12 Week Progress Report: Bushes and Primer

Fall is certainly here in our corner of the state! The weather has been yoyoing from cool to warm with plenty of rain and storms. I am not sure if am I ready! There are so many things that still need to be done on the outside of the Brick House. I decided it was time to focus a bit on that! This weekend we are going to paint the porch and front steps a darker brown.

 A couple mornings and evenings Mandy and I played in the dirt. We are moving some of the plants from this front flower bed to other locations. Did you notice the little flower bed next to the porch looks better? I cut down the old bushes(which had thorns!) and moved the two azalea bushes over. The little boxwoods also got re-arranged. It was cloudy and rainy, which was good for the plants, they haven't even noticed! Don't they look like they have always been there?

 This week I've also been priming. I primed all the nail holes, cable holes and plumbing holes that had previously been patched. So exciting to finally see the walls look normal! No more gaping holes. I was planning on doing a post on how I patch my plater walls, but of course I get into the working/fixing and forget to take pictures! Opps! 

This morning most of the bathroom also got painted. Just a little bit of cutting in left.

 Still loving my little sink! It is still not quite connected, but I finally got the part that we needed. Hopefully we can finish it up this weekend.

 Look at those lovely maple floors! I couldn't bare tearing them up. So for now I am going to paint them. (After a bit of sanding!) I realize it might not be a long term solution, but it will be fun to enjoy them for a couple years.

We also started working on the stairs this week. It is a little hard to tell with all the paint lines, but the steps and treads have separated. The stairs squeak and squeal, moan and groan when you tromp up them. It is a little hard to explain, but they way they built the stairs is called the "wedge method". The trim boards you see on the wall are actually part of the stairs and are holding it up. Slots are cut into it for the steps and treads and then to make everything firm and non-squeaky, wooden wedges are also put in on the underside of the steps. We are not sure if mine steps were built wrong or if they have not aged well, but one side of the steps have lost their wedges which has caused all the steps and treads to shift. Mandy and I are not 100% sure what we are doing, but we are attempting to put in new wedges and fit the steps back into their slots. The first two steps are done and it is a vast improvement! So that is encouraging!