Santa Fe House Renovation

 There is an ugly 1/2" setback between the foundation and the framing/drywall in the transition from the lower level to the entry.  The old builder just put some ugly molding trim there to cover it.  I had an idea to build shelving on that wall.  Not only to gain usable space, but also to cover that unsightly division.  However, that also narrows the stairwell, so I built a cheap prototype to verify fit, and tide me over until I start doing interior trim work and actually build the real thing.  Just used some scrap 2x4's and 3/4" plywood I had lying around.  Looks like it will add a lot of usable shelving in an unused area.  We'll see how it works out.

 Finally getting started on putting stucco back on the house.  Invested in a cement mixer due to the expected amount of stucco I'd have to do, and because I'll need to do the deck footings as well.  This is my first time doing large sections of stucco and results are good.  This is the scratch coat.  It goes faster than expected, so I need to have all of my lathe 100% prepped and I can knock out the rest of the stucco very quickly.

 Had to break up the rear concrete pad and move all of it out of the way. Now I've marked the deck footing locations front and rear. And have the first footing dug.  2 feet deep.  8 more to go.

 Finally getting started on the front basement windows.  Will also be installing the ledger for the front deck, so some extra demo of the stucco was required.  My temporary vent cover stucco was a little harder to remove, so I haven't done it yet in these pictures.

 Finally getting the first new window installed in the basement bedroom.  There was some wood rot under it, so I had to replace that wood, and update the sheathing.  Ran out of sealing tape so it's only partly done in the last picture.

 Starting the process to remove the terrible window above the entry door.  The vent above it was allowing quite a bit of water in which case a fair amount of rot in the roof joists.  So I will need to shore them up.