Eco Home Exteriors is doing the siding. A huge crew of guys working like ants on an anthill! I can say this company is professional! Not only are the guys respectful and always in a good mood, they arrive at 7:30 am to start and leave when it’s too dark to see anything.
They tear off the vinyl siding, exposing the original wood siding underneath. I decided to have them add a layer of insulation and sheets of plywood to better insulate and stabilize the whole house. Then, the new siding will go on top.
When the siding is removed, it looks like the house is wrapped in foil.
A roll off dumpster is parked in the driveway. The only way to go with all the materials being removed. And nails are everywhere. The crew uses a magnetic wand that “potentially” picks up nails on the ground. I have a habit of always scanning for nails, with my eyes, on the ground. Call me crazy!
I’m on the fence with the “L” bracket on the arbor. I used “T” brackets on most of the posts, but the corners are tricky and won’t accommodate a “T” bracket. They are simply decorative, What do you think?Back porch, stripped down to foil. See the new patio slider door? I also had the florescent fixtures removed and 2 ceiling fans with lights installed.North side of the back patio.
The patio slab was pored with the outside corner being angled in, toward the middle of the patio. I’m having it squared off, making it even with the house, to make it larger and easier to place outdoor furniture, etc.
And I love this tree on the edge of the patio. Once the slab gets squared off, the tree will provide a nice natural border to the patio on this end.Although they’re still working in this walkway on the South side of the house, I can already see it’ll become a feature of the house.I’m replacing these 2 windows with another sliding patio door between the kitchen and the outdoor patio, now where the planter pots are currently being stored. The gable above the arbor will be sided with horizontal Cedar.Once the posts holding the patio roof up are replaced and the slab is squared up, this patio will be a much used space in the yard. I’ll have a covered sitting area overlooking the garden boxes. The gable on the left side above the patio roof will feature horizontal cedar planks.I’ll start the gardens in the spring. But for now, it’s a junk yard.This pic shows the plywood on the front and side of the house.Insulation and plywood on the front. Old siding still on the North side of the house.
I plan to use James Hardie Board and Batten siding on the bottom of the house and horizontal Cedar planks on the gables and wrapped around the front entry. The Board and Batten will get painted White and I’ll leave the cedar unfinished. In time, the natural patina of unfinished Cedar will turn Grey, giving the house a rustic look. I hope to be done with this phase by the end of next week.
I had my landscaper scrape away all the weeds and debris in the walkways.They lined the walkways with weed barrier fabric.I used a decomposed granite material called Breeze. I love this product! It comes in several colors, I used natural. Once it’s spread out over the weed barrier, you water it down and it forms a crust. It’s clean and super low maintenance. So much cleaner with the breeze down!Moving from 2000 sf to 893 sf is tricky! And with no garage, everything lands on the back porch.With the new garden shed, I have a place for all my stuff!All my stuff landed and then gets sorted out between storage and my new smaller bungalow.The tiny kitchen was remodeled in 2012. I plan to replace the back door with a patio slider.
I’ve done 20+ remodels and each time I get excited and nervous as I plan and schedule. What is my goal? What style do I want? How much money can I spend?… the list of considerations is long!
Built in 1934, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 893 finished square feet upstairs, 310 unfinished square feet basement. There is an original carriage house on the back part of the lot.
This house has always been in need of some TLC, and I picked away at the upgrades while I had tenants living here. In 2012, I remodeled some of the interior and took down the garage. I removed the dead juniper trees, planted an Aspen tree and threw down some grass seed in the front yard.
The garage (on the left) was in poor shape and I had it taken down in 2012, leaving just a concrete slab.
It wasn’t until recently I really thought about what I could do with this house. Once I decided to move in and work on this gem, I began the process of deciding how to proceed. Considering my lifestyle, the neighborhood and budget, I settled on a modern Farmhouse style home.
Dead Juniper trees in the front yard.Original garage.
I bought this house in 2005 with long term tenants living here ever since. When the tenants moved out, I got the opportunity to move into this house August 2018 and started the process of renovation, beginning with the exterior. My plan is to create a perfect retirement house!
