#lindworth

Funny story about the paint colors. The house has been several shades of tan or yellow over the years with dark brown trim. Mom and I didn't want a radical change but did want to perk it up a bit. The pre-finished Hardie siding samples came glued to a board so I used a wire to remove them so we could isolate our front runners and view siding and trim colors together alongside the brick and other existing finishes on the house. We selected a deep warm tan for the siding and Khaki Brown for the trim. In all discussions with the siding contractor we specified Navajo Beige and Khaki Brown.

At the last minute the contractor discovered that the pre-finished smooth lap siding was discontinued in Navajo Beige! The contract was signed and deposit had been made so they offered to paint the siding at no additional charge so we would still end up with our choice.

When the siding work started the siding contractor and I were discussing the colors and I had the samples in my hand along with the Sherwin Williams Oakmoss color we had chosen for the doors. He got a terrified look on his face and pointed to the Navajo Beige sample and said "That's not Navajo Beige, that's Autumn Tan!" Talk about an "Oh Shit" moment! The paint had already been bought and was in the garage! I got out the rest of the samples and he picked out the real Navajo Beige. It's almost an exact match to the color that was already on the house and garage. He pointed to the neighbor's house (which they had also resided) and said THAT'S Autumn Tan! I guess we mislabeled the 2 samples when we took them off the board!

Thank God for happy accidents! If we had really gotten the color we thought we chose our house would have matched the neighbor's. Another bonus- the color is so close to the previous paint color that I am not in a rush to paint the garage (doing that myself) because you can't tell the difference!

Actually Autumn Tan-

Which oddly enough really looks to me more like the trim color Khaki Brown (below) perhaps because of the computer screen-

Will the REAL Navajo Beige please stand up?

Oh, and I ♥ Oakmoss on the doors-

James Mauler has returned with his assistant Jeff to install our shiny new (and bigger) copper downspouts! A few years ago my father hired Jim to replace all the original 4" copper gutters with new 6" ones. The 4' were woefully undersized for the square footage of the roof and frequently overflowed when we had heavy rains. Jim erected scaffolding all around the house and fabricated each run of gutter on site. He used copper nails and stainless screws and soldered each joint. Dad kept the 4' downspouts thinking that they were in good enough shape to handle draining the gutters. Unfortunately they couldn't handle it. Now we've called Jim back and he's been busy fabricating our new, improved downspouts with better angles under the eaves and better junctions to insure smooth handling of the runoff. Jim is also installing flashing as needed and cladding some trim in critical areas in aluminum to not only dress it up but protect it from the elements. I can't wait to see the copper ridge he's fabricating for the peaked skylight I'm rebuilding on the roof of the courtyard!

Again I cannot recommend James Custom Sheet Metal enough. He and his crew are true artisans and really care about their work.

Attention to detail- true craftsmanship

Above and beyond- Jim and Jeff had been cleaning the gutters for me as they checked and made sure they were in good shape. On the back of the house they found hundreds of old galvanized roofing nails left in the gutters along with some chunks of old shingles from the tear-off and replacement of the roof last fall. Copper and galvanized don't get along well and over time the nails would have eaten holes through the beautiful new gutters. They also found nails and shingle knife blades wedged between the back of the gutter and the board they were mounted on that were causing the back of the gutter to bow out. Jeff used needle nose pliers and extracted every bit of junk from behind the gutters and thoroughly cleaned them. Instead of letting the yard man clean the gutters with his leaf blower I'm taking the job back with my rubber gloves, bucket and hose to really get them clean. Thanks guys!

Digger has claimed his new favorite spot inside the new sliding door from the sunroom to the patio. He lay there and supervised Mom and I plant some new plants in the garden after construction Wednesday.

