June 2019 Upkeep and Repairs

1. Entry Foyer Banister - It was pretty worn and dingy. I sanded it down and finished it with 5 coats of Epiphanes marine varnish. I replaced the supports with some nice solid brass pieces.

2. Cast Iron bench - Its been here as long as I can remember. I scraped rust, treated with rust converter and painted.

3. Front Entry roof supports. These were rusting a bit and need attention. I used an angle grinder to remove rust, coated with epoxy, and created protective footing with hydraulic cement

Supports rusted from ocean air

Rebuilt entry on Masons Island

4. Repainted Garage Door

5. Repaired Seawall base. An area of about 6 feet was being undermined. I dug down 6 inches and exposed the damaged area. I then added large rocks as footers and filled the voids with rocks and cement. The cement is expensive, but it sets up very rapidly and is very durable. All rocks and surfaces were scrubbed with a wire brush to ensure good adhesion. I used about 300lbs of CementAll concrete

6. Repaired top of seawall. This has not been done for over 30yrs. I knocked off loose and crumbling mortar. After that I filled voids and created a textured top surface, using 250lbs of cement

repaired seawall on mystic waterfront

repaired seawall on Mystic River, CT

7. Replace Shower Curtain Rod. The old rod was a regular curtain rod from Home Depot. It looked nice before it started to rust; I guess they aren't supposed to be used near water! I replaced it with a heavy duty stainless steel model with stainless steel shower curtain rings

8. Build a doorway transition in Master bedroom. The floor between the master bedroom and the dressing area needed a permanent transition. I wanted a gradual slope to prevent a trip hazard. I took awhile to sand the wood a cot create a permanent ramp that wasn't an eyesore.

9. Other stuff. a) Tested/cleaned Pizza oven, gas grill. b) Updated network software. c) Set up secondary computer and an internet enabled front door lock. d) Re-caulked the Anderson sliding glass door in the Sun Room, circa 1960 e.) Pulled vines, trimmed dead limbs, and removed pine tree in front yard. f) Added Roku to the TV system and re-programmed the remote.