More siding and the first broken bone

The siding adventure continues and an adventure it has been.

As a reminder we started siding the house on October 12th which means we have been at it for 19 days.  I think if I check the weather record books I might find several records related to low temperatures for October on those 19 days. Multiple times we heard the WCCO weather person say "it's more typical of December than October".

Not surprisingly Mark and I have taken out many of our "depths of winter" clothing items.  Today Mark broke out his "brown pants" - they are stylish, quilt-lined, "not quite cords but not jeans either" pants. He didn't have to wear them though because today's misty, dreary day turned out to be significantly warmer (47 degrees) than the sunny, windy 38 degree weekend days we just had.

I have grown accustomed to wearing my black and white winter hat (you ski parents know the one - it used to be for race day only).  Now it's become a daily part of my "outfit" both inside and out!   It really helps shorten the morning hair routine too.

I am still winning the temperature guessing game but we have added a new element - that is guessing whether it will be warmer inside the house or outside.  We have started turning on the furnace to get the chill out.  It never really appreciated the difference between 43 and 48 degrees before.

Enough about the weather.  You get it.  It's been COLD.  But through it all we kept plugging away on the siding.  When I left you at the end of the last post, our next task was to tackle the 5 "small walls" on the back side of the house at the main level - the deck level.  We started with this:

Its a little hard to see but there are 5 very short walls to work on.  (only see 4?  The last one is at the far left of the picture after the last sliding glass door).  It looks so simple.  We can do that in a day, right Mark?  On my goodness, I am learning that it takes just as much time to put up a piece of siding that is 10 inches as it does to put up one that is 12 feet.  It is so deceiving.  I thought we'd be done with this part in a day.  We started it last Wednesday (10/23) and by the end of day on Friday it looked like this:  

Main level almost done - just a little remains on the far left

This area was slower as well because there are 3 light fixtures, an outlet and a vent that have to be sided around.  We installed mounting blocks (another new term I have learned!) and then had to cut out around them so it took even more time.  

We were cruising along on Friday after lunch - getting ready to move higher up the wall on ladders and I needed to measure something but my tape measure (Yes, I have my own) was in the car.  I forgot to take it out of my jacket pocket when I left on Thursday so I tossed it in the car otherwise I am sure I would have left it at the High Tower house. When came back Mark was sitting on deck with each leg over a joist, his elbows on his knees and his head was down.  I asked him what happened but he barely responded.  I started asking him questions that, of course, he wasn't answering.  I eventually figured out that he fell.  

He had been up on a step stool measuring the next board that we needed and when he was done he stepped down and headed to the cutting station (seen in the picture above) but he stepped on a white board (you can see it holding the yellow extension cord in the first picture above) in such a way that it fell between two joists and crashed to the ground below.  He landed on his right bicep and left ribs and was dangling by his left arm and leg.  He tried calling for help but I was in the front yard and he could hardly breathe let alone talk so it came out barely a whisper.  He had to decide between dropping down (9 feet or so) or climbing back up.  He managed to climb back up but was in terrible pain.  After about 10 minutes he was able to stand up and move around slowly.  If it was me...... I'd be on my way to the hospital.  His view of it was "if I broke my ribs they can't do anything anyway so what's the point of going" so we were getting back to work when our friend Art stopped by which allowed us to stop and chat awhile giving Mark a little more break.  He was feeling better so we continued working.  He decided that all the clothing he was wearing to keep warm and his "blue, puffy vest" helped cushion him so he probably didn't break anything.  Taking deep breaths was still a problem though so he decided he wouldn't be able to sub for my volleyball team that night. I felt a little like it was my fault that he fell because I am the one who brought the board out to keep the extension cord from falling between the joists.  Mark said "that board shouldn't be out here".  He had some story about it being the wrong size and too thin and someone would step on it and get hurt.  I replied "it's only for the extension cord, don't step on it".  Of course, as we moved down the back of the house we moved the large boards around and the small one got shoved to the side.  Ooops!  

We had had enough of being up on the deck and we need a piece of metal to fix the soffit before we can put trim on it and continue so we moved to the side of the garage.  Working on solid ground again!  And putting up nice long boards. Now we're talkin'.

Getting started

Progress as of lunch time on Saturday 10/27

Once we finished what we could reach without using the super tall ladders so we moved onto the front of the garage.  

Garage as we got started

I had been preparing for all the small pieces around the garage doors by saving all the scrap pieces.  I thought it was great that we could use up the pieces that were 10 inches give or take a bit.  Most of the spaces were 9 1/2 inches or so.  "We'll just cut them a bit and it will be a piece of cake" was my thought.  Not so for Mark.  It is actually really hard to cut the small pieces smaller. It didn't help that the saw blade was giving us trouble.  

