Flashings, small sheets of (normally) metal, that are helping direct the water away from the wall cavity, preventing it from entering where you have windows, doors, decks, trim details, etc. These small pieces of bent metal are often overlooked in even very expensive new construction and the builders instead rely on caulk. Caulk might be easy and cheap to apply, but it never really lasts, shown in a very large number of water damaged buildings just because they cut out a small piece of metal that might have cost $10...
Looking over the flashings at Plywood Supply (my cedar siding supplier), and not finding what I wanted/needed, I was happy yesterday to locate a company litterally up the street, Fast Flashings, that can bend my small pieces to protect the house from the dreaded water intrusion.
At some of the neighbring houses, decorative knee braces are a popular and nice addition to the design, but they are rarely supplied with a small flashing (roof) to protect the flat piece that sticks out in the weather. Regardless how these are treated, Cedar, Redwood, Oak, they will eventually start to rot simply because someone decided to skip on the little piece of bent sheet metal, providing the o so neede weather protection.
Anyway, time to run up the street and order my metal now...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Capillary Break, ventilation of cedar walls, Interstate Commerce, or how to tax a friendship...
I have an urge to do things right when it comes to construction. Only want to do it once, even if it takes some effort to do it "just right". Done right, a project, a construction, a design, will last a life time, and it is a good thing for me, for future owners, and for the environment we all live in as a whole.
Hence, I've seen far too many houses that have serious moisture and mold problems. All because they just been erected too hastily with little or no attention to water and moisture management. Water comes in two ways, from the outside in the form of rain (strait falling and wind driven), and trickier to manage, from the inside in the form of water vapor.
Every construction in a tempered/cold climate should have a vapor barrier on the inside of the wall cavity, to prevent the ever present vapor (=water) in the inside air to penetrate the wall cavity and condensate (form water) once it hits a cold spot somewhere in the wall cavity (happens of course mostly during the colder months when wall is cold from the outside, gradually getting warmer until you hit the nearly room tempered inside surface.
This is fairly simple stuff, but so often overlooked by shoddy construction, like believing that the paper on faced insulation actually will work. But no, you will need to install a properly laid out plastic sheet (no thinner than 4 mil) before putting up the drywall and also ensuring that you have sealed all electric boxes and - the worst culprits - bucket lights in the ceiling.
On the outside, people try to "seal up" the siding by applying liberal amounts of caulk in order to keep the water out. Good thinking, but most times it is really not necessary and it can also "seal" the outside, preventing it from being properly ventilated.
Instead of applying caulk all over the place, better is to allow the siding to "breathe", and correctly manage the water that happens to sneak by it. It is done by a water resistant (NOT water tight) barrier (Tyvek, felt, asphalt paper, etc) and flashing to ensure that water that gets behind the siding is allowed to "run off" in an orderly fashion, without ever getting a chance really "touching" the core of the wall cavity (the wood and insulation). Contrary to what many believe, the siding is not really the "water barrier", but instead the "weather barrier", there to protect (from sun and physical damage) the "real" water resistant barrier (normally not ever seen once a construction is finished).
In cases when you have a natural wood siding (Cedar, pine, fur, redwood, etc) it is always advisable to provide for a space (air gap, or capillary break) between the back of the siding and the water resistant barrier. Good installers use furring strips laid out on top sheathing (OSB or plywood) normally matching the location of the wall studs. This works relatively fine when you have the (dreaded) horizontal beveled siding. The vertical furring strips provide for an air cavity that both lets water run down and air to raise, drying the siding if/when it gets wet (actually, not if, but when, it always will).
If not providing for this air space, or "capillary break", there is always the chance that when the siding does get wet, moisture is trapped inside and behind the siding in such amount that it starts to overcome the water shedding capabilities of the water resistant barrier, Tyvek, felt, asphalt paper, etc. Remember, this barrier is NOT water proof, and when exposed to enough moisture, its water shedding capabilities are overcome and it will allow water to migrate from the outside to the inside. This is potentially a BIG problem if you used OSB boards instead of the (pricier) plywood for sheathing. OSB has so much end grain and it very easily (and happily) soaks up moisture, trapping it and eventually starts forming mold.
The drawback of the vertical furring strips can be that it may provide a chance for the siding to "buckle" since there is really no support between the (needed) furring strips. Buckling is however better than the alternative, a wet and soaked siding, allowing water to eventually get absorbed into the wall cavity, leading to moisture problems, and eventually mold and other nasty stuff.
