May I Cut-In?

Yes, the era of the paintbrush is almost over. Today marked the end of cutting-in the finish coat of exterior house paint. The finish color is quite a bit darker than the primer. The primer was tinted a suitably brown color to help hide any thin spots but I wanted it light enough so that I could tell what was primer and what wasn't. Here's a shot of the place with Karren in front (she said it needed human interest).

Keep in mind that half of this house is in the ground. I tried my best to keep the paint off the concrete so I have cut in the lower border of the siding as well. We've still got to get the remaining juniper bush cuttings hauled off to the pasture, but it is such hateful stuff that neither one of us wants to do it.

Check out the snow guard on the basement window. This prevents snow from piling up and blocking the ventilation from the window. We are sleeping in that bedroom at the moment. Having only one low window on this side is a good strategy to keep the heat inside. This is the western exposure and this is where the weather and wind seems to come from. Perhaps the junipers were planted with this in mind, but I'd rather have them gone. The bug population inside has been GREATLY diminished since they were removed.

The progress is slow, but several of the repairmen that have visited have remarked how much better the place looks. Speaking of repairs, our new Samsung refrigerator had a leak out of the icemaker in the door so it has been under repair since early August. The repairman tried new parts but eventually found that there was a crimped wire in the sidewall that is inaccessible, causing the problem. Lowe's called today and said that the manufacturer is sending a newer model (the one we bought was a closeout special at about $800 off!) with the same features out for delivery to us on Saturday. Wow! The salesman said the new one has even more advanced features. Well, as long as it WORKS I'll be happy. You go Samsung!

Another look at the front door with the new home owner proudly standing on the porch. We have a long way to go before this house is fixed the way we want, but we are making headway. Next task? Spray the finish coat. We'll probably do that on Saturday.

Tomorrow I am going to begin tearing out the basement shower and mildew factory. We have an Ionizer being delivered on Friday and I want it to have access to all the bad ju-ju bugs it can handle. Besides, tonight it is scheduled to drop to 27 degrees here, and the paint won't like being sprayed that cold. So the plan is to do some demo and fact finding. I think I'm going to enjoy the demo but I'm going to need to wear a respirator to keep from ingesting the gook. See you in the next installment of "This Old Idaho Refugee Home!"