Handy Inspiration

My neighbor and walking friend is a very handy person. So handy in fact that she started a blog about it. She inspired me to fix my house numbers because she did, too. We painted our house six or seven years ago, and the painter broke the numbers, then painted them a color that didn't contrast enough before he put them back up.  She had recently replaced her house numbers, so Saturday morning we took an hour and she helped me do mine...

First I had to pry off the old numbers. They just had tiny nails holding them on, so I found a platic putty knife, inserted it underneath and started to pry. Of course, the plastic wasn't particulary effective, so I had to find an alternative. Being unable to locate the metal putty knives, I did manage to find a chisel and a pliers. Between the two, it seemed to do the trick.

When I laid the numbers out on the ground, it seemed like about 1.5" was the right amount of space between them. They are a bit bigger than the old numbers, so I started them a little higher than where the old ones started. I marked a center spot on the beam at the height where I wanted the first number to go. The new numbers use tiny screws instead of nails. Fortunately the first number is a "1", so the hole in the number for the screw actually falls on the center line of the beam where it was being installed. I held up the number, marked the bottom hole (the one has a screw at the top and the bottom), used a level to make sure that the numbers were even, and drilled pilot holes for both numbers.

Once the pilot holes were drilled, I switched the bit on the drill for a screw bit an screwed on the number "1". I walked back to the street to look at my handywork, and it didn't look straight. Sigh... So lesson learned. Screw in the top screw, then look at positioning before you screw in the second screw. It's definitely a two person job. I'm glad I had my friend to help. So we unscrewed the bottom, repositioned, redrilled a pilot holed, and reattached the screw.

The rest of the numbers were a little more difficult, as the screw holes weren't at the center of the numbers. I'm sure that's so they don't warp over time. But it did make the task of getting it lined up on the center of the beam a bit more difficult. So we measured the distance between the numbers, and marked it on center. Then we held it up and eyeballed it straight to mark the top pilot hole, drilled it and screwed it in, then eyeballed it straight again before putting in the second screw. It took a bit of jiggling back and forth, but the total project ended up taking about an hour.  

So now, thanks to the inspiration and help of Handy Granny, I have new house numbers that can easily be seen from the street. And the goldfinches in the tree next to the front door will know they've found their way home.