All of us here in the Midwest seem to have suddenly awoken on the wrong side of The Wall. Despite the extreme cold (and my irrational fear of White Walkers…I mean, they are about as real as Grumpkins and Snarks), I have managed to do a little work for the exterior of my house.
Just before Christmas, I had the siding on my house replaced. I ended replacing the old aluminum siding with heavy-duty vinyl siding. I've noticed that vinyl siding seems to illicit some strong opinions on the interwebs (here's one). I have mixed feelings about it myself. My project manager and real estate agent both had positive things to say about it, but on the next house when I do the siding work myself, I will probably look more into wood siding and maybe even try to salvage original materials if possible. Construction is one of the biggest industries contributing to waste, and I love the ideas of keeping the carbon footprint low and saving the historical value of a structure.
But I digress. Here are some pictures of my house, before and after:
I can’t take credit for actually doing the siding work this time. All I did was choose the color. I did, however, put some elbow grease into my new house numbers.
My old house numbers were actually scrolled out in cursive words and were a bit difficult to decipher by friends visiting for the first time. The numbers were so old and brittle that they broke when taken off the face of the house, which I really wasn’t too upset over.
My new numbers are much easier to read from the get-go since they are actually numbers. The problem is that they were originally purchased with the intent of putting them against my white siding when I first moved in so they are dark. But with the drastic change in siding color, I had to come up with a way to display the numbers against a lighter background in order to make them visible.
That's when I discovered a forgotten piece of wood saved from one of my closet demolitions. I cut it down to a size that fit its new purpose, sanded it, routed the edge, and then covered it in so many layers of exterior polyurethane that I lost count. Okay...maybe not, but I ended up putting 4 or 5 coats on both sides instead of the recommended 3 coats.
In the picture above, the spots are actually the holes that I drilled for the numbers. Once the polyurethane was completely dry, I added the numbers and I have to say, I love the final product. And I definitely enjoy the fact that the piece of wood came from within the house. I do realize that I will need to reapply the polyurethane annually. At least, that's what I am expecting to have to do. Time will tell, but hopefully the character of this piece remains in tact for years to come.
To attach both my mailbox and my new numbers, I used this type of vinyl siding hook which was recommended online here as well as on several other websites. These hooks can be used to attach just about anything to vinyl siding without drilling into the siding and creating holes that may later cause issues. Neither my siding guy nor the local Ace hardware employee knew what these were but I am really glad that I took the time and effort to educate myself and track them down. The back of the box will tell you that you can simply install the hook by pushing the bent end up into the lip of the siding. Don't believe it. Go get one of these tools. It helps grab the bottom edge of the siding piece and pull it up long enough to easily slip the siding hook up underneath it, which made the task way more quick and easy.
Come Spring/Summer, I will clean and redo the front stoop, refinish my retaining wall around the driveway, repaint the front door, and install a new porch railing. Still some serious work to do but I can't wait to see the final look!
Just before Christmas, I had the siding on my house replaced. I ended replacing the old aluminum siding with heavy-duty vinyl siding. I've noticed that vinyl siding seems to illicit some strong opinions on the interwebs (here's one). I have mixed feelings about it myself. My project manager and real estate agent both had positive things to say about it, but on the next house when I do the siding work myself, I will probably look more into wood siding and maybe even try to salvage original materials if possible. Construction is one of the biggest industries contributing to waste, and I love the ideas of keeping the carbon footprint low and saving the historical value of a structure.
But I digress. Here are some pictures of my house, before and after:
My old house numbers were actually scrolled out in cursive words and were a bit difficult to decipher by friends visiting for the first time. The numbers were so old and brittle that they broke when taken off the face of the house, which I really wasn’t too upset over.
My new numbers are much easier to read from the get-go since they are actually numbers. The problem is that they were originally purchased with the intent of putting them against my white siding when I first moved in so they are dark. But with the drastic change in siding color, I had to come up with a way to display the numbers against a lighter background in order to make them visible.
That's when I discovered a forgotten piece of wood saved from one of my closet demolitions. I cut it down to a size that fit its new purpose, sanded it, routed the edge, and then covered it in so many layers of exterior polyurethane that I lost count. Okay...maybe not, but I ended up putting 4 or 5 coats on both sides instead of the recommended 3 coats.
In the picture above, the spots are actually the holes that I drilled for the numbers. Once the polyurethane was completely dry, I added the numbers and I have to say, I love the final product. And I definitely enjoy the fact that the piece of wood came from within the house. I do realize that I will need to reapply the polyurethane annually. At least, that's what I am expecting to have to do. Time will tell, but hopefully the character of this piece remains in tact for years to come.
To attach both my mailbox and my new numbers, I used this type of vinyl siding hook which was recommended online here as well as on several other websites. These hooks can be used to attach just about anything to vinyl siding without drilling into the siding and creating holes that may later cause issues. Neither my siding guy nor the local Ace hardware employee knew what these were but I am really glad that I took the time and effort to educate myself and track them down. The back of the box will tell you that you can simply install the hook by pushing the bent end up into the lip of the siding. Don't believe it. Go get one of these tools. It helps grab the bottom edge of the siding piece and pull it up long enough to easily slip the siding hook up underneath it, which made the task way more quick and easy.
Come Spring/Summer, I will clean and redo the front stoop, refinish my retaining wall around the driveway, repaint the front door, and install a new porch railing. Still some serious work to do but I can't wait to see the final look!
Looks great Alicia!! I like the new color and the Dutch-style shingles look nice on older homes. I had to study the before and after pictures to see how you grew that tree so quickly. I finally figured it out!! Love the new numbers!
ReplyDeleteLol, I think it was the angle at which I took the picture. Is that what you concluded? And thanks! I had fun watching the transformation. And the next time I have siding done on a house, I will be out doing the work myself. :)
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