More South Side Stones (2013-018)

I wasn't happy with how the new fence boards were fitting along the south side foundation, so I removed them and got more stones to run the whole length of the house.  I was thinking of adding steps to the double doors on the west side, but that would reduce the clearance between our house and the playhouse (also it would cost more money), so I decided to skip the steps for those doors.

South Side Face Lift (2013-017)

I need to finally add some steps.  Otherwise it's a 12 inch step up into the playhouse.  So bought a small quantity of yard stones to make a step for the south side door.  I like the "stack stone" look of very thin edged stones.  The stones that I bought are not as thin as what I like, but they are a lot more affordable than the real stuff.  I also replaced the old warped fence boards that cover a gap between a portion of the foundation and the concrete patio.  These new boards are redwood and I stained and sealed them, so they should last a lot longer than the old boards did.

Recessed Lights! (2013-016)

I love recessed lighting, so I made custom recessed lighting for under the loft.  Since I am only running an extension cord to the playhouse, I did not install hard wired recessed lights.  Also, I only have about 5 and a half inches of clearance within the loft joists, which is too small for hard wired recessed lights.  So instead I used LED cabinet lighting, which is usually meant for surface mounting, but I figured out a way to recess them using paper coffee cups.  The cups help hold the lights in place and give a nice clean finish to the holes I had to cut into the drywall material.  I made sure to get LED lights, which run a lot cooler than halogen lights that need more ventilation.

Base Boards (2013-015)

I finally got the base boards installed around all the edges of the flooring.  It feels good to get rid of the shims and exposed underlayment around the edges.  Later I will need to caulk over a lot of gaps around the base boards and paint over my finishing nail heads.

Flooring is Done!!! (2013-013)

The flooring is done from top to bottom!  I must say that it looks mighty nice when it's new and shiny.  Now the challenge is to keep it looking good.  So I now everyone must take off their shoes before entering!

First Level Flooring Part 2 (2013-012)

I started installing the laminate flooring on the first level.  I'm really glad I was able to figure out how to install it without removing the ladder!  Fortunately, the Home Depot guy I talked to knew about pull saws, which was the perfect tool for trimming the bottom ends of the ladder without removing it!  Then there was enough flexibility in the ladder brackets that allowed me to lift the ladder up slightly so I could slip the underlayment and flooring underneath.