Nothing Much Happening

Since we finished or almost finished, the office. We are still needing to put in the window sills, we haven't done much work around here. Instead, we have done two complete remodels of rent houses, painted the exterior of both plus one more, and taken two vacations. We have another house we will completely redo in October so we won't get anything started around here until after that.

One thing we have had done is something that has bothered  me since we bought this place. We had multiple dead trees along the street. They were huge! The county took the two largest ones down for us; the other two we needed to tackle. It would mean rope and pulleys and blocking off the street or taking our fence down. We have found this wonderful tree guy in town who is so affordable, read that as cheap.


 These were the two trees that you saw as soon as you turned the corner onto our road. Talk about UGLY.

 

 Bob and his crew brought the bucket truck out and started to work. You could tell they had  worked together for a long time. The only words spoken were to train the young guy and to tease the dickens out of each other. If one guy wanted to take a break, he quit, took a walk and then came back and asked for his job back.

 We took our little trailer down and they piled the branches on it. We hauled them up to the burn pile instead of paying them to haul them off. Let me word that differently; I drove the 4 wheeler with the trailer and they rode along then offloaded the debris to our burn pile. These guys were great.

 I tried to figure out a way to get them to let me ride in the bucket but couldn't. Only Bob went up in the bucket.

 They cleaned the areas up so well. I don't know if we would have left things this clean.

 After the bucket the next crew started in with the chain saw.

 Bob went on to the next tree while two others finished the first tree.

 These power lines and a gas line were another concern of ours.

 This tree was so dead that after trimming the very top branches.

 The bucket, sans Bob, was used to push it down. Didn't even disturb the soil so you know the roots were gone.

 After the trimmers were finished Bob's brother came in with the stump grinder and got rid of all evidence of the trees. Look at all that firewood. The little stuff goes to the lake and the big stuff Tiffany will use in their fireplace.

Now we have a beautiful clean line of living trees. Those ugly things blocking the house are gone never to be seen again. Except as firewood.

Romeo Romeo Wherefore Art Thou

When the front turret was built I was not a happy camper. It was a big block stuck on the front of the house. I was envisioning something about 3/4 its size. I still don't like it.It is not something that is ever going to grow on me.

 Had to get my creative thinking cap on. A window would break up the look but there has to be a reason for a window. Aha! A Juliet balcony will look really good and solve my dilemma.

We don't want an actual window here because it is just asking to be broken by hail  and there would just be an empty space behind it. Had to get creative again. We bought a large sheet of plexiglass cut it to the shape we wanted and then spray painted it. I spent a long time at Lowe's with the paint lady figuring out the color that would look like a window in the sunlight. Used a silver white that has some metallic so there are some reflective properties. I tend to obsess about things. Most people would have gone with a off white and been satisfied but; not me.














 
This was our design center. Since we aren't using an actual window Bill had to create an illusion. Using the plexiglass and PVC boards he built us a window. The PVC boards are white to match our other windows and will never need to be painted.  These shutters will stand open around our window.

The window looks pretty good; looks like the real thing. But, we didn't stop there; still a little plain for our tastes.

Next thing was the balcony. Do we spend more than a $1,500 for the railing or do we DYI it. Our DYI projects look pretty good so we will try it that way first. If it doesn't turn out; then we buy the real thing. Doesn't hurt to try and save some money. Bought the railing pieces and sprayed them black. This was a super hot day with intense sunlight. Left them out all afternoon to have the sun bake the paint on to them.

Bill put his metal bending skills to work again and bent the rails to add dimension.
















We thought the spindles were too long so we cut an inch and a half off each end. They are aluminum so the grinder just zipped right through them. It was actually harder than we thought it would be. But, that's good, it means they aren't flimsy things.

Now we think they are the right length. We don't want two thirds of the window covered with the balcony.

















And of course, it is time to go back up on the scissor lift. Best thing we ever bought.

 Attaching the brackets to the wall. They will hold the top and bottom railings off the wall.

 Next step completed.

