Frigging Framers

We know this is a kind of retrofit building process. We know mistakes are going to happen. We assume the mistakes will be made by us, the amateurs. The mistakes we keep finding are being made by the professionals not us. That is very disheartening.

 Christopher is up bending metal back and getting the joint area ready for the siding to go up. The framers added the wall above the metal when tying the garage into the two buildings.

The framers built the wall out an inch farther than the existing wall. But only on half the wall. The other half is straight up from the existing wall. The wall is crooked.

Guess we will b e taking the OSB down from part of the wall and nailing the siding directly to the studs. After spraying the insulation into the attic part it will okay. Just a hassle and added work for us.

Painting Station

This incredible siding we are putting up does have one extra step in the installation. This one step is nothing compared to how it saves in the long run.

When you cut the siding panel you need to paint the cut edge. The panel is factory painted and you use a matching paint for the cuts. The paint seals the edge and doesn't let water absorb into the OSB board. It also makes it so there is no painting when you are finished. Everything has the finish paint on it.

Putting up the siding will require a lot of little bitty painting. Much prefer this to the other option of unpainted siding and having to haul ladders and big paint cans around after the siding is installed.

It just that thin edge that needs to be painted.We err on the side of caution so each time there is a but I also paint a one inch stripe on the back side. My painting station set up is a board for the panels to lean on, a rug to protect my knees from the cold concrete, the little bitty paint containers, foam brushes (one for each color), and wet paper towels to cover the brushes between painting times.

I love being organized and Bill surprised me with this set up. This man does love me.

DIY

I read about and listen to all lot of DYI projects. One I read about was on silicone. The website said to put painters tape along the edge before applying the silicone. Corners are usually big messes; with this system you just squish the silicone into the corner and don't worry about the gunky mess.

 Pull the tape off and you have a crisp clean corner ready to paint.

It worked beautifully, the only drawback is that you use twice the amount of painters tape. With this heavy texture we have to tape off for painting. Lighter texture I can paint a straight line and won't need the second use of tape. This was worth the extra work to get the wonderful corners.

Watch Out Below

We have had a big ice storm in the last week. The ice is starting to thaw and come off the roofs. This is one of the reasons we have had to be careful when we work. This is just slowing down the siding installation  but we are beyond careful.

 All the roofs look like this one. Ice just waiting for us to walk under it and fall onto our heads.

You can imagine that when the ice from this roof came down it was very dangerous. I had just moved away from under one side when a sheet came down.

Workmens Comp Claim

I like using these gloves when working outside. They aren't thick but they stop the wind from freezing my hands. They are long so my wrists are never exposed. Plus, they are missing the back side of the fingers so I am able to pick up things with my hands being protected.

It looks like one of my fingers are on fire. I don't know what that is. The sun was setting is the only thing I can figure out.

 See, no finger pads are covered so I can use my fingers to do anything. There shouldn't have been a problem except when trimming one of the siding panels the spline on the back was cut in half and was very sharp. Sliced my finger and it bled like the dickens. Bill made me throw these gloves away. He is no fun.

 My DNA is all over the siding. Luckily, rain will wash the red away. But, we all know from TV shows my DNA will always be there.

Happy New Year

Today was a beautiful beginning to 2016. Cold, but clear, no wind just gorgeous to be outside. Well, we had to wait until lunchtime for it to be warm enough for us to go outside to work on the siding.

 We are not professional siding installers. Corners like this take us a while to figure out the best way to tackle them; The flashing will keep the rain and ice from backing up under the siding so it has to stay in place. How do we do this with it still looking pretty. I am in charge of saying it doesn't look pretty and Bill is in charge of figuring how to make it look pretty and do its job. 

 He figured it out and it looks pretty.

So Happy

The front door siding is finished. It is so pretty. The Cinnabar you see on the sides surround the rock that will be going up. According to the siding company pictures and samples the front door and the siding trim were to be the same color, they are each even called Cinnabar. In person the red is not as red and the rock will help tone it down. I am sure we won't notice the difference in a while. If  you come visit us do not say, "Oh, look at the different colors."

Of course the front isn't finished. We still need to put the tile up on the ceiling and install the light. But, this is such a huge step forward.

 To install the trim pieces you put these clips up. The trim has a slot cut into the bottom and  you just slip the trim over the clips and you have a straight line.