In The Thick of It

June 13 & 14, 2009...The weekend's beautiful weather gave us the opportunity to work on a few projects. First, Hubby had to replace a hydraulic hose on our tractor that got ripped off a few weeks ago by a falling tree. (Oops!) Here's the repaired hose:

The rest of the weekend we spent waterproofing the poured concrete walls. This wall looks splotchy because it was badly pitted and Hubby was working really hard to get the paint into the pits. We only had one coat applied at this point. The color is called "weathered concrete," and looks taupe-ish on the brochure, which we thought would coordinate well with the moss-green siding. When we got it on the walls, however, it looked a lot more gray-ish, and not to my liking. Oh well...we can always paint over the exposed parts later.

We painted the freeze walls for continuity in case they are exposed beneath the bottom row of siding:

Here's J-Bird working on the freeze walls. He is a hard worker and a tremendous blessing to our family. We are able to accomplish so much largely because of his willingness and ability to help out. The other boys helped a lot, as well...we just didn't get any photos of them. I'm really enjoying the family time we're sharing as our home progresses. J-Bird pointed out that this was the first project we worked on that was actually part of the home construction...I hadn't even thought of that, but, he's right.

Oh, the glamorous life...I love it! Here I am, working on the back side of the house. It was nice and cool as the sun set on the front side and the breeze actually made it pleasant! We are using Quikcrete's Masonry Waterproofing Paint, which is very thick...like textured ceiling paint, for those of you who have had the pleasure to apply it. Meaning...it splatters...a lot. It ends up in your hair, on your face, arms...you get the idea.

And, here's Sissy...nimbly navigating the many ups and downs of the construction site:

And, she's not one to be left out, so we gave her a brush and let her give it a try:

Daddy had to fish her brush out of the paint bucket a few times...

But, then she decided she didn't like the paint on her fingernails:

Another productive weekend...sore muscles...dirty clothes. LIFE IS GOOD!

Sometime this coming week, we'll be adding 1 1/2" foam insulation onto the walls we just painted, for extra moisture protection and insulating benefits.

Stay tuned,
Kris