Unexpected Projects Throw Cheeseheads into Chaos

Our rotting pergola: looks like a bat condo, doesn't it?

 Aargh! Very frustrated today. Found out the cupola on top of our garage is rotted out and needs to be removed or replaced. Also found out that at least half and maybe all of our gutters are also rotted and need replacing asap because they are damaged our soffits. I can already tell we are going to blow this year's home remodel budget sky high!

It's funny because I've just been reading about entropy (how the universe becomes less ordered) in a book on quantum physics that I've been using as a sleep aid. It takes mere minutes to knock me right out when there's talk about how to measure different amounts of infinity or a discussion on the different types of multiverses. I am only able to get through a few pages at a time before shutting down so this one book should last me for months.

Sorry, back to the entropy happening in my home. So, I'm not too freaked out about the cupola. After all, I'm trying to give the house a more modern look and getting rid of that will help. I don't think it has a real function but I hesitate to take it down 'cuz I just know there are bats in there. Maybe I'll hire someone to do it who has already gotten their rabies shots. (This is the same reason I haven't taken down the shutters yet. I get that bats are really good for insect control but they seriously freak me out!)

The rusty holes indicate the gutters need replacing

As for the gutters, if they all need to come down, I could have something other than white trim, which would be nice. Except I'd still want the white soffits for bringing light into our home. So, I guess I can stick with white trim. Painting a house in three colors is more expensive than painting in two, which I don't quite get. After all, it'd be the same amount of paint, right? It's just frustrating because I want to get the house painted as soon as possible and now this will have to be taken care of before we paint. Why can't things ever be simple?
I have to remember that it's not all doom and gloom. After all, I did manage to convince my spouse that putting concrete under our deck is a worthwhile idea. Right now it's just brambles, weeds, centipedes and dirt. The patio door is currently unusable due to all the dirt in its tracks. I suspect that all that dirt getting splashed up on our cedar siding is not good for it either.

Here's an interesting aside. I had painters come out to quote the painting job and all told me that our cedar siding is in really good shape. They said that the cedar and oak used in newer homes isn't as good as the wood used in the past and doesn't hold up to the elements as well. I wonder if this is true...

I think these look like they were once painted blue

Anyhow, with a concrete patio under the deck turning it into usable space, I think I'll use a solid stain on the underside of the deck and paint it sky blue 'cuz I heard somewhere that the practice deters wasps from building nests (probably not true but I'm willing to give it a try).

As a festive touch, I bought some colorful LED outdoor string lights to put up. The package says LED lights don't attract bugs like regular lights do but to be safe I went with a multi-colored set instead of white, which I would have preferred. I might get some good deals at the end of the summer on furniture and, voila! a festive party space!

I'm hoping the patio will also help control our centipede problem. Seriously, spiders aren't even half as creepy as those hairy, fast-moving beasties! And they get everywhere! I even found one clinging to the inside of my bath robe as I was just about to put it on! (Which one of us would have been more grossed out?)



Once this is paved, I will walk out my patio door,
sit under the pretty lights with a sangria in hand
and listen to the crickets sing

 Since we are going to be busy trying to get the basement ready for our guests this summer, we've decided to hire out the patio job. I've already got all the quotes I wanted. I thought a poured concrete patio would be more expensive than pavers but the opposite has turned out to be true. From the quotes I've received, pavers were going to be twice as much as the concrete. I love the look of pavers but I don't have any issues with the look of poured concrete either.

Stamped concrete looks nice but was about also more expensive than the poured concrete. Also, I've noticed that colored concrete looks awful once it starts losing its color. I'm all about less maintenance, so for us, the poured concrete seems like the best option.

One contractor told me that he uses straight six bag mix and that it is different than six bag mix because it contains no fly ash. I looked online to see if that was true but didn't find any useful information. I also didn't find out why fly ash is bad. Is it worth a $1000 difference in price? I don't think so.

Anyhow, although stressing about the added repairs we have to complete this summer, I am happy that I was able to talk hubby into the concrete patio. Yay!