This and that!

Location, Home, CA

Can’t figure out where the days went or what I did each day.

I now have the outside lights up for the back of the house and garage. I found some neat Halogen spot lights which do a lot more than the old fixtures. At least you can see something in the back yard when they are on.

Tuesday evening our friend George came with his motor home and parked next door in the neighbor’s yard. They are gone which works out just fine as it gave him a place to park for a few days.

We have completed all the arrangements for the house tenting for termites. That will happen Monday and we will be out of the house until Wednesday afternoon. I picked up all the bags and info on what we need to remove today. A lot of work as all opened food containers, refrigerator contents, freezer contents, spices medicines, etc need to be doubled bagged or removed. We will remove the bedding also as it would need to be washed if we left it in the house.

We will stay in the RV and also store most of the stuff in it. We will try to move the freezer next door if possible.

All the plants are already away from the house as we did that to paint so that helps.

Yesterday I talked to the BIG BOX store about ordering a fiberglass pre-painted door to replace the front door on the house. Someone is supposed to come out and look over the job as I also want them to install it. No one has called yet.

I also checked on steel rafters for the woodshed roof. They need to be ordered. More delays. It will be November before I get this all done.

I hate waiting on other people. I want it done NOW!!!!

More RED DOOR saga.

Location, Home, CA

Yesterday was a day of rest. Well, I did look at a little football and some golf on TV but mostly I read. I have a really good sea series that I picked up in Everett, WA this summer and it hasn’t let me down yet. I am on book six of about 20 in the series.

We had a heavy fog yesterday which really was a light rain. I needed to use the windshield wipers going and coming from church. This morning I had my walk done before it started again. It didn't last long today however.

I have been making RV park reservations the last few days for some of the gang who will be going on the fall desert trip. I think we are all set, unless someone changes plans.

Now, the SAGA of the RED Door. No one likes the color I have been painting on our front door so Clyda suggested another red to try. I only painted the upper part of the door but do see a little more zip to this red. What do you think?

Front door paint.

Location, Home, CA

Yesterday I installed all of the downspouts and touched up what spots needed it both on the stucco and trim. I also painted the foundation for the patio room. We discussed painting it when we were spraying but decided to leave it. Well, I decided yesterday to paint it and it looks much better.

The estimator for the termite company came by and measured the house. We should receive an estimate in a few days.

I bought a sample of red paint for the front door. It is supposed to match our colors according to the paint sample. After just a few swatches I got a lot of flack from everyone about the color. Too pink, not red enough, etc. So I painted more of the door today and added white trim around the frame. I think it looks good. I would like to buy a ready painted door which is available at the BIG BOX store but no one can find the material describing it. I even went back today but no workers in the door department today. Arrghhh!

Anyway, here is the door as it now looks. Anyone care to vote????

Still painting.

Location, Home, CA

Still painting. I finished putting two coats on the downspouts and completed the rear garage door and patio door. I also found one more spot in the starter boards that needed a little more work. Tomorrow I have some caulking to do and touch up painting in a few places. I hope to have everything done tomorrow.

We do need to have the house tented for termites so I called today to get that started. Someone will be out tomorrow to measure the house for an estimate.

My next goal is to build the woodshed back of the garage. I only have a half formed plan for that.

It is the usual fall rush before I go off for my desert trip. It never fails.

Painting almost done.

Location, Home, CA

I took two days off, Sunday and Labor Day after working hard all week on the house prep and paint.

Today, I put a final coat on the window trim and the rain gutters. They look really good! I finished the garage door trim and put one coat on the rear garage door and patio room door.

Here is the results.


The front of the garage with all the "gingerbread" removed.


The front of the house.


The patio room.

More painting.

Location, Home, CA

The house is painted but I still need to do some trim painting on the rain gutters and down spouts and also the doors.

Thursday all day was sanding and priming all the bare spots. Friday morning we taped the windows in the front of the house and the doors. Using high pressure air we blew off all the surfaces to be painted to get rid of sanding dust and spiders.

We started spraying at 11 AM and finished the first coat at 3 PM including a stop for lunch. A final light coat was applied in about 45 minutes. There should be 3 coats of paint on all the stucco and eaves. While the spraying was ongoing, I completed taping the remaining windows and doors in the back of the house.

This morning I did the trim around the patio room windows but didn’t like the result so later I did all the window trim in the off white we used for the fascia boards. It really made the white window frames POP!

We reinstalled the rain gutter at the back of the garage and then started painting the drip molding and the rain gutters. I finally stopped around 4 PM as my back was giving out from all the twisting and climbing up and down the ladder.

I need to complete the final coat on the rain gutters, down spouts and doors. This I can handle by myself at my leisure.

I didn’t get an pics today as the sun angle was wrong by the time we had the trim painted. I do have some of the prep work and one of our trailer parked next door while we sprayed.

More house prep.

Location, Home, CA

Oh am I tired!!!!!! This paint prep is hard work, and I am not doing the hard stuff!!!

Yesterday I went to the big box store to buy paint and supplies at 8 AM. Paint is really EXPENSIVE! Several hundred dollars later, I hope I have all we will need to complete the job.


Yesterday the back of the house was pressure washed which showed some extensive starter board damage in one section. The rest of the back wasn’t bad. The front of the garage was caulked and made ready for sanding.

Last night I took a birthday cake to Elks for the gang. It is a tradition at our table to provide a cake during your birthday month. Clyda picked up a sheet cake from Costco which fed everyone nicely. We had 18 people at our table. Usually we only get 10 or 12 on a Tuesday for dinner. They must have all known I was bringing a cake.

This morning we removed the patio room rain gutter to better clean it. The patio room was pressure washed lightly to remove any dirt. It is in good shape. Above it, the house wall needed stucco patch and repair to two starter boards near the chimney. We also replaced several feet of starter board at the back of the house.

This afternoon we started sanding everything on the front of the garage and all the eaves on the front of the house. After the sanding I primed all the sanded spots.