7.25.2019

The pole barn man door looked even prettier this morning now that it's dry!

The face frame for the attic door is done as far as it can go right now - he has the panel cut to size but needs another router bit that is on order.

Jim brought in the painted soffit pieces and started cutting them to size...

He has to predrill holes...

Putting up the first piece and screwing it into place...

He has the entire front section all finished!

Mid-afternoon, Jim headed to the Drywall Center to pick up his steel order that he'll use to build the dormer on the stairwell (he had already moved some pieces into the pole barn when I took this picture).  His timing coincided with a brief shower that passed through the area - by the time he got home, it was about over.

Next project was to paint the door frame - he first had to clean and prep it and tape the edge.

Starting to paint...

Just about done!

Then it was clean up time and time to take the Bobcat down the hill to take the trash out.

High 77/Low 56

7.24.2019

Jim worked more in the wood shop this morning on the outside frame for the attic door, making the bottom panel...

Gluing the door....

 Jim set up a painting station in the pole barn and painted the new soffit pieces...

Jim needed to get the awning window ordered for the dormer in the stairwell and wanted to go talk to Lowe's about the price again.  But first, he made a template of the window sizes - we decided to go with a slightly smaller size than originally planned for.

When Jim got to Lowe's, he sat right next to the rep and walked through all of the window options (there is over 20 decisions to be made!).  Each time an option was added, Jim could see the price change at the bottom of the page.  One line item made the price jump $700!  Believe it or not, it was the placement for the crank to open the awning window.  Jim had picked the middle of the bottom - that's where it is for our cantilever windows.  But when they chose the right side, the price down $700.  The pro rep called the guys over from the window department over and they had no clue about that - it certainly isn't flagged that that option is a premium one.  If Jim would have just gone over the quote again, we would have been at the same price point.  Amazing!

That money saved made the decision to buy the replacement door for the box truck much easier!  Jim will get that ordered and move along on that project as well.

Once Jim got home, he got started on his final project of the day.  The soffit pieces were dry enough to move so he then took the pole barn man door off and set it up.  Then he had to clean and sand it...

He had to get his new paint gun set up and then he started painting.  It turned out beautifully and was so much easier for him without the cord.

High 77/Low 53 - beautiful!

7.23.2019

Jim worked this morning continuing to make the door for the auto bay attic.  He made the outer face frame - he's gluing up pieces of wood to make the bottom piece.

This is the way it will go together, the front part of the door encasing the foam board inside with a flat panel on back.  That will keep all the cold air out of the shop!

Jim also is starting to plan for the dormer in the stairwell.  First step was to take the temporary drywall off.  (So sad to lose the lovely scenic view Jim drew on it - ha!)

Everything was in great shape behind the drywall, which was great considering that the outside covering on this area is just temporary as well.

In the afternoon, Jim headed out to ABC Roofing to pick up his soffit piece that finally came in.  He took his saw because it comes in 16' sections.  He just bought one piece but it came strapped down to 2" x 6" boards - they didn't want them so Jim cut those in half too.  So he came home with eight 2" x 6" x 8' boards for free!  The cost of those at Lowe's would have been the same as he paid for the soffit - so a good deal!  Jim can use them for concrete framing or shelves in the pole barn.

After dealing with the roofing company, he stopped at the Drywall Center.  He has been working on the details for the dormer window and stopped and ordered the steel he will need to do that project.  

I had bought this sign years ago and Jim had it hanging outside the pole barn in Ohio.  He hung it up this morning outside the wood shop.  Not that the sign is referring to me or anything - ha!

Jim finished off the day doing some more grass cutting.

High 75/Low 54 - beautiful!

7.22.2019

After a hot weekend, today was a big change - we were only in the 60s and it rained most of the day.  So definitely an inside day for Jim.  This morning, he started prepping wood.  His next project is to make the entry doors for the auto bay attic and the attic access door in our master bedroom.  He's working on the auto bay one first.  After planing the wood and cutting it to size, here he's making the rabbet cuts...

