A new window

The upper sash for one of the dining room windows was broken when we purchased the house. The upper pane of glass was totally gone. There was a storm window there, so we didn't worry too much about it. We had found a replacement window in the shed when we were looking at the house, presumably for this broken window. We made it part of the purchase agreement. But then once we got into the house, we hemmed and hawed about how to go about fixing the window. On the one hand we dreamed of being able to afford having someone repair the broken sash and replace the pane of glass. But we never got around to it. For the past 3 winters we've but plastic sheeting over the window to keep the worst of the cold air out, but with only so-so effect.

This spring Libby finally came around to my point of view (I had gotten to this point about a year ago). We agreed to go ahead and put the replacement window in. I saved the old window, including the lead weights for the sashes. (I had understood that usual experience was that these would be lost. But upon opening up to make the switch, the weights were right there in an open cavity.) Too, I learned just why the windows in this house are so drafty: the way things are put together at least on this window, there is a one-inch gap around the frame, nothing filling it, so nothing but exterior siding and interior paneling between us and the elements. I had fun-with-foam filling up those gaps.

The removal of the old window and putting the new in went smoothly. I spent today caulking and otherwise sealing the thing up and putting things back together (all of the trim was salvageable). Next is priming and painting. I'll be very interested in how this new window holds out the cold weather this winter, compared to the original windows on the house. Much as we like the look of the original windows, even with the storm windows over them, they are drafty in winter.

New windows

The front of the house is an entryway with a closet and a second room we use as a study. It has the desk, compute and piano in it, along with 6oo books. This area used to be the front porch of the house. It was closed in at some point, on the cheap. The windows are old crank out things that leak like crazy. Also a couple of them have stripped gears in the crank mechanism, so they don't really close well. In summer it's not such a big deal, but in winter, it's murder. We've used screws to more firmly secure them, but they still let a lot of air circulate around them.

So this month I finally have gotten around to begin replacing them. I started with the single on the driveway side of the house in the study. That went pretty smoothly. This weekend I am going to replace the one on the left front of the house, in the study also. It's a 52 inch wide opening with a single crank window currently, but I have opted to use two 24 inch wide vinyl replacement windows, and will place a small divider between them to close the gap. I am hopeful that it won't look too queer when it's done.

There are two huge, ancient holly bushes on either side of the front steps, right in front of the windows to be replaced. They were in sad shape when we arrived, but we have left them alone and they have begun to fill out. Sadly, though, I'm going to rip them out for my convenience in this project. I made a trip to Asheville this morning to buy the replacements. I had hoped to use the truck to just jerk the bushes out. I had some nice sturdy link-chain handy, and I knew the chain saw had a dull chain, so I wanted to avoid trying to use it for the job. But I couldn't find any links to join the chain ends together. I had to make a run to Henson's for a couple of clasps. The mechanism worked fine, but...The bushes are so well-rooted in that they didn't budge. So I had to make another run out to get a new chain for the saw, and install it. Once in, it worked great and made mulch of the bush in no time. We'll replace the old shrubs with something new when everything is done. Once the shrub was down, I pulled of the exterior trim around the window. So far so good.

By then it was time to make a run to pick up Eli and Briggs from their buses. So I won't try to do anything else this evening. I intend to jump on it in the morning and have it done over the weekend. Here's hoping there are no surprises along the way.

Labor Day

Greg and Kristen came up from Greenville, and my mom also drove over from Raleigh. I had been working to finish re-building the deck stairs for about a month and finished Saturday morning. They are okay, but true to form around here, nothing is really straight. But they are a whol lot strudier than what we had! I also added a big-boy swing to the play set last month so everyone has a place to swing. It's been so hot and dry, I haven't felt like doing much else. We've got a threat of more rain from Hanna this weekend, so I've asked Kent P. to replace the vent turbines in the attic. More on that later.

Doors

The front door to the place is okay, but we really want to replace it. There is a side door to a large crawl space, under what was the porch and what is now the entry hall and study. Water had done some damage to the framing there, but the door was in nice shape, aside from the paint job. I have spent most of this month stripping and sanding it to get it ready to re-install. This weekend I'm putting 4-5 coats of urethane on the back side, the last step. I think it's turned out pretty nicely. We purchased a custom door from Lowes for the entry. I'll be starting on painting it next. There is a sliding door to what we call the shed (above, to the right), the front portion of the barn. There is a door that operates on a rail system on the back of the barn (in the middle, ). Whatever else happens to the barn, we're salvaging the door system: it's a classic.

Other random exterior shots

It's a pretty day in Black Mountain, so it was a good opportunity to take some outside photos. We put a new toilet in the laundry; that's the old one. Yep, sitting on the rear deck. It's ultimate destiny is the Asheville Habitat for Humanity center. Anyone got an old sofa we can put next to it? Only the guy next door can actually see it. And that's a 40' Frazier fir in the back yard. Libby already has plans for it at Christmas!

Yeah, that's a Duke flag

We had complaints from neighbors who wondered just what sort of church I was actually working for! But it's Duke University; the Blue Devils. And even though they got their butts kicked around Coach K court last night by Carolina (hiss), we still love them. Libby is the grad; I graduated from Guilford College in Greensboro. So feel free to buy your own flag, hang it at your front stoop, take a picture of it and then put it on the web. But for now: HAH!