Farmhouse Renovovation Week 8 (Siding and Electric)

It was a big week.  As of today, the siding is about 95% complete.  We’re still waiting for a new front door so that it can be reframed before siding, a sliver of the back needs siding and the windows need capped, but other than that, the house is sided.  And I love it.

Let’s take a look back, shall we.

When we bought the home, the side of the house looked like this.  The bushes were very overgrown and so you could barely see the house when you drove up the lane.

The bushes were removed and you could see the house form the side.  Electric was put in before the original siding was removed.  It’s only when we removed the bushes that I realized what great lines this house has.

And then we got a glimpse into what it would look like with the white siding.  I really enjoyed seeing the original siding on the house one more time.  It made me feel close to my ancestors who would have installed the siding originally.

And what a difference new siding made!  It’s really coming together and I can finally see what a bit of the finished product will look like.  The roofing will be done by Tuesday since the siding is now on.  I am really loving the charcoal gray standing seam roof with the white siding.  It’s classic.  For those who are wondering we went with Mastic siding, double 5 inch.  Now the porch rails that are lacking paint are really standing out.  🙂

Speaking of porch, the porch skirting was built this week.  After completely removing the porch flooring and support, we needed some detail.  The porch originally had cement blocks and no detail.  After literally stalking a few houses in a town nearby that has historic homes, I stumbled on a design I thought would fit the house and the time period.  I literally jumped out the car while my mom was driving and took pictures of people’s porches.  I am weird like that.  But there’s no better way to get inspiration!

The porch skirting was custom built with composite so it will never need to be painted.  I decided to go with this pattern because of some research I had done into old farm houses.  I also personally didn’t want the lattice design that seems to be what is on most porches.

While walking around the porch this week, I suddenly spotted the original signature of the person who had sided the house in 1954.  This area has probably been exposed for a few weeks, but no one had noticed.  It said, “Siding by Otto M. Grace (May 1954)”.  So cool!  We had our current siding installer add his name.  I think he really found joy in seeing someone else had signed the house.  And I like that we’re adding to the history of it.

The back will get a patio this week.  We’ve had major water issues in the past in this area, so it was regraded.  We’ll have stamped concrete added to the back.  It will be a nice area to sit on cool summer evenings for dinner.

The other very large project this week was burying the new electric line to the house.  The old line was up on an electrical pole.  I hated that it was smack dab in the middle of the house and the yard.  Of course, so is a huge 100 year old tree, but I think the tree deserves to be there.  The pole is coming down.  This was a huge project but it was fun to be there as it was completed.  We passed inspection on Friday and the new service should be live this week.

The boys literally dug in to help fill in the long trench line.  It was the perfect job for them!  All in all it was a good week.  My kitchen plans are in the works and we’re moving along.  I wish things were moving faster, but I think any project like this takes time and has delays.

This week we *hope* to accomplish:

Complete the siding
Complete the roofing
Complete the patio
Install Gutters