Blasted Weather

Only in Minnesota can you count on a good late April snowstorm. I know I’m not alone in the spiral of depression this has sent me into. But, like we Minnesotans do every Spring, we have to pick ourselves up and dust the sloppy, wet snow off our parkas and carry on, maintaining that now sliver of hope that Spring might just be around the corner (and from the looks of the forecast…it might just be!)

In my opinion, Spring tends to be rather miserable in Minnesota due to the 20+” of snow that are usually melting into a slippery, sloppy, puddle of salty sandy slop. Which is exactly the reason we intended to do a major construction project during this period. Come 85 degrees and sunny, we’ll be free to enjoy the summer instead of being stuck living in a project.

The weather, however, did affect my exterior today as it was far too rainy and snowy to be siding a house. So the crew will return tomorrow and get back on their way bundling up this house. I did, however, want to take a moment to feature a newly appreciated portion of the exterior. Remember all the bad-mouthing I did of the bazaar overhang (or cantilever) on the back of the house? Here was a pre-remodel shot of it.

In an effort to make its bad-looking self less bad-looking, an overhang was added perpendicular to it and a piece of trim was affixed to both the overhang and cantilever essentially tying the two elements together and giving them both purpose.


The trim we used was a 1”x8” piece of flat (and smooth) stock trim (same material as the siding) along with a decorative piece of trim along the top of the board (we chose what looks like a piece of base molding turned upside down).

Can I tell you how many times I crank my head out the upper windows to admire it? This is a tiny little detail, but what an impact. I shall enjoy many a moment gazing at you sweet trim friend of mine. This same combination of flat stock trim and decorative trim will be applied underneath all of the eaves on the house (aka: right under the soffit). It’s going to be purrrty!

Work was able to carry on inside the house today by way of fastening the cement board to the plywood subfloor, screwing it down and mudding all the seams. They next applied a layer of self-leveling concrete to portions of the powder room and mudroom floor in an effort to even the surfaces out a bit.


These old houses have floors that literally roll like the ocean; evening them out will not only make the floors more pleasing to the foot, but also protect the tile from cracking under pressure. The actual tile itself will begin installation tomorrow.

Remember how I was having trouble finding a door for the powder room that matched our existing doors exactly…and to my delight, found a used door that fit the profile exactly? Well, here she is in all her dirty, dusty, chipping paint glory!

A little TLC and a coordinating doorknob and she’ll be looking like a million bucks!

Now who wants to have us move in with them May 2nd – 4th while our floors are sanded and stained? Come on, don’t all jump at once now…