We talked about the edge of the deck...extensively. "Why oh why," I imagine them wondering, "does this woman care so much about every detail?? What kind of freak architecture nazi did we decide to work with??" But they listen and then beautifully execute what we've discussed. Bravo!
We also discussed the foundation skirting (also known as an "underpinning," it hides the underside of the house, which is mounted on what's called a pier and beam foundation, very common in this region), which had been a bit of a point of contention last week, when they were trying to convince me to make it out of Hardie, which I just wasn't thrilled with. I wanted the more standard Texas skirting, which is a wire mesh covered with stucco. The Kiwis were convinced that would be way too expensive, but I pushed them and they agreed to talk to a skirting specialist. Good news! I can get the stucco skirting for about the same price. I'm learning that it's worth it to be pushy when something feels wrong (and then make cookies).
Take a look at the beautiful work they did yesterday. Here, the new fascia and soffits around the old bathroom popout were installed: 
Siding was added to part of the front of the house, and on the side of the house some of the water table was installed. That's the white lip under the siding, which creates a barrier that prevents rain from getting in between the siding and the skirting. It also adds beauty to the house:
The Kiwis had to do some rigging with the siding in the front. Over the decades the house has been very sloooooowly lifted by the tree roots, and if you stand directly in front of the window at the right in the photo and look carefully, you see that the roofline and the window bow. Because the oak grows so slowly, there is no danger to the house's structural integrity (a statement made before I bought the house by the house inspector, and confirmed by the Kiwis this morning). They carefully installed the siding to create an optical illusion that hides the bowing. The quilter in me loves that!
Today they made further progress. First of all, the doors arrived this morning!:
The remainder of the old front porch is gone and new framing went in. And the porch was mostly sided. Wow, it looks really different; much calmer and more elegant:
Oy. That picture's making me seasick. Here's a calmer one.
That's it! See you next time.
We also discussed the foundation skirting (also known as an "underpinning," it hides the underside of the house, which is mounted on what's called a pier and beam foundation, very common in this region), which had been a bit of a point of contention last week, when they were trying to convince me to make it out of Hardie, which I just wasn't thrilled with. I wanted the more standard Texas skirting, which is a wire mesh covered with stucco. The Kiwis were convinced that would be way too expensive, but I pushed them and they agreed to talk to a skirting specialist. Good news! I can get the stucco skirting for about the same price. I'm learning that it's worth it to be pushy when something feels wrong (and then make cookies).
Take a look at the beautiful work they did yesterday. Here, the new fascia and soffits around the old bathroom popout were installed:
Siding was added to part of the front of the house, and on the side of the house some of the water table was installed. That's the white lip under the siding, which creates a barrier that prevents rain from getting in between the siding and the skirting. It also adds beauty to the house:
The Kiwis had to do some rigging with the siding in the front. Over the decades the house has been very sloooooowly lifted by the tree roots, and if you stand directly in front of the window at the right in the photo and look carefully, you see that the roofline and the window bow. Because the oak grows so slowly, there is no danger to the house's structural integrity (a statement made before I bought the house by the house inspector, and confirmed by the Kiwis this morning). They carefully installed the siding to create an optical illusion that hides the bowing. The quilter in me loves that!
Today they made further progress. First of all, the doors arrived this morning!:
The remainder of the old front porch is gone and new framing went in. And the porch was mostly sided. Wow, it looks really different; much calmer and more elegant:
Oy. That picture's making me seasick. Here's a calmer one.
That's it! See you next time.
2 comments:
Hey, Molly, you have a comment! That is if I can figure out how to do this. I'm a blog virgin. This is my vacation so I'll do anything to ease the boredom, including follow the progress of your house. What a project! We are just doing the bathroom and that is enough. The cat and I huddle in the kitchen. I can see why you're not hosting the intern party this year. You will, however, be attending, I hope?
Hi Conna! Yeah, can't exactly have the party here, can I? I'm so glad you posted. I don't kow if anyone else pays attention :-). But I'm having so much fun it doesn't even matter! Looking forward to seeing you next week.
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