Old House Blues part deux

While we are still monkeying around framing new roofs, replacing studs, adding windows, leveling floors by jacking up the house and adding steel beams, tearing off two layers of siding, i.e., everything but moving quickly forward. I would guess at this point we would have encountered about $17,000 of extra work if this project was for a client, based on unforeseen and concealed conditions. Juxapositoned, Cottage 7 and Cottage 8 are well on their way to being closed in, while twice as much labor and money has gone into half as much progress at the Ole House.

Oh well, we all know romance is expensive and unpredictable.


New Roof system augmenting existing tree limbs.



Planking on the wall, covered with ancient newspaper. Jack hammer and pry bar stand at the ready.

Another archelogical find - first some sort of cardboard composite siding (seemed be the 'tin man' option of the 60's), then 'poor man shingles', which is a type of exterior covering which rolls out over the house, and then the original wood clapboard underneath. Many times homeowners covered up the wood siding with 'new' materials not because the siding was decayed, but because the expense and inconvenience of painting grew tiresome.

This pic below illustrates 3 distinct time periods of american home construction.