We did a LOT of work on our home right after buying it. Tore down a wall, painted, stripped wallpaper in EVERY room, put in a new kitchen, new laminate floor and MORE and that was BEFORE we had our own little Extreme Home Makeover.
I was hoping that I could find a pic of the outside of our house BEFORE these latest projects but, yeah, not happening. So close your eyes and imagine. Ok, yes, I know you have to have your eyes open to read....
Our house was 1970's brown. You know that UGLY brown that says 1970's. All of it was brown except for the ugly real stone facade on the front of the house. Oh, and it was WOOD siding and it had seen its day and was rotting. So about 4.5 years ago we painted it - thanks to our family who helped us. We painted it to make the siding last a wee bit longer until we were ready to put up vinyl siding. We painted it a nice sage green color. However, we left the "trim" and soffits brown. UGLY!
It is now time to fix up the exterior. In the mean time we decided to do red siding. Oh, did I mention that we also needed to redo the roof? Yep, this way Rod could stop getting up on our roof ever summer to put tar on it. :) Oh, and Windows. Yep, they were the crank casement windows and most of them didn't work properly. (You'd have to have someone on the outside pushing the window back in to get it to close right.) I am so looking forward to being able to open my bedroom window and smelling the lilacs that are right outside our window. :)
Did you know that there is an order that you should do such monstrous projects? Neither did I but I do now. Roof, windows then siding.
Oh and we decided to get rid of all of that ugly rock. Big, heavy rock with ugly mortar. Definitely not J&N Stone. (For you non-locals - that is a local company here. :) ) So this past Saturday there was a series of 3 different types of air compressor jack hammer type tools. I was told that one tool was a "hammer drill" and eventually a REAL jack hammer had to be used.
So currently this is what my house looks like
Here is the entry way now.
So, doesn't all of the pretty plywood look so nice? The brown trim was removed to reveal MORE plywood. The big yellow dumpster is a nice added touch, huh? For the record, the bear is Rod's. I keep telling him it needs to go in the back yard but he won't do it and it is too heavy for me to move on my own (altho I might have to try!).
We have decided, after a long process and many discussions to build a small front porch. We will also paint our front door. That terracotta would definitely clash with the red siding! I want a black door but Rod is pushing for a white door with black trim. I might be ok with that.
Oh, and the dumpster is to be removed in about an hour!
Of course all this means that this spring we will start on landscaping as we removed all of the overgrown evergreen bushes in the front of the house
So next week the red siding will start. Until then, to all of the people who drive past our house and especially to our neighbors who live across the street and are unable to divert their eyes that consistently.....I apologize for how ugly our house looks right now.
But I promise that it won't stay like this forever......
Oh, and just for clarity whenever I said "WE" did something....it usually means Rod with some one's help (a lot of time it is his dad) and me supervising. :)
you are way important... don't downplay the importance of food prep!
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