Siding Siding

Today we finished the fiber cementboard siding! Tuck, with the generous assistance of Michael, Frances, Jerry and sometimes Cece, worked on it on and off from sometime in July. The only outside area now to finish is the south alcove, which is getting tongue-and-groove cedar siding. Here's a shot of the last wall of siding almost done, then a shot of Tuck placing the last piece. Then here's the south alcove w/furring (or firring?) strips almost ready for the cedar. The final shot is of what is about to become the wood shop, and will eventually become the living room. With the outside done we turn our attention to the interior - framing, trade rough-ins, and the dreaded drywall!

Tropical Storm Hanna

Friday brought TS Hanna our way. After spending the earlier part of the week working to get soffitt and flashing on parts of the house most vulnerable to wind and water, we sat down Friday afternoon and watching the rain begin with the first band of the storm. Knowing that we couldn't work the rest of that day or the next, we decided to treat ourselves to a little break. Jumped in the car and headed for Yorktown and Williamsburg! The hotel we like to stay in is in Yorktown on the York River just before it enters the Chesapeake Bay. Its a beautiful view and perfect for watching a tropical system. Note: we would not have done this had Hanna been any larger. Several years ago a hurricane visited Yorktown that brought the water level up several feet on the first floor of the hotel. The first 2 shots are from the balcony of our third floor room.

We also visited Colonial Williamsburg which had very few visitors and was delightful, even in the rain.

Soffit Corners

or why some projects just seem to take forever! We love the look of the corrugated galvalume as soffit material but weren't entirely sure how to shape it at the corners. BTW-there are 8 outside corners and 4 inside corners to be dealt with. So here are a couple of ways we tried -- first mitered w/channel spacing, then mitered and overlapped, and finally what we settled on which is no angles but straight cuts. the first two would have required custom cutting and fitting each corner, which are of course each slightly different. And there was no guarantee it was going to work very well on each corner. The straight cuts are quicker to assemble and hide flaws easier.

Soffitts and such

Here are some shots of the east wall w/soffits going in and then the flashing. Note please the siding is complete on this side, and there are some paint patches where we have been testing colors.

Wildlife

We have lots of fascinating insects, bugs, flying things, birds and other wildlife on Willow Rock Road. There are blue-tailed skinks and other lizards, black wasps who are fascinated by the soffit and fascia installation, and others. Pictured are a zipper spider (or so we are told they are commonly called) who has hung around in several spots on the house.

We also have some morning glory vines with small red flowers which are very pretty. It will be great when we can lounge on the deck or in the hammock and just enjoy the scenery!