Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Did I mention I hate heights?

Five years ago when I did the major exterior work on the house I got stopped by winter, so I left the gable ends of the house in clapboards as they were. They did not look so nice but would have to do. Well you know how it goes. We moved onto other projects and they spent the next five years as I left them. So I finally got motivated to do something about the one on the driveway side.
So after striping the old clapboards off, I re-nailed thee old sheathing back on to the studs replaced the window, re trimmed it, tarpapered it, and trimmed it out.
This is the other end of the house but it looked just the same when I started.
Re-nailing the sheathing back on to the studs before the tar paper went on.
Trimming out the window
Made a new gable vent
tested it for fit
painted it
Here is the back side

Might as well clean the mildew off the rakes and give them another coat of paint.
Fitted the gable vent with a fan rescued from an old kitchen extractor behind it to suck the summer heat out of the roof structure and added the freeze-boards on the rake.
Saturday I started the shingling
OSHA approved staging
By Saturday evening I got this far
Sunday I got a late start and was working a the top of my comfort zone, lots of fiddly angle cutting.
Then I had no choice but to do the double stack thing . . .  everything was screwed and clamped together so there was no flexing of my staging at all, I still did not care for it.
Had to finish the peak off the ladder
Sunday 6pm got it all done and cleaned up.

13 comments:

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    1. what am I supposed to do Doug? bark like a seal?

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  2. Like your staging. My bricky who's doing my porch had some made up today but it slipped and smashed the window. I was just glad no one was hurt but he was so annoyed at himself.
    Your place is looking great now.

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    1. Kev, If I had been doing this job for hire I would have rented proper staging and billed it to the job. But on my own house I can get away with this sort of monkey business as I can move at my own pace. I do have pump jacks but I hate to put them up as they are a bit of a hassle and have them sitting there calling unneeded attention to busybodies around the neighborhood. Breaking a customer's window never looks good on a job. Glad your friend doing the masonry did not get hurt.

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  3. can you come and work on my house/ i pay well! i have a 2 step ladder and that is as high as i go.

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    1. Hi Jaz so long as you keep me fed with your good cooking I'd be glad to LOL

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  4. Hi Mike, I'm with you about the height thing, I am no fan of heights. Your place looks great, good job.

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    1. Hey John, just trying to keep the place looking respectable. Got the other gable end, the one on the hot sunny side to do next. Hope the smoke and flames are keeping away up in your neighborhood.

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    2. So far, the fire has only 45 acres. It's stagnant making it easier to fight. Thanks for your support.

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  5. I wish I could hang out with you for about a year and acquire some of that building skill. It looks great. I fell off a 2.5 story roof one time. Fell into a 4 foot snow bank. Pulled a bunch of muscles, but nothing broken. Heights are the biggest reason I stopped firefighting.

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    1. Hey Mark, any time you want to come for a visit you are welcome you know you have a place to land here. I have had a couple bad falling experiences. One really bad one when a staging plank broke and I fell two stories breaking both my ankles. So I am kind of leery of heights. I just can't get over that dreadful falling feeling. I still have the gable on the other end to do so I have to do it all over again but it will have to wait a few weeks as the cardinal has he second brood for the season going in the rhododendron bush and I don't want to disturb her.

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  6. I detest ladders. The only time since I lived here that I wound up in the hospital, it was when an extension ladder broke under me and dropped me on the rocks below.

    On the other hand, it's a real plus that you have the skills to do this kind of job for yourself. I can do work on the house, but it does't turn out looking professional like yours.

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    1. Hey Harry, the ladder I can manage, the staging plank not so much. Sounds like a nasty fall you took. I have not had an extension ladder break on me yet. But I try not to push my luck. I must have learned a thing or two in thirty years of hammering nails. Mostly I have a fairly clear vision of the finished results and can work to that end.

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