dug & Jenny's 20 by 30 1 and 1/2 story

[dug]

Got the front door hung.   

I wanted to buy pre-hung doors but couldn't find the style I wanted so I went the slab door route. It was a bit harder, and definitely took longer than I expected but with some great tips I learned on this forum it went pretty well.

I cut the bevel using a palm sander. Not the most appropriate tool but I didn't have a power planer and the sander was less scary for me than a hand plane. Not perfect but acceptable.



I then dropped it into the frame so I could mark the hinges-



Chiseling out the hinge insets-



A big sigh of relief when it dropped right in-



I got pretty even gaps, though not as good as when it was on the table. I didn't leave much space in the rough opening so I had to make some skinny shims-







Still have to put on the jamb extensions and moulding, sand caulk and paint jambs, remove door and sand, stain, seal, and then start on the back one...Aye Carumba!  I now understand the value of pre-hung doors.

Overall though it was one of the more fun and satisfying jobs thus far. Nothing like your own front door closing with a perfect fit.   

[MountainDon]

Looks like you've done well!

[astidham]

Good Job dug, that looks great!

[dug]

Thanks guys!

I will be spending the next 4 or 5 days paying back the friend who helped me with my roof by helping him stucco a place he is working on, a perfect situation for me as I have never done stucco work before. It is a large house so I should be up to at least apprentice level by the time we are through!

[Tom]

Stucco application will look good on your resume

[dug]

Over a month since my last post and not a lot of progress to show I'm afraid. Besides being my normal slow self I nearly broke my hip falling off my porch while working on some trim. It was only about four feet but as falls usually go it was unexpected and so it was awkward, and I landed hard on my hip. I thought it was O.K. at first but later that night it got real painful, and sleep was impossible. An X-ray later showed it did not crack, but it was several days of hobbling before I could do much good.

When I started putting up the netting in preparation for stucco I noticed right away that wasps seemed irresistibly attracted to the netting. Almost as if they saw it as the mother of all hives, the netting being the same hexagonal shape as their hives. Or maybe it was just the paper. At any rate we seemed to achieve a sort of detente, I didn't mess with them and they seemed to ignore me. Besides, I was too lazy to drive to town to buy some poison. This truce worked out O.K. for several days until I got to working on one section that the wasps seemed to be especially interested in. Still didn't have any poison co I used my shop-vac on them in the evening when they were moving kind of slow. In the morning it looked all clear so on I proceeded until one came out of nowhere and nailed me on the arm. I had a brain spasm and slapped at it and jumped off the ladder at the same time, landing badly and injuring my heal in the process.

Biological warfare.

Heavy casualties suffered by the enemy, all looks clear and after two days I am hobbling sufficiently to give it another try. Nearly immediately one comes from nowhere and scores a direct hit on my neck. On the same ladder, same step, I do the same thing again and land hard on the same heal! Unbelievable stupidity!

More poison, many more deaths, but they continue to harass me at that particular spot. The  injured, but not yet dead ones all seemed to fly off in the same direction, and I followed for about 100 yards but failed to find their headquarters.

Nearly out of ammunition and temporarily  defeated, I am taking a break from this portion above the bump out window, which should have been a 2 hour job.




The rest of the netting went smoothly, and I am getting a better feel for how the final product will (someday!) look.






I flashed toe tops of my fake lintels like this me-



details on door jamb-



Also got the back door done, same as the front-




Ready to stucco but one of the friends who was going to help me injured his shoulder, and we have found no replacement as of yet. It's really a 3 person job, assuming two of them are good. I am usually the mixer, but am improving my skills.

Gonna have to write me a country song.     

[astidham]

I cant wait to see the stucco progress dug!

[Pine Cone]

Sorry to hear about the injuries, but I'm glad they weren't worse. 

Over the years I've gotten better a quitting before I fatally injure myself, but that's only because I pushed too far too many times and suffered the consequences.  We don't seem to learn from others mistakes as well as we could.  Unfortunately, wasps and ladders don't mix well no matter how you do it.

Looking pretty good, are you going for the Greek blue and white look or will your stucco be some other color?

[dug]

Looking pretty good, are you going for the Greek blue and white look or will your stucco be some other color?

Thanks. The color will be some shade of brown and the upper gable ends and dormer will be some sort of wood siding. Was thinking of wavy siding but the price is outrageous even for 300 sq. ft. Maybe cedar shingles? board and batten? Time will tell.

[dug]

Lining up porch landing, hillbilly style- (note stringline attached to tailgate, plumbline on chair)




My first attempt at stringers, didn't go too bad-



When you have done without for awhile, stairs are quite the luxury! Handrail is temporary while trying to figure out how I want to do it.