Progress at the end of the weekend 

Mark made us quit since it was getting dark and the saw blade was making it impossible to do the cut outs on the really long pieces above the door.  The next morning when Mark examined the blade a little closer he could tell that there were several missing teeth on it.  Off to Home Depot we went and we came home with a new, more expensive blade.  It made finishing the garage wall sooooooo much easier.

All done with the garage

We have moved on to the front door area of the house.  

Measuring to get the first row correct

Yesterday and today we made great progress on the side of the garage then moved onto the front door area.  I must have walked 10 miles today going back and forth between the cutting station and the front step.  We were cutting long pieces (so we don't have to look at a seam in that section) so we had a lot of scrap that I organized neatly in front of the garage!  I like my workspace to be neat and tidy.

As the day wore on it got warmer and foggier.  Eventually we opened the front door because it was warmer outside than in the house.  As I write this at 10pm it is now 49 degrees out.  We should have kept working - what's a little darkness and fog???  I took this picture just as we were leaving.  There was so much moisture in the air that it showed in my picture.   Sorry it's so hard to see but we worked  up as high as we can reach again so tomorrow we will move on to the other side of the door.  

Mark insisted that the water was on my camera so I took his picture in the car to prove it wasn't.  

Handsome construction worker, isn't he?  Especially with the "rib-saving" blue vest

I think I'm gonna miss being able to read "EVERBUILT" on the sides of the house every time I look at it.  It kinda grows on you!

Until next time..... Happy Halloween.  We are having our first dinner party at Comet tomorrow night! Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches with the Dewitz and Cullen families.  The halloween tradition continues even though all of our tricker-treaters except one (Nicole) are in COLLEGE!

PS.  Mark did go to the "doctor" for his ribs.  He went across the street to his church basketball buddy who is a surgeon.  Dr. John felt his ribs and confirmed that one was broken - it was super obvious once I felt them that one was not where it was supposed to be - and told him what symptoms to look for that would suggest a punctured lung.  Last Saturday as we were driving back from our lunch break, Mark sneezed and the bone went back into place.  It hurt almost as much as when he fell but after a bit it felt sooooooooo much better and he is able to take deep breaths again.  Sleeping is still uncomfortable.  He wakes up several times a night but he is much better during the day.

Final Door and Window are in, trimmed and sided around

Yesterday, (Monday 10/21) our last door and window arrived so we installed it.  I was pretty excited to be working inside since the temperature outside is at least 20 degrees below normal for this time of year.  The highs this week (for those of you reading who don't live in MN) are projected to be in the low 40's (like 41 and 42 - not much above that).  For the first two days they have been right.  It feels more like early December than mid-October.  Of course, you might imagine that my excitement at being inside was curbed a little bit when I took a look at the thermostat:

Yep it was 44 INSIDE the house yesterday morning

Mark and I are having contests guessing the inside temperature when we arrive in the morning.  So far I am the WINNER!

When we started the day yesterday the view out the kitchen was this:

Before Shot of the Window

Before Shot of the Door Opening 

Within a couple of hours it looked like this:

New Door and window will let me see the trees while I cook

Even though we installed so many doors and windows already that I think I could apply for a Window Installer job, I insisted we get the directions so that we didn't make any mistakes.  There are so many steps I just knew we would do something wrong.  It was a breeze!!!  We were only slowed down a bit by having to get a portable heater out of the garage to warm the ProtectoWrap (that asphalt like stuff that we flash the windows with).  It was so cold (both inside and out) that it would not stick to the house wrap.  Once I heated it (and my hands in the process) it was much easier to work with.  

Today we got back at it and moved to the outside.  Another cold day but I managed to work up a sweat moving tools, saw horses, planks of wood, and Hardy Board up onto the deck.  It didn't hurt that I had little winter gloves on under my work gloves.  The first job on the list today was to trim the window and door that went in yesterday.  Once that was done we moved on to putting up the siding.  Today was a super productive day.  After a few long runs of siding we focused on the spaces on either side of the window.  

We were working off the deck frame today and since it doesn't have deck boards on it, we needed something set up so that we could walk on a flat surface instead of balancing on the 2 inch joists.  Most people would just install the deck boards to ensure the worker's safety.  But Mark knows that OSHA won't be stopping by anytime soon so he doesn't always worry about that safety stuff.  Here's what he was standing on part of the day to put up the trim.

