July 13, 2015

A Little Progress on the Living Room

Besides the new window, we've managed to make a little progress on the front porch/living room, namely, finishing the front door.

The front door as it's been since last December. 

To start, a threshold was needed.

Before

Dan made this one out of a 1 inch oak board.

Screws were countersunk and the holes filled with dowel rod.

For the interior trims the goal is to simply cover the rough edges. The problem is that none of the doors and windows we install seem to be the same depth as the walls of the house. Oh well.

There were lots of gaps. Polyurethane foam fills them and insulates.

Ready to fill the gaps and paint

Our living room walls are cement board & difficult to work with.

My splurge was a new vent register! About $12 at Lowes.

Colors in this photo are probably the most accurate.

Now it's my turn to caulk and paint.

Photos of the finished living room (at last) can be seen here.

20 comments:

Mama Pea said...

When you know (and do) ALL of the work that has to go before, why is it that the trim and finish is what really makes a project look (and feel) good??! :o} As always, good job, guys!

Fiona said...

Gosh that looks good. We have projects ahead of us now and I have been going through your construction posts. They are an enormous help. Do you have any ideas for good linoleum? :)

Melanie said...

Fantastic! What a thing it is your husband can do all that work. The vent register is lovely, great splurge!

Ed said...

Looks good. I run into the problem of doors and windows not fitting existing sizes too. I usually solve the problem by buying for a narrower wall thickness and then filling in the games with custom shimming which after filling, sanding and painting disappear. The other problem I have is that I work hard to put everything back in nice and square in a house that isn't. I always say that all this refurbishing work makes me appreciate the rare instance I get to do some new build work.

Sandy Livesay said...

Leigh,

Beautifully done!!! I have one question, what will you two do when you've finished working on your home?
Hugs,
Sandy

Karen@ onthebanksofsaltcreek.com said...

Oooh, I like that vent. We have similar problems with our home. One example is in the "sun room" the previous owner added on the two windows are just set in. Very dangerous and heavy to open and put a stick in to hold them open. Everything looks beautiful.

Renee Nefe said...

It looks very nice and is inspiring me to go work on my projects that I had intended to get done over the last two weeks but have been procrastinating on...I'm too good at procrastinating. :(

DFW said...

Looking good Leigh!

Unknown said...

Looks great! It's always fun to re-tro fit!

Harry Flashman said...

You keep making progress. Isn't it awfully hot down there to be doing tht kind of work, though. It's been really muggy up here in the mountains.

Leigh said...

It's been another incredibly busy day and I appreciate each and every comment. Thank you one and all. We've got the siding and trim up and are trying to get the outer wall primed and painted before it rains. We need the rain!

Leigh said...

Funny, but my studio was a sun room and has terrible structural problems! It's a relief to improve things, isn't it?

Leigh said...

Let me see! A barn, greenhouse, workshop for Dan, root cellar, more edible hedgerows, swales, greywater system, expanded rainwater collection, irrigation, enlarge herb garden, build more beehives, fence the woods .... we'll never be bored! LOL

Leigh said...

Actually, we went with wood or tile for most of our floors, except the bedroom, 'cuz we got a fantastic deal on carpet and Dan wanted carpet there. We've only used linoleum on the back porch / laundry room / summer kitchen. I'm not terribly impressed with it, but it was a good choice for that room.

Leigh said...

Ed, LOL. Nothing is level or square here and it drives Dan crazy! Glad to know we aren't the only ones with that problem.

Leigh said...

Harry, it's been muggy here too, but at least it's only in the low 90s! We really need some rain; everything is drying up and I'm worried about my garden.

Izzy said...

Nice work, I think it looks fantastic!

Chris said...

Nice work. Love the insulation, so you don't get air creeping in. And a great selection of paint colours too. Looking forwards to seeing those final pictures. Bet you are too!

Sarah said...

It looks just lovely! Hats off to Dan! Congrats on the splurge! Ya just have to go there every once in a while! :)

Farmer Barb said...

I love the neat edge trim!