The BIG Blue Door...

It's time to replace the existing front door... for several fundamental reasons.

First, it is a double French door that only opens on one side. The opening is a not so generous 30 inches. Not big enough for the huge front entry.

Second, the glass doors do not allow for much privacy. I removed the old blinds some time back and threw them away. Didn't stop to think that without them you get a clear view of the whole house and with all the glass you can see straight into the back yard. Absolutely NO privacy. It is quite the event to get from one side of the house to the other in my robe without putting on a show for the neighbors. Plus, it really limits the "nobody's home" game when the door bell rings!

Although, you gotta admit it's kinda fun to crank Lalo Shifrin and creep from post to post secret agent style. It is MUCH better to be able to fit things wider than a large pizza through the door. -Steve

NOTE: The cat on the chaise. That's Cooper and he seldom moves. -Steve

The new door.

We pulled off the interior sheet rock above the door and found the original rough opening. With those measurements we went to Crown Door and ordered a new solid core flush birch door with sidelight. The new door measures 42 inches wide by 7 feet with a 20 inch side light.

This is DD and me artistically painting the door and frame. She did a GREAT job!
NOTE: Cooper's still on the chaise.

It arrived unpainted. With one coat of oil based exterior grade primer and 2 coats of exterior semi-gloss latex we were in business. Our contractor, Randy, stopped over after work to help Steve install the door... or did Steve help Randy? Not sure, but they are a good team.

Oh, I'm totally the not-so-helpful, but he's trying so hard assistant. I just did what he told me to do, including stand outside for what I'm sure was way too long checking the alignment of the gaps... I think he was just tired of me asking dumb questions! -Steve
Like the TV? It's a Muntz and has a build in AM radio, and record player. Only the radio works all the time, the rest sparatically. I'm considering either gutting it and replacing the innards with a functioning stereo system and flat screen TV or consulting our 1961 Mechanix Illustraited Encyclopedia and trying to fix it myself. ....yeah. Like I need another thing to fix. sheesh.



After a couple of tries and lots of shims the door was in. I guess the concrete floor in the atrium is not quite level (I swear that atrium floor is going to haunt me forever!)

We had the holes for the lock set and knob drilled for a 5 inch back set rather than the typical 3 inch. This gives the knob a little room and looks much better on a door this size. My fantasy door knob is centered... but they do not manufacture those any more and it's nearly impossible to find new old stock for a reasonable price.



Putting in the door knob and lock set seemed to be a little more tricky than expected, but finally it worked and the door was in.

Now that's a front door!

Come in, won't you? Please excuse the cat on the chaise! -Steve



Next steps for entry:
1. Caulk, paint and touch up
2. Install new door bell button and switch cover
3. Find, buy and install front door camera... no peep holes for this door!
4. Pressure wash and seal aggregate
5. Install new house numbers
6. Install new front light fixture
7. Find a bench for the entry

More Ball Lights!

The original lights in most of the house were ball lights. Over the years they were "updated" and the original lights met with a fate I hate to discuss.

The dome light... not right!




We've been searching for replacements and decided to purchase three 10" ball lights from IKEA.

Not perfect... but Steve had ideas to make them work. I sense another craft project!

After trimming, painting, and replacing the mounting plate the finished lights look fantastic.
The main problem with the IKEA FADO lights are their bases... they're shaped like deep, handle-less teacups. I went to a hardware salvage place in Portland and bought three suitable, low profile bases, cut 2" off the IKEA tubes, painted everything gloss black and put it all back together. I think they turned out pretty darn good for a guy who's totally afraid of electricity. -Steve

Building the Beds

The atrium needs plants! When the previous owners poured the new concrete floor, they filled in the flower beds. The only solution is to create raised beds... but with what? The typical materials just don't look right. We want something very simple and preferably stone or concrete. The garden supply centers turned up nothing that worked, but in the cement aisle of Lowe's we found simple 4" x 8" x 16" concrete blocks. Perfect!

Well.... perfect would have been the original atrium configuration of a few beds, exposed aggrigate concerete and a ultra-swanky water feature in the form of a small koi pond being fed water via a cement volcano!!! (I know... a VOLCANO!!!) That would have been amazing, but Haley says volcanos belong outside, so Krakatoa-east-of-Gresham will have to wait. Meanwhile in realityville, the concrete blocks look good, are super heavy and I think they'll take the sealer very well. -Steve

We "dry fit" the bed design and plan to live with it for a bit before we make it final... but so far I think it will work. And the step really makes a nice transition into the loggia.













Next steps:

1. Secure and seal concrete blocks
2. Select plants
3. Install drip watering system
4. Hook up Tiki water feature
5. Fill beds with river rock
6. Install lighting

Atrium Floor... 3rd Time's the Charm

The atrium floor has really been bugging me. After 2 attempts to get the look we wanted, I get the crazy idea to try again.

Found a concrete grinder with diamond bit inserts at Sunbelt rentals. Picked it up on a Friday and returned it on Monday... total cost $134.00. (Why didn't we do this the first time?)