I've been hard at work doing the stucco finish coat at my friends place and getting good practice. A word of warning to anyone who has not done a lot of concrete work and is planning to in the future- Concrete (and lime) can mess you up if you are not real careful. I was wearing heavy rubber gloves and didn't notice the chaffing it was causing on my arm until it was too late.



also some water and mix got in my glove and went unnoticed too long-



It burned through what looks like nearly every layer of my skin, I fear scars will permanently remind me of that day.   

[Redoverfarm]

Were you ever in wv.  You would fit right in.  Used trees to hold the string line for my footings and layout for the blocks on my deck.  Just had to make sure that the wind was not blowing to be percise. 

As far as the abrasions from concrete and mortar "been there and done that" as they say.  Takes a while for that to heal.  I work as long as I can without gloves and when they start getting tender I break out a pair.  Hate working in gloves especially doing mason work.  Still have one that has just healed completely from about a month ago. 

[dug]

Windows taped and ready for stucco-



We got these two walls done the first day. We could have done all four (took about 4 hours for these) but we got started a bit late and decided one more day wouldn't hurt.-



Day 2.  The only photo I managed to snap while we were working.



All four walls covered, feels pretty good!



Though I am anxious to get the finish color coat on we decided it would be best to leave the scratch coat until spring. Winter is closing in fast and it will likely start freezing at night any time now. Also the interior work will add a lot of weight and possibly cause additional settling, plus hammering nails and such probably wouldn't do it much good.

It was hard work and I hope I am done with cement for awhile, but we had a pretty good time doing it (note: A 30 pack of beer doesn't go far with a stucco crew!). Afterwords several more friends came over (and 10 kids!) with more beer and plenty of good food and we pitched horseshoes until we couldn't see anymore (lack of vision was due to the sun going down, not because of too much beer consumed.    ).  The day had a wholesome, barn raising feel to it, with everyone pitching in.

Also- got started on my rebar railing.

[astidham]

WOW!
dug, the place looks wonderful.
are you going to stucco the gable end?

[dug]

Thanks astedham.

Gable ends and dormer will be covered with rough sawn shiplap siding or maybe cedar shingles. I really have to decide soon- I want to get started on it!

[MountainDon]

Exterior looks so much more like a home in scratch coat rather than the wrap and all showing.

[Redoverfarm]

Dug looking good.  You are wise to waiting on the finished coat for the reason that you said.  You have worked too hard to turn it into a bad looking job.

On the rebar railings you might consider finishing the rebar rather than building it into the railing before you paint.  It will be a booger to get painted in place. 

[dug]

On the rebar railings you might consider finishing the rebar rather than building it into the railing before you paint.  It will be a booger to get painted in place.

It was sort of a trial run so I just temporarily screwed it together with intent to take it apart and finish it. I've been struggling a bit as to what to do with the rebar, painting would probably make the most sense but I was hoping for a hoping for a more natural, slightly rusted look. Polyurethane would most likely melt off inside a year and I was thinking of maybe just rubbing them down with linseed oil a couple times a year, but knowing me I wouldn't keep up on that and the bottom rail would soon be black.

Any suggestions?     I did drill a smaller, through hole where the spindle goes into the bottom support rail for water to drain.

[dug]

Exterior looks so much more like a home in scratch coat rather than the wrap and all showing.

But the wrap and netting look was starting to grow on me!     I like it better now though, can't wait to get the rest of the siding on.

[Redoverfarm]

Dug the next time you are at one of the big box stores check out the speciality paint offered now. Hammered, stone, patina and the like.  Here is one site although there are others.

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProductFinder.asp?pfm=BBF

[MountainDon]

Chrome the rebar!  

[drainl]

Great job on the stucco!  We'll tackle this in the spring - it's always nice to see someone else do it first! 

[dug]

Great job on the stucco!  We'll tackle this in the spring - it's always nice to see someone else do it first!

Thanks! I had never done any stucco work before this so I was lucky to earn my apprenticeship by helping some friends stucco their 2000 sq. ft. house first. They returned the favor which was nice because it seems 3 or 4 people is about ideal for the job. Less makes it difficult to keep a flow going without too many cold seams.

I found it to be a lot of fun, a nice break from the relative precision required for dimensional lumber. I wouldn't want to do it for a living though!

I see you guys have done your fair share of cement work so the fun part is probably over.   

[Don_P]

For the rebar, anybody know what the "blueing" recipe for a brown bess was?
I should buy stock in rustoleum leather brown, I seem to use gallons of it.

[MountainDon]

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=145/k=/t=S/mfg=/Products/Blackening-Browning  


http://www.militaryheritage.com/browning.htm
http://chestofbooks.com/reference/Facts-For-Everybody/How-To-Brown-Gun-Barrels.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_6904788_brown-gun-parts.html

[nathan.principe]

Youre doing a really great job, the rebar railing is a very nice touch, a great "re-purposing" use of the material.  Are you gonna go across the whole porch with it?