A neat application of the siding, at a "real" distance from the "actual" wall cavity is referred to as "rain screen". Likely the best application since it provides for a true ventilated outer shell, but one sort of have to prepare/design for it from the get-go, and not everyone likes the style. It also can provide a haven for isnects and all type of critter to nest in the air space created between the rain screen and the sheathing.
When you are using vertical siding, furring strips can be used, but they will create horizontal cavities, really not ideal since water cannot freely run down, and air does not have the free space to raise as it gets heated.
There are a number of products on the market to battle this problem. One of them is Cedar Breather and Home Slicker from Benjamin Obdyke. Essentially a plastic "airy" mesh, that creates about a 1/4 inch air space behind the siding, allowing for water to run down and air to raise, thereby allowing for the siding to naturally dry out. For those who read this and are really picky, yes Home Slicker is for walls, and Cedar Breather is for roofs, but according to BO, Cedar Breather can also successfully be applied to walls (just not as pretty color...).
Now, this product is not cheap, it is probably cheaper to build a house with "true" water resistant plywood, than to apply the "mesh" (additional labor cost for the "mesh" not counted). But, in our case, the addition was already built using OSB, so there was little other choice - if wanting to do things "right", while using vertical siding. By the way, in my mind, vertical siding looks far better than the rather boring "beveled" siding and water sheds better when it is allowed to flow with the grain, instead of perpendicular to it.
I was happy to find a stock pile of Cedar Breather cheap at a building outlet store in the Atlanta area. Problem was, Atlanta is about 2,700 miles away. On the other hand, these "rolls" are mainly air so it cannot be that pricey to ship a few up to Seattle. Hence, here started an effort to investigate how to best (=cheapest) get "them rolls" from Atlanta to my project.
After looking for product specifications on-line once could find out that the rolls where about 10 lbs each, less than 45 inches long, and likely some 12 inches thick. 6 rolls would come in at less than 70 lbs, and that is really nothing when it comes to shipping. However, remember that these rolls are mainly "air" and therefore pretty bulky. Having suspicions, I checked with UPS on-line, I did go to the UPS store in Kirkland to inquire what the cost would be if one came in with 6 of these, asked them to be packaged and sent away. Cost estimate ranged from a shipping cost of about $40/roll to, roughly $100 if they were bundled together as one large (super large) package.
Still not too bad.
But, the store in Atlanta does not ship, so I needed a way to get these rolls from the store, to the UPS office less than two miles away. UPS would take care of it from there, package them, and more importantly, ship them to my garage. Had to get hold of some (friendly) friends in Atlanta that could do a little detour during their daily travails, pick up "some rolls" and drop them off at the nearest UPS office.
Tried a few of the past Ericsson friends and colleagues. All out of town on vacation, and some even out of the country. Why, is Atlanta that bad? After all they voluntarily moved from Seattle to Atlanta. Not really eager to ask, but into the picture comes a VERY dear and good friend, but I know she is busy, have tons to do with all her animals, and also a busy work schedule in the legal sector. In any case, I had not talked to her for a long time, so if nothing else, it was time for a call and a status update.
Long story short, she had no problems (at least she did not say so...) to swing by this store and drop off my "rolls" at the UPS store. By the way, this is TRUE friends. I sent her all the information and also before sending her out on a Saturday drive in Atlanta, I did call the UPS store where these "rolls" most likely would be dropped off and asked them (his name was Andrew) to double verify shipping costs. Even Andrew came up with reasonable cost, his idea was to package these rolls three to a package so I'd be looking at some $70/package for freight and under $30 for packaging material. Total cost about $200. Still not a bad deal, and after that I sent my friend on her way to pick up "them rolls".
But, even with a GPS she had some problems finding the store, and once at the store, she called me and said she was not sure she could get more than four rolls into her car (a Saturn Vue, so no skimpy sports car). I could be OK with four rolls, but of course six was even better. She promised to try and believed that she could get five rolls if she folded the front seatback. Hey, five is better than four...
I call her a while later to check on progress, and she is now at the UPS office where Andrew is helping her unload "them rolls". Upon being reminded on "Seattle" and "bulky" items, he did recall my call to him a few hours earlier. Good, he would not let me down, or more importantly, my friend with car-full of "rolls" she certainly had no use for. We ended the call and I went back to painting outside, something I'd been doing since early morning, and for the past week as well for that matter.
