Siding Complete: Part 2

The finished thing looks nice, but we wanted to remember all the steps involved in getting us there- and especially the friends and family that have lent a hand!

Kevin and Keith ripping up plywood strip for the siding rainscreen...

...that get secured to the foam to hold on the siding...

Kip & Gary helping to secure the rain screen strips to the side of the house- screws through the foam and into the wall sheathing....

Terese was back inside, pre-painting trim boards: Most of the trim boards and all the siding, Nathan had pre-painted at the factory before they got on-site, but there were a few extra that we needed, so like the rafter tails, we painted them inside, before installing them...

Nathan had a couple of tricky spots to trim- along the curve of the rafter tails- where the trim intersects it.

On days when it's been too cold to work outside (or too hot) we've been inside, putting up sheet rock and mudding joints...  Kip and Gary tackle the beveled openings around the patio door while Keith gets some mud on the adjacent wall...

What a Crew!  

Since we started putting up sheet rock, Terese has been following behind, taping and mudding each room. As the head "Mudder", Nathan's mother IS the main contributor to getting the rock all ready for painting!

Of course, Nathan's favorite helper is our little J. She comes over to help her daddy whenever he has something good for a 4 year old to do! Above, J was helping put in attic insulation... Below, she is helping her daddy put up some siding (on the roof deck- where no scaffolding was required- and her mamma wasn't too freaked out!):

That does it for now.  We are glad for all the good wishes and help from our friends and neighbors throughout this whole process.  We are turning our attention towards interior finishes for now until the weather warms up again in the spring.... Happy New Year!

Siding Complete: Part 1

We started siding the house back in September.  We had some really hot days still, that made it preferable to work inside on the sheet rock, so it was never a "full-steam ahead" kind of job. Additionally, the time setting up scaffolding to get access to each section of the house took a fair bit of time.  Breaking it up kept the job interesting though...

With a couple of cold days, it became clear that although the siding could be done in the winter, the stucco really had to take priority.  We wrapped up the last of the stucco back at Thanksgiving and have been finishing up all the trim and siding since then.  Below are the pictures of the place just after Christmas:

 The Front of the house- from the Southeast...  Still have the construction fence up all around the property- until next spring when Nathan gets the new fence and landscaping in...

The Front of the house- from the Southwest- you can just catch the roof deck railing between our roof line and Terese & Keith's roof line in the back...

Here is the back of the house- from the alley at the North of our lot. Eventually, Nathan will get a bike shed/chicken coop built on the alley that will make this yard a private garden for Terese...

This shed roof covers the patio doors and the entrance to Keith & Terese's part of the house.  It makes a great space for hanging out to watch the rain come down...

Here is the view of the house from the East-  we have built just a couple of the 30 or so raised beds that we are planning for this side lot...

This is a view of Terese & Keith's place- from the patio...

And here is a close-up of the trim / siding / stucco materials that Nathan brought together so beautifully for us.

We'll get part 2 assembled soon, with a lot more photos of the process- with all our friends and family who helped us out!

Roof Deck Railings

Had a chilly Christmas Eve Day- single digit temperatures all day, but Nathan finished up the railings that he started this week!  It really finishes up the roof deck nicely:

Nathan found a "red wood" that he milled up as a cap to the parapet wall, and then used galvanized pipe for the railing posts-  it will tie in with the garden fence we put in next spring.

Jocie was a great helper on this project:  She and her daddy worked together- cutting steel, filing down the burrs, and setting them in place:

Nathan drilled all the holes in the cap piece, and came up with a cool bolt connection that keeps the whole railing really sturdy:  He cut through the rubber membrane on the parapet wall:

Cut through the parapet wall sheathing- to get access to the bolt that would hold the railing cap down:

After J helped him get all the railing posts in place, Nathan inserted the long threaded rods:

Getting the holes in the cap piece all lined up took a little doing, but wasn't too bad... The threaded rods, in some key locations, keep the top cap from lifting up- and are strong enough to keep the railing assembly from being wiggly:

The 2x4 top was covered up with another, wider board to make a nice ledge for plates and glasses and such, and also covers up the bolt tops. Nathan got some "stucco panel" from Hardi to cover up the rubber roof membrane below the rail- the primed color is pretty close to our intended stucco color for the rest of the house:

We can't wait till spring to start having friends over to share meals with on the roof deck! We wrapped up the rest of the siding this week too, so now Nathan can join Terese inside where it's nice and warm to finish up sheet-rock mud, priming and painting!  More to come!