Siding completed September 5, 2011

Today we finished the siding on the house. A friend of mine wanted firewood, which I had in two piles from last year. While his son and Jerry Phillips cut and loaded the firewood on a trailer, Donnie and I finished the siding. Jerry would run the lift for us whenever we needed his help.

Tomorrow I will clean up the main floor, putting away all the tools I will not be needing until next year, and vacuum the floor of all sawdust. When this is completed, I will be loading all the excess siding material on my trailer and returning it to the lumber yard for credit.

On Tuesday I will finish hanging the trim on the two basement doors and finish the grouting on the basement shower.

Siding end gables September 3, 2011

Yesterday, September 2nd, I started siding the end gables. Fitting the trim around the logs (Top wall logs, purlins and ridgepole) takes a fair amount of time. Once I have the trim installed, the installation of the siding goes pretty fast.

The top picture is the south end. I did as far up as I felt safe. I used the lift cage to lift all my tools up, then I used a ladder to carry the cut siding into the cage. Most of the trim I cut while in the cage using a portable circular saw and a jigsaw. I am caulking the siding as I go so there will be nothing else to do to the siding when I finish the installation.

The second picture shows the progress on the north end. Once I get all I can safely reach by myself, I will get someone to run the lift while I install the upper siding on both ends.

Tony finished the second clear coat on the basement bathroom door, mechanical room door and the trim for both doors. I'll install the trim this coming week.

I started repairing the culvert on the east side of the house. I found I had the wrong size 90 degree pipe. The right one will be in next week.

Landscaping and sidewalk completed August 3, 2011

Today I placed black plastic sheets under the deck on both sides of the house, then I had help to install 10 yards of small stone over the plastic. The west side is complete. On the east side I am short a small amount of the larger stone.

The picture below shows the sidewalk, and pads for the deck steps, completed. They were poured yesterday and I stripped the forms off this morning. I used the same small rock between the sidewalk and the house, and on the outside of the sidewalk.

Yesterday I finished tiling the shower. Tomorrow I will grout the tile and the shower will be ready to go. I may need to install a shower door.

Once I complete the grout, I will begin installing the trim on the end gables, getting them ready for the siding.

Dormers completed August 29, 2011

Today I finished siding and caulking the dormers. I used a special caulk that matches the color of the siding. I'm done walking on this side of the roof.

Tomorrow I begin siding the south end gable. I'll tackle the toughest one first. The end gables should go pretty fast. The most difficult areas will be where the trim and siding meet the ends of the top wall logs, the ridge poles and the purlins. I'll use the bulls eye scribe to mark the trim and siding and cut them out with a jigsaw.

Bathroom close to completion, siding Dormers August 28, 2011

This weekend I began installing the corner and window trim and started siding the dormers. Monday I will finish the dormers and begin trimming out the end gables. The interior bathroom doors, shower ceiling and the outside walls have all been painted. Today I hung the doors on the bathroom and mechanical room. I also installed the vanity mirror, the vanity lights and two towel racks. I installed the light switch and outlet covers in the bathroom.

All house soffits complete August 24, 2011

Today we finished the last of the soffits on the house. This is the west side of the house. No more places for birds to roost over the deck. I hired a temp guy today and installation went a lot smoother. It was less work to move scaffolding and much easier handling of the 16' boards. I actually had more than enough boards to finish. The rest will be used for the garage.

Tomorrow morning I will begin installing the trim on the dormers preparing for the siding, which I will pick up tomorrow afternoon. My cousin Jim delivered the first 10 yards of 2" stone to go under the deck and the deck eaves. We planned out where the deck step pads and sidewalk will go, and the placement of the culvert that will handle all the water runoff from the west side of the roof. No more erosion!

Deck soffit progress, August 23, 2011

Today I finished the soffits over the deck on the east side. Working with 16 foot tongue and groove boards alone is proving to be quite a challenge. The straight ones are a challenge, the ones that are severely bowed are impossible to do alone. Tomorrow I will have an assistant to help me out for the day. Did I mention that my other assistant, Jimmy took up Varsity golf while I was away? I already miss him!

The shower is close to completion. A couple more hours when the last bull nose tiles come in will wrap it up. The ceiling is installed and finished in the shower; it will be painted the next day I get Tony back. Tony is ready to complete the final sanding on the bathroom interior and exterior walls. He will then prime the walls and paint them. When he has this completed I will install the mirror over the vanity and install the vanity lights and towel racks.

I have the bathroom and the mechanical room doors in the basement. I will install them when Tony has completed the painting.

This is the west side of the deck. I have installed the soffits around all the lights. Tomorrow we will install all the tongue and groove boards I have left. At this point I will get an exact count of what I need to finish and hand select the boards so I don't have to return any.

This week I also ran a water line to the back of the house. It comes out by the east corner of the walkout basement wall. I probably should have done this sooner, but.......

The next project will be to install siding on the dormers. I have the trim for the dormer corners and windows ready to go. I purchased them last week and they have already been stained.