Phew, Scratch Coat’s Done
Current 30 Projects in 30 Days count is 9. First I finally finished nailing the lath up to the house (Project 6). Between the casings, the tar paper, and the lath, the stucco prep took over 2 months. (Recycled photo but you get the idea.)
And here it is with the stucco up (Project 7)! You’ll notice that some stucco is scratched and some isn’t in this photo. What we did after our lunch break was still too soft to scratch, so we took a break while it was setting up. The scratch coat is the first of 3 coats that are required for traditional (read:Twentieth Century) hard coat stucco. If I do the rest of the house myself, I will float only the second 2 coats right onto the old stucco and (thank God!) skip the lath.
It’s funny because for what a big deal this is I don’t have that much to say. One thing is I was better at floating stucco onto the wall at the end of the day than at the beginning. Another is that my hands are dry. And most important, having exposed plywood sheathing on the back of the house was a worry and might have made the back of the house compete with my real source of future joy, restoring the front.
Speaking of which, we did one small thing to the front. I’ve had this nice mailbox sitting on my living room floor since my birthday in March, and you may have noticed that my 30 projects tend to revolve around finishing all the unfinished things that are stacked up around the edges of the living room. Alternate title for this challenge: #FreeTheCorners! Anyways, here’s the new mailbox. It doesn’t look TOO out of place on my scuzzy house, does it?
And for reference, here’s the old one. Only downside is I’ll have shitty takout menus stuffed into my railings now because the new mailbox is too nice for a Circular Free Property sticker. I’ll stick one to the glass on my front door, but not until I spruce it up next month. More on that later.
And I installed the third clothes bar in my closet. I re-purposed old clothes bars everywhere else and when I ran out, just did without on the right side and filled it up with junk. Now it will be easier to install baseboards in the closet because I can empty the lower bar on the left side and work without emptying the closet.
So, will I make #30ProjectsIn30Days? Last update I was 2 days behind if my goal were a project a day. Today I still am! I think that’s a good thing.
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Love the new mailbox — you’ll enjoy that every time you come home!
Impressive work! “Free the corners” is a good motto.
You’re making good progress. All three of these projects must have felt good to finish. I love the mailbox.
Keep the new mailbox. You’re making excellent progress. Stucco is hard work. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
Of course the new mailbox stays! I might reinstall the old one while the awnings and aluminum siding are coming down if I think that would somehow be easier than just taking it off every day.
Love the new mailbox! It looks very old-fashioned Main Line. Glad you have a lock on it. Out here in the wilds of Connecticut, we’re the only ones who have a locking mailbox, and although the regular carrier has figured out how it works, when he is on vacation the sub cannot figure out that the mail does NOT go in the skinny “outgoing” slot, although both incoming and outgoing are clearly labeled. Everyone else has a standard rural half-round box.
It looks like you have a lot of rods in that closet for so few clothes. Are you planning on a trip to Barney’s New York to spiff up your wardrobe?
Congrats on getting the scratch coat done.
I designed the house around having good closets but will be leaving all of them except the linen closet half empty.
Ha! We’ll see. Closets and cabinets have a way of taking over your brain when you are shopping for just about anything. They say to you, “Go ahead, stock up on canned goods/clothing/placemats/sheets on sale! We have plenty of room!” But perhaps you think that having created the closets you have power over them that the rest of us don’t have. 🙂
My canned goods have never spilled beyond the lazy Susan and I rarely enter stores that sell the other things. But we’ll see. I know that the stuff I already own will expand further into the newly empty spaces, but hopefully in a better organized fashion.
Progress is progress! You’ll make it. The new mailbox is so pretty. It looks beautiful against the brick.
I laughed at #FreeTheCorners. I get it. I wish I didn’t, but I do. 🙂
Slash peeling paint? But yes, I agree. My sister made a good choice.