Portland FourSquare

Staining New Fir

Authors: Jason

Making a bit of progress in the dining room. I have all the panels cut, assembled, sanded, and have began the finish work. The details around the windows and the bump out will be a bit of a challenge which I will be tackling this weekend.

Here is a glimpse at where we currently stand…

Two coats of stain have been applied, but pre

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Woodwork – Old New

Authors: Jason

Dining room is painted and the surviving original trim is up and installed.

Surviving original 1910 trim is finished and reinstalled.

Window detail.

Now it’s on to some new woodwork! Building paneling and a plate rail is new for me and it’s taken quite a bit of strategerizing on my part to wrap my head around it. It also...

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13 months later…

Authors: Jason

Progress in the dining room – I kid you not! Ironically enough, it was not the guilt, mess, or embarrassment that kicked this room reno into motion (okay, maybe a little bit). It was installing our beautiful Nest thermostat on the ugly wall and knowing we could do better.

With motivation in hand, I started at the top by cleaning...

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Nest(ing)

Authors: Jason

Christmas came a bit early this year at our house. Among the handful of early presents was the Nest Thermostat! I know that it’s just a thermostat, and how exciting can a thermostat really be, anyways? Well, let me just say that I’m stoked and I love it.

In full disclosure, I’m a sucker for technology, good...

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Gas Rupture

Authors: Jason

I came home from an early morning meeting and found my neighborhood cordoned off with yellow tape and surrounded by fire trucks. Evidently the Water Bureau struck the gas main a few houses over and ruptured it. Needless to say, the fire department, NW Natural, and a ton of backhoes were called in and are currently occupying NE.

Just a

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Blog/House Hiatus Basement Progress

Authors: Jason

It was a busy spring, summer and fall around these parts without a lot (of house work) to show for it. Between our two wonderful boys, a couple of great weddings and a few trips here and there – we were busy! But with the rain returning and the leaves falling comes the desire to get back on the saddle and tackle some house...

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Sunshine = Outside

Authors: Jason

With the weather ever-so-slowly improving, the indoor projects have been put on hold while our attention has been diverted outside.

A continual theme around these parts is less lawn and more plants. This go around I added a few more hydrangeas, rhododendron, azalea, and another Japanese maple. Some kind neighbors up the block ordered...

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Basement Organization

Authors: Jason

Our basement is in serious need of cleaning out. Too much of just about everything. The one thing we were short on was good storage.

Old basement storage.

Honestly, I think you would have had to try really hard to build shelves that were worse than these – bad news. Luck would have it that my mom and her husband just bought a new...

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Some Yard Work

Authors: Jason

With the sun that poked it’s head out over the last couple of weeks, the itch to get outside and work in the yard became too much to resist.  My trusty sidekick Christopher helped get the ball rolling by spreading some barkdust, shaping the lawn, and doing some serious digging to help plant some plants.

Training them early.

The...

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Stained Glass Window

Authors: Jason

How often do we begin and finish a project in a single day? Almost never around these parts but today was an anomaly: I was able to strip and stain an old stained glass window and get it hung. It fit just right.

Stained glass window.

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