The problem with owning a home 100+ years old is that there's always something that needs updating. Fortunately, most of these issues aren't critical to keep the house standing, and I have a lot of smart people around me to help when I can't see an easy fix in a back issue of This Old House.
First, there was the Backyard Experiment late summer when I decided to try my hand at landscaping. Who knew tillers were so entertaining?
I still have more work to do, specifically building a whole new fence, but you can only do some much yard work in one summer.
I had intended to install a front door a lot earlier than October, but that Possum Fiasco of 2010 burnt a hole in my wallet. Just to update you there, the possums are now long gone and I at least have the assurance that my crawl space is now mostly clean and my floorboard insulation is mostly new for winter. Fast-forward a couple paychecks and I was ready to take on the front door.
An amazing part of working on your home are the surprises. Like, surprise, you've got asbestos! (We knew this already, but it's still surprising to see.)
Or, surprise, you've run out of daylight and have to put the old door back up for the night!
The most surprising part was that I didn't have a door frame at all. We had to build one from scratch on Day 2.
With some significant assistance, the new door was finally installed. Pictured below are the door and a good summary of Amanda's contribution to the project.
I still need to stain the door, but when the temperature drops so do the cosmetics projects. To that point, Amanda stops shaving her legs this time of year.
I've done a couple other projects in the past few months, but they're less glamourous. I laid down some laminate in the kitchen and laundry room but still need to finish that project and extend it to the laundry room. I most recently installed a sink in the master bathroom. That is hardly picture worthy because you can picture what a white sink looks like, right?
So that's my home improvement trophy case for 2010. I think I did OK considering I didn't really start until after the wedding. I already have a long list of projects for 2011. Ah, homeownership. It's a lot of labor and a lot of love.