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Some folks have been inquiring about LGs Art Cool Minispit Air Conditioners. We installed the Cool/Heat units in the Summer of 2007 and have loved them. Aesthetics are a big part of our admiration as many of these are u.g.l.y. ... however, with a sleek metallic-like finish and subtle construction, they don't look at all obtrusive... or not as obtrusive as they could otherwise.
When the work, the front and sides open up... and retract when off, of course.
One of the last items on the exterior is the rehabbing of the garage doors. Previously, we'd considered rebuilding the doors with the siding we'd purchased from Eichler Siding. While this might still be an option, it's a mighty undertaking: (1) they're crazy heavy, (2) they work well and (3) they've been in place for 40 years... and it might be one of those "if it ain't broke" situations... so for now, we're trying to save the existing doors even though the siding isn't a perfect match smoothness-wise. But that's what we're now trying to remedy.
Thanks to Jacob and TJ for scraping a good bit of the paint off of the doors -- a much needed first step. Then, re-grooving the lost grooves was in order. The old grooves were more shallow and had already lost a good bit of depth from layers of paint. I tried several methods: scraping, solvent, Dremel...
The Dremel tool wandered too much and caused more damage than otherwise. Had I set up a track to guide it, it'd be ideal (straight, uniform depth, even width), but there are a lot of grooves to be setting up a track for each groove would be too time consuming (might as well rebuild the doors with clean siding).
Nothing has worked quite as well as the Rockwell SoniCrafter which was a gift from Casie's dad. Similar to a Fein MultiMaster, it vibrates at a high velocity for cutting, sawing, grinding, etc. and using the grout removal attachment, I'm able to get into the grooves and clear them out. It's a slow process, but it seems to be working.
Hopefully by day's end, we'll have matching garage doors.
Oh, and the handle-hardware: who know it was wrought-iron looking? An odd craftsman touch, methinks.
We've started to form a sense of community here in Rancho Del Diablo -- neighbors like Kyle (see the red-nosed trumpet player below) and Sarah are excellent catalysts to get out and meet new folks (note 8mo. pregnant woman on the bike below -- that's Sarah. I think she ran a marathon at month-7, so she's got moxie)... They organized a neighborhood parade for the 4th. Pretty low-fi and impromptu, but high on the fun factor and it brought even more neighbors into the street.
Sara G. is our neighborhood photographer and has captured a lot of good images on her blog.