Cut and trim. So it goes.
14 August 2010 | still stuck in Aurora
Sunny and warm.
And so goes the trim. Rip off the old(carefully), scrape off the old caulk from the siding, measure the old board, cut the new. Then Tracy puts the first and many times the second coat of paint(rotten paint-don't buy Valspar paint) on it(easier that way). Then hold the board in place and fit it--recut--fit it again and nail it up and move on to the next board. Once we have a few windows done, and Mother Nature starts thinking of raining, we start to clean up the back deck(where we work) and I start applying caulk to the edges and seams of the boards. I got lucky and found a caulk from GE that matches the color Tracy picked out for the trim boards so that makes the last touch up paint job easier or not necessary. I like this caulk much better as it doesn't leave a big mess and wipes off my hands easily. It dries to rainproof in three hours so the rain threat is lessened. The last thing we do is remove all the nails from the old trim so we can stack the boards so the trash man will take them away. I have to cut them into three foot lengths so he will take them(not that Waste Management is picky mind you) plus bundle them with twine into easily manageable piles.
The worst job was doing under the sliding glass door on the back deck. We'd built the deck back in 1997 and luckily had used stainless steel screws so they came right out(most of them). I had to custom fit the new trim board as it had to be jammed between the bottom of the door and the ledger board that fastens the deck to the house. As with most boards, it was 2.25" on one edge and 2.75 on the other end of the board. No saw(not circular nor band saw) I had could cut the board lengthwise(this is a HARD board) so I had to use a hand saw to do the job. Being a rough cut( I couldn't cut a straight line if my life depended on it with a hand saw-line or no line on the board), I had to use a belt sander to smooth it out so it would fit properly. Then on goes lots of caulk into the area and in goes the board with lots of nails and it was done. Re screw the deck boards and on to the next window. The nice thing about this stuff is that it will never absorb water so there will be no more split boards around out house where water is prevalent(North side).
We're about 70% done with a few more windows to do and a few edge boards needing attention but we have lots of trim left so we will probably change out some boards that while they don't look that bad, could use replacement. Why not if we have the boards just sitting there. Better us that to sell them to the neighbor and then find we need them in a year or two when we return home again.
I think we may take today off as the past week has been tough on both of us(it sucks once you are past 50). We were both pretty well wiped out yesterday by the time we stopped working and got the back cleaned up and tools put away.
Oh, to be back on Zephyr enjoying a nice quiet deserted cove some where along the Baja coast. Yeah, I know it's hot and humid there but the jobs are easier.
The picture at the top is of one of our local friends that goes in and out of our yard. We've had them for years so I keep them well fed when we are home. Tracy took out an ear of corn a week or so ago and one(a mother squirrel) came right up to her and urged her to get that ear of corn out for her to nosh on. She was less than a foot away from her. No fear!