Using plank to extend the "walkable surface" 

It's a good think Mark only weighs 40 pounds so he could stand out there and the board didn't move.  Although there were a few times where I had to stand on the other end of it because he was way at the end and reaching as high as he could to measure or nail something up.  It's so nice to know that I am needed.

Good thing he has small feet too! Makes balance beam walking so much easier

And in case the plank on the deck wasn't risky enough, putting a crate - that is slightly wider than the plank - on it, standing on it and reaching up really increased the intensity at the work site.  It's a good think he is in the habit of always looking down before he steps or I might have had to scrape him off the concrete below.

I didn't get a picture of it but the plank had another use as we moved on to siding the portion to the right of the window.  We balanced it on the top of a 10 foot ladder placed on the ground below and we then had a true balance beam that enabled us to reach to the end of the house.  As a result we made so much progress today.

After a good day's work

We will be back at it tomorrow.  I am hoping that we get the rest of the main level in the back done.  Since there are 3 sliding glass doors there is not that much wall space to side.  But there are lots of details to tend to so I am not sure we will get it all done.  

Can we do these 5 small "walls" in a day?

I think our first order of business tomorrow will be to put up new insulation in the walls since it was 39 degrees when we arrived this morning.  Hopefully it won't take us too long and it will help to keep it a little warmer.  Then maybe we will even turn the heater on.

Stay tuned for more details of the "Money Pit"

The siding continues

We have had some really, really good days where we get lots done.  We measure, cut, and install board after board after board and when we walk away it looks like this:

The back side of the garage done as far as we can reach on ladders

East wall (kitchen) done as far as we can reach without using the ladder jacks.  

We finished these two sides as far as we could go with out getting out major ladders or scaffolding.  Then we moved to the back side.

Just getting started with first couple of rows at the bottom

After a couple of days of work

We were quite productive once we moved around to the back side.  Working on the ground is so much easier when it is just Mark and I. Last weekend (10/17 and 10/19) we had help from my brother, Tim, again.  We did a lot of detailed work under the deck where the living room and dining rooms bump out.  We had to cut down an 8 x 4 foot sheet of siding to line the bottom of the bump out.  Cutting through that much cement board was hard work.  Mark was fighting with the saw the whole time and it seemed that for every 2 boards we put up were were ripping one down.  On the 18th Mark and I worked in the cold all day long and when Tim came on the 19th it was hard for him to see what we had done the day before there was so little to show.  This was one of our most non-productive days.  I'd call it a really, really bad day!

Saturday we dodged the rain and hail while trimming 7 windows on the west side and the front.  We found that we were jumping between jobs - siding and putting up trim - and it was very inefficient so we decided to focus on just one and since the trim has to be done before the siding can go up we put out energies there.  By the end of last weekend we had all the installed windows and doors trimmed except the French Door in the Master bedroom.  We need scaffolding to reach that one as the ladders don't reach where we need to be.  We were also still waiting for the door and window for the kitchen.  

The fact that we don't have these is becoming a problem because they have to go in before we can side that area.  They are pretty much right above the window in the picture above.  We can do many more rows before we run into them.  

They are in transit so we will have them soon.  See next post for details on their installation.

First Day of siding and more.....

Saturday (10/12/13) was the BIG DAY.  We finally started on installing siding.

Since we bought this house on July 10th, Mark has been saying "if it helps us get the siding installed then it is a priority.  If not, it can wait."

With the exception of the initial tear out on days 1-3 or so, everything else we have been doing has been necessary to prepare the outside of the house for siding installation - window replacement, house wrap (tyvek) installation, fireplace enclosure building, deck framing (it is so much better to work on plywood on the deck than it is on a board on the ladder jacks), chimney removal and trim installation.

Mark was actually pretty nervous about how things would go today.  He arranged for his contractor buddy, Ray Weidner, to come help us get started.  Ray has sided many houses and knows a lot of the tricks of the trade.  It is so important to get started accurately otherwise you'll find yourself pulling it all down and starting over.  Mark was at Comet at 9am to get everything all set up.  I enjoyed a nice walk with Dixie and gave Mark some time all to himself.  Trust me.... he needed it.  He was a bit on edge.  I arrived about 10am and so did our friend, Mary Shimp, who was visiting us from Washington DC.  Mary (or Auntie Mary as Matt and Em called her when they were little) and I worked together at Oracle back in 1987.  Mary's claim to fame (at least for me) is that she was the ONLY person to visit me in the hospital when Emily was born!  Mary wanted to come see the house and help us with it before it got cold so we were blessed with her visit this weekend (see her picture later on in this post!)

