Front Door

It's been forever since we've updated on our house progress and it's probably because I'm ready to put my head in a hole with it right now.  We've been catching up on so much painting..... two coats on all the trim that has gone back up and then painting the walls in the master bedroom, den, hallway, etc.

It doesn't sound like much, but it is, just take my word for it.

And, while painting and getting up and down constantly on a scaffold... I'm pregnant.  Thank goodness our house is situated on our property where we can open just a few of our windows and the breeze will literally flow from one end of the house to the other and get the fumes out.... and yes, I've been wearing a heavy duty mask while painting.  Hank cannot be trusted painting, so it has continued to be my task.

Again, just take my word for it. 

One of the thorns in my side right now has been our front door.... well, actually the whole entry way.

We stripped the front door and left it bare to dry out for a bit.  Then we decided to start on the limestone.

Like everything else around here, the limestone around the front door had previously chipped and been painted over and we decided if we're going redo it, then let's REDO IT!  So, we started with stripping the limestone.  If you put Peel Away on anything, within 24 hours the paint is literally sliding off the surface.  So here is our entryway ready for stripping.  Sorry for the ugliness, neighbors!!

 I scraped.

And scraped.

 And scraped.

I couldn't believe what a mess it was.  Some parts were caked on for so long and hard that Hank had to get a grinder and get through the last layer of paint.

 * Side Note:  You see that work face?  That is a Watson work face.  When Grady starts doing that... then I'll worry. 

After a lot of scraping and washing, here is the front area totally stripped of paint.

It was a lot of work, but totally worth it.  The stone is so smooth and the door had a lot of bad paint on it and in addition to that, a lot of wood rot on the bottom.  We bought a wood rot kit and did all of the proper repairs on it and primed over it.

We have primed and painted the limestone, but I really didn't want to show photos just yet.  The front door has been one big nightmare for me and we hope to get it finalized this weekend.  After we get it finished, I'll take "after" photos and post them.

Hope all of our hard work has been worth it!  I guess we'll see.  :)