Some Smaller Projects

So, now that summer is coming to an end and our family has fallen back into a routine - Matt and I have decided to rotate weekends where each of us tackles something around the house that has been bugging us or that needs our attention (trust me, the list is long).  Three weekends ago, Matt cleaned out the shed.  Two weekends ago, I did some tending to our yard.  Last weekend, Matt decided to do something about this:

Umm, what is that?  Well, when we moved into this home one of the features listed was that it had a walk-out basement.  I use both of those terms lightly because A) it is more a cellar than a basement and B) it is not your typical walk-out feature.  This crumbling cover covers three steps that lead down to a very old door that leads to our basement.  So yes, it is a "walk out" but we never use it.  Either way, this this was an eye-sore so it needed a little bit of help.

First order of business - buy some wood!

Second order of business, demo!  I love demo only because of the weird things you come across.  Makes me excited for when we start the big stuff inside of the house - wonder what we will find in the walls there?  During this demo we learned that at one point in time this structure was screened in and used to maybe dry some clothes or what-not because we found this really cool drying rack type thing mounted there.  Needless to say, this will be cleaned up and used in my laundry area.

 

Oh "hi" little girls how are you today?  Is is after noon and you are still in your pajamas?

What this really is is a shot  to show you what the structure looked like once all the rotting wood was taken off.  The hope was to find the framing in good condition so we (I mean Matt) could replace the siding no problem.  Of course, that was not how it played out so Matt was off to the hardware store to buy some some 2 x 4s.

The back of our home faces West so once the sun came around from the front of the house it got a bit steamy out.  Gotta love Ohio humidity.  Matt had been working hard all day so I convinced him to wait and paint the structure until this coming weekend.  So, for now, here is the almost finished product.

This kind of reminds me of my Getting Better post from when we painted the shed and the outhouse.  Where I feel like if you only see the After picture you probably would not be all that impressed (actually our entire house is kind of like that) but to see what we started with should give you a bit more appreciation for our effort.