(Continued from previous page)

That used to be one of our favorite TV shows.

When Jim needs a tool he doesn't have for some project he's working on, we'll joke that he needs a "Binford 5000" for it, referring to the fictitious brand of tools Tim Allen used on his fictitious home repair show.

I'm glad I'm married to a guy who is very handy and has a good sense of humor. We've had our moments while fixing up our houses/yards in Montana and Virginia but fortunately we haven't had any major disasters that required emergency medical intervention! We've got some funny stories to tell about various home improvements we've made over the years.

Above and below:  Jim patches some large cracks in the driveway on a humid
but non-rainy day. He filled the bigger cracks with sand first. (4-17-11)

 

The last time we sealed the driveway was seven years ago after we moved in;
the sealer lasted pretty well but we should have repaired cracks like this earlier.  (4-18-11)

They say that marriages can be strengthened by sharing common tasks like we've been doing on our place the last five weeks. I'd agree with that.

We've worked very well together through the entire process, even when we've gotten frustrated or cranky. Not everything has gone according to plan and some things have taken longer or been more complicated than expected. But we persevered and worked around the obstacles.

Unlike some of our other projects, sealing most of the driveway went faster than expected
once we had a couple of consecutive warm, dry days. I poured the liquid out
in small batches and Jim used a special tool to spread it.  (4-14-11)

The biggest problem has been wet and/or cold weather but we've worked around that and accomplished all of the outdoor projects we intended to finish before either listing our house for sale (which we decided not to do) or leaving on our summer trip in a few days.

It took several days for the patching material to dry in front of the garage doors.
This area gets no sun in the spring + it rained frequently. Here, it's covered to try to keep
it dry enough to seal. We were finally able to seal it yesterday.  (4-29-11)

 
Jim removed the Cameo tires to inspect them, the brakes, and the axles. While the rig was
suspended by the Big Foot hydraulic levelers he spread the driveway sealer as far underneath
as possible. We still have some spots to "paint" when we move the camper.  (4-29-11)

The next hardest part of the planning process was determining which products to buy for staining all the wood decking, porches, steps, and walkways. We weren't pleased with either the color or durability of the product we used several years ago.

This time we are very happy with the color and just hope the stuff lasts longer than last time. It should, considering the laborious prep work Jim did (photos on previous page).

I found a use for a couple of the little sample cans of stain I bought when we were trying to get just the right color for the decking areas. We had a 1/2-inch crack in the stone retaining wall next to the garage (next picture):

 
Jim was finally able to seal the driveway in front of the garage yesterday.

The previous owners had filled it with a clear caulk but we didn't like the looks of it. I liked it even less after Jim filled it with gray cement.

So I played around with mixing some of those little solid stain samples until I ended up with varying shades of color that matched the stones pretty well:

That was fun and from a distance you can't even see the repair.

We had to make repeated trips to Lowe's and Home Depot in Roanoke to get all the necessary items for our projects. We tried to be as organized as possible, but sometimes we bought too much and other times, not enough. We were able to return enough large cans of the driveway sealer and patching material today to get a nice refund, for example.

We also added several new projects along the way as we thought, "Well, while we're at it, let's fix such-and-such, too."

While we were sprucing up the interior of the garage, for example, we debated whether to replace the two overhead doors. We decided to wait on that project but we did clean them thoroughly inside, touched up the paint, and attached new rubber seals to the bottom of the doors.

 

Above and below:  our garage has been Project Central for the last month.
We left enough room to get the minivan in each night.  (4-18-11)

We are able to get 10% off purchases at both Home Depot and Lowe's with our military cards.

In addition, Home Depot had a deal that helped even more since we had several hundred dollars' worth of materials and supplies to buy this spring -- no interest until January 1, 2012 on purchases totaling $299 or more (not just one item) with our Home Depot card. That helps us spread out the cost over nine months instead of paying for all of it in May with another charge card (we always pay off our charge card every month unless we find no-interest deals).

We are pleased with the results of all of our projects and are proud of how nice the place looks.

Above:  starting to stain the floor of the screened porch
Below:  all done and ready to enjoy

We have a list of more home improvements we need to do in the fall, whether we try to sell the house next year or not. They are maintenance jobs and upgrades that need to be done anyway and they will make the place even more appealing to us when we're there.

We painted the garage walls and organized the tools and other "stuff" better . . .   (4-25-11)

 

. . .  but we still want to paint the ceiling and floor and probably replace the two
large garage doors. Now how long can we keep it uncluttered like this??  (4-25-11)

Jobs we'd like to do this fall include painting the ceiling and floor of the garage, replacing the two large garage doors, removing some wallpaper in the kitchen and painting those two partial walls, and maybe re-staining the south and west sides of the exterior where the color has faded a bit.

You can see how the siding has faded in the photo of the newly-painted garage door (third picture below); the color should be about the same as the door, except in a flat finish and not satin.

New metal exterior garage door is caulked, sealed, and prepped to paint.  (4-8-11)

Old garage door on left; new one on right.  Jim transferred the old doorknob and locks.
We donated two old doors and some other building materials to the Habitat Re-Store in Roanoke.

The newly-painted door looks good but emphasizes the
need to re-stain the faded siding.  (4-17-11)

Fall might also be a good time to hold a garage sale, with less chance of rain and folks starting to think about purchasing Christmas gifts. I've held three successful garage sales previously but those houses were all on streets that had a lot more traffic than our little country road does. What doesn't sell we'll donate to Goodwill or another organization.

I also want to try selling some larger items on Craig's List. Friends have had success with that but we've never tried it. We have some concerns about the process that we'll have to overcome before we list anything for sale that way.

All done for now; let's hit the road again soon!

Now that we've got all the projects done that we planned to do while we're at the house, we can concentrate on getting ready for our summer trip!

But first, I want to share more photos of the spring metamorphosis in our yard and on the local trails. This is such a beautiful time of the year in the Roanoke area. We've been able to see the progression of leaves and flowers from early to late spring.

Note: as much as we've griped about the rain, cold temperatures, and wind the last five weeks, we were very lucky to not have the volatile weather some areas have had recently. This has been a terrible spring for tornadoes and flooding in the Plains, Midwest, and South. Our hearts go out to those who have no home to live in right now.

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the Ultra Lab

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© 2011 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil