Weekend Update #17

This Weekend We:

• Installed the 3 tapered columns!
• Patched the screw holes, sanded them, & primed the columns
• Took down the fence separating the former prairie area from the yard!
• Spraypainted the threshold
• Spraypainted half the railings (ran out of spraypaint)
• Removed some crab grass
• Got all the leaves out of the front bushes
• Cleaned the kitchen sink
• Celebrated mother's day with our wonderful mothers!

My mom began attacking yard work this weekend. She pulled out all the leaves out of the bushes and trimmed them a bit. In this picture of the flowers you can see all the leaves wedged in there:

And now it's all neat looking:

She also pulled out a bunch of crab grass around the well-head, but no pictures were taken before.  Here's an after:

Stay tuned for this area to be a big landscaped bed!

I did some spraypainting this weekend with Rustoleum Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze. First I excessively taped off the doorway so I could do the silver threshold of the front door:

Then I sprayed:

And voila! Just imagine the blue stain not so dusty & dirty, the doorway painted a rich chocolate brown, and the door a deep walnut stain:

I also began spraying the railings because they are rusty and gross. Eventually we'll take these loose & rusty railings out and do a white wooden railing to match the porch, but that's too ambitious for now.  This is how bad they look up close:

And here they are sprayed with oil rubbed bronze:

Here is where I ran out. The left side is sprayed and the right isn't:

Corey also got the fence down that separated the yard from the former-prairie area. Here it is with the metal fencing down, but the wooden posts still up. This picture is facing south.

                                     

Here's how tall those wooden posts really are:

I took a video of how Corey got a post out, but my phone is new and it turns out I didn't take one :( So here's a picture. The chain wraps around the post and then you push the lever down and it brings up some of the post. After 3 or 4 pumps the post is all the way out:

The fence is down!  The fence is down!

Here's how Corey moved all the giant posts to the edge of the property to await being used for another project:

And now for the tapered columns going up!  There was some plan changing and lots of finagling and measuring, but here's some process pictures.  This is the bottom support for the tapered frame:

And here is my Dad using and epically long drill bit to drill into the upper supports:

Here's the first one installed:

Here's all 3!

And here's all 3 in the light of day and all primed:

It is so, so, so, so fun to watch this idea I had in my head come true!  I can't wait to see the railing up and then the stone columns!

And here's a bonus pic of a free old style pot that I scored from the trash in the rich town I work in. I'm going to clean it up a bit, but I love it:

Up next on the porch agenda is adding some fancy trim to the tops and bottoms of each column to make them look nicely finished. Then we move on to the railing!