Quarantine Updates

It's been almost two years since I last posted and it's time for an update.

Like a lot of people we spent part of our time in quarantine last year doing home improvement projects.

The first thing we tackled in a weekend was staining our deck and fence. We had last done both back in 2015-2016 and it was time for an update. With the deck we thoroughly power washed it beforehand before using Behr Premium Advanced Deckover. The one we used was textured to be make the deck more slip resistant. A gallon and a half was enough to do our entire 12x16 foot deck.

For the fence we used Behr semi-transparent Waterproofing Stain & Sealer. It's supposed to be good for eight years on fences but I don't imagine I'd wait that long to paint it again. 

The rest of the updates involved our front door. I had been promising my wife a storm door since we moved in back in 2014 and finally got around to buying and installing one. For that we bought an Anderson Easy Install Aluminum Storm Door. The 45 minute "Easy Install" was more like two hours of sweating and a bit of swearing but it was fairly straightforward. The frame of the storm door fits into the existing frame of the door and is secured with screws. With the exception of having my wife hold the door in place while I put the first few screws in it was also something I was able to do by myself. The only downside we found was that with our house facing east and getting direct sunlight the storm door handle gets exceptionally hot to the touch. We solved that by sliding the finger of an old glove over it.

With the storm door in place my wife painted the front door with Behr Hidden Sea Glass.

The last update to the front door was something else I'd had on my list for a while. I replaced the existing keyed lock with a Nest X Yale lock. I had looked at others but since we already have a Nest Hello doorbell and a Nest Cam it made more sense to keep everything under one app. Installation was very simple and made for a worthy upgrade. Especially with not having a covered front porch, it's very convenient when it's raining to unlock the door prior to getting out of the car and not having to fumble with keys. Everybody has their own door code too (up to eight numbers) and when we went away on vacation for a week later in the summer I was able to set up a temporary code for our neighbors that picked up our mail and fed our cats.

Deck Stain and Painting

Over the Labor Day weekend we managed to get a few things done to our house.

Much needed and long overdue was sealing the deck we had added last summer. I bought two gallons of Cabot Sun Drenched Gold exterior stain around the end of June with plans to use it fairly quickly. But the heat and humidity this summer was oppressive and prevented me from doing much of anything. It wasn’t until Labor Day weekend that the temperature finally dropped enough with no rain in the forecast to get it done.

Before.

I started by washing the deck with a bottle of deck wash attached to a regular garden hose. We had a bad stain on the corner where grease had dripped from the grill but between the wash and a wire brush it made it barely noticeable. From there we applied the first coat on Monday afternoon using a brush to do the edges and trim and a roller brush on a stick for the rest. Within a few hours it was dry enough to walk on but still a bit sticky. When I got home Tuesday afternoon I applied the second coat to finish the job. The next day we got some completely unexpected heavy rain but thankfully the coating was dry enough at that point that it didn't seem to affect it. There are however a few spots I still need to sand down a bit where the roller applied the second coat a little too thick. Overall we were really pleased with the result.

After.

The other project we completed was to paint the front wall where the front door is to match the accent walls in the living and morning rooms. While we generally like the color of the color Ryan Homes used on the walls the contractor grade flat paint shows every little smudge and bit of dirt. After two and a half years the front wall wasn't looking too great and needed a touch up.

Before.

After.

Close up of the sign Jenny made for the wall. 

To make the sign She took a basic 12 x 12 canvas panel from Michael's, applied a gel wood stain, and then printed out a vinyl decal with her Silhouette Cameo cutter.

Hampton Bay is Junk

A few weeks ago a bad storm system moved through the central Virginia area bringing with it a lot of rain and very high winds. (It ended up being so bad that we actually woke our kids up and moved downstairs to take shelter following a tornado warning.) My brother lives on the opposite end of town from us that got hit first and was therefore able to give me enough advanced warning to get outside and either tie down or bring in things that might blow away or cause damage.

While much of the area suffered high damage, downed trees, and power outages (it also caused the cancelation of the last day of school, sure to be a once in a career event) we made it through unscathed. Until the next morning at least when I went to put everything back out. I stuck the umbrella through the hole in the glass top and then needed to shift the table slightly so it would go into the weighted base underneath. That slight amount of pressure of the umbrella leaning against the center hole was enough to cause the whole top to shatter into thousands of pieces on the deck.

Unfortunately there's no way to replace just the table. It's only available as part of a set with the four chairs. In the process of researching the replacement however we came across a several sites with numerous reviews that all said the same thing, that Hampton Bay's glass tops shatter way too easily. I wish we'd seen those reviews prior to buying the set.

On a side note, this made a tremendous mess and cleaning it up took forever. I went out several times to vacuum up all the glass with my shop vacuum because every time I thought I had all of it I found more. I also had to take a screwdriver and pry up smaller bits that had fallen between the deck boards followed by hosing the entire deck down. It's really not something I want to deal with again. 

Deck

When we had our 14 Day Meeting with our sales rep we had priced out what it would cost to have a deck built with the house. At the time however we were on the fence about whether we wanted that or a patio and after the sales rep told us we could get it done cheaper later than what Ryan Homes was going to charge us for it we decided to wait. I've regretted that decision to some extent since then because I felt like we were missing out on full enjoyment of the yard without one. (That and it's a pain to have to move our grill and other things that would normally be found on a deck every time I mow the lawn.) This week that was finally rectified with a 12x16 platform deck.

After some discussion and seeing a platform deck on a friend's house we decided that was the route to go with ours. We liked the look and on top of that it was cheaper (over $1,300 less) than a similarly sized one elevated one with stairs. After getting some quotes we went with the father of a friend from college that owns a deck building company.

Before photo. The steps are a set I built last summer.

The weekend before the build started.

Digging the post holes. For the holes further away from the house the posts sat on those large concrete blocks.

The holes against the house were dug down to the foundation footer and the posts sat on those. 

All the lumber needed. (It was less than I expected.)

Close up of one of the post holes showing the different layers of dirt.

Day 1 progress. Posts and outline frame completed.

Day 2 progress showing the completion of the frame.

End of Day 2. The diagonal placement of the boards looks so much better than if they were laid straight. 

Day 3: The finished deck.

To say we're happy with the results would be a vast understatement. The builder, Jerry Clay, did an amazing job and it was clear he took a lot of pride in his work and making sure it was done correctly. The diagonal look really sets it apart and I'm told by others takes more experience to do right. Now we just need some furniture for it.