Bye, Bye, Pink Tile!

Tonight’s big project was modernizing the fireplace.  I didn't start until after 6:30 P.M. with my crazy work schedule, but I knew I wanted to get this project done!  The home had pink tile around the fireplace, and from Day One, I knew it had to go.  I had originally planned on breaking the tile up, removing all of it, and replacing it with stone (and still may do that), but for the sake of time and cost at the moment, I decided to give it a fairly easy facelift by just painting the tiles.

Those ugly pink tiles!!!

The paint spill I had to sand away.

I started out by lightly sanding the tiles.  I actually had to scrape off a good amount of paint, as my painter had spilled some paint on the floor and tile.  But knowing that I wanted to replace the tile, he left it on the tile.  Oops!  Plan change!  After sanding, I painted a coat of primer on top of the tile.  I let it dry, then painted another coat.

I started out by brushing the edges and mortar.

Starting to look better already.

After the first coat of primer.

I had chosen a dark grey for the final coat, but I was beginning to wonder if that was a good idea or not!  I loved how the fireplace looked after the second coat of white primer!!!  It really modernized it and made it pop!  But I also knew that it would get very dirty being white, so I opted to continue with the plan.

Looks so much better!

It's definitely the centerpiece of the room.

Looks clean and crisp!

But that was all she wrote tonight!  Two coats of primer.  I will apply a third coat tomorrow and then add the gray paint!  It already looks so much better…here’s to hoping it looks even more amazing after tomorrow!



After the very wet second coat!  Now if I can just figure out a way to get rid of that gold trim!!!

Little by little!

Scrubbing Dirt Off the Face

From the first day I laid eyes on this property, one of the most glaring features was the filth on the front of the house.  When you drive by other houses in the neighborhood, the houses just look clean.  The siding is sharp, the colors are steady, the curb appeal is apparent.  But with this house, the yard is a mess, the shutters are missing, the bushes are uneven, the front porch light hangs sideways, AND on top of it all, the house has dirt and grime and mildew all over its fact.

Simply put, THE HOUSE JUST LOOKS DIRTY.

The front of the house is just filthy!

Looks like a previous owner tried to (poorly) power wash the grime off the front siding.  Still filthy!

So today, I decided to start tackling that (massive) project.  I have plans of installing shutters in the spring (when finances allow), and I want the siding to be clean for that installation.  Plus it just drives me nuts that my house is a myriad of colors.  The siding is hidden behind filth!  We were blessed with a late fall 80-degree day, so I took full advantage of that, knowing I was going to get wet with the spray.

I pulled out my best-$20-garage-sale-purchase-ever Snap-On power washer and went to work.  The power washer has been amazing.  And today was no exception.  The mildew was blown right off.  It's tedious work (much like the deck), but the results are instantaneous, so it keeps you moving.

Before...

And After!

All in all, I sprayed for a little over an hour.  The problem is that I can only reach so high!  But the bottom half of the house looks so much better.  It's frustrating that the project is still incomplete, but, hey, you can only do what you can do.  I'll probably have to get scaffolding to complete the top half.  But it will really help out.

Can you tell where I've already sprayed?!

I left one siding piece untouched to show the difference.

Working from the bottom up.  What a difference!

ALL of the front was gross!

Right half sprayed, left half still dirty.  A minor difference here on the garage.

Now...how to keep the mildew from returning?!  It's on the north side of the house!  Maybe a twice-a-year bath in vinegar or some cleaner?!

The house is clean up to the tops of the door and windows!!!

But still dirty up top!

Weeds Be Gone...Pleeeeeeease!!!

It's going to take awhile.  That's what I keep telling myself.  But, my, oh, my, how decrepit my yard looks.  If you remember, when I first purchased the house, the lawn was...well, frankly, there wasn't much of a lawn.  I had desert-like dirt patches that reminded me of dry skin.  Grass was few and far between.

The yard as I acquired it.

But after a little drought in July, the rains came, and the weeds flourished!  So when I finally closed on the house, I then had a yard taken over by weeds.  And they have continued for the last couple of months.

The yard is an eye-sore!

80% weeds, 20% grass.  I have my hands full.

I'm a novice when it comes to cleaning up a lawn, but I knew it needed two things:  for the weeds to be killed, and for the new grass to be planted.  I already treated the lawn for weeds a week and a half ago (spot spray), so it was time to plant new seed.

And I wanted to take advantage of a pretty special toy that I had on-hand.  My brother informed me that his co-worker had a lawn aerator that we could use IF I got it running for him.  It seemed like a decent trade.  Well, that was until I realized that the unit was missing parts and NOT just needing a carb cleaning as I had been told.  But as a good brother, I went ahead and fixed the unit and this morning installed the final remaining piece.  All in all, I had to replace four or five items and wait three weeks for parts!  But the little engine now runs perfect.  And the lawn aerator works perfect, too!  This is about a $3000 unit, so it's no small joke.  It literally walks YOU around the yard.

The aerator and my dying lawn!

The aerator has been here!!!

But it does a fine job.  So I decided to aerate first, then overseed next.  Again, I don't know what I'm doing, but it sure made sense in my head!  Get some holes in the dirt, let the seed mix in with the dirt on top and the holes below, and voila!



The aerator removes plugs from the yard, thus leaving holes, and then drops the dirt plugs behind.

I guess I will see how well I did in a couple of weeks.

But I'm excited to tackle this project.  I mean, this yard is ROUGH.  Weeds, weeds, everywhere!

The weeds are starting to die, leaving behind very small patches of grass.

 

I contemplated just tilling up the entire yard and starting anew!

The weeds are literally TAKING OVER.

There is juuuuuuust enough hope for grass that I left it as-is and over-seeded.  Time will tell!

But the $40 bag of grass seed is spread all over the yard!  And I went over several areas more than once!  I just hope the seeds take!  I tried to water, but let's be honest, it's virtually impossible to water this entire massive yard...and I knew it would be dry by tomorrow.  So I'm just hoping for the seeds to stick and for rain to fall!

I told you I was a novice.  :)