 First spindle on. Also the decorative hardware has been added to the shutters that make them look as if they are working shutters.

 And what would a day spent in the sky be if the grandkids weren't up in the air also. Sutton and Brynnlee had to have a ride.

 Does the level add to the look? Sutton thinks it should stay.

 Love my balcony. Love my Romeo for giving his Juliet exactly what she wants.

Piddly Stuff

We haven't been able to get our next project gong on the buildings. We had one rent house come open where the dog had chewed all the wood in the house; he even chewed a hole from the inside to the outside. Now we have had an extreme hoarder house open up. This one was totally disgusting. Our business takes precedent over our building process. Have to get these houses repaired and rented out. We can get piddly stuff done at home and that is it.

There has been something that has bothered the dickens out of us ever since we bought this place. There was a bunch of concrete at the start of the driveway. It was right along the road; we saw it every time we came home or we left. This is what it looked like even after Bill took one load of concrete away. The Previous Owner just dropped concrete wherever he wanted. A horrible eyesore and it was stopping the water from  going where it needed to go. This was pushing all the water towards the road; which made it run along the front edge of our drive and had eroded the asphalt away.



















There were some very large chunks of concrete. We still have the cousin in laws tractor that picked the concrete up for us. I drove the tractor and Bill pushed on the concrete to get it into the bucket. We are quite the team. Love the power you have when you have a tractor on the road, even a little one. Everyone stops and lets you do what you need to do. Then they drive by waving and smiling at the old lady driving the tractor. Our neighbors are probably just as happy as we are to get rid of this stuff.

 After each load of concrete was in the back of the pick up we would go down the road 5 miles to an asphalt plant. They let you drop off concrete and they crush it for use as road bed base. Free product to them and a place for concrete to go. You are on your own to offload your truck so we had to get creative on pushing the chunks off. We needed to protect our tail gate and our backs.

 Those really big chunks in the  pile are not ours. Ours are the little guys in the front. We did two more loads this size.

 Three truckloads were hauled away and then we raked and raked and raked. Now we have a nice smooth ditch. Easy mowing, water goes where it should, and looks very nice.

 No more lumps of concrete!!!!!!!!

Looks Pretty From the Road

We were able to get one half of the front turret done. We must have put our scallops closer than usual because we only had enough to do one half of the turret. We like the way they look close together.

 I got home from an appointment with Mom and was surprised with what one guy got done. It doesn't go fast since it is up and down, up and down on the scissor lift continually. Bill measures for several rows and then goes down to cut and paint the cut ends of each piece and then up to attach.

 The drive slopes away from the house so the scissor lift has to be leveled before it will run. If you are off balance at all it alarms and won't move. Love the safety features, especially when it is fully extended and our Oklahoma winds are blowing.

 We have the light sensor for the front column lights around the corner of the turret so you don't see it on the front.

From the ground you can't see the sensor. Used a grey plate to match the siding.

 The only tricky cut on the side was around the inside/outside corners of the trim.

 The wall is used as the memo pad. Big numbers so they can be read from the ground. The siding covers them up; so write away.

 Side done then onto the front.

 Bill got smart this time around and used the jack to lift the lift so it is level and then slid the boards under it. Last time we had a tall project we would drive the lift up onto the boards and it was a difficult thing because they would slide on us. This is easy.

We love the rounded front edge of the front porch. Unfortunately, it moves the scissor lift away from the house and we have to stretch a bit more to reach the wall.

 Lots of high work. Makes me nervous but what a view!

Looks pretty good. The window takes away the look of a big block of color stuck up in the air. Now we just wait for the siding order to come in so we can finish the other two sides.

Artistry

When the rock mason was starting on the West Wing columns we told him straight columns. Then Bill thought maybe we want them curved out so they support more of the porch ceiling. When I got home he told me he had changed our plans. Great, good idea. Then we both came home and saw what the mason had done and loved it. This man is an artist. He had figured out that we like the unusual and just started creating.

 Why, just have an arch when you can show off the beauty of the rock so well.

Love what he came up with.