It was just a few months shy of two years ago that I posted about our great driveway-pier-garage-floor-and-doors extravaganza.
Now I get to add the next chapter.
We seem to have atoned for enough transgressions and collected enough good karma for “the guy” we’ve been chasing for just a few months shy of two years to come and apply the stucco coating on the pier to match the foundation on the rest of the house.
So, instead of looking at concrete block…
…we get to look at painted stucco. (Sorry, I neglected to get any in-progress photos — sometimes, I’m just too tired to care.)
I’m thrilled with the improvement. So much so, I had to get busy right away and paint the foundation on the house to match.
Well, almost. There weren’t enough hours in the day on Saturday (it took a surprisingly long time to paint over the heavy texture on the foundation — more like “pouncing” the paint as if stenciling than actually swiping the brush back and forth), and Sunday I was on duty at my mom’s…so, the foundation’s not quite finished yet. But it’s a big improvement, finally.
Here in fixer-upperhood, we revel in any victory, no matter how trivial.
Of course, it’s the next chapter (not the last chapter) in our great driveway-pier-garage-floor-and-doors extravaganza because one of the column bases we had specially built is already splitting and has to be replaced. Can’t wait to jack up that porte-cochère roof again and wrestle with the column so we can get the base out and replace it. Oh, and because the pier grew a few inches when it was rebuilt, the stone cap doesn’t fit anymore…someday we’ll get a new piece of stone cut to fill the gap.
And of course, we still have to paint the columns and bases, and the “ceiling” — that’ll be interesting, too. Maybe Mike’ll rig up one of these contraptions again to reach the top. (And notice the ugly concrete block pier — no more!)
But maybe that better wait until we’re sure he has health insurance again.
In the meantime, I’m celebrating stucco — the latest home improvement that makes pulling in the driveway a little more pleasant. (Now if we could just get rid of those dilapidated railing posts on the porch roof and fix the roof once and for all…)
Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.
~ John Archibald Wheeler
Writing by Ear 