Siding…Front porch wrap-up

The Tappe siding guys wrapped up their work on the house a couple of days ago leaving a few details to be finished later. I snapped a couple of photos in between snow flakes today showing where they have left things on the front porch. The first photo shows the porch from the West end. In it you can see the open joists on the floor and freshly installed bead board in the ceiling. The trim pieces inside the rim will be added after the Permacast columns are installed along the front edge. The trim above the front door (that also extends to the front of the porch) is an continuation of the “thin white line” that wraps the entire house. The Azek decking, screen porch, and railings, will be installed once the “big” access afforded by the open porch is deemed unnecessary.

The next photo shows some of the porch details around the front door. The James Hardie siding, MiraTEC trim, Azek blocking, and bead board ceiling all come together in this corner nicely (the grey MiraTEC above the door is only primed…not finished like the rest of the trim). I'm sure the front porch will become a favorite destination for us as the project finishes up in the early spring!

Siding…Day 9

Arsenio and his crew have just about finished up the siding and trim at the “L” Shaped House. They will go home this afternoon leaving only a few items to be finished after Paul installs the columns on the front edge of the porch. The first photo shows the front side of the house with pretty much all the siding and trim elements installed.

The next photos show the trim and siding details on each end of the front porch. The guys were just finishing up the bead board ceiling at about 1:00 pm. The porch will have two stairways (one in front and one on the bay window end) and a railing running all around. We plan to use Azek decking which will be installed much later in the project (once the mud and grime are defeated!).

Siding…Day 8

The Tappe guys are almost done with the siding and trim at the “L” Shaped House. At noon today they had most of the front wall above the porch completed and were working on the fascia and soffit details between the bedrooms. The first photo shows the from the West driveway. Siding and trim has been installed all the way to where the screen porch column will live.

The next photo shows the house from the East side of the front yard. Here we can see the siding details as it wraps around to the front of the porch. The Tappe guys will now install the bead board ceiling under the roof and finish the trim and siding across the front.

Siding…Day 7

Arsenio and the Tappe guys are back today and by noon had worked their way to the very front of the of the “L” Shaped House. The porch and front walls above the standing seam roof both present new challenges for the siding crew. If you look closely in the first photo you can just see the siding and trim wrapping around the ends of the house to the porch. Protecting the nice new standing seam roof as the trim and siding is installed will slow the crew down some on the upper front wall.

The second photo shows the dining room bay window with the beginnings of the MiraTek trim boards installed. Every element of the siding and trim on the front porch has some fussy details associated with it. The Tappe guys will work their way across the front wall and also install the bead board ceiling.

Thanksgiving Week…In review

Thanksgiving week brought a lot of changes at the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows the warm glow of  lights coming from inside the house just after sunset. The moon rose early and the clear skies provided an opportunity for this nice twilight scene. This photo of the “L” Shaped House is the first I’ve posted that “feels” like we are on a path to achieve our original mission (expressed here)!

The next photo shows the preparations underway to protect the standing seam roof over the porch as the siding and trim is installed on the front of the house. The Tappe guys plan to get started on the front first thing Monday morning.

 

The next two photos show the back wall of the house with the siding and trim installed. In the right hand photo the siding, trim, soffit, eave, and roof details all come together at the valley above the stairwell window. An oversized gutter and downspout will be installed here that will direct rain water down the back wall and into the PVC drain that carries water to the back side of the yard.

The last photo shows the area at the top of the stairs from the inside corner of the book nook. The sheet rock installed upstairs this week is starting to make the place feel like a house!

Siding…Day 6

The Tappe siding crew has continued their rapid pace installing siding at the “L” Shaped House. Arsenio and his crew finished up the back of the house and were setting up to start on the front late this afternoon. The first photo shows the back side as they were installing the last few pieces of Hardie board above the music room.

The next photo was taken from the breezeway porch looking toward the back wall of the kitchen. The kitchen windows are purposely positioned below the bedroom overhang and the trim board that wraps the house. The photo shows many details of the siding and trim…including the seven household utility systems that penetrate the back wall at the rim…nicely.

Arsenio (at the left) and two of his guys were nice enough to pose for a picture near the end of their work day.

Siding…Day 5 (Progress report)

Arsenio and the Tappe siding crew worked until almost 5:00 pm last night. Helen and I stopped by this morning and wandered around looking at the progress they made. It looks to like the the siding is about 2/3 complete. The first photo shows how they have worked all the way up to the Southeast corner of the house at the front porch. It’s a little hard to see…but most of the details inside the breezeway entrance are also complete.

