Tuesday, 7 June 2016

I Painted the Addition...

Perhaps you saw my last post with the photo... Well, painting is underway at the LBH! I spent 3 straight days painting last week, in between rain showers. I really had just one delay, and the weather was fine for painting.

Here's the fresh first coat on the north wall of the addition! The only annoyance during this time was the mosquitos trying to attack me, of course because I was a sitting duck.


I call this section the Two Hour Wall. It's nearly 27 feet long, with a couple of windows and a big water tank in the way. (I guess I'll have to wait until we drain the water in the fall to get to that pesky bit.)


This is the side entrance, on  the weathered south side of the LBH. It's the door that we use all of the time. It was tricky simply because of the door, awning and window. At this point I was feeling very pleased with myself, and the colour was drying into a gorgeous blue (thank you, Benjamin Moore)! Then it occurred to me that this was only the first coat. A great first day, however!


On the second day, I completed the north wall...


And I completed the Two Hour Wall...


And then I finished the second coat on this part of the south side...


It does look kind of weird, with both the old and new, and not to mention the awkward upper bit of the addition that I left unpainted! My husband and I agreed that we'd tackle that part together when we paint the original LBH in July. Since I was working alone, it might have been a little sketchy on the big ladder way up there. We are going to borrow some scaffolding for the next part of the job. You can really see how weathered this side of the house is. I have my flakes of old paint in a sandwich bag, and the lead testing kit I ordered finally came in, so I am going to get it tomorrow. I am pretty sure that old paint will have some nasty lead in it.


I was able to paint most of the trim on the addition, too, with the notable exception of the awning. We are considering a tricolour scheme there, to mirror the panels under the bay window.

Unfortunately, our contractor is ill, so we are anticipating a delay in the installation of the lower pieces of coved siding and new corner/trim boards around the front (old) part of the house. Until they're installed, I don't know if we should go ahead and paint! We will think on it some more, but you know how it is when you've already arranged for time off in your schedule to complete a task... I'll bet we end up just going ahead with it! We can add a few more pieces of siding afterwards, right?

Thursday, 2 June 2016

Sneaky Peeky

Here's a hint about what we've started... Oh, and we've such a long way to go!



Sunday, 29 May 2016

Painting

Next project: a makeover for the old girl! We are starting with the addition at the rear of the LBH. We sanded, cleaned and primed the exterior. The addition is about 20-25 years old. The exterior paint isn't in bad shape. But we're changing the colours slightly. Don't worry, it'll still be the Little BLUE House! The north side is in the best condition, as the weather here comes predominantly from the south.
North Side, Addition

The east side wasn't too bad either. As the primer was drying, the wasps were already trying to gain access to the uncovered vents. They were denied access! I gently relocated many spiders as I was painting this wall. Our youngest child was relieved to see that no spiders were harmed during this project...
East Wall

Finally, we got the south side of the addition ready. This is going to be the toughest side once we get to the original part (age: 118 years) of the house. We plan to tackle that part in early July when the kids are with their grandparents! I've ordered a lead-testing kit from the hardware store, although we're quite sure that amongst the 4-5 layers of paint, lead will be present.

At least the addition seems fairly straightforward to paint. No ancient, flaking lead paint. I should get to it within the next 3-5 days. I'm hoping the rain will go away!
Side Entrance, South Side


Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Before and After Time




Hi there! I think it's been a good long while since I've posted some Before & After photos. It's an exercise that I find helpful for my state of mind (to help with the, Oh No! Why Are We Spending So Much Time and Money On This Little Falling Down House?)...

I sincerely hope that it will be interesting for you, too. Especially if you are just stumbling upon my blog for the first time. We've been at this for years now, and it's a long process. Restoring a Gold Rush house is a dream come true, and it's something that I love to obsess about. :) If you have the time and inclination (and perhaps a cup of coffee or a cocktail) you may wish to explore my older posts to see what this place is all about.

Before...
June 30th, 2012
(When we were considering the purchase of the Little Blue House)
After...
January 28th, 2016
(I realize now that this is the most recent photo of the house from this angle)
Before...
2012
After...
2016


Before...
After...


Before...


After...

To be continued!

Friday, 6 May 2016

Spring Treasure Hunting...

Last weekend, my husband donned his work clothes and a face mask to explore the far reaches of our wood shed. Built during the Gold Rush, the small cabin was likely home to a miner or two in Atlin, BC. It was the only part of our property that we hadn't yet explored, and it yielded a few treasures!
Rummaging through an old crate...

Goodyear Rubber Co fire extinguisher, circa 1872!

Colourful gas can.

Wringer washer. 

Dairy cream jugs, curtain rod with brass rings, broken rocking chair... And a lot of junk!

It was pretty mousy in that wood shed. We took 3 trailer loads to the dump, and kept the good stuff to clean up and use. 

Lots more coming on the blog. It'll be my first summer off in many years, so I am looking forward to our projects at the Little Blue House!

Friday, 1 April 2016

Spring Thaw

Spring is springing really quickly this year. There was still snow on the ground for our kids' Easter egg hunt last weekend though!
We are planning our big summer project: painting the LBH! More to follow on that front. See our peeling, old paint!

I'm coming out of my hibernation, so will blog more soon...