Its time to update this vintage bungalow.View from the street. The Aspen tree was planted in 2012. This is what you see as you park in the driveway and walk to the front door.Old front door.North side looking toward the walkway. Chain link fence between me and the neighbors.South side driveway and garden boxes.Overgrown garden boxes, volunteer trees and weeds.Covered back porch with iron scroll and white painted 2×4 posts.Original concrete slab once had a garage sitting on top.Overgrown garden boxes and weeds.Sprinkler system was installed in 2017.North view of back yard.North side of house walkway. I like the tongue and groove cedar paneling on the ceiling, the florescent light fixtures not so much.Back porch looking South.South view of the back porch.The original back door with utilities mounted in full view!
The first thing I had to do was to take out the concrete porch and walkway from the city sidewalk to the front of the house.Where the concrete walkway used to be.My awesome neighbor split the cost of a new cedar fence with me. We both are happy to see the chain link fence gone!The new fence looks clean and tidy.I also had the walkway made wider, 4′.Garden boxes are removed and a stubborn tree stump dug out.This whole landing, where the concrete porch was, sat higher than the rest of the yard.This is just ugly and beat up. I can’t wait to turn this space into a feature instead of an eyesore outside my kitchen window!
The old slab where the garage once stood is badly cracked. I used about half the slab (on the right) as a base for a garden shed with an added concrete ramp for my wheel barrow! The rest of the concrete will come out and be replaced with Breeze, my wonder material!
These guys work hard! Landscaping and construction is physical work and I appreciate the help getting these projects knocked out!
The jackhammer was super loud, so I took this pic through the window (and screen). These are the guy’s at Spartan Landscaping breaking up the concrete. Perfect way to start my morning…
Then weed barrier and Breeze.The yard is a rubik’s cube right now until I get everything done and can start the fun part of decorating and setting up!
Temporarily using this space for all my big planter pots and fire pit until the siding is up on the house. Then, I’ll place the pots around the front and side yard of the house under the arbor.
I took an opportunity to get away from all the construction to go look for flagstone. I bought this 1/2 pallet of flagstone steppers.And a 5′ x 18″ x 6″ step for the front door. The step was $275, but worth it to make the front door look more welcoming. It turns out, I’ll need a 2nd step for the front.Once the concrete was removed, we discovered there was no foundation under the entry. That’s not what you want to find!The excavation shows things previously unknown. I like to say ” Everything takes longer and costs more than expected” And this project reinforces my theory.
David poured concrete with wood footers to support the front entry. Once it cured, he added wood supports between the entry and the concrete footer, then wrapped it with moisture barrier. In the 2 days the entry had no support, my wood floors inside were falling through the bottom of the porch inside. Geez!
Reinforced entry with moisture barrier. You can see the original wood siding at the side and bottom of the entry.
They got the breeze laid down and I didn’t like how the area where the concrete was taken out was higher than the rest of the space. Kinda like a bubble outside the front door. So the landscaper had to scrape the Breeze off of the weed barrier and take out a lot more dirt to make it level in front of the door. Then they put the barrier and Breeze back down. I used pieces of flagstone to make a walkway around the front and sides of the house. All the upside down recycling bins are covering big holes where the arbor posts will go.
After they removed more dirt, the whole front and side are level. The 2nd flagstone step is on order.
Because we removed so much dirt from in front of the door, I had to buy another Flagstone step, which I had to order and wait for delivery. This shows the landing where the 2nd step will sit, just outside the front door to the house on top of the first flagstone step.
Placing 6×6 cedar posts for the arbor.
David had a great trick to pour dry concrete mix and water into a tarp. 2 guys would stand on both sides of the tarp and “mix” the powder and water by swishing it around in the tarp then pour it into the holes. Pretty smart!
Once the posts were in, they built supports to keep them straight until the concrete cured- overnight.It already looks so much cleaner!When the siding is removed you can see the back of the lathe and plaster interior walls. Very cool to see the way houses were built in the 1930’s.
Headers for the arbor will be attached directly to the support studs of the house. When they removed the old siding we discovered very old and limited insulation in the walls. Another unexpected expense!
Once the headers where up, David began installing the rafters on the arbor.All the hardware and brackets had to be sprayed Black as they were galvanized originally.Finally, the space is fresh! It feels like a place to hang out. No more concrete pad, just breeze and cedar. Love it!The arbor and landscaping are done in the front! Can’t wait for new siding!
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