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.

3rd Annual Bungalow Blog Tour

Rare Archival Footage Unearthed!

I was able to find and upload a walkthrough of the 'Ol 1916 Portland Bungalow that our Realtor shot for us before we moved in.  I was able to come out to Portland from Houston, but my wife was not, so this video is the only thing she saw of the house before we bought it!

It's kinda long, but I thought you might enjoy it.  I can't believe how many things I see in the video that I totally forgot I had ripped out long ago (crappy old mailbox, toilet, dining room light fixture, etc.)

Next Tour Stop:  foxcroft.blogspot.com

Previous Tour Stop: ittybittybungalow.wordpress.com

OKeefe & Merritt Rebuild Begins

Disassembled O'Keefe & Merritt Gas Stove

I started disassembling our O'Keefe & Merritt antique gas stove so all of the mechanical parts can be refurbished.  I'm going to send the burner heads, burner valves, thermostat, and other stuff to Antique Gas Stoves in California, where they will re-porcelain, rebuild, and rechrome all the pieces to make them as good as new.

Old gas burner heads, burner tubes, and the manifold with the valves and thermostat

After I get the stove working like new, I'll use it for a while to see how I like cooking on a vintage stove.  If I still like it, I'll probably do a more thorough restoration and have all of the chrome redone as well replacing a few missing odds and ends.

Electrical Panel Location

Location of the New Main Electrical Panel

My latest basement sub-project is to get the wall ready for the new electrical service upgrade that is going to be done soon.  The old panel will act as a junction box and all of the circuits will be moved to the other side of the basement door where the new 200A panel will be located.  I need to frame the wall so the electrician can install the panel.

What's proving to be the most difficult thing is to find a 6' door to replace the hacked-up one that is currently in use.  If a some PO hadn't cut a doggie door in it, I could have probably reused it.  My search through The Rebuilding Center came up with one door that will work, but it doesn't have a window, which I've grown accustomed to.  I'll keep looking around, but I may have to settle for the door sans light.