Looking awesome, BDF! I feel your pain in regards to the wrist, I sprained mine this week topping a tall dead ash tree in my backyard. But that's another story and the wood processing show must go on here at home! Keep up with the pics, can't wait to see that big house when it's all done!
You have a lovely home, Brian. We don't often see that style of building in the UK, save for coastal areas. Sweeeeeeeet! Glad the wrist is healing well. A man without a working wrist is half the man. STEADY! Keep up the good work! BB
Nice that you are recovering and making such great progress on the house. It’s a huge transformation and well worth the effort.
31 July 2018: The contractors are moving along on both sides of the house. The west or 'driveway' side is getting those 'shingle' or 'shake' looking vinyl siding pieces under the porch / sidewalk roof. That stuff will cover the side (under the porch roof) to the entrance-way, as well as wrapping right around and covering the front of the house (again, below the porch roof- first floor only). Also got the electrical box mounted today; it had been left 'floating' until they got the plate on the house to mount it. Those folks were ascairt' of dem dare voltons inside the box so I mounted it (Easy Boys! I mean with tools and fasteners!). Now the electrical service is finished and permanent..... and it even meets code. Tough to see but the siding under the roof is the 'shingle' looking stuff while all the rest is the normal or 'clapboard' type of vinyl. A bit easier to see in this photo: The new bathroom casement window ended up quite high on the outside of the house but there is <just> enough room for a piece of J- channel above it, which is all that is needed really. Not ideal but not the worst thing to go wrong on this project so far either. They spent today working on the west side of the house and made good progress- see how high the bathroom window ended up being? This is the southeast (front) corner wrap- around that goes up to where the porch starts: It will be interesting to see how they do with the chase on the side of the house- it is quite high and there is nothing to stand on on the eve side. The chase was originally built with a small platform in place for just that purpose but that was before the roof was shingled. Brian
Looking great!!! I bet you are a happy family once the wood is all 'stacked' and the siding is completed.
Thanks! But remember, the second floor is still a bunch of 'sticks' awaiting the entire cycle of finishing, starting with insulation and sheet rock / plaster and ending with a cat having an accident on one of the new carpets. And that is a LONG way to go still..... Brian
15 Aug. 2018: the porch (firewood storage area) is almost fully sided. We lost a lot of time to rain but the guys are back on it and making headway again. Most of the house is done; tomorrow should finish up all the large areas left to be sided save the two chimney chases above the roof-line. They are considering renting a hydraulic lift to do the one on the side of the house; I think it is a good idea because trying to do that with a ladder is going to be risky IMO. West side of the house is finished. The area under the porch roof is done with the 'shingle' looking siding and it came out very, very nice. Tough to see in this photo but it is there: The front of the house under the porch roof, it is easier to see the different vinyl in these photos: Front of short porch wall is nearly done, only one piece of siding to go (they ran out of J- channel). The white boxes are electrical outlets (extreme left) and scuppers to let any rainwater or melted snow from wood on the porch run off the porch floor: Porch and front of house from the southeast: The contractors could not get gray J- channel to match the siding on short notice so they just used white around the scuppers and electrical outlets. I will probably paint them later to match the siding; the box covers and even the outlets are gray so it is only the fascia and J-channel around each that is white. Of course the porch will be screened- in, and have three door panels on the west side to allow the trailer to be driven onto the porch. Brian
Wow, it looks SO GOOD! The gray and white make it look like an old-fashioned NE home. The farmer's porch looks very inviting! So nice to see that green board just about gone. What a great outcome!
24 Aug 2018: I think this will be the last post to this section as the porch and basically the entire exterior are done. If any are interested, I can start a new thread and continue on the progress inside the house but that is well off- topic for this thread. The gents finished the overhang covering (ceiling) today and this basically brings the siding and trim to a close. There are still a few things to finish up but they are pretty trivial, and a little bit of re- work as always happens in a project this large. Still, it is 99% done and really could stay like it is forever as it is fully weathered- in and everything is covered; a lot of the re-work is replacing the wrinkled aluminum fascia with new, [non- wrinkled] aluminum fascia. So starting with the 'firewood storage area' (Andrea still thinks it is a porch but that is not really accurate ) From the Southwest corner: From the Southeast corner. Note that both chimneys and chimney chases are (barely) visible in this photo. The chimney in the house is for the woodstove, the chimney on the side of the house is for an oil boiler: A better view of the chase on the roof peak for the wood stove: View of the outer chimney chase as east side of the house, from the Northeast corner: A really lousy photo of the entrance-way as finished, including the roof shingles as well as vinyl siding and of course, all the trim: And the last part, done today, of the ceiling of the second floor overhang, now covered in soffit vinyl material: Those support posts will be covered with vinyl wrap- around material, made just for the purpose of covering support columns without being able to get to them from either the top or the bottom. Also, that area under the overhang is where two A/C compressors will be installed, and the short chase in the corner of the inside of the overhang contains all the refrigerant, electrical and control lines for those compressors. There are six mini- splits inside the house, three on each floor, and all piping, plumbing and wiring is internal to the house- I did not want all those 'downspout' looking things all over the outside of the house nor did I want the horizontal runs along the bottom of the house on three sides. It was more work but the inside install is invisible and hey, it only has to be done once, right? Though it was a pain and each mini- split required a condensate pump to push the condensate water 'up' and 'overboard'. Landscapers on the way next week to evaluate and bid on a complete outside renovation, mostly to remove overgrowth and planted 'junk' and restore lawn and driveway to decent condition. I sold my backhoe a couple of years ago and depending on the prices I get, there may be another one in my future 'cause earth-moving work is usually exorbitantly expensive and a backhoe makes a wonderful 'firewood assistance tool', especially if it has a thumb or a 4 in 1 loader bucket. Brian
I love the second floor overhang, so practical to put the AC equipment under there. The ground calls for some patio blocks to cover it I think. Please, post pictures of the landscaping work and the interior, when it happens.
It really turned out great Brian. I bet it's a huge relief to have that part of the project out of the way.
It is looking awesome. Thanks for sharing the photos on the process. It is so neat to watch other people's projects come together.
