House #1 - Day 13

I felt like this was a pretty worthless day even though I managed to get several things accomplished. I first went by the house to get a piece of siding paint so that I could have Home Depot match it. I then went to HD and had the lady match the paint for me. In the process of her filling the order, I looked around the store and then realized I needed to get mulch for the weekend. While on my way to get mulch, I also got five bags of marble rock to use in the entry way. The entry has two sides of dirt that run along the sidewalk and the house in the front. Since the house has no gutter, the rain falls directly in the dirt. Instead of mulching/planting the area, I thought it best to just lay down some tarp and cover with rocks. When I got back to the house, I realized the 2.5 cubic feet of rock may not be enough. I also got four bags of mulch for the front.

[Edit - Here is the entry way, looking from the front door towards the street. The area I'm referring to is along each side of the sidewalk in the lower-half of the picture.]


When I got back to the house, I started on the outside windows that had a little rot on the bottom of their frame. I scraped the paint that was already coming up and applied some wood putty to it. I then went to the back to start painting the trim, and noticed it would be better to clean the areas first. So, I got a ladder, a sponge, and a bucket full of water and went to it. I couldn't believe how filthy it was in a lot of places - I'm glad I decided to do it. While doing this, I noticed dark clouds rolling in, so I abandoned the idea of painting the trim for the day. Instad, I concentrated on doing touch-ups in the front entry where the rain won't hit. When that was finished, I decided to move the MW/vent into the kitchen and start reading up on how to install it. There are existing holes in the drywall and cabinets where the old unit was installed, but some of the holes don't match and will have to be drilled. At this point, it was approaching 6:00pm, and I didn't feel like starting anything else, so I left.

Later that eveing, I called my FIL and asked him if he had the tools required to get the MW/vent installed (mainly, the boring bits for the holes). He said he would come out on Friday to do some more things (he hadn't been there since earlier in the week). Friday is supposed to be nice and sunny, and Saturday is supposed to be okay (no rain forecast for either day), so I'm hoping we can get all the outside work done as well as install the MW/vent and general clean-up. I will call the steam cleaning people today to see if they can come out on Saturday, but I doubt a one-day notice will be good.