Family Facelift

We are contemplating what a new face will require. Hopefully we can complete this transformation in one weekend but considering our past experience we anticipate a mostly done situation at best.

Here is the plan:
We will remove the old siding from the front of the building. This siding holds many fond memories for our children and it has set off quite a debate.
Do we try to rescue and treat it? Do we replace it with more cedar siding? The answer is within the siding itself. It is very rotten, having not been treated for a long time and not savable. The price of new cedar siding is out of the question. This leaves us with new siding and we have opted for real wood not man made.

Before we can put on the new siding we will put up insulation and the new siding will be added over this. Then we need to frame out the windows and if we have time cover the posts with 1x12's.

All this bare wood needs caulked, primed and painted.

Estimated costs run around $500.00. Home Depot sent us a 25 dollar gift card and no interest on charge purchases coupon. Our orange card had faded to a sort of dingy peach color so they sent us a new one of those too. When I was a kid there was a song
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/ernie-ford-16-tons-lyrics.html
...It went something like this...

16 tons and what do you get

another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter don't you call me

cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the home-de-pot store

OK, I changed it a bit but you get the idea.

I am studying marketing and purchasing. I walk in Kroger and Walmart trying to learn by observation. Just how tall should a shelf be and where should it be placed. Does a store that sells more in a day than we will purchase in 6 months really have anything in common with our store? Truly I probably learn more from what a consumer needs to know than what the conglomerates are doing.

Like this 10 things your grocery store doesn't want you to know article.

http://health.msn.com/print.aspx?cp-documentid=100165289&page=0

It is refreshing to know our baskets will have fewer germs and be washed more often than any large stores.

I have been trying to come up with a friendly restroom sign. Something that says:

One at a time,

both sexes,

one at a time,

you need a key and

it is up front

where you need to sign for it and

oh by the way,

please leave it clean and

if you are from the city

we have a whole FYI about septic tanks for you to read and

we hope you have not wet your pants by the time we actually give you a key.

still trying to chew what we bit off

Seemed like a simple straightforward task. We had Michael with us for help. However the third day came and went with the inside front wall still not near finished. How can painting one big flat wall barn red be so difficult? I guess the 99 nails in the wall, sanding, priming and two coats to cover were daunting enough on hind sight. The removal of the hog wire which had three coats of paint where it wasn't bare metal and the spray painting both sides which took an unbelievable 2+ cans to cover each side in sizzling heat seemed to last forever. I think it entertained the citizens of Kanawha though. The hog wire had to be cut with the grinder, another slow task not considered when we allowed four days. If you look closly at the goggles the guys are wearing you will notice one pair is usually worn playing racketball, a bit of improvising on Bills part:0) The framing out of the inside window was way easier to draw on paper than to execute. The two panes of new glass are still on the floor because Michael suggested they were safer there, so will put new glass in on another day. Seems empty buildings attract stray bullets like a bee to honey. There is a good bit of white painting to do on the 4 inch trim around the door but most of the difficult work is finished. One nice feature of the new window frame is it is installed with screws which makes it much sturdier and removable so washing the glass is easier.

We got a visit from Mr Easterwood, a cousin. He told us he hunted rabbit and squirrel all over Kanawha when he was as young as 10 and visiting his Grandparents, Ambrose and Opal Boulware. It reminded me about the banana candy Opal always kept for my mother. I guess we will carry banana candy. Opal was like that, always kind and willing to go out of her way to please. It was the tradition of hospitality that drew people to their store and made them linger. He also told us about the original store on our site burning when Charlie Hart owned it. He was a welcome sight on such a grueling work trip.

We waved to Gary Stewart as he passed on his mail route Saturday. Gary is another cousin, Grandson of Ernest Boulware. Gary has gone out of his way to make us feel at home and it is much appreciated.

We did check out the Sears store, where we priced AC window units and other appliances we will need. Window units should run about $400.00 each if we can find them on sale. Our goal will be to prep holes to set them in next spring so they can be purchased before the heat hits in the summer. Sears is one of the few places that will service appliances in this rural area.

One GIANT STEP

This is the color of the building as Tim sprays. Unfortunately the shot of the whole building did not come out. So will share that one next time. Tim said satin sheen is more durable. He also told us some sealers can not be painted over.
After the building was painted we had a steady stream of neighbors drop by and say they liked the color or it looked good.

I can tell you it is a giant step toward our opening the store but one of many needed to finish the lengthy list of to dos we still have.

Stephen is searching for a door man for us. Bill is still waging a loosing battle with the poision ivy that just keeps coming back. We are trying to find a 30 by 30 space on this property to build a cottage that does not cross over a water line, electric line or pole, gas line, sewer line or obstruct our ability to do business. It will require a miracle only Mother Theresa could manage but still there is hope.

Bill has some vision a neighbor will sell us a plot of land close to the store but I am focused on the store that seems to have it's own problems stacked too high to see over.

In addition to the miracle of paint we got to eat the Bar B Q Bill made and it was wonderful again. That is three successful Bar B Q Ribs he has produced. Tasty enough thinking about them makes you hungry and yummy everytime.

Men like to BarBQ

Men will cook

if danger is involved

John Wayne

How many brothers fit on a log?

Exterior Paint 101 and Four Brothers

THANK YOU Timothy! Also thank Stephen, Michael and William who all contributed hours of their time and received little more than a scorching sunburn for their work. What would we ever do without the generosity of our children? We are very blessed.

To paint a 38 year old steel building Timothy tells us we will need to power wash it after every bolt is tightened and sealed. Of course he actually does most of this labor himself but he does get a bit of help from his three brothers. Power washing begins on the roof and finishes on the sides. This is followed by spraypainting the sides and back. The roof is saved for another trip and the front of the building must be delayed because of new siding materials the humidity is really high and the heat is intense sunburning my arms and I am on the ground manning the camera trying to look like this is helping.

The three brothers help with verbal commands and jokes while Timothy does a professional job in record time. The Dad manages to clear the sides of grass and trash. He also hauls off the third but not last truck full of trash. He burns limbs and wood for two days and we are beginning to see the mountain shrink.