The next photo shows a wide shot of the “L” Shaped House that includes progress made by both crews working on the back side. The first crew has also made it to breezeway entrance and has most of the detailed work complete. The guys who started at the basement walk-out are now about half way up the back wall of the main house.

The last shot gives a closer look at the back wall and breezeway.If you look closely you can see the bead board installed in the breezeway ceiling and the multiple utility penetrations along the wall below the kitchen window. Mike Kloti’s “thin white line” and eave details are starting to show up nicely in all of the photos.

Siding…Day 5

To all the things I have to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving day…I need to add that Arsenio and his guys are hard at work siding the “L” Shaped House. They have three crews working this morning. The two working around the house from the back end of the garage and a third that is now starting at the basement walk-out door. The first two photos show the two crews working on the back side of the house. The first crew has almost made it to the breezeway porch.

The second crew has siding and trim installed just beyond the top of the basement walk-out door. This photo also shows the progress made on back side of the garage nicely.

The video shows the third crew installing the first siding board above the trim at the top of the patio doors into the basement family room. These guys are doing a very nice job on the fussy little details that are an important part of the siding installation.

The last photo shows the crew working their way around to the front of the house. The have “turned the corner” and are starting to install siding on the first wall facing Cottage Lane. In this photo you can see Arsenio (in the yellow hood) carefully inspecting the work as the crews progress around the house.

Siding…Day 4

The Tappe siding crew is hard at it in spite of the crummy weather and muddy conditions. The two crews are each working their way around the “L” Shaped House from the back end of the garage. In the first photo we see the progress on the back side of the garage and stairwell to the bonus room.

The next photos show the second crew slowly moving toward the front. I caught them preparing to install the “thin white line” that wraps the house as I arrived around 3:00 pm. It feels really good to have the siding going up and each passing day the house looks better.

The last photo captures the East of the house from the Steinhauser’s back yard. This is a shot that has only very recently become possible (the leaves are mostly gone). We get a good sense of the scale of the house (it’s big!) and proportions as well as a nice view of the trim and siding working together. I think Mike Kloti did a very nice job with the design and hope it continues to please our new neighbors.

Siding…Day 3

The Tappe siding crew has started working their way around the “L” Shaped House. They had two crews working Monday afternoon; one on the back of the garage…the other on the front. The first photo below shows the progress on the back side.

The next photo shows the progress on the front side of the garage. They are working in the breezeway porch and have trim installed almost to the front corner of the house. Unfortunately it rained almost all day (…again…) and the siding crews stayed home. We are all hoping for better weather tomorrow!

Siding…Day 2

The Tappe guys have siding and trim up on the front side and back end of the garage. I took these two photos as the early morning sun cast a nice glow on the “L” Shaped House. They were taken as I got my first real look at the house in its final form. I think all of the details work nicely together.

The North East corner of the house is a spot I have rarely taken photos from because the leaves in the trees normally block this view. The second photo is taken from a spot near the head of the trail through the woods…I think the house looks especially nice from a distance.

Siding…Day 1 (evening report)

The Tappe guys have a whole bunch of siding and trim installed on the front wall of the garage. The  first two photos show a long shot of the second garage stall & bonus room dormer and a close up of the MiraTec trim and James Hardie siding coming together at the front service door wall.

 

The next two photos show the fourth garage stall with the trim, siding, fascia, and soffit details all coming together above the back corner. This gives us our first look at a Kloti Chop in it’s nearly finished form!

Siding…day 1

The Tappe siding crew started work at the “L” Shaped House today. By noon they had the end wall of the garage finished and a good start on the front. The first photo below shows the primed Hardie siding and finished MiraTec trim on the end wall. The eaves and soffit are covered with metal as the siding is installed.

The next photo shows the front side of the garage with siding, Trim, and the beginnings of the “thin white line” that will wrap the house installed. It looks like our friend Camille will get her wish…we will probably have a green house (at least for a while).

Siding…Day 0

Paul Winters has done a lot of work preparing for the siding installation at the “L” Shaped House. Each place an electrical, plumbing, or HVAC systems penetrates the outside wall he adds a block of Azek exterior composite trim for the siding to butt up against. The photos below show the blocking for a few of the nearly 30 penetrations all around the house. In the first we see a silcock, the irrigation stub-out, and water heater vent outside the East end wall of the dining room.

The next two photos show outside electrical outlets and lighting boxes on the front porch and garage walls. The end wall of the garage will have an RV electrical outlet just beyond the last overhead door.

  

The last photo shows the basement walk-out door with 2 electrical outlets at the bottom and 2 lighting mounts above. Some of the other items requiring Azek blocking include; security lights on the back wall, connections to the air conditioner, and the main service entrance.