These stairs are finally done.  First was the endless sanding, then the staining and polyurethane.  I put off painting the risers and sides because its a nightmare to prep, plus I had other projects from “The List” to get done.  I went through a roll of tape just getting everything ready before painting.  Primed with a good primer, then hit it with a semi gloss white from Benjamin moore.  (I went with the semi gloss because of durability, I used this on all my moldings and doors)

Anyways, here are some pics.  The flash from the camera makes it seem more shiny then it actually is, I think it came out pretty good.

Here are some pics from a few weeks ago when she was all cleaned up.   The stang looks a lot better via photos then in person, but hey… What do you expect for 23+ year old paint?!?! Other pics are for the new switch console I added to the ashtray.  These switches control my Fan, Shift Light, and gauges.   Heading to Englishtown,NJ this weekend for the big Muscle Mustang & Fast Fords Event.  More info on the event here: http://www.etownraceway.com/schedule/fords.aspx It should be fun!

Some pics of the control panel installed in the ashtray, sorry crappy pics, took it with my iPhone.

Here is how our kitchen and dining room came out.

This is the buffet table we did in the dining room, we did a glass tile counter top for it
b/c of the leftover tile from the backsplash in the kitchen.

This is the guest room I just (almost) finished yesterday,
just need a bed frame and some other stuff..

The next project, the pond, got my rocks yesterday… Loaded down my truck and my dads.  PA Flag stone.

My other project I am working on, the garage!  To many projects, not enough time…

Eventually I’d like to do a nice garage tile floor and finish rocking the garage.  Garage has its own zone of heat too.

Here are some new pictures of the outside, the grass is coming in really good.  I just finished putting down some fertilizer / grub and insect killer.  Central Air unit / install is going to happen this Tuesday, I am excited!  We ran the 40 Amp line outside into a waterproof box with a cut off and the whip is ready for the Unit install.  I also ran an extra 20 amp line outside for some low voltage lighting and eventually a pond pump into its own small waterproof box.   I was able to score a free pond pump and pond insert, I am not sure how big it is, but its free!

Front Yard

Back Yard

Here are some before, during and after shots of the landscaping. We did a simple design for the front, and are planning on adding another layer or two of the brick to finish it off. We just did one layer so we could put the initial mulch down and that is all that would fit in my truck.

Everything seems to be growing pretty good, the grass has some bare spots and I’ll address those in the spring. Hopefully some of those weeds will go away with the next weed and feed session. Next up is to do a fence along the side and back (behind the new arborvitaes we planted). Waiting for that tax refund!

Front Before

Front After

Another Shot of the front – An in progress photo

Another two shots of the front – All done – And sidewalk / walkway is power washed now!

The Backyard

Before:

In Progress (All cleaned up and seeded)

After – John Power washed neighbors fence too

Two more backyard shots

Just making a page so I can remind myself when I did the basic things around the house that are done on a routine basis.

Just yesterday I ran out to buy Ortho Home Defense Max, both the spray and the Granules (overkill). The purpose is to keep bugs out of the house. I went and sprayed my entire foundation (outside) with the product, and will repeat in a month or so. I wanted to get this stuff down before the bug season comes, hopefully it works! Here is the product description from the site

“Create a bug barrier inside and outside your home with Ortho® Home Defense® MAX®! Our exclusive InvisiShield® formula, with up to 12 month control indoors, penetrates deep into the cracks and crevices where bugs live to kill pests like ants, spiders, and cockroaches.

In addition to the ready-to-use liquid lineup, Ortho® Home Defense® MAX® is available in an outdoor granule form. These granules come in an easy-to-use bottle and will protect your home from invading insects all season. Choose the product form that is right for you!”