When I happen to be down in the garage to fill more paint in my pail, the phone rings. It is my friend, she really did not say much other then that I'd "better talk to Andrew directly". After having gotten the rolls out of her car (likely no small feat...) and into the UPS office, allowing for proper measurement and eyeing out proper UPS packaging, it turns out that these are becoming "massive". Weight wise it is still not much, but there's a lot of "air in there", maybe even bypassing the limit for size of package that UPS can accept on "UPS Ground" (UPS freight is not available on Saturdays). Andrew is estimating that the freight will be somewhere close to $700...
Yikes....
I ask my friend for a few minutes of "contemplation" before I'll call her back.
Now I have dear friend that stands at a UPS office in an unknown part of Atlanta with "some rolls" of mine, rolls that now are becoming so expensive that it might be better just to dump them "somewhere", and buy all new stuff up here. Bright idea; Wonder if the store will take them back? I call the discount store and of course the manager (Gary) who sold them is out and only a podunk (sorry, mean no disrespect, but you really were not able to provide any assistance) helper just keeps telling me to call back in "10 minutes" when Gary has returned.
Quick call to friend at UPS Store to briefly discuss ideas. She clearly remembers that "sales are final" and that the rolls cannot be brought back. And, although she does not say so, I know she has no intention/will to fight to get these rolls back into her car. Especially not with her bad back! Hugh, this is going to hurt, not her back but my already thin wallet...
I guess "Andrew" in the mean time has not been completely inactive and must have been fighting with "them rolls" and figuring out that 1) yes, they can be shipped UPS Ground, and 2) packaged in two large boxes, total shipping cost will end of somewhere closer to $550. OK, much better, but far from the "good deal" this was at the outset.
But, I have a friend in "dire", standing next to a lot of "air" of mine, so quick decisions are essential. It has already taken up much more time of her well deserved Saturday rest than (at least I ) planned for. Remember, a 20 minute drive to the store a 10 minute drive to UPS, drop "them rolls" off and away you go...
After biting the really sour apple (correction, I think it was grapes I had in the fridge), the only logical - and friendly - decision is to go ahead and ship these rolls the way UPS Andrew has advised. Out with the dear old credit card, let Andrew charge it all so he can get moving, on likely his best freight sale of the week, if not year, and more importantly, so my friend can get back home to house, hubby, and dogs (not necessarily in that order).
After a while, I get another call, he had missed a digit on my credit card, and I was also advised that I'd get a tracking number and invoice e-mailed to me. Good, this is finally on its way.
But, in an effort to save a few $$$ on a good deal, I ended up paying heavily for shipping and really taxing hard on a distant friendship.
Lessons learned:
1. Before engaging in Interstate Commerce, think twice
2. Before shipping UPS, have it all figured out in advance
3. Friends are great to have. Use them wisely and sparingly. You never know when they are needed for real...
"Not by name mentioned" friend in Atlanta - I owe you!
Hence, I've seen far too many houses that have serious moisture and mold problems. All because they just been erected too hastily with little or no attention to water and moisture management. Water comes in two ways, from the outside in the form of rain (strait falling and wind driven), and trickier to manage, from the inside in the form of water vapor.
Every construction in a tempered/cold climate should have a vapor barrier on the inside of the wall cavity, to prevent the ever present vapor (=water) in the inside air to penetrate the wall cavity and condensate (form water) once it hits a cold spot somewhere in the wall cavity (happens of course mostly during the colder months when wall is cold from the outside, gradually getting warmer until you hit the nearly room tempered inside surface.
This is fairly simple stuff, but so often overlooked by shoddy construction, like believing that the paper on faced insulation actually will work. But no, you will need to install a properly laid out plastic sheet (no thinner than 4 mil) before putting up the drywall and also ensuring that you have sealed all electric boxes and - the worst culprits - bucket lights in the ceiling.
On the outside, people try to "seal up" the siding by applying liberal amounts of caulk in order to keep the water out. Good thinking, but most times it is really not necessary and it can also "seal" the outside, preventing it from being properly ventilated.
