damn its been a cold winter!!

Well thank god winter is nearing the end, last year I was able to get some work in during the winter but man this winter has just been so cold with very few breaks. So i've just been working on the old original 12 over 12 windows in the basement and warmth of the rental house and checking craigslist daily for any good deals on stuff for the house. I've made a few good purchases which i'll go over but before I do that I've been meaning to post a couple photos of the dining room window bump-out I was working on in the fall...

Its not totally complete but its close, I just finished building a window planting box that will go here

I built it using old solid but dry 1x6 pt deck boards and 1x2 pine, sanded thoroughly and filled nail holes and applied 2 coats of oil primer and 3 coats of white semi-gloss. I taped off the top edges and sprayed the interior with 3 coats of spray rubber to water seal the interior real nice! holes are drilled in the bottom for drainage of course.

Ok, so back to craigslist. Near the end of august I found an ad from a nice guy who was knocking down his cottage on the lake in Morris, CT, he was offering everything inside and the decks outside for free, and of course I was all over it.
I salvaged pressure treated 2x6 & 2x8 deck boards and took home 36- 2x6x16's and 25- 2x8x12's with
a retail value over $770. And other random smaller 2x6 boards. All Like new condition, none of it had cracks and splinters that old decks get. I won't use it for decking anyway, 2x8's for joists and 2x6's for some sort of framing project probably.
I was also allowed to remove interior wood, the entire cottage was covered in wood paneling,
I took about 40-50 1x6 T&G 8' boards (value $250-$325. range) and a stack of other misc wide pine boards and trim/baseboards, all great useful material with a light coat of stain on some on one side and no paint. He also gave me 3 unused 6x6x12 pressure treated boards ($120 value)
A great haul that will come in handy in many ways, and already have, I used some 2x6's for framing that window bump-out and trimmed it out with some of the paneling which I cut the t&g's off.

Other craigslist purchases this winter:

3 bundles of 10 - 8' primed cedar fj clapboards for $100. from Canaan, CT resident
(value approx. $180.)

35 pieces of new 5' rebar for $50. from Torrington, CT resident.
(value approx. $100.00)

50 new unused concrete foundation blocks 16x8x8 from Barkhamsted, CT resident
value approx $75. bought for $30.or $40., can't remember, but still a good deal.

10 Harvey windows - wood interior/aluminum exterior simulated true divided light colonial 6 over 6,
 tilt to clean, insulated glass, etc Awesome high end windows for less than crappy new vinyl.
value approx $400.ea bought for $100.ea. from contractor in Sandy Hook, CT
These are them...