My Notes:

4/10/2008 – Ortho Home Defense Spray and Granules – Do every 6 months
4/10/2008 – Foaming Root Killer for your Sewer Pipes (Kills Roots in your sewage pipes) – Do every 6 months

Well,  this isn’t a normal “house update”.  The house was updated, but with a few thousand pound branch that crushed my truck, scratched Chrissy’s car, and took off my brand new gutters.  Below are some pictures, it happened at about 10:45pm (about an hour and 1/2 ago) on 3/8/2008.  I reported 3 claims (yes three) to Allstate.  They made me do one claim per car, then one for the house.  I’ve herd some horror stories in the past with claims of this nature with Allstate, lets just hope they handle everything correctly.

I do have a question for everyone, this was a branch from my neighbors tree.  What do I do? Who’s responsible for the tree cleanup and all of the other expenses?

Sideshow here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/burmjohn/sets/72157604073525656/show/

All pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/burmjohn/sets/72157604073525656/ 

Yes, the tree is IN my car!

Roof is crushed in, windows smashed, quarter panel is smashed….

Wifes car has a lot of scratches and missing a side mirror now…

Thats one big branch!

Well the siding is 95% done, there is just some minor trim work that needs to be completed.  It really came out a lot nicer then I expected.  The wider planks and grainy look makes it stand out from regular vinyl siding.

Front View:

Back View:

Me and my Father-in-Law started the Bamboo flooring upstairs.  We started in the master bedroom and are working our way into the office.  It looks a lot nicer then I had imagined.

Ignore the messy bed and desk!

Other Bedroom Angle

I’ll be working on the office / hallway area’s this week, then into the guest bedroom.  Our entire 2nd floor with be Bamboo with the exception of the bathroom & laundry room.

Wew,  we have been busy the past few weeks…. From the Holidays to a business trip to Arizona and working on the house.  So whats going on right now with the house? I finished up sanding, spackling and painting the master bedroom closet as well as the office over the past 3 weeks.  I’ll post some pictures shortly of the progress inside, but for now checkout whats being done outside.

We are in the process of having it sided.  Its coming out pretty well! All of the old siding is off, wrapped the  house in Tyvek Drainwrap, and started putting on the new siding.  We went with a premium siding called Prodigy (http://www.prodigysiding.com/product_features.php) – It has a few nice features:

• R-Value of 5.0
• Inch and 1/2 of insulation – Great for sound proofing too! – Hopefully less road noise
•  Looks like wood – has grainy / milled look

Pics of the house getting sided:

Front:

Well the house is actually starting to look like a real house now! Closets are starting to get shelves, rooms are getting painted, the kitchen *almost* looks like a kitchen (less a counter top!). Now is a good time for me to say we wouldn’t be able to do this with out the help of Johnny O, who has been here every single weekend since we bought the place helping out with everything from the wood floors to ripping closet doors.

Now onto the pictures and updates…

Appliances are in (except for the sink / dishwasher which will go in after the counter top). I managed to wire the outlet for the microwave, and install it by myself – patted myself on the back after that.

P.S. All these pics can be viewed here also on flickr via a sideshow -> http://www.flickr.com/photos/burmjohn/sets/72157603473704766/show/

Food in our house, finally!

The Bathroom now has lights, and lots of them!

Our hallway closet now has a door, shelves, and food!

The other closet (jacket closet) in the entrance way now has a door, walls, and shelves – Along with some access panels.

In the closet I wired the control unit to the Paloma instant hot water heater, which hopefully will be saving us up to 30% a year in gas bills…

In the entrance hallway I wired in a new lighting fixture, now everyone that enters the house can feel like they are starring in Broadway play.

Living room, cleaned up a bit , now featuring a Christmas tree! Only a few things left to do here is to hang shelves, crown molding and floor molding & Window molding and outlet switches.

Another angle of the living room…

Here is the master bedroom, all painted! Its hard to see the colors in these shots below, but the walls are a tanish color and the back wall is chocolate. We still need to paint the windows and add molding, clean up the base board heating and replace the fan.

Other angle in the master bedroom.

This room is obviously not touched yet, but its our temporary bedroom which eventually will be the office.

This is the almost done laundry room upstairs.

The other side featuring a nice slop sink…

That’s it for now… As you can see everything is moving along pretty well and I am off to relax.