Construction Projects
A lot of banging and whacking and noise here lately.
We have rounded trunk vigas over the patio now. They are basically telephone poles laid across a beam, but it makes such a difference in the authentic look and enclosed feel of the open patio. They even provide large bands of shade to mitigate the strong south sun coming in the living room.
The original design of the back of the house had these viga beams but they had been removed at some point. The ends of the original beams had been left in the wall and stucco'ed over, so the guys had to ream them out and chip them away with what sounded like jackhammers. It took hours.
I love the look of the semi-covered patio now. What to do for patio furniture for this lovely space?
The garage side door is now replaced, and is painted Santa Fe turquoise. The paint around the frame where new stucco had to be added is still a little off, just a bit too light colored. Luis is coming back Monday and we'll decide if another coat of something a smidge darker is needed.
I do love how the turquoise pops against all the sand colored walls and stone, especially looking down the yard from a distance.
The Spanish broom shrubs along the wall have been removed, and the box raised bed in the middle of the yard is gone now. Raoul also took out the declining currants by my potting bench and more plants by the kitchen door too, leaving me new empty areas to plant next spring.
Four yards of fresh gravel was laid. It is gray instead of the earthier mixed color that was there. I don't like the gray color, but it needed to be done, as the old pea gravel had worn away so that landscape fabric and bare dirt showed in places. It needed refreshing, I just wish it wasn't so gray.
By the time I add some perennials along the strip of stone by the house, and freshen up some other areas with plantings, the gray won't be so distracting.
The warped kitchen door was replaced too, and stained a nice red brown just like the vigas. Luis left me two of the cut ends of the vigas, and I'll stain them and use them for tables, probably not right at the kitchen door, but somewhere.
Sliding glass doors were replaced also. Pella sent the wrong door, it was the incorrect dimension and didn't have the grilles or locks we ordered, and the whole project ground to a halt while the installers tried to figure out how to fill the six foot wide open gap in our back wall where the old door had been with a door that wouldn't fit. Ay, Dios.
They spent all day putting in the smaller door, patched up what they could around the open gaps with foam, and ordered a new one. They'll come back in mid November, take out the misfit door they just installed (no small project) and put in the right one. Total debacle. Pella is "very sorry about the inconvenience".
Between the Pella installers and Luis and his crew, it's been noisy and dusty here for days and days, with crews of men in and out and rapid-fire Spanish punctuating the bang and whack of it all. All the contractors, even the hapless Pella installers, have been courteous, clean, hard working, really nice guys.
We knew we would have to get these things done when we bought the house. There is still touch up and finishing to do this coming week, and I have lots of plans for next spring for plantings and rearranging some of the gravel more to my liking, but it feels so good to have the big stuff underway or done.
We have rounded trunk vigas over the patio now. They are basically telephone poles laid across a beam, but it makes such a difference in the authentic look and enclosed feel of the open patio. They even provide large bands of shade to mitigate the strong south sun coming in the living room.
The original design of the back of the house had these viga beams but they had been removed at some point. The ends of the original beams had been left in the wall and stucco'ed over, so the guys had to ream them out and chip them away with what sounded like jackhammers. It took hours.
I love the look of the semi-covered patio now. What to do for patio furniture for this lovely space?
The garage side door is now replaced, and is painted Santa Fe turquoise. The paint around the frame where new stucco had to be added is still a little off, just a bit too light colored. Luis is coming back Monday and we'll decide if another coat of something a smidge darker is needed.
I do love how the turquoise pops against all the sand colored walls and stone, especially looking down the yard from a distance.
The Spanish broom shrubs along the wall have been removed, and the box raised bed in the middle of the yard is gone now. Raoul also took out the declining currants by my potting bench and more plants by the kitchen door too, leaving me new empty areas to plant next spring.
Four yards of fresh gravel was laid. It is gray instead of the earthier mixed color that was there. I don't like the gray color, but it needed to be done, as the old pea gravel had worn away so that landscape fabric and bare dirt showed in places. It needed refreshing, I just wish it wasn't so gray.
By the time I add some perennials along the strip of stone by the house, and freshen up some other areas with plantings, the gray won't be so distracting.
The warped kitchen door was replaced too, and stained a nice red brown just like the vigas. Luis left me two of the cut ends of the vigas, and I'll stain them and use them for tables, probably not right at the kitchen door, but somewhere.
Sliding glass doors were replaced also. Pella sent the wrong door, it was the incorrect dimension and didn't have the grilles or locks we ordered, and the whole project ground to a halt while the installers tried to figure out how to fill the six foot wide open gap in our back wall where the old door had been with a door that wouldn't fit. Ay, Dios.
They spent all day putting in the smaller door, patched up what they could around the open gaps with foam, and ordered a new one. They'll come back in mid November, take out the misfit door they just installed (no small project) and put in the right one. Total debacle. Pella is "very sorry about the inconvenience".
Between the Pella installers and Luis and his crew, it's been noisy and dusty here for days and days, with crews of men in and out and rapid-fire Spanish punctuating the bang and whack of it all. All the contractors, even the hapless Pella installers, have been courteous, clean, hard working, really nice guys.
We knew we would have to get these things done when we bought the house. There is still touch up and finishing to do this coming week, and I have lots of plans for next spring for plantings and rearranging some of the gravel more to my liking, but it feels so good to have the big stuff underway or done.
Comments