovation adventure requires someone, or several someones, skilled at keeping numerous projects in the air at the same time. A variety of jobs must be done either in preparation for an upcoming contractor or in conjunction with a current contractor. This past week has been a terrific example of keeping all the balls in the air.

    As the roofers continue to repair the roof,

  (shaping copper)

(replacing water damaged wood)

( applying underlayment and TPO)

    I purchase and prime replacement molding that they will install below the soffit.

  Meantime, Donnie removes the 7 foot windows leading to the rooftop in order to repair the sills so the roofers can make the roof water tight.

     Concurrently, Wallace clears out crawl spaces, relocates old brick to be used in the foundation work, and launches and attack on the bamboo (a story for another posting).

A ball was dropped when the roofers got soffits up before being primed.  Now we must get up on the ladders to protect the wood.