Yard – Green Bungalow Craftworks

Progress and Pavers

Tuepm12 Apr201243005 2012America/New_YorkpmTue, 17 Apr 2012 17:25:00 -0400Thupm19 May201953103 2019America/New_YorkpmThu, 30 May 2019 15:23:52 -0400 Christine

I think I’ll have a good picture of what the whole house will look like soon. The guys are rocking right along with the soffit and they’ve almost finished the new shingles on the front. Tomorrow should be the siding on the front of the first floor. I can’t wait!

new shingles almost done on the front!

project supervisor kept safely inside

After the front is finished, they are going to skip around to the back. Bill is going to get the footers poured for my new back porch. Yes, that’s porch, not deck. The aim is to make it look as if it was always part of the house and not something that was tacked on recently.

Anyway, that’s up next so that our hardscaping can get started. I’m really looking forward to my new retaining wall that will corral the mess on the factory side of the house. For that project we are planning to use Techo-Bloc. This is my current favourite color combination.

techo bloc, mini creta, victorien and mista in champlaign grey and onyx black

Everybody else seems to think I should go with brown, but I see greys. With the silver roof and all the raw concrete that was used in 1930, it is honest and original. I was even leaning toward re-using these super simple concrete pavers we dug up from the cabin. But everyone is afraid they will break. So far they haven’t, I have loads more, and you can still buy them new, so I actually don’t see the problem. But I can’t get anyone else on board, so, new techo bloc it is!

All browns just make me think of the bland brown neighborhoods that have cropped up the last couple of years. Blech! Again, I don’t want something dated 2012.

So for today, I’m leaning toward the mix of medium greys with a touch of brown, and an accent of charcoal grey. The main field colors would be the wall and the floor. For the walls, they do come in the charcoal grey as well, so I’m thinking maybe a 10% mix of dark grey with the 90% medium tones. The edging around the floors and the stairs in charcoal grey will be a snazzy contrast, and help define edges to prevent falls and mis-steps. And of course then we need to make the caps dark to tie it all together.

Please, I welcome comments or suggestions regarding my color choices. I have to stop changing my mind very soon so they can be ordered!

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Back Steps Gone!

Friam12 Apr201243011 2012America/New_YorkamFri, 13 Apr 2012 11:55:00 -0400Thupm19 May201953103 2019America/New_YorkpmThu, 30 May 2019 15:23:53 -0400 Christine

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Expect the Unexpected

Thuam12 Apr201243011 2012America/New_YorkamThu, 12 Apr 2012 11:05:00 -0400Thupm19 May201953103 2019America/New_YorkpmThu, 30 May 2019 15:24:07 -0400 Christine

digging up the yard in preparation for retaining walls and new porch

gee, I hope it doesn’t rain!

a surprise find, and no, it isn’t buried treasure

what’s under the hatch???

down the hole: rocks, water, and… is that Oliver hair?

now we just wait to see what we can do about it…

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Last Year’s Hail Damage

Wedam12 Mar201233110 2012America/New_YorkamWed, 28 Mar 2012 10:30:00 -0400Thupm19 May201953103 2019America/New_YorkpmThu, 30 May 2019 15:24:18 -0400 Christine

Last spring we had a wicked, nasty storm. Lewis was at home, but I stayed put at work because we weren’t sure it was really safe to travel. Better to stay in safe shelter than risk getting caught in a bad storm in the little VW, blowing all over the highway.

Anyway, when Lewis first called to tell me how bad it was at home, I couldn’t really understand him. I thought he was going through the automatic car wash!

When things subsided a bit he went outside with the camera.

big hail

hail-littered lawn

poor posies

garden recovered, but zucchini leaves took a beating

When the skies cleared, Lewis realized that we were very lucky. No broken windows, only some broken tree branches, no downed trees. But the siding, oh the siding…

that arc to the left of Oliver isn’t dirt

those streaks aren’t dirt, either

The hail actually struck the house so hard that the paint has been scraped away, right down to the bare metal. When you run your hands over the siding, you can feel all the pits and dents caused by the hail.

pits, dents and no paint

So, a project we though we were going to put off for several more years got bumped to the top of the list. And, you know, it isn’t such a bad thing. While we have the siding off, we can remove all the old, unknown layers and we will be insulating from the outside in. While we have all the walls open, we are getting air conditioning (yay!), and replacing a few damaged windows. Also we are going to be getting the roof scraped and re-painted and we are getting new gutters. Gee, is that all… it seems like there is something else…

All you old house owners out there know what it is like. One task leads to another and another. This spring’s project is turning out to be a big tangled mess of things that overlap. We’re in for a fun ride!