ArizonaRanch

  LittleHouse Siding by admin on May.20, 2008, under Siding Siding Install 17 May 2008. We brought up 16 sheets of Hardi-Board siding to cover half the house. We had a little adventure with losing half of two pieces on I-40 coming up. Fortunately, nobody was near us when that happened. Hardi-Board is a cement fiber board that does not rot in the rain or sun, the way most sheet goods do. It is also highly fire-resistant. It cost about twice as much as T1-11 siding, but we think the reduced maintenance will be worth the extra cost. Here is the south side installed (including replacement of the two panels at the door). The seams will be filled in before we paint, and it should look as good as any house in town.    South Siding Siding Install 17 May 2008. South side awaiting trim and paint.   Front Siding Siding Install 18 May 2008. Here is a view of the door, after replacing the two pieces of siding that were cut too big. There is a drip edge fashioned from f

  More May at the Ranch by admin on May.10, 2008, under Seasons Globe Mallow May 28th, 2005. Early Afternoon. There was a bunch of these. They stood about waist-high.   Globe Mallow Small Violet Flowers May 28th, 2003. Early Afternoon. There was a bunch of these, too. But they were small, so you didn’t notice them as quickly.   Violet Flower (Some perrenial grass - fillile?) Remy May 27th, 2006. Morning. This is our pup, Remy. She was about 8 months old when this was taken. A very curious and smart dog. She was a big hit when we visited our neighbors.   Remy Horned Toad Lizard May 26th, 2006. Early Afternoon. As we were unloading a load of water from our trailer, this little guy was found scurrying around in the trailer bed. I didn’t want to squish him, so I just tried to get him to jump out of the trailer. He decided to jump on my pants leg…   Horned Toad Lizard Guardian Bee May 25th, 2006. Early Afternoon. This gal hung around the campsite for about

  LittleHouse – French Door Screens by admin on May.06, 2008, under Windows & Doors French Door Install 04 May 2008. So here the door is in, and waiting for the screen install.   Remy models the Doors French Door Install 04 May 2008. The double screen came with a track for the top, and the sill plate had the track built into the bottom. This is probably the most disappointing feature of the door. The screen track is just a cheap piece of plastic, and doesn’t slide as well as I would like. We hope a little silicone spray will help with that.   Screen Door Track French Door Install 04 May 2008. After installing the top track, I just had to lift the doors into the top track, and wedge the bottom rollers into the bottom track. The screen on the left is screwed to the frame in two places, to keep it from routinely opening. The screen on the right will be the one that is in normal operation.   Putting the screens in French Door Install 04 May 2008. Tara tried

  LittleHouse – Installing the French Doors by admin on May.05, 2008, under Windows & Doors French Door Install 03 May 2008. We cut an X in the housewrap, as we had done while installing windows. Then we used the jig saw to cut out the door opening. As it turned out, the door that arrived from our special order was 2″ shorter than we expected, so we had to install a spacer above the door to fill in the empty space. We then folded the housewrap in, as with the windows.    Furring Out the Framing for the French Doors French Door Install 03 May 2008. Next, we installed two sheets of siding, because the brickmold was pre-installed on the door. That means we had to have the siding in place before installing the door. After the siding was in place, we tilted the door into place. We were a little dismayed to discover that I had cut the siding hole too big on top (again the extra 2″). We fashioned a drip edge from flashing and placed it above the door, and fill

  LittleHouse – Building the Work Platform by admin on May.03, 2008, under Windows & Doors East Side View 21 April 2008. The right hand side of the East end will be used for utilities entrance panels and such. So there’s no window on that side for the bathroom. We ran out of Tyvek tape (which is GREAT stuff, by the way… So we will finish taping the window on our next trip. The Lowes Housewrap held up very well through the winter, with no signs of fraying or tearing.   East Side Windows   Work Platform 02 May 2008. The next step is to install the French Doors. Before we can do that, though, we needed a work platform to help Tara and I lift the door into place. There was no way we were going to be able to lift it all the way off the ground to the floor level. So here we built an 8′ x8′ work platform, and sat it on top of the porch piers.   Work Platform Framing Work Platform 02 May 2008. It’s amazing, all of the extra work you have to do to be able to work