After some unanticipated delays (having to find another builder and weather conditions (darn Minnesota!)), we finally have lift-off on the exterior work. And as we wrap up the first week of this much-awaited phase of our renovation, I thought I should post and get you updated! Here’s a photo montage of week #1:
Back side of the house, basically pre-reno. The guys begin by removing all of the batten trim covering the seams of the Hardie Board siding.
Battens carefully removed. We will be reusing some of this material.
In addition to the batten removal, the guys started demo on the rotten decking of the two smaller decks.
Decking off daughter’s bedroom and upstairs loft on the front and side of house.
This deck is totally rotten and getting totally removed.
On day #3 (this past Monday), the crew of two became three. I got them to stay still for a minute.
Introducing the exterior crew: Chris, Nathaniel, and Forrest
These guys worked all day tackling the master bedroom deck and then went way up to get familiar with the awnings….
One thing these guys are not, is afraid of heights.
As you can imagine, taking apart the awnings from above is slow and dangerous, at best.
Dismantling the awning over the garage.
The awnings on the second floor were too difficult to remove from above, so the next day a lift showed up:
Still dangerous, but so much better. The awnings (all 14 of them) come down much, much faster.
Our two story window wall has lost its visor. The house is taking on a new look without the “diving boards”.
Yesterday a meeting of the minds was taking place on the roof…
They invited me up.
Just hanging with the roofer (far left), James, Mike, and Forrest. James and Mike are the owners of the renovation company we hired for our exterior project.
So here we are, 5 days in. Things are going well, as far as I can tell. No big surprises. The plan is to get rid of all the rotten/rotting icky stuff. Bye, bye existing decks and canted awnings! An approx. 2 foot soffit will be added around the entire house to clean up the roof line, and we will be getting a new rubber roof (which is one of those things that cost a lot of money and go unseen–shoot!) At the time of this post, we have decided to rebuild a mini balcony off our daughter’s room (Shhh! It’s a surprise!), and one off the master. There are plans for a service door for the garage too. Other than that, it’s pretty much painting the whole house, and adding some stained cedar accents on select areas.
So glad to be back at it–making this house our home. And if you are wondering, I have more to talk about regarding the inside, just not more time today. Plus, I have kept you too long already! Thank you for reading and have a good one!
This Mod House 
Everything looks fantastic, Allison!!! I love that two-story window!!!
Thanks, Jenn!
Well this looks like quite the large project. Are you planning to just eliminate the awnings, or are they going to be rebuilt?
Hi Doug,
The roof-line is getting simplified. The awnings will be replaced with a soffit that comes out to the end of the fin walls and goes around the entire perimeter of the house. Thanks for the comment/question!
Looking forward to seeing the transformation! Rotten wood brings back memories of rebuilding our screen porch.
Thanks for your comment! About the wood rot: It feels good to be getting rid of the most offending areas…Although, we do hope to salvage some of the decking off the master. It may mean a smaller deck than the original, and a few alternative ways to support it, but the expense of replacing all of the cantilevered beams is driving this decision.