Tag: Exterior

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Progress and Pavers

Christine

I think I’ll have a good picture of what the whole house will look like soon. The guys are rocking right along with the soffit and they’ve almost finished the new shingles on the front. Tomorrow should be the siding on the front of the first floor. I can’t wait!

new shingles almost done on the front!

project supervisor kept safely inside

After the front is finished, they are going to skip around to the back. Bill is going to get the footers poured for my new back porch. Yes, that’s porch, not deck. The aim is to make it look as if it was always part of the house and not something that was tacked on recently.

Anyway, that’s up next so that our hardscaping can get started. I’m really looking forward to my new retaining wall that will corral the mess on the factory side of the house. For that project we are planning to use Techo-Bloc. This is my current favourite color combination.



techo bloc, mini creta, victorien and mista in champlaign grey and onyx black
Everybody else seems to think I should go with brown, but I see greys. With the silver roof and all the raw concrete that was used in 1930, it is honest and original. I was even leaning toward re-using these super simple concrete pavers we dug up from the cabin. But everyone is afraid they will break. So far they haven’t, I have loads more, and you can still buy them new, so I actually don’t see the problem. But I can’t get anyone else on board, so, new techo bloc it is!
All browns just make me think of the bland brown neighborhoods that have cropped up the last couple of years. Blech! Again, I don’t want something dated 2012.
So for today, I’m leaning toward the mix of medium greys with a touch of brown, and an accent of charcoal grey. The main field colors would be the wall and the floor. For the walls, they do come in the charcoal grey as well, so I’m thinking maybe a 10% mix of dark grey with the 90% medium tones. The edging around the floors and the stairs in charcoal grey will be a snazzy contrast, and help define edges to prevent falls and mis-steps. And of course then we need to make the caps dark to tie it all together.
Please, I welcome comments or suggestions regarding my color choices. I have to stop changing my mind very soon so they can be ordered!
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And So It Begins…

Christine
It is official. Demolition has begun. Bill and Billy were at the house bright and early this morning. They made short business of the front dormer’s siding. Here’s what the house looked like when I left for work. Blue skies!



naked dormer




recyclables!



and a happy project supervisor!
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Siding Mock-Up

Christine
You may recall that I mentioned before that we are going to be getting new siding this spring. Yes, it is finally happening! My mom’s cousin Bill is our wonderful carpenter and he says siding is his favourite job. We’ll see if he still feels that way after he is done with the bungalow!
Anyway, right now we are just waiting for the siding to come in. Bill ordered it and we expect it in about another two weeks. I think Bill is planning to start deconstruction next week, weather permitting of course. We will be recycling the heavy-gauge aluminum siding, not only because it is the right thing to do, but we may get a bit of money back. That would be a nice bonus.
We will be getting brand new James Hardie siding. I know it is more expensive than vinyl, but I’m against adding anything plastic to my house if I can help it. I also think it will pay for itself in the long run. See yesterday’s post regarding the hail damage!
The bottom half of the bungalow will be getting lap siding in Mountain Sage. I honestly don’t know what we settled on. Beaded, not beaded, smooth or wood grain. Doesn’t really matter. I like them all. That may surprise you that I don’t haven’t agonized over every detail. It surprises me. Maybe I’m growing, letting go of control. Maybe I trust that it’ll turn out beautifully no matter what. Maybe I’m just too tired. Probably a bit of all those!
The top half will get the straight edge shingles in Heathered Moss. Normally I like a randomized look, but after living with my first mock up for a while, I decided I would prefer the straight edge over the staggered shingles for the bungalow.
All trim that will be replaced, or newly created, will be in Artic White. There will be a “belly band” around the middle of the bungalow, dividing the shingles from the lap siding.
We are also going to add knee braces. Yup. I don’t really know if my house originally had them or not, but I like the way they look. Some houses in my area have them, some don’t. We already have some supporting the little roof overhang over the side basement door, and supporting the kitchen window. Just for my piece of mind, Bill is going to install real, structural knee braces under the dining room window overhang. It does sort of dip down there, and while I suspect that happened a long time ago and the house is now stable, I’d still feel better with some support there. Plus they will look cool.
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Last Year’s Hail Damage

Christine
Last spring we had a wicked, nasty storm. Lewis was at home, but I stayed put at work because we weren’t sure it was really safe to travel. Better to stay in safe shelter than risk getting caught in a bad storm in the little VW, blowing all over the highway.
Anyway, when Lewis first called to tell me how bad it was at home, I couldn’t really understand him. I thought he was going through the automatic car wash!
When things subsided a bit he went outside with the camera.
big hail
hail-littered lawn
poor posies
garden recovered, but zucchini leaves took a beating
When the skies cleared, Lewis realized that we were very lucky. No broken windows, only some broken tree branches, no downed trees. But the siding, oh the siding…
that arc to the left of Oliver isn’t dirt

those streaks aren’t dirt, either

 


The hail actually struck the house so hard that the paint has been scraped away, right down to the bare metal. When you run your hands over the siding, you can feel all the pits and dents caused by the hail.
pits, dents and no paint

So, a project we though we were going to put off for several more years got bumped to the top of the list. And, you know, it isn’t such a bad thing. While we have the siding off, we can remove all the old, unknown layers and we will be insulating from the outside in. While we have all the walls open, we are getting air conditioning (yay!), and replacing a few damaged windows. Also we are going to be getting the roof scraped and re-painted and we are getting new gutters. Gee, is that all… it seems like there is something else…

All you old house owners out there know what it is like. One task leads to another and another. This spring’s project is turning out to be a big tangled mess of things that overlap. We’re in for a fun ride!