March 10, 2009

Green = Progress

We weren't here, but apparently it was 60 degrees this weekend. Yesterday is snowed. Dubya tee eff?

We asked Jonathan last week to develop some potential floorplans/designs for our basement - a complete overhaul. He studied industrial design at RISD, and we love the things he's done to his (identical) house. We're aiming to install another full bathroom in the basement and set aside a little tool/workroom.  It'll probably be a while before he has anything on paper, since we're in no rush at all, but we'll show you guys what he comes up with.  

Below is our list of home improvement objectives from Happy 2009. Green = progress.  We're hoping to tackle a bunch of these projects in the near-term.  #5 we think is not going to be necessary, once we install the front glass/screen door and work a bit on the side door. For #7, we've contacted a friendly handyman to assist, once Providence thaws out.  I'm ruling out #18, though we may make some progress there before the year is done.  I added #20-23 today since they are also priority projects that have to get completed at some point.
  1. Paint upstairs interior
  2. Install front screen/glass door
  3. Fix dining room table 
  4. Install light on side of house (contract)
  5. Weather stripping for front and side doors
  6. Grading land around house
  7. Install backyard fencing
  8. Repair/replace front stoop (contract likely)
  9. Strip and finish front, side, back and garage doors
  10. Install porch door and stairs to backyard
  11. Paint exterior, install shutters (contract under consideration)
  12. Replace/remove doorbell switches and chime
  13. Plant creeping bushes in the backest part of the backyard
  14. Install attic pulldown
  15. Install additional storage space/flooring in attic
  16. Ceiling patching
  17. Redo/finish basement
  18. Redo kitchen
  19. Refinish/repair wood floors (contract) 
  20. Repair master bedroom closet floor
  21. Repair gutters (contract)
  22. Install flashing on porch roof (contract)
  23. Replace upstairs bathroom fan (contract)
The thing we're squirming over most is #11.  We're having trouble deciding whether to go all-out and get a bang-up job done professionally (i.e. scrape and sand away the old paint down to the wood), or to do it ourselves relatively quick and dirty (i.e. scrape away what's peeling, sand the old paint that remains to rough it up, then paint over it all).  We're going to get some estimates in the next few weeks.  Maybe someone will do it for us cheaply.

PS
Up trailerCarceri to unveil state budget today, and happy birthday, Sarah!

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