2020's Parting Gift

 After the stone work was completed, our project went a bit off track. A piece of the existing house was being replaced to accommodate a new porch light when some rotten wood was discovered. Removing that wood led to finding more rotten wood in the wall under Clara's window. And then investigating that led to finding rotten trim around Clara's window. So, we ended up replacing the window trim pieces and the wood inside the wall under her window. Since plywood wasn't around in 1938 when the house was built, the exterior walls were built with 2x6s, so some of those got replaced. The fixed area needs to be painted next, and then it is good as new.

We did manage to get the gutters done this month too and salvaged the old ones as much as possible, much to the chagrin of the gutter installer, who intended to throw away the old solid copper gutters! 

Next up is screen installation and trim pieces.

Masonry work

 The last two weeks have been spent on the shiplap ceiling and the masonry work for the wall near the stairs and the fireplace.

The stone had to be moved under the roof with makeshift plastic walls around the porch and heaters to thaw the frozen stone. We lost several days of progress thanks to this step.

But then work got underway again with laying stone. 

Now the wall by the stairs is complete and drying.

Same goes for the stone around the fireplace. The grout lines will end up looking much lighter once they dry.