Putting a roof on it

What a difference a month can make. This week the new fascia boards and roof were completed. Just in case anyone out there needs the specifics, we went with a combed finish on the fascias (supposed to resist the paint from peeling off in the future), and a 30-year architectural finish asphalt roof with high-profile ridge caps, a ridge vent in the top of the roof (instead of those ugly black box vents) and zinc strips up the ying-yang to stop the mold from clinging on.

Whew.

Next up, we're painting the siding, trim and soffits, and trying to take advantage of the sunny early fall days. (That's a nice way of saying we're neglecting work on the inside of the house right now.)

More found items

These beauties come courtesy of the musty basement:

(These were vinegar, and were hidden in the rafters.)

The goal for the exterior

It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?

We've had to re-evaluate the cost for fixing up the house exterior, so instead of adding stone and building up the columns right away, we're going to focus on painting the wood siding, trim work, windows and a new craftsman/shaker style front door*.

We're still deciding on a window style -- whether to use cottage details or not (might be too cutesy?), but I know we're going with black (not sure if they should be black on the inside as well). With the white trim I think they're going to be be-au-ti-ful.

The grey paint is going to be hard to get right. I don't want a grey that's too warm (yellow-y undertones that won't go with the door colour) or too cool (purple-y, ack!).

*AND IT'S GREEN!!!

Junk pile details

These are a few close-ups of the junk pile in the back of the house -- also known as the pile that's been there since inspection day. Initially, when we first viewed the house, we couldn't get into the basement because the enormous piles of crap blocked every way in. (And we still wrote up an offer on it, were we crazy or what?)

They had to clear the basement for inspection, so they just dragged all of that junk out to the back...and left it there.

A bucket with photos, and the mega pack of children's Motrin.

A box of crackers that the mice feasted on.

A little heavy on the mayo

Here's proof of our bonus-with-house-purchase: three boxes of mayonnaise (at least).

Washing machines in the mist

Sounds poetic, doesn't it? Well it sure doesn't look it. This is the view from one (of three) windows in the TEMPORARY trailer. Trevor had enough of the three washing machines left behind (one came filled with dark water and a sock floating in it, lucky for us it wasn't broken and we were able to drain it) so he just opened the side door of the mudroom and tossed them out.

In a normal house I would have a problem with this...

...but seeing as there's larger problems that dwarf that, I'm not overly concerned.

Sometimes it's not bad/smelly/scary/strange...

See? Every now and then we have fun around here. One of the best things we've found left behind by the old owners was a large cement container that we've now turned into our awesome fire pit*. (Don't ask to hear the story about how we had to move it to our chosen location -- lots of swearing and general bad behaviour, the usual when Trevor and I have to move something large and heavy.)

*We're not going to run out of anything to burn anytime soon. In fact, we should have that pit going 24 hours a day -- and after 2 years we might have the junk piles gone.

Now there's the money shot.

Minor (major?) baked potato incident. Not enough tin foil + in the fire too long = something that looks like a charbroiled brain.

Here's proof of our bounty around here-- freshly picked grapes and apples. We'd better get used to living off the land because once our bank account is bled dry by this house it's all we'll be eating.