Teaser

Do you recognize this house?

Happy Anniversary House!

It was 8 years ago today that we moved in to the 1916 Portland Bungalow, so I thought I'd celebrate with a blog post!

You haven't heard much from me lately because I haven't been doing any house projects.  I got a little burnt out a couple years ago (when I finally gave-in and paid someone to finish painting the dining room).  Since then I've been spending my free time doing other techie stuff, not related to the house.

The top of our list for this spring has been to get the back yard in order so we can eat dinner outside during the summer months and have company over for backyard S'mores parties. ;-)

I started by taking a week off work for Spring Break, which involved 9-straight days of back-breaking work to get the yard tilled and the patio laid.  I ended up taking about 10 yards of topsoil out of the back yard, one wheelbarrow at a time!

Then I spend another few weeks breaking up the concrete footings from the old deck and leveling the yard out (there was about a 4" crown of dirt covering most of the yard).  I could tell when I got back to level because I found about 5 ancient sprinkler heads from the original sprinkler system that were buried by 4" of dirt).

Yesterday was the icing on the cake; it took me a whole two hours to lay all of the sod and have an insta-lawn!  Tonight was our first dinner on the patio, and it was fantastic!

Seamless Gutter Installation

Today I had the guys from Great NW Gutters out to put new rain gutters on the house. (Thanks to Dawn at Bungalowcious for the referral)  I'm quite happy with the results. 

Porch Roof Gutter

 I chose the steel gutters with the plain white baked on enamel finish, in the 4" K style.  The rafter tails were already notched for this size gutter, so the installation was pretty straight forward.  I had them use straps instead of spikes to mount the gutters, not wanting to put any more holes in the rafter tails.

There were no gutter guards on the old plastic cheapo-gutters.  They had more flora and fauna living in them than my yard!  They were PVC gutters with leaky seams and clogged downspouts.

This is a downspout funnel on the front porch going into the drain.  This should hopefully help reduce the amount of slimy green stuff growing on the porch, making it teflonesque during the rainy months.

You can see the guys did a great job of structuring the downspouts in the back.  Both of these lead into a funnel and into the drain.  I was going to disconnect these from the drain, but their proximity to the future egress window made me think twice.

Exterior Colors Progress

Here's what the Sherwin Williams sample colors look like on some actual trim and a window sash. The trim is Roycroft Vellum, the window sash is Rookwood Red (NOT the Rookwood Dark Red that was mentioned in the previous post on this subject), and the piece of siding is Grizzle Grey. I wasn't sure at first, but as I continue to look at them at different times of day I think we may be very close to having the right colors.

These are the DOG DAYS! Did I mention it's hot?

Looking at Exterior Colors, Part 3

We managed to get a first cut at a color palette done this evening. We are thinking of going with the following Sherwin Williams colors:

Body: Grizzle Grey (7068)
Trim: Roycroft Vellum (2833)
Accent: Rockwood Dark Red (2801) - This would only be on the window sashes and knee braces
Foundation: Tricorn Black (6258)



Here's a home from the Sherwin Williams color viewer done in this scheme:



I'll run down to the Sherwin Williams store sometime soon and get some swatches and maybe a sample or two. Of course, I'm still interested in feedback, so if anyone has any suggestions keep 'em coming.

Looking at Exterior Colors, Part 2

Since I'm painting the window sashes I figured it would be a good time to finalize our exterior colors so I can go ahead and paint the sashes while I have them on the workbench. We have a general idea of the palette we want to use on the exterior, but would like some input and suggestions. Stephanie, are you listening? :-)

We are thinking of a medium to dark grey body, with off-white trim and brick-red (or brown or black??) accents, mainly the window sashes. Any color names, manufacturer suggestions, or photos on the web would be appreciated.

Thanks!!!

The Morning After

Sometime early this morning the blowing snow changed to freezing raing. Now we have about 1/8" of ice on EVERYTHING. Unfortunately I couldn't get the car up the driveway yesterday and now it's parked directly under that big maple tree that is covered with ice and losing branches. I guess I should go move it somewhere, but I'm afraid it won't budge.

Portland's Version of a Blizzard

I stepped out onto the front porch before the light was gone and shot a quick video of our street. I haven't seen a storm like this since I left Minnesota as a kid. I know that's not saying much since I spent most of those years in places like Texas and Arizona, but still, it's quite miserable out there tonight. We've had snow on the ground continuously for a week now. That hasn't happened in Portland since I've lived here. The schools were closed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but open on Tuesday and Thursday. That made for an "interesting" work week. The worst part is that I've been trying to finish my Christmas shopping (and shipping) all week but the weather is making that very difficult.

The hummingbird feeder has been busy this week. I don't see how those little guys can survive in the cold weather. I've been bringing the feeder in to let it thaw twice a day and they seem to appreciate it!

Riley says "NO THANK YOU!!" I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to run around out there in my bare feet either.

Looking at Exterior Colors, Part 1

The paint on our exterior is starting to fail in a lot of places, so we are starting to look for a painting contractor. I had Sam Sundeleaf out the other day from Sundeleaf Painting to give me a bid for a high-quality "investment grade" paint job. He spent a lot of time talking to me to figure out exactly what I wanted and to explain the kind of work they do. I was very impressed. Then I got his bid and realized that I ain't gonna be gettin' no "investment grade" paint job!

This weekend we were over at Grant Park with the kids and I saw some guys just finishing the exterior of this house:



I fell in love immediately! I never knew black accents could look so good. Not only are the colors nice, but you can tell within 3 seconds of looking at the house from the street that the prep and paint are well-done. I got the business card for the paint removal and paint companies and I'll have them out for some bids soon.

If you are looking to paint the exterior of your bungalow and need help choosing colors, you might give one of these books a try:

Things are Blooming

We have a huge lilac that just came into full bloom. I love having the upstairs windows open this time of year because the sweet smell of lilac wafts through the whole upstairs.

Right now the rose garden on the south side of the house looks kinda sad, but when I get it weeded and the roses bloom in a few weeks it will be very nice!