More siding...

It's Friday! That means I'll probably actually get some sleep in the next two days. Actually, the reason I'll sleep is that Mary Alice came by after work today to admire the house with me and as usual we had a great long conversation which involved me drinking a lot of red wine (two whole glasses, which means I'm just a little loopy right now). So here's what we were admiring:

Check it out! A whole side of siding! There's also a new sill on that rotted window I told you about the other day:

And the two weird closed-up windows on the front porch have been partially framed in:

This weekend I need to figure out what my deck is going to look like (ack!). And I need to make some salad and a iced tea to take to a picnic with friends at a local production of Beauty and the Beats in Zilker park. Perfect Austin summer event!

Good news: windows and siding.

I met with the Kiwis this morning to go over our lists, to meet with their favorite window seller, and to write a big fat check. I survived all three events!

First the window guy. He (the window SALESMAN, remember), explained with great detail to the Kiwis how he would go about saving my windows if he was them. Here's the bay in question:

He completely understood my passion for this character-filled bay and my complete, um, lack of passion for this particular energy efficiency problem. In ten years, I'll replace all the windows in the house. For now, I really want to enjoy them. He and the Kiwis discussed how to replace the termite damaged wood (squeamish visitors don't look at this photo):

I kinda want to bake the guy a batch of cookies and deliver them to his office; he wouldn't take a consulting payment even though he spent about 30 minutes of his morning at the house. And saved me money!

Next up, the siding arrived in a big red truck. Even cooler was the little trucklet hooked on the back of the big red truck, which delivered the Hardie right to the front walkway. My nephew Quinn would have liked watching this even more than I did. That's the Kiwis looking on:



I left the Kiwis to start siding and headed off to work. After work, I stopped off to pick up all the fancy new door hardware I ordered. When I got home, I could see what a good choice the smooth, 4" exposure Hardie was! I am so excited. It looks gorgeous.

Getting Started!

Just two days in, my exterior seems utterly transformed. It's exciting and scary. I expect the project to be completed in about a month (ok, you can laugh now). Comments, encouragement and opinions are welcome!!

The renovation will include the following projects:
1. remove vinyl and asbestos siding, soffits, etc.
2. frame in laundry room window and door
3, create a new back exit from kitchen with french doors
4. reside the house
5. trim out a newly stylish front porch
6. add a deck off the back
7. surround the back yard with a privacy fence
8. replace the shed (maybe) and shape up the carport
9. Gut and replace the kitchen (NOT part of the current plan, but hopefully up soon!)
Here's the front of the house BEFORE:


Two days ago the contractors came by to take a peek under the siding:

As you can see, the vinyl covers asbestos shingles. Underneath are gorgeous wood windows and good, solid wood planks that hold the asbestos. The following detail shot shows you the planks, which will hold the Hardie Plank siding well. They are smooth and flat, which is important because Hardie is so straight that it shows flaws underneath. Don't miss the cute ripply edge of the old asbestos siding! Why oh why do people install vinyl?


Today when I got home from work, half of the house had had its siding removed! The Tyvek is just temporary, protecting the house in case it rains (yeah, right; we would do anything for rain right now!). Check out the windows, released from their ugly screens, and the big porch. The gutters are gone, and underneath the aluminum soffits, the wood soffits coverinf the underside of the eaves seems to be in really good condition:


OK, that's all for today. There is some rot here and there (as expected) but I'm so pleased that this project is actually underway. There's no going back! Please send good renovation karma.

--Molly