OMG this was a PROJECT!!! One week to dismantle the washer, replace the spider arm, and put the washer back together. Another week to wait for a part we didn’t know needed replacing. But it works great now!
In Part 1 I explained how I found a ton of rot behind the existing steps when I pulled them away from the house. And critter holes. Which probably explains why I trapped and released about 30 mice from the basement this summer!
This project began in the Fall of 2018. I replaced our 14 gold-colored doorknobs, 5 gold-colored deadbolts, & 42 gold-colored hinges with silver-colored brass. Much better 🙂
After repointing and sealing the back slate steps, they were looking SO GOOD! The final step was using Polyblend Grout Renew in “Natural Gray” to stain the cement-colored Quikrete to a more natural looking color. I first learned about Polyblend Grout Renew back in 2015 when I used it to …
After repairing the mortar on our back slate steps, it was time to clean and seal them. There were years [decades?] of moss, algae, & lichen growing on them: I used a scrub brush and bowl of warm water [no soap] and just worked away: …
As part of the doorknob/hinges project, and the backdoor overhaul project, I fixed our crumbling, neglected back slate steps this summer. I had never heard the term “repointing” before this summer.
Frankly, I’ve never thought about our cellarway. It’s always just been “the cellarway”. A way to get from the kitchen down to the basement. But last month as I was coming back up from the basement it finally occurred to me “hey, there’s no reason these walls have to remain dirty, white, matte crap!”
I spent many weekends this Summer overhauling the back door which leads from the Laundry Room out to a public garden, and overhauling the back steps, which I’ll talk about in a future post.
I haven’t posted much over the past few weeks but I have a lot to catch up on. Here’s 5 small[ish] projects I’ve completed over the past 2 months.
