Is Five Years Too Long for a Project?

Five years ago I started this project: re-cladding my garage with cement board and stucco paint and creating a mosaic on the yard-side of the garage. Here we are, at the end of summer in 2016 and I have finally completed this project.

When I picked the project up a few weeks ago, the wood was quite worn and needed re-working. Random tile, where I hadn't grouted, had come loose and was falling off.

I finished the tile work and re-painted the trim and things were ready for grouting this weekend.

The door I put on several years ago was looking pretty shabby as well. Luckily, I have a new one, salvaged from my neighbor's house. They were putting a new Home Depot special on their place so their gain is my gain.

I removed the hardware and cut it to fit. I added a few coats of paint and it was ready to go.

Yesterday was grouting day. I am very happy with how it all looks. Getting to door on was a little tough but it also came out great.

It will be nice to finally enjoy the back yard and patio without having this project looming over me.

I should have done this years ago: grouting the mosaic

It has been three years since I started my mosaic project on the garage. The first time I posted on it was August 6, 2011. It is embarrassing that it has taken this long to start on the grouting of the tile. I finished one side of tile work a couple years ago and it has sat, without grout. This year several tiles started falling off so I figured it was about time I get off my butt and finish this thing. 

Mixing  and applying the grout per the manufacturers instructions was simple enough. This is the first time I've grouted anything and it was an easy project. Easy is a relative term though. It still took time and I still needed to pay careful attention to what I was doing to make sure all of the joints were properly filled. After filling, you wipe it down with a wet sponge, ring it out, wipe again, repeat and repeat and repeat... until it is clean. Paying attention to the removal of the excess grout was also important. It was tedious but somewhat therapeutic.   

The result is great. The detail in the tile seems to pop a bit now and the shapes and design seem more refined. After I finished the damp wipe-down, I went over the entire thing with a dry rag to remove any excess dust.  

This has given me renewed interest in finishing this project. Sadly, the garden-side of the garage doesn't look half as good as the pergola side of the garage. It faces south and suffers from a lot of pealing paint. I also didn't take much care in adhering all of the trip boards to the substrate. I ended up spending a day screwing the boards back in securely and sanding all of the areas where paint came off. I hope to get another coat of paint on it today and start to complete the rest of the mosaic work.  

In the gutter

We are coming up on the anniversary of the record storms we have had the past two years.  Even though we are having a drought, I figured it would be a good time to finish the gutter project.  The intent is to divert as much water out of the yard and to capture some of it in the new rain barrel I installed in the garden.  I am only putting gutters on two sides as the other two sides already drain to the alley.  

One of my first obstacles for the project was that when I constructed the pergola, I did not anticipate the gutters so the pergola comes right up to the fascia.  I had to cut back the pergola to make room for the gutter. 

Little did I know that when I removed the hops near the end of the pergola, I disturbed several yellow-jacket nests.  I was forced to stop the project and wait a day until the "excitement" subsided.

Installing the gutters was very easy.  There are literally hundreds of videos online that show what to do.  I like this one by Ron Hazelton.  I should have taken more photos of the various steps but I figure the videos are more useful.  A couple hints: I would over-buy the number of hangers you think you need and make sure that you have the correct drill attachment for the anchors for these hangers.  I learned the hard way, getting all set up and ready to go and then realized I didn't have the attachment for my drill.

The process is simple: strike slope lines, hold up and attach the various pieces with the anchors and then seal the seams.  All of the seams are filled with a silver silicone that comes with the straps that are wrapped around each seam.  It all went up relatively quickly except for a couple of glitches that I am not sure if I know how to fix or want to fix.   

My first problem is that my fascia is not perfectly square.  In order for the corner piece to hang at a perfect right angle, I'd have to provide blocking behind it to square it up.   This isn't really a problem you can see from the yard so I am not sure I am too concerned right now.  I will spray some water on the roof today and see how it works.  If there is any leaking or an area that doesn't drain, then I might do something.   

I am glad to get this project done and am looking forward  to having a rain barrel that functions in the garden.  The garden is going crazy this year.  My daughter took some pics.  She is particularly proud of the "tiny" sunflower she brought home the last day of school.  It is now seven feet tall and I am guessing it will break the record of tall sun flowers we've had in the garden.

A Stopping Point?

I think I hit a stopping point on the garage today.  I rounded the corner and the tile mosaic now goes from the door jamb completely around one side.  I think that I will grout this can consider it done for the season.  If I get some nice weather, I will do more but as it stands now, I am not counting on it.  When I do the grouting, I'll give a complete technical description of everything I did, just in case there are other insane people out there that want to try a similar project.

I changed the detail at the corner.  If you look at previous posts, I had wood trim at the corner.  I think it looks nicer with the tile wrapping around though.  I really like the look of things and am not happy that I may end up leaving the rest of the project until next spring.

It is interesting to compare what the garage looked like after my first improvement project several years ago and what it looks like today.    



Rounding the Corner

Yesterday I finished the first side of the garage.  Special thanks to my friend Dave for helping me out with this.  It is amazing what another set of hands and and some decent beer can help you accomplish.  This side of the garage is pretty much the only side that matters because it faces the patio but I hope to begin attacking side two today and maybe start some grouting.  I also may change my corner detail so that the tile turns the corner instead of having the yellow trim pieces there.  Hope to have another update tomorrow.

Too tired to write...

...so I am just going to post a few pics of what I've been up to.  I am starting to think that I am going to be at this until Christmas.

More from Last Weekend

This is usually the time of year that the goldfinches are going crazy.  The sunflowers and cone flowers are going to seed and these little guys are going nuts.  I wish I could capture them on video because sometimes there are 6 or 7 at a time swarming around the flowers and it looks pretty cool.. 

Elsewhere in the yard, we have our first Rose of Sharon bloom.  I picked these seeds from my mom's plants a few years ago, at Christmas and they've finally matured on their own.  So far, I have some white ones.  I hope to have some purple also.   

Finally, over the weekend, I was able to get the second side of the garage painted.  The mosaic work is lagging but I have a little time before the snow starts to fly.

A Productive Weekend

I did a little more work on the mosaic this weekend but more importantly I finally got around to cleaning out the garden and installing the hardi-backer on the south side of the garage.  The project went a little quicker than the last side I did because the side is smaller and I am starting to get the hang of the work.

Instead of painting all the wood in place, as I did last time, I opted for painting it and then hanging it up.  This worked out well but I have a little touching up to do on the "stucco" paint as I didn't cover all of the areas properly. 

The project is starting to shape up and I even rounded the corner at the back of the garage.  I am well over half done with the cladding.  The next spectacular Sunday, I should be able to finish that part of the job.  As for the mosaic...