When people asked me what I would be doing to celebrate my 44th birthday on Tuesday I answered with this:

The replies varied from "Get off that roof!" to "Take the day off for goodness sake; it's your Birthday!" to my favorite from a friend in Virginia who requested that I wear a tiara the entire day. I pointed out that the pink tool belt should be girly enough but she insisted. (Sorry B, there was no tiara).

Tim from the siding crew shared my birthday so the next day I arrived with cupcakes. I really don't need an excuse for cupcakes and it never hurts to bribe your crew with baked goods. The highlight of the cupcake fest was the crews discovery that the plastic martini glassed atop the frosting were really rings. It was like a 5 year olds party at that point as they donned and compared their new jewelry.

Soffit-

Uh Oh!- The original soffit on the entire back of the house was (we discovered) asbestos based paneling.  A quick call to the abatement company was made and the men in moon suits came to remove the sections where existing lights needed to be replaced and where new lights were being added. We were told that the asbestos content was low and we could encapsulate the remaining soffit by covering it with the new Hardieboard. The whole issue was much less expensive than expected at around $250.

Venting- The entire house is vented through an integrated brickwork vent in the West gable, a cupola atop the roof and a continuous 5" run of screen in the soffits. The original crumbling brass screen has been replaced with heavy duty aluminum screen. When the roof was replaced in 2012 a ridge vent was installed which, along with the screening should significantly improve the  ventilation of the large attic space.

The guys from Habitat for Humanity came by yesterday and picked up the Andersen four window casement unit from the sunroom, the 2 window casement unit from the office/changing room and the original kitchen door. We're pleased to do our part to help Habitat better peoples lives!

There was a balcony along the entire back of the bedroom wing between the main story and the walk out basement level. The floor joists extended from the main structure 4' and supported the balcony.

As the balcony aged and the "waterproofed" canvas covering the deck failed leaks began to occur. My father decided to replace the balcony with a sloped shingled roof. It completely changed the feel of the back of the house.

Mom and I decided that the balcony should be restored. In the future (as budget allows) I hope to restore the doors from the 2 bedrooms to the balcony.

The original balcony was still in tact under the roof framing and looked like this after the roof was removed. The plywood decking had seen better days so it was replaced with thicker decking and underlayment for a new rubber roof.

Jim Mauler and his crew applied the new rubber roofing then worked his magic with copper for a shiny new drip edge. We were able to reuse the flashing from between the house and shingled roof at the base of the wall at the base of the wall to the balcony.

I cannot say enough about Jim Mauler from James Custom Sheet Metal. He can create anything out of sheet metal and does AMAZING things with copper. He fabricated new 6" copper gutters to replace the undersized 4" ones and will be installing 6" downspouts to match once the siding work is done.

Balcony Railing

We are fortunate to have my grandfather's blueprints and very detailed detail drawings for the entire house. We were able to consult the drawings to recreate the design of the balcony railing. Some modifications were necessary but the new railing faithfully replicates the original.

When the sunroom/family room was built there were french doors leading to the patio. Those were replaced later by a sliding patio door. That was then replaced by casement windows to match the rest of the windows in the sunroom. With the last change we lost direct access from the sunroom to the patio. Twice a year when Mom's 9' tall lemon tree had to go in for the winter or out for the summer, and when we had to bring in and take out the Christmas tree we would leave a trail of leaves/needles through the rest of the house hauling the trees through to the front door. When we had a party  with a kitchen full of caterers our guests had to exit through the end of the house and walk through the side yard to the patio. 

Mom and I are ridiculously happy to have a door again! It wasn't cheap because it had to be custom made to fit the opening and maintain the horizontal top line of the remaining windows in the room. It is the beefiest slider I have ever seen! The plastic is still on the glass to protect it from paint but the dogs are already enjoying laying in front of it and watching the wildlife on the patio. Mom and I are enjoying the unobstructed view of Mom's beautiful garden and the fishpond.

Before:

After!

Love the view from the inside!

The old bank of windows are ready to go to Habitat for Humanity along with the other doors and windows that we removed to replace.