After a delay due to a tool issue (didn't have the right mail gun) Ray joined us and immediately began answering our numerous questions about all the challenges with siding - how do we do this corner that is so close to the fireplace box?  what size trim is used on the corners?  where do we start? how do we make sure we start with a straight row (especially when nothing seems to be straight on this house)? and so on.  We decided to start on the back of the garage and work our way around the back of the house to the west side and then to the front.  This strategy allows us to become expert siding hangers before we get to the front where "everyone" will see our work.  The problem with this strategy is that the area to be sided on the back of the garage starts about 4 and a half feet off the ground so pretty rapidly we were up on ladders.  My brother, Tim, came to help us also so it went pretty quickly.

First couple of rows done with Ray's help

Making progress - Mark cut, Tim and I installed.... with Bennett as our special helper

Bennett with Uncle Mark  - he was promising that he wouldn't climb higher on the ladder!

Finishing up Day 1 of siding.  We worked as high as we could with the 10 foot ladder then got a couple rows going on the kitchen wall

It was super slow getting going but once we got into the grove of measuring, cutting, running, and nailing, it started to go faster.  We put the siding up in a repeating 4 row pattern.  Soon we got used to the length of the cuts and how to nail them efficiently.  Of course, once we got into the groove of things, it started getting dark and we had to stop for the day.

Sunday (10/13/13) we were back at it.  This time it was just Mark, Mary and I.  We focused our attention on the kitchen wall all day.  Mark cut (and sometime came up the ladder to help us nail) while Mary and I installed pieces of Hardy board being sure to overlap the existing course by an inch and a half which left a 6 inch reveal.  So precise!

Mark checking measurements

Mary using the nail gun.  She became quite the pro at it after just one day despite the crazy surface we were standing on

 While Mary and I slaved away, Mark pretended to cut boards for us but here's what he was really doing:

We didn't bring the Vikes any luck by bringing the TV outside and watching them  - sort of! 

We decided that we would have felt really, really bad (like perhaps many of you) if we had sat inside and watch the awful game for hours instead of being outside and getting some work done.

Mary and I taking a timeout for a picture

End of Day 2 

We continued on till it started getting dark and the temperature dropped!  We decided not to tackle the next course above the windows because many cuts are required to get it just right.  We were pooped and needed dinner.  Beside the Red Sox game was about to start so we went to Hightower to watch.

Monday (today) our crew got even smaller.  It was just Mark and I.  It was slow(er) but we still made more progress.  We finished two more courses above the windows in the picture above - the one with all the cuts seemed like it took us 2 hours to do - Mark may have even hurt himself thinking about it.!  Then we moved back to the garage wall and added 10 or so more rows.  We are over half way done on that wall but I am not going any higher on the ladders. Mark will either get someone else to help him or we will rent scaffolding to finish it.

THEN we moved to the back side under the deck.  This is the area I am excited to work on.  We are on the ground - in fact I was sitting on the ground to get low enough to install the first row - and we can put up full 12 foot boards so much less monkeying around with cutting.  We finished two rows before darkness made us quit.  Boy is this going to be a big job.  And I don't think we will make any progress on it tomorrow given the weather forecast - 40's and rain! Yuck.  But that's ok.  I am working at the high school, we will go to the hanger to get our warmer clothes that are all packed and we will go to HomeDepotLowesMenardsSchererBrothers to get "things" we need to make room for outside lights, outlets, water faucets and vents. Hopefully Wednesday will be dry - we don't even care if its cold - we will just dress like we used to for our kids downhill ski races.  We really don't have any where to wear that clothing anyway.

It will probably be a while before I post another update as it will be kinda like all those days of window installation. Each one like the last - "today we installed siding" so I won't bore you with a day by day.  But I will post again when we can show real progress - like the whole back is done or something like that.

Thanks everyone for being interested in our adventure!  Stop by and say "hi" if you are in the neighborhood.

Trimming Windows in preparation for siding

Before we could actually put the siding on we had to trim the windows.  We are using James Hardy siding and MiraTEC trim (for those of you that really care!).  The Hardy siding is cement board that is supposed to last something like 50 years - so the rest of my LIFE.  And I have been promised that squirrels can't eat through it so that shouldn't be a problem any more.  The siding butts up to the MiraTEC so that is why the trim goes in first - it is way easier to get an exact measurement for the piece of siding when the trim is already there.  Here's what it looks like after a window is trimmed:

Kitchen Window after getting trim

When we have the house painted (in the Spring of 2014) the trim will be painted white.  The trim is so much faster to put up than installing the windows. In our first day we were able to trim 7 windows (laundry room, kitchen, master bedroom - on the east side - 2 in living room, Matt's bedroom and living room - on south and north sides)!

