- Joined
- Jul 18, 2011
- Messages
- 18,137
I renovated my home about 20 years ago and have not done much since. So, in the past few years things have started needing some attention. After having spent much time at the summer house during the boating season, the Admiral and I turned our attention to our primary residence in the fall.
I talked to a few contractors, but they were either way too busy or wanted to charge a bunch of money for some stuff that was lower on my priority list ( like a new roof
). So, I set my sights on a little bit of DIY.
First the List:
The back deck: it is 28 years old . . . PT decking boards, now in need of replacement
Front Door & Sidelight Unit: The one from the renovations, now 20 years old was rotting.
Window Repair: I replaced all of the windows in 2000, but after 20 years some of the brick mold trim is starting to rot. So, I got a bunch of windows to repair.
Sliding patio door: I originally installed the patio door leading to the new deck back in 1993. It has become worn out and is in need of replacement.
Painting & Trim Repair: I painted the house about 12 years ago, but a lot of it is peeling. Some of the trim is rotting.
Roof Soffit Modification: The house does not have a proper soffit to ensure decent attic/roof ventilation and occasionally we get ice dams in the winter. I've installed some fascia board venting, but it has not done much. My plan is to extend the roof slightly and build a proper soffit to get more venting of the roof. This is an area where a roofing contractor was more interested in re-roofing than fixing the venting. . . Not doing that
Once we got away from our summer activities and organized, there was not much warm weather left in the season to do this sort of work so we have been playing dodgeball with the weather. Anyway, the Admiral and I have managed to chip away at some of these 'projects' over the past couple of months, leaving less to do next spring when warm weather returns.
Here are a bunch of pictures of the work so far that I'll share . . .
Pulling up the old decking boards was a nightmare . . . even though the boards were 28 years old, looked terrible, they put up quite a fight.
We replaced the PT decking with PVC . . .
You can see my partially assembled sailboat in the background, just yearning for attention.
The Admiral painted the post and railings, which were still in good shape after 28 years. My job was to install the decking.
Once we got the new decking done, we shifted our attention to painting the back of the house. I had to scrape and sand the back of the main part of the house, because it was peeling so badly. I used a electric polisher/buffer with a 20 grit sanding disc. Just a light touch took the flaking paint right off.
Here is the back of the house painted and some trim repair done. We also took down a 39 foot long gutter intact to expose the soffit/fascia that I'll be modifying. My plan is to save a few $$$$ by re-using the old gutter (which is still in decent shape.)
We managed to get a few 50-60Ė F days in between cold/snowy days to get the work done. The roof line/gutter work will have to wait until spring.
I ordered both a front door unit and a slider from the local lumber yard. The front door came within a few weeks . . . and we had some nice days to tear our the old unit and install the new unit. Here is the door roughed in and then more finished. I spray painted the blue.
The sliding patio door was not going te be delivered until early December, which would make things interesting in terms of the weather. this past weekend we had a 40Ė F day and then a 55ĖF day. So, out came the old slider and in with the new.
I've installed one of these Andersen sliders before at the MIL's house (about 15 years ago), and my recollection was that it was wicked heavy. Not sure how I muscled it all by myself. This time, I took the panels out so the Admiral and I could easily move it, then installed it partially assembled.
It still needs some tweaks and trim work, but at least the house is sealed back up, as today is now 30Ė F and snowing.
I also replaced the exterior lighting on the back of the house, which seem to be much brighter than the old lights that were there.
Not sure how much more work we will get done over the winter. The work on the front of the house will be mostly next spring, unless global warming suddenly kicks in.
I talked to a few contractors, but they were either way too busy or wanted to charge a bunch of money for some stuff that was lower on my priority list ( like a new roof
). So, I set my sights on a little bit of DIY.First the List:
The back deck: it is 28 years old . . . PT decking boards, now in need of replacement
Front Door & Sidelight Unit: The one from the renovations, now 20 years old was rotting.
Window Repair: I replaced all of the windows in 2000, but after 20 years some of the brick mold trim is starting to rot. So, I got a bunch of windows to repair.
Sliding patio door: I originally installed the patio door leading to the new deck back in 1993. It has become worn out and is in need of replacement.
Painting & Trim Repair: I painted the house about 12 years ago, but a lot of it is peeling. Some of the trim is rotting.
Roof Soffit Modification: The house does not have a proper soffit to ensure decent attic/roof ventilation and occasionally we get ice dams in the winter. I've installed some fascia board venting, but it has not done much. My plan is to extend the roof slightly and build a proper soffit to get more venting of the roof. This is an area where a roofing contractor was more interested in re-roofing than fixing the venting
. . . Not doing that Once we got away from our summer activities and organized, there was not much warm weather left in the season to do this sort of work so we have been playing dodgeball with the weather. Anyway, the Admiral and I have managed to chip away at some of these 'projects' over the past couple of months, leaving less to do next spring when warm weather returns.
Here are a bunch of pictures of the work so far that I'll share . . .
Pulling up the old decking boards was a nightmare . . . even though the boards were 28 years old, looked terrible, they put up quite a fight.
We replaced the PT decking with PVC . . .
You can see my partially assembled sailboat in the background, just yearning for attention.
The Admiral painted the post and railings, which were still in good shape after 28 years. My job was to install the decking.
Once we got the new decking done, we shifted our attention to painting the back of the house. I had to scrape and sand the back of the main part of the house, because it was peeling so badly. I used a electric polisher/buffer with a 20 grit sanding disc. Just a light touch took the flaking paint right off.
Here is the back of the house painted and some trim repair done. We also took down a 39 foot long gutter intact to expose the soffit/fascia that I'll be modifying. My plan is to save a few $$$$ by re-using the old gutter (which is still in decent shape.)
We managed to get a few 50-60Ė F days in between cold/snowy days to get the work done. The roof line/gutter work will have to wait until spring.
I ordered both a front door unit and a slider from the local lumber yard. The front door came within a few weeks . . . and we had some nice days to tear our the old unit and install the new unit. Here is the door roughed in and then more finished. I spray painted the blue.
The sliding patio door was not going te be delivered until early December, which would make things interesting in terms of the weather. this past weekend we had a 40Ė F day and then a 55ĖF day. So, out came the old slider and in with the new.
I've installed one of these Andersen sliders before at the MIL's house (about 15 years ago), and my recollection was that it was wicked heavy. Not sure how I muscled it all by myself. This time, I took the panels out so the Admiral and I could easily move it, then installed it partially assembled.
It still needs some tweaks and trim work, but at least the house is sealed back up, as today is now 30Ė F and snowing.
I also replaced the exterior lighting on the back of the house, which seem to be much brighter than the old lights that were there.
Not sure how much more work we will get done over the winter. The work on the front of the house will be mostly next spring, unless global warming suddenly kicks in.
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