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How This Whole Thing Started
When people find out we bought a farmhouse that was built in 1848 and needs a complete renovation, they are mostly unsurprised. To grasp why, you must first get acquainted with the men of the Papineau family: Brendon, his dad, and his uncles, who I like to joke that if you put them in the middle of the field, they could build a house with their bare hands. … Continue reading How This Whole Thing Started
Construction: Porches
Mother Nature has not always been on our side at Woodside. We installed sill plates in below freezing temps and built a kitchen and garage during a heat wave. But, last weekend the weather gods smiled upon Missouri – we had gorgeous post-Thanksgiving weather and it was perfect timing to start construction on the two-story enclosed porches. We also were fortunate to have help from … Continue reading Construction: Porches
Porch Prep
On a very hot day last July, we removed the two-story enclosed porches from the west end of Woodside. The porches were deteriorated beyond repair and starting to pull on the west end of the house, causing it to fail. We counted eight layers of shingles on the porch roof, although they didn’t do much to protect the porches from the elements: We poured a … Continue reading Porch Prep
Beams, Bricks & Paw Prints
Holy hiatus. It was around this time last year that I posted about how summer is the busiest time of year for both of us at work. Okay, yes it’s technically fall now but since it was 90 degrees here recently, let’s just pretend for a bit longer, shall we? Blogging aside, work at Woodside has been steadily progressing over the last few weeks. We … Continue reading Beams, Bricks & Paw Prints
Construction: Garage & Kitchen
In case you missed it, we recently hit our one-year anniversary of owning Woodside! How did we celebrate? More house projects, of course. We started by having our sewer and plumbing lines reconnected to the house. Then while I was away for a work project this past week, Brendon, his dad, uncle and a couple of brave friends tackled building the garage & kitchen during … Continue reading Construction: Garage & Kitchen
Woodside: The First Year
It’s been a year, both literally and figuratively. One year ago, we closed on Woodside. And oh, what a year it has been! We chopped down a suburban jungle & pulled off porches. We met some longtime inhabitants of Woodside (raccoons, a groundhog, about 30,000 bees and possibly some paranormal friends). We lifted the house in the air & watched woefully as it remained up … Continue reading Woodside: The First Year
Chimneys
Truth be told, we spend a lot of time at Woodside just kinda winging it. Remove a two-story porch? Never done it, but let’s hook this tool up to a tree and start pulling. Install sill plates around the new foundation? Seems easy enough. Take down four-story chimneys that are infested with brown recluse spiders? Sign us up! As I do with most things, I asked … Continue reading Chimneys
Bees
We are no stranger to critters at Woodside. Raccoons, squirrels, birds & a groundhog have all lived here at one point or another (and those are just the animals we’ve seen – surely there are more hanging around). And then there are the bees. We didn’t really notice them much when we bought the property because everything was so overgrown. Once we cut down the … Continue reading Bees
