Finishing the Exterior

This is a big topic, one that deserves more than a single posting; but for now this will have to do. The siding and roofing have now been completed, gutters are installed, and we have passed our framing and mechanical rough in inspections. Siding installation took weeks longer than expected because the crew showed up only occasionally, but overall they did a great job. After talking to the Hardiplank siding sales rep, we ordered pre-painted siding expecting that if the crew was careful we could avoid having to paint the exterior of the house. Because some of the walls are35 feet high this is a big deal. We were not disappointed, and aside from some scuffing here and there that will have to be touched up, the paint looks great.

Weeks earlier I had allowed the plumbers to penetrate the roof with their vents expecting that the metal roof would be installed in short order. But since the siding guys had to not only get on the roof to do their thing, but actually had to tie into the roof with their scaffolding, roof installation could not begin until they were out of there. This meant that every time we got rain, water poured through the roof and puddled on the sub-floor. This made Flora very nervous and although she was continually placing buckets under the leaks, workers kept stealing the buckets and thwarting her efforts. Nobody was happier when the roof was finally watertight.

Another problem that resulted from jobs being done in the wrong sequence (my bad) was doing the finish grading before the gutters were on the house. Each time it rained the waterfalls of water pouring off the 35 foot roofs eroded the dirt below and washed it away. Gutters were installed today so now I can repair the back-filled areas that were damaged.

Next will be installation of insulation, then drywall. Tomorrow the cabinet people come to do the kitchen cabinet layout and the next day we will go to see more slabs of granite before we order our counter tops. We still have a lot to do, but things are moving quickly and we still hope to have the house complete by the end of the year.