Sweat Equity

The house just after being wrapped

The front of the house halfway torn off

Over the last several weeks Brent and I have been putting alot of elbow grease into our first home. At the beginning of June we purchased and installed (ourselves!) new vinyl windows throughout our entire house! they look amazing! and they cut out noise like no other! We have yet to trim them out on the inside... which Brent keeps saying we'll do soon, he just needed to buy a router first, and borrow a nail gun and table saw, etc.

I'm thrilled about our newest addition! Last weekend we had new siding installed on the house! Brent's dad Jim, and brother Dane, drove over for a long weekend and some hard work. and Brent's cousin Luke came over to help as well. Brent and I started and finished ripping off the old siding the friday night before they arrived, it was so much fun! but I could tell how old and disgusting our siding really was! it just snapped and crumbled into pieces as I pulled on it! insane!

The next morning we went to work cutting, fitting and installing the new siding, first wrapping the house (to keep the bugs out??) and making sure everything was sealed and protected, then getting the siding up. Next came the trim.... that was fun, I made a trip or two to home depot to pick up things that had been "forgotten" or cut wrong. Then came the caulking, this was the stickiest job I have ever done I think, and I didnt use gloves! I just spread it on bare-finger and all, by the end of that day my hands were numb and tingly and I was ready to be done with all of it, but we had more... Painting!

So, for the last week, I have been out every morning I have off (because thats the only time cool enough here to do anything!) painting the house a light tan, and the trim an off white color called "Nude". I'm still not completely finished, the nude is going to need a second coat for the best effect, but it's getting there! We also painted our front door red! Well, I painted our front door red, lol, Brent just said whatever. It also needs another coat or two of paint, but overall, it looks incredible! such an improvement! It looks like we moved into a new house! I am so proud of the work Brent has put into our home, and so thankful for Jim and Dane's help as well, without them we would still be out there cutting, nailgunning, and driving each other nuts trying to get it finished! All I can do now is keep painting until it's finished, then move onto the next project... A new deck perhaps??

The work station at the front of the house

The hubby nailing the siding on, and good ol' dad enjoying a drink while the boys work....

the best way to do it.