Samma's got a brand new Blog

Trying again, there are more pictures from the Electrician's recent visits.

Living Room Ceiling Fan

Fish Lights!

Master Bedroom Ceiling Fans (and new hardwood floors)

Porchlight moved

Testing the new SammaBlog location, since Vox is shutting down/moving. Look for house updates, here.

You've got Mail ...

and our copper sink gets to test it's new home. 

Can't WAIT til it's all done!
 

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Gutters came today, we decided not to go copper clad $tainless yet .... maybe later!  Same re: the rain chain.  I know I want at least one, but not sure 'where'.
 

And, if you're looking at this through VOX, it's shutting down at the end of the month.  I'll move everything but not sure how it'll look in past Facebook posts.  But Facebook doesn't really support a true blogging format, so I don't think that will be my primary place to write/post/put pics, I'll just link to where ever I end up. 

Cabinets, Faucets and Flooring - comments on each picture

Fun with Power Tools!

In a reverse homage to the Winchester Mystery House, we decided to remove our 'stairway to nowhere'.  And that meant JACKHAMMER! 

Whoohoooo!  Look at that step, getting sliced up like butter!   As I explained to Richard, Jackhammers are HOT! ;D 

And Richard definitely worked up enough sweat to prove my point.  His safety goggles kept filling up with sweat, and, unlike a dive mask, he couldn't just clear it by breathing out of his nose!  

I had to take a couple of turns with the Jackhammer as well.  Loud, but FUN!  

These should be videos, but they're not linking right.  I'll have Richard help me fix it after work.

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And here is the finished job.  We'll use the rubble when we are ready to add to the concrete driveway.  The long term plan is to extend it down to the deck stairs, but that won't happen on this go-round. 

Where we are now ...

The local power company came out and modernized the connection from the power to the house, which means the roof is totally done!  YAY!

And, today, the stucco guy came out and finished the rest of the exterior, including 'erasing' the red mock-rock from the front porch!

I'm pretty impressed with the chemical stripper we used on the doors.  Oh.  And a pretty new flower coming up in the front yard. 

And, here's our green upgrades -- attic and underhouse insulation, tankless water heater is hooked up, and vapor barrier is on the ground!

Our Seagrass Limestone flooring came in, and the woven grass wall paper accent I've been thinking about seems like a perfect match.  The wall paper would go around the door, and above the backsplash around the sink.  Love the texture!

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So next up is the hardwood floor reno, then the exterior power-washing, and then the external paint. 

Kitchen cabinets, plumbing, appliances, interior painting and moving in!  OMG!!!!

More new house bits

Atlanta has been talking about creating a Beltline, that will use old railways to create walking, biking, recreational areas that circumnavigate the city.  And our new place is going to be right on edge of one!

http://beltline.org/Portals/26/maps/Tour/blp_map_southeast_final.pdf 

We are right by #8

Also, we found rockers for the front porch.  The company makes a porch swing to match, so we think that's what we'll do there. 

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And, I've been sort of obsessed with replacing the cheap modern hollow core doors with vintage solid wood.  I found the sizes we needed on CraigsList, two of which don't need to be stripped at all.  Richard did a mock up install of the vintage glass door knobs and back plates for me, while we worked on stripping the other 3 doors we bought.  I LOVE this look!!! 

And finally, Richard had some fun with a couple of art shots taken from the master bedroom:

Status Update

The exterior of the house is pretty much done, and it looks GREAT!
all we're waiting for now, is a (you probably can't even see it) finish to the roof on the left side, the new paint, and finishing the stucco on the brick and edges .

Gonna do some quick before/afters, in anticipation of the BIG before/afters coming soon!  Projected 'done' date is endo of august, beginning of sept. 

Before:

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Now:

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Before:

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Now:

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Before, old school water heater; After, new tankless water heater:

Catching up

These are updates on past 'in progress' posts; by title.
Going Green:
These pics from Joyce Kilmer National Forest captures the color inspiration for our house. 

The Roof.  The Roof.  The Roof has gone HIGHER!:

Introducing .... the DOORS!:

Going Green

We know the funky looking fake red brick or rock has to go.  But, it's way too expensive to peel off and completely re-side the house.  So, our best choice is disguise.  We want to enhance the 'rock' look where we can't cover it. 
Front of the house, mostly it'll be covered, by the new porch, and by shutters on the sides of the windows & doors. The rest of the disguise will come from paint.
We're thinking a dark green rock look for the bottom and trim, and a softer lichen green for the stucco, then a bright white with maybe a subtle green undertone for the trim. I know the colors may not look the same on your monitor, but here are w/ flash & w/out flash of each look.  3 darks for the mock rock, paired with 2 options for the stucco divided by the trim color.  We are pretty well set on the lighter of the stucco colors.  What do YOU think about the 3 dark colors?

and here are the shingles -- light grey w/ little flecks of green

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Oh!  And the porch is really coming along, too!  The new window is in, and the roof and new roof line in front is framed, looking good!