Fireplace...

So, another job that I thought was going to take maybe 2 days has turned into a larger project.

Our old coal fireplace needed to have the mantel painted to match the rest of trim in the living room. I started to sand the fireplace and much to my shock I was able to peel an entire layer of paint off in one sheet.

So I started to work away at peeling off all of the paint. It seems that the original fireplace was stained wood, then with a layer of yellowish high-gloss paint followed by the current white paint.

Here are some pictures of the fireplace before I started work and my progression. I used a simple steel putty knife - I just had to be careful not to cut the wood.

I think my plan of attack is going to be:
1. Sand
2. Prime
3. Fill and Sand
4. Paint
5. Final Coat

(The picture quality isn't the best - they were taken with my cell phone camera)












Here it is after the first coat of primmer. Next up is filling and sanding.













Here it is after it's been filled and sanded.













And the final product! It looks pretty good - much nicer than before. Hopefully soon we will get some marble to replace the tiles and re-tile the floor area.

Obsessed with Receptacles

Now when you think of receptacles I'm sure you picture the standard run-of-the-mill plugs. Me too, until I found these ones by Leviton called Acenti

They are a little more expensive then the standard ones but have a nice screw-less plate and a clean design.

As well, they have the first Triplex Receptacle which accommodates three NEMA grounding plugs.

I have installed three of these now and they look great. The only thing I found is that you really have to push them into the wall to get a nice fit.

The Acenti line also has some really nice wall switches and dimmers. They are a little to expensive for me to justify right now so I will hold off on those.

All in all, a nice little touch for a few dollars.

Looking through new windows

After enduring almost 2 years of non-functional kitchen and bathroom windows we finally have the new ones installed.

The windows are from Prime Seal Canada

The bathroom window was cracked and wouldn't open - this is a nice feature after a 10 minute shower. Our bathroom doubled as a sauna.

The kitchen window was just old and didn't have a screen on it. I built a new screen for it but then a storm blew it out of the window and smashed it in the backyard :(

Overall, we are very happy with the new windows. Hopefully it will help the draft problem in the winter.

Front Porch - Part One

(This is a project that we did in the summer of 2006 but I thought it was a good one so here are the details!)

We have quite a bit of work to do on the front porch of our house. It's probably one of the best features on the house. It's a great place to have a cup of coffee and read the paper on the weekend.

As the first project we wanted to replace the lattice work on the bottom and sides. The front piece a solid while the side is hinged so we can store some stuff under the porch.

It was a pretty fun project that took about 1/2 a day to completed. It makes a big difference from the side walk.

Part Two will probably be next summer when we replace the floor boards and railing.

Before...

During...

After....