So here's the update. Most of the house look great (that is, what I can see around the edges of the Tyvek). Here's the side that faces the street:
Here's the front porch stripped. See how lovely the wood looks! Great condition, perfect for siding:
The back of the house likewise looks great. The concrete foundation skirting you are seeing is only on the laundry room. Hilary and I had fun testing a bunch of paint colors on the house last week; all our test samples except the fuschia & red are gone with the siding. The door will turn into a wall and the stairs will be covered with a deck. Bye, bye! The smallish window just to the right will be replaced with french doors:
For the most part, the house seems to be in good shape. Windows, as expected, are the biggest issue. The bay of three windows at the front of the house is very badly damaged by termites. No shock there; I knew about that damage from the beginning. The bathroom window, likewise, has quite a bit of rot around it, which isn't a suprise. The wood foundation skirting that is sunk more than six inches under the ground is, of course, in awful shape and is one of the most important reasons to undertake this residing project. Texas weather means that wood should never touch the ground. The workers dug out this lovely view, under the termite-eaten window:
Blech. Finally, there was one really nasty surprise--so nasty I couldn't help but just laugh at it! Who knew that there was a major party going on some time in the past underneath one of the living room windows? The Kiwis left it open for me to see:
Yipes! Actually, this isn't so bad (at least that's what the optimist in me says). The sheathing can be replaced, and I'm removing a window of this exact size in very good condition from the laundry room. I'll suggest to the Kiwis that we swap them out. I'll let you know what they say. It's such a relief to have everything exposed so I can fix it. Happy house!
That's all for today.
--Molly
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