With Kendra's cloth diaper post pulling in 300+ visitors, as opposed to our usual 50 visitors, I have a tough act to follow here. I get it-- people are more interested in parenting than they are in two DYI-challenged folks futzing around with a (nearly) 100-year-old house. So consider this my effort to simultaneously yank this blog back on-topic and lose hundreds of viewers who might otherwise become regular readers.
After my last update, I was working to get the bathroom in finished shape. Now that our bathroom is completely rebuilt and retiled, it's time that we start . . . wait, hold on. My mistake, the bathroom is NOT done yet. The walls are built and the joints are all taped and mortared, but there is still no tile. The projected completion date is end of month, but, of course, I said that last month.
Let's forget about the bathroom for now. With spring approaching, Kendra and I are contemplating what exterior work should be accomplished this year. We've done quite a bit to the east (front) and west (back) sides of the house, but relatively little to the north and south sides. Here's a view of the north side of the Peaches estate:
This side of the house really annoys us. This picture actually looks more appealing than the house looks in real life, I think. This side faces a street (I'm standing near the street in taking this picture), and we've struggled coming up with something to enhance the curb appeal. So far, we've done a few small things -- you can see the stone wall around the AC unit. There are also three nine bark bushes and three vibernums we planted last year (they are just sticks right now, but hopefully will be nice and bushy once spring arrives). Otherwise, this side is just a large expanse of grungy vinyl. Long-term the plan is to reside the entire house with new wood clapboards, but our empty piggy bank prevents us from moving on that right now. Another part of the plan is to plant some trees on this side and let them grow, but that does nothing to help in the short term.
Given the lack of curb appeal on this side coupled with its prominence to the street, Kendra and I discussed what small touches we could do to dress it up a bit. We had settled on a modest plan: repaint the windows to the basement, perhaps paint the stone foundation, and paint the vinyl window trim. That's when I got to really looking at the windows:
We often lament the vinyl siding that's on the house. But look at that window--to me, it sure looks like we have some pretty ornate wood window trim lurking underneath that damn plastic. You can even see that the bottom sill is not cut flush with the side trim, which makes me think that the original trim is fully intact under the vinyl. After all, if they wanted to make the vinyl job easier, they would have squared off the windows, wouldn't they?
Taking all this into account, I think the new plan is to remove the vinyl from the windows and repaint/restore the exterior wood window trim. This is, no doubt, a much larger project than just slapping some vinyl-friendly paint on there, but I think the finished product--if we can pull it off--will be more impressive. Plus, I have already undertaken to restore our original wood windows, one at a time, and this will dovetail nicely with that project (more details on the window restoration in a later post).
So what do you think, Peaches readers? Does this have a shot of working? Have any of you done this type of thing before and have any tips for us? One of my biggest worries is flashing/waterproofing, but I think the siding and some caulk should take care of that for us. Or is there something I'm overlooking?
4 comments:
There is immense power in landscaping. Get out your spade and mix in some composted manure. Then pick some good shrubs to be fronted by salvia to be fronted by sprawling mixed color petunias. That trim below vinyl project is gonna be doable but a pain in fingers.
I think we'll likely do both--I'm experiencing quite the urge to peel off that vinyl. We need some color contrast! I'm unfamiliar with salvia, though. Is that ground cover?
Hello Gagnon's, it is your old neighbor from the urban high-rise (unit 802) Scott Marolf. I have just spent the last 2 hours reading through your blog...excellent job! We also moved out of the highrise to a 100 year old home. We couldn't give up the city completely, so we went with Brookside instead of a small town. But we understood the appeal of a yard for the little one(s).
You guys moved out while I was still at grad school, so I feel like it has been forever. Congrats on: Max, the house, the law firm, Charlie and probably something else I'm forgetting. And I'm terribly sorry about Lucy. Johanna and I have a 21 month old boy and just experienced an unsuccessful pregnancy. I feel guilty even comparing it to what you went through, but wanted to thank you for sharing.
Between the boys, old houses, the highrise, Mizzou, the Democratic Party and an appreciation for Crossroads cuisine, we have a ton in common and need to catch up sometime! I hope all is well.
Scott
There are definitely more landscaping plans on the horizon, Bryce. We've already planted ninebark and viburnum along that side of the house (although you can't really see them in the pic since they are bare). Any other shrub suggestions? Would you plant the salvia and petunias as a border?
Great to hear from you again, Scot! Thank you for your kind words. It has been a tough year and a half, but we are very thankful to have our two very sweet boys at home. We are sorry to hear about your recent pregnancy loss. We would love to catch up sometime and are glad you have enjoyed reading the blog. Keep in touch!
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