This little house of mine..............
I'm going to make her shine.
For all you old house fans ... she is a Classic-L Queen Anne style. Built on farms between 1885 and 1900, they were abundant in the upper Midwest. The porch opens to the kitchen with a side door going into the parlor. The porch usually faced the east or the south to keep the prevailing winter winds out of the house.
This is the old girl .... circa 1927.
She looked pretty good at that point.
Fast forward 83 years .... and looking good? Not so much! She needs a face lift!!! What you can not see in that photo is the wind and the rain rushing through the house. It has a good roof. We re-built some of windows but the rain was forcing its way through the siding above the bay window, leaving a big wet spot on the living room ceiling. Which eventually left a big hole in the ceiling and lots of plaster on the floor. :(
The cure ... is to remove all the siding from the east side, replace the tar paper and replace or repair the old siding.
Yea ... we could knock off all the details and trim and put taupe-colored vinyl siding on it like every other house on our road.
But we don't do things like every one else.
The red gutters should tell ya that!! When the 5 (maybe 6) color paint scheme gets implemented ... the gutters will rock the entire look ... as will the carefully chosen shingles. I drove the roof guy crazy!!!!
So it is back to Old-House Journals and This Old House for inspiration.
If you look carefully ... you can see a bird's nest in the corner of the house. There was quite the family compound built there!
Some of you may ask why we don't use Tyvek. Tyvek doesn't breath when used with wood siding. It is perfect with vinyl siding but for restoration work .... old-fashioned tar paper is recommended.
We are using 8" cedar clapboards ... but we need 6" cedar clapboards. So Honey is ripping every piece to fit.
Rip. Sand. Prime. Repeat.
We are priming all sides ... front, back, edges.
The cedar siding that was there has lasted 120 years. (OK -- the last twenty years have been pretty tough!) We are working on the next 100 years.
Vinyl siding would be cheaper. And quicker. But wouldn't last 100 years. And it certainly doesn't conform to the National Registry of Historic Places requirements.
We hope to get the east facade done this fall and hopefully, move to the north side next spring.
But our house is an elegant old gal ... and she deserves to be around for a while in all her glory. I'll keep you updated on our progress!
I only wish my magical tea cup tree was a magical money tree!!!!
For all you old house fans ... she is a Classic-L Queen Anne style. Built on farms between 1885 and 1900, they were abundant in the upper Midwest. The porch opens to the kitchen with a side door going into the parlor. The porch usually faced the east or the south to keep the prevailing winter winds out of the house.
This is the old girl .... circa 1927.
She looked pretty good at that point.
Fast forward 83 years .... and looking good? Not so much! She needs a face lift!!! What you can not see in that photo is the wind and the rain rushing through the house. It has a good roof. We re-built some of windows but the rain was forcing its way through the siding above the bay window, leaving a big wet spot on the living room ceiling. Which eventually left a big hole in the ceiling and lots of plaster on the floor. :(
 |
| My pretty red gutters removed. I LOVE my red gutters! |
The cure ... is to remove all the siding from the east side, replace the tar paper and replace or repair the old siding.
Yea ... we could knock off all the details and trim and put taupe-colored vinyl siding on it like every other house on our road.
But we don't do things like every one else.
The red gutters should tell ya that!! When the 5 (maybe 6) color paint scheme gets implemented ... the gutters will rock the entire look ... as will the carefully chosen shingles. I drove the roof guy crazy!!!!
So it is back to Old-House Journals and This Old House for inspiration.
 |
| Corner board was totally rotted. |
If you look carefully ... you can see a bird's nest in the corner of the house. There was quite the family compound built there!
 |
| Corner repaired and tar paper applied. |
Some of you may ask why we don't use Tyvek. Tyvek doesn't breath when used with wood siding. It is perfect with vinyl siding but for restoration work .... old-fashioned tar paper is recommended.
We are using 8" cedar clapboards ... but we need 6" cedar clapboards. So Honey is ripping every piece to fit.
Rip. Sand. Prime. Repeat.
We are priming all sides ... front, back, edges.
The cedar siding that was there has lasted 120 years. (OK -- the last twenty years have been pretty tough!) We are working on the next 100 years.
Vinyl siding would be cheaper. And quicker. But wouldn't last 100 years. And it certainly doesn't conform to the National Registry of Historic Places requirements.
We hope to get the east facade done this fall and hopefully, move to the north side next spring.
But our house is an elegant old gal ... and she deserves to be around for a while in all her glory. I'll keep you updated on our progress!
I only wish my magical tea cup tree was a magical money tree!!!!
Comments