Steve worked all weekend to grind off the concrete stain we applied and the 1/16th inch of concrete to expose the aggregate. This was a long and frustrating process.
Yes it was frustrating.... and not because the concrete was so tricky to grind down. It was frustrating because I couldn't figure out how to make the three grinding blocks stay put on the machines rotating wheel. They're held in place with small hardwood wedges and I wasn't hammering them into place good enough. A block, wedge and/or two blocks would go flying across the room without warning. ACK! Sometimes after 10 minutes of grinding, sometimes after 10 seconds of grinding. That and the ShopVac filter would clog up every 1/2 hour or so... but over all it wasn't awfully tricky, just my ineptness made it take longer than it should have. -Steve



The grinder did a great job, but left quite a bit around the edges and the finish wasn't as smooth as we had hoped for. So back to Sunbelt for more equipment! They located a hand grinder that would get right up to the edge of the wall, plus the diamond bit was a little finer so it could smooth out the swirls. (Approx. $50)



Sorry Steve... one more night of conrete dust in your hair, eyes, nose... but it was worth it. With a final coat of concrete sealer we finally have the floor we wanted.
I'm still finding concrete dust in places I didn't know were places!!! ACK!
-Steve

Is polished concrete slippery?

Yes. That's one fast ride!
I thought I was going to have to wax the cement.... nope. It's plenty fast! I promise I'll work on my tan (and my blubbery waist-line!)
-Steve

And maybe a little scary...
That thing's steeper than a 45-degree angle and the turn at the bottom isn't really banked enough so yeah.. the first few times it's a little scary.
-Steve


We have yet to officially name the slide, but "Rummer's Revenge" and "Lava Luge" are the favorites.

Also in the running is "Gresham Glockenspiel" I know a glockenspiel is a xylophone-like thingie but it's fun to yell "To the Glockenspiel!" Have a better name idea? Please let us know!
-Steve

The Wisteria must DIE...

The huge wisteria on the back fence belongs to our neighbor. BUT it grows on our side of the fence... right above the pool. We waited for it to bloom before we made any trimming decisions. It has been neglected for years. Some of the branches are 2-3 inches thick! The blooms were pretty, but few. And when the breeze picked up... all the petals and leaves fell into the pool. What a mess.

Final decision: it's gotta go. Well, at least trim it back to the fence.

You can just see the end of the slide peeking out from under the wisteria. I think it would have been fun to go ripping down the slide through all those branches, but probably not a smart liability risk. The pool was almost filled up. See the dry concrete... when wet it's a murky, black bottom pool. Adds to the mystery, huh? -Steve

The part along the main fence was easy to reach with a ladder. But the area above the waterfall and slide was a little tricky. Steve got creative and a little daring!

Notice the branches growing through the teeny spaces between the fence boards. That thing hadn't been trimmed in a looooong time. -Steve



The big clump falls into the top pond of the waterfall. Hey, we have a slide!

No I'm not on my way down. I'm just trying to reach the errant branches to snip 'em off. Max is in the water waiting to catch twigs as they slide down the slide. -Steve

And... and waterfall.
The first few trickles. Once it gets going, there's quite a rumble. Well, maybe not a rumble, but it's louder than I thought it would be. -Steve



First, clean up... then we can play!

The dried up wisteria petals were like paper mache stuck to the upper pool... fun. -Steve

Nice Hang-time Max!

The pool's only about 5-feet deep, so no Wide World of Sports cliff diving re-enactments. I touched the bottom with my bottom on this cannonball. This is also a nice view of the roofline of the poolhouse. -Steve

DD and cousin Jarom with a tandem leap!

Art for art's sake. Nice shot!

The Burning Bush

Our backyard neighbor just sold their house... yes, it's a Rummer too (1 of 4 in our neighborhood.) They put it on the market Friday and it went pending Sunday (with multiple offers.) We did get a chance to go to the open house. Amazing. And the yard was so tidy... trees trimmed, fresh bark spread. All very nice. Then we come home to our yard. What a mess.

Motivated, we launch into pruning the overgrown front yard. The focal point is a very old Japanese Maple, but it just looks like a big red bush. Steve crawled under the tree to assess its health and his trimming strategy. From under the tree he starts talking to me (in an almighty tone)... I swear it was just like the burning bush scene in the movie, The Ten Commandments!

There was about a cord of old, dead branches under there. And don't tell Haley, but I have NO idea what to cut and where. I was totally faking it, but I guess it turned out just fine. -Steve

Steve cuts out the dead branches and then trims up the limbs to create an umbrella. We can finally see the trunk. Very cool twists and turns. It is at least 30 years old. It still needs some thinning and shaping, but overall it looks much better and will work for now. We have so much yard... and ivy everywhere. The debris piles are growing!

I wish I would have taken a shot with my face showing here. I think it looks like the world's biggest toupe. that would have been funny. -Steve

Much nicer, yes? -Steve