Here's the outer door frame - he's making these doors so that they will encompass foam board for good insulation.

After lunch, Jim headed out to Saratoga to go to both Home Depot and Lowe's.  It's been almost two weeks of trying to get a quote from Home Depot on the garage door for the carriage house with no results.  It was time for an in-person visit.  It worked out well that the person that Jim had been working with wasn't there today; a different person helped him and was able to figure out the spring issue.  Everything still took a long time but the door is now officially on order.

Onto Lowe's - Jim had to get a quote for the window for the dormer in the stairwell.  This is where we were originally going to use the half-round window but there is no available good way to flash it to prevent leaks.  If time were not an issue, Jim could no doubt figure something out, but of course it is.  He's talked to the roofing experts and no one has any good advice.  So...back to the drawing board.  Actually, Plan B will be better because Jim designed an awning window that can open to get fresh air into the stairwell.  Jim had some sticker shock when he saw the quote on one window - it was more than double the cost we paid for any other single window.  We got great deals back when we ordered because of the quantity and because our old pro rep was wonderful; we don't get that this time around.  Jim's going to make a template of the window size just to make sure before he gets that window ordered.

After using the new paint sprayer that he bought, Jim decided that the cordless option would be much better.  He got the sprayer at such a good price that he was able to make money when he sold it - so the new one just came in the mail today!

 

High 69/Low 59 - rainy

7.21.2019

Did everyone celebrate National Ice Cream Day today?  I don't know - might be a bit too warm and cause a messy melting situation!  We may have a little bit for dessert tonight though.

The new spring for the lawn mower came in today so Jim put that in this morning.  While he was working on the mower, he changed the oil as well.

Then he went back to work on the stump.  This is how much Jim has done around it and it still won't come out!

After continuing to work, he finally got it tipped over!

That is one enormous stump!

But getting it loose is one thing - now he has to get it out of the hole.

The stump was so big and unwieldy - Jim would get it dragged up and as soon as he tried to move the excavator, it would fall back in.

Continuing to work...

Finally able to drag it out a bit...

Finally out of the hole!

That is one crazy stump!  It left a crater in its wake as well!

Jim moved the excavator and brought up the Bobcat with the forks to grab hold of it...

And carrying it off!

 Next step was to move the smaller stumps that he dug out yesterday and put them in the hole...

He was able to get that area cleaned up...

 Then he started filling in the crater, working the stumps around to make them fit and get them buried.

Wow - looks great!  Jim said he'll need a little more dirt but it's more than good for now!

Jim had to knock off early and start tackling the grass cutting - it had really gotten long in the time the mower was out of service.

High 88/Low 61 - head advisory

7.20.2019

Hope everyone is doing okay with the heat wave that hit a big part of the country this weekend.  Just think...in a few months, we'll be complaining that it's too cold!  But still...everyone take it easy and drink lots of water!

The heat was big news in this parts because they canceled the horse races at the Saratoga Race Track - the first time a race was canceled for heat since 2006.

Jim modified my temporary table top today - the plywood was still a big rough and made it hard to adjust the tablecloth.  Jim took the top off, rounded off the edges and put a piece of plastic over the top before stapling it back in place.  It's great now!

Jim did some reading up on Corian last night, watching YouTube for some tips.  It's very important to have the Corian very flat when you are gluing so Jim is going to use some of our old toe boards to make some runners to go underneath the Corian.  But first he has to get them all to the same exact size, so he did some planing this morning.

After lunch, he decided to dig out more stumps.  He took out a couple of smaller ones...

Before starting to tackle the giant stump left over from the tree we cut down this spring.

Jim worked for over two hours digging around the stump.  These roots are as big as some tree trunks!

Digging from all angles...

He has it basically all dug around the stump with roots separated and it was only right before he came in that he even got the stump to budge a little.

Off to church...

High 90/Low 73 - excessive heat warning