It’s been a while since our last post (whoops!) but we’ve been busy busy busy since then!

Raphael spent a lot of time and energy researching and designing our windows and doors, and we figured out a design that was functional (hold the window in and keep the weather out) and simple enough for us to build ourselves. So off we went to Carl’s Lumber to buy lots of hemlock for all the casements, jambs and stops and oak for the sills. Once we had all the wood we cut it all down to rough sizes and were fortunate enough to be granted permission to use the School of Woodworking’s shop to further mill everything down. We have a simple table saw, and Raphael recently purchased a band saw and a small planer (!!) but we don’t have a jointer, or nearly as nice machinery or shop space as they do, so we were really lucky to be able to use it. Now everything is just waiting to be fit and cut to final dimensions and installed!

We also made a trip down to Bremerton, WA (about an hour south of us) to pick up all of our cedar bevel siding and trim. We found a company down there (Cedar Products, Co.) and cedar is all they do, and they’re far more affordable than anywhere up here, and it was well worth the trip.

The next tricky part was choosing colors (not my forte, I want them all!). We narrowed it down to a grey stain for the siding (aiming for the look of aged cedar), green trim and yellow window sashes. The first green we picked out and painted some sample pieces was a winner – “Fiddlehead Green”! The first yellow we got was too pale, but our second one, despite the terrible name “Yellow Highlighter”was just right. The siding was our biggest trouble – there are solid stains, semi-solid and semi-transparent, and it turns out the samples at the paint store that are supposedly true to form, are not. Once we figured out that they’re a full level off (the sample for the semi-solid looks like the actual semi-transparent, and neither of us were ready for a black house), we found our semi-transparent “Amherst Grey”.

Now that most of the planning phase is done it’s on to move on to installation. We’ve installed and painted everything but the doors on the back shed, as well as fascia at the roof line. We cut and fit corner trim and painted that, but it’s not installed just yet. We’ve been battling opposite work schedules and working too much (which leads to exhaustion) so our progress hasn’t been speedy, but we’re chugging along, slow and steady and it’s the tortoise who wins in the long run.