East side trimmed and ready for siding

We were so lucky that the weather cooperated while we were doing this work.  The sun was out and the smell of fall was in the air.

Work station in the back of the house

We had a little visitor too while we were working:

Chipmunk having a snack on the front step

He was so cute sitting there....

Till Dixie heard him:

Where did that rascal go????

On Friday (10/11/13) we focused on trimming sliding glass doors and the windows above the doors in the living room as well as the dining room slider and basement silder.  All of which are on the south side of the house.  Once we are done with these we will have a lot of area ready for the actual siding.
In the living room, we had to tie together the windows above, the doors below, the space between each as well as the trim on the outside. It was a bit of a puzzle but I think it came out really nicely.

Small pieces of siding will be installed between the doors

The dining room door is trimmed and ready for siding too

Next will be the actual installation of the siding.  Please see the next posting for all the juicy details.

We passed our "wrap" inspection yesterday!

Siding is about to start.  Our big goal for the past 3 months (we actually closed on Comet 3 months ago today) has been to re-side the house.  That process started today.  But let me back up a bit first.

The "big, scary windows" weren't that bad after all.  The windows I am referring to are actually one window and one french door - both in our master bedroom.  Thanks to our neighbor, Steve Kane, the window has been sitting in the bedroom waiting to be installed for quite some time now.  The door was a different story.  It was in the garage waiting to get hauled up the stairs.  I thought it would take 3 or 4 guys to get the job done.  I wanted no part of it.  But Mark and Tim had other ideas.  They thought we could do it.  And with a little creativity we did.  First was using the "scooters" to get it from the garage to the bottom of the stairs.  Then we put a board on top of the first set of stairs, then fashioned a rope with two handles and put it under the door.  We laid the door on it's side on the board.  Tim and Mark used the rope to lift the door up and I pushed from the bottom.  We got the door onto the landing, turned it upright then Tim and Mark carried it up the rest of the way.  It really wasn't that bad with this clever solution.  

The installation was a bit nerve-wracking.  We had to put ladders up on the "half built"deck.  We were living on the wild side with the placement at the very edge in order to be able to reach the proper spot on the left side of the window.  I opted to stay off the ladder - I left that job to Mark and Tim.  Tim's left-handedness "won" him the prized position on the deck side.  No worries -- all was well. 

Using ladder jacks to hang a plank for window installation

Installing the Master Bedroom Window

A new door has been installed to the right of this window

New French Door in Master Bedroom

One of the last windows that we installed was on the Front Side of the house in the living room.  Unfortunately the day we picked to do it was a day that the weather didn't cooperate.  It was raining all day long.  But we didn't let that slow us down.  We now have a view of the dumpster through our new window.   Here's what it looked like in the middle of the process.

View out our front living room window "hole" 

It now has a new window in it

Here's what it looks like now:

The last window we put in was the one on the right on the bottom

We spent the first couple of days this week enjoying the spectacular fall weather while completing the vapor barrier wrap (tyvek) around the house.  We finished at 10pm on Tuesday night (after going to dinner at Chuck E. Cheese's for our nephew's 8th birthday), just in time for the Wednesday 9am wrap inspection.  We had to make one little correction but the rest was perfect so we got a sign off from the City Building  Inspector.  That was the go-ahead we needed in order to start siding the house!

Wednesday was a day of re-grouping, getting supplies and working up our plan of attack so we could go at it first thing this morning (Thursday).

I was so busy being Marks' "trim installing side kick"that I didn't remember to get my camera out to take pictures.  After trimming 7 windows, we sat out on our make-shift deck with our neighbors, Bob and Laurie and enjoyed a glass of wine.  It was such a lovely night we couldn't pass it up.  Next thing we knew Laurie was heating up left over pasta for us -- our first dinner at Comet!  It was amazing.  I have to get the recipe - 5 ingredients in a crock pot -- the perfect kind of cooking for us now. 

We also enjoyed lunch "in" this week.  We are really getting tired of the fast food located at the intersection of 7 and 101 so we have moved a microwave into the kitchen and are making soup for lunch.

"Our Make Shift Kitchen - gets the job done

Enjoying soup, crackers and honeycrisp apples

Lunch break during kitchen door framing on Tuesday 10/8

Looking forward to more progress this weekend.  We have professional help coming on Saturday to get us going!  Thank you, Ray!