Instead of applying caulk all over the place, better is to allow the siding to "breathe", and correctly manage the water that happens to sneak by it. It is done by a water resistant (NOT water tight) barrier (Tyvek, felt, asphalt paper, etc) and flashing to ensure that water that gets behind the siding is allowed to "run off" in an orderly fashion, without ever getting a chance really "touching" the core of the wall cavity (the wood and insulation). Contrary to what many believe, the siding is not really the "water barrier", but instead the "weather barrier", there to protect (from sun and physical damage) the "real" water resistant barrier (normally not ever seen once a construction is finished).
In cases when you have a natural wood siding (Cedar, pine, fur, redwood, etc) it is always advisable to provide for a space (air gap, or capillary break) between the back of the siding and the water resistant barrier. Good installers use furring strips laid out on top sheathing (OSB or plywood) normally matching the location of the wall studs. This works relatively fine when you have the (dreaded) horizontal beveled siding. The vertical furring strips provide for an air cavity that both lets water run down and air to raise, drying the siding if/when it gets wet (actually, not if, but when, it always will).
If not providing for this air space, or "capillary break", there is always the chance that when the siding does get wet, moisture is trapped inside and behind the siding in such amount that it starts to overcome the water shedding capabilities of the water resistant barrier, Tyvek, felt, asphalt paper, etc. Remember, this barrier is NOT water proof, and when exposed to enough moisture, its water shedding capabilities are overcome and it will allow water to migrate from the outside to the inside. This is potentially a BIG problem if you used OSB boards instead of the (pricier) plywood for sheathing. OSB has so much end grain and it very easily (and happily) soaks up moisture, trapping it and eventually starts forming mold.
The drawback of the vertical furring strips can be that it may provide a chance for the siding to "buckle" since there is really no support between the (needed) furring strips. Buckling is however better than the alternative, a wet and soaked siding, allowing water to eventually get absorbed into the wall cavity, leading to moisture problems, and eventually mold and other nasty stuff.
A neat application of the siding, at a "real" distance from the "actual" wall cavity is referred to as "rain screen". Likely the best application since it provides for a true ventilated outer shell, but one sort of have to prepare/design for it from the get-go, and not everyone likes the style. It also can provide a haven for isnects and all type of critter to nest in the air space created between the rain screen and the sheathing.
When you are using vertical siding, furring strips can be used, but they will create horizontal cavities, really not ideal since water cannot freely run down, and air does not have the free space to raise as it gets heated.
There are a number of products on the market to battle this problem. One of them is Cedar Breather and Home Slicker from Benjamin Obdyke. Essentially a plastic "airy" mesh, that creates about a 1/4 inch air space behind the siding, allowing for water to run down and air to raise, thereby allowing for the siding to naturally dry out. For those who read this and are really picky, yes Home Slicker is for walls, and Cedar Breather is for roofs, but according to BO, Cedar Breather can also successfully be applied to walls (just not as pretty color...).
Now, this product is not cheap, it is probably cheaper to build a house with "true" water resistant plywood, than to apply the "mesh" (additional labor cost for the "mesh" not counted). But, in our case, the addition was already built using OSB, so there was little other choice - if wanting to do things "right", while using vertical siding. By the way, in my mind, vertical siding looks far better than the rather boring "beveled" siding and water sheds better when it is allowed to flow with the grain, instead of perpendicular to it.
I was happy to find a stock pile of Cedar Breather cheap at a building outlet store in the Atlanta area. Problem was, Atlanta is about 2,700 miles away. On the other hand, these "rolls" are mainly air so it cannot be that pricey to ship a few up to Seattle. Hence, here started an effort to investigate how to best (=cheapest) get "them rolls" from Atlanta to my project.
After looking for product specifications on-line once could find out that the rolls where about 10 lbs each, less than 45 inches long, and likely some 12 inches thick. 6 rolls would come in at less than 70 lbs, and that is really nothing when it comes to shipping. However, remember that these rolls are mainly "air" and therefore pretty bulky. Having suspicions, I checked with UPS on-line, I did go to the UPS store in Kirkland to inquire what the cost would be if one came in with 6 of these, asked them to be packaged and sent away. Cost estimate ranged from a shipping cost of about $40/roll to, roughly $100 if they were bundled together as one large (super large) package.
Still not too bad.
But, the store in Atlanta does not ship, so I needed a way to get these rolls from the store, to the UPS office less than two miles away. UPS would take care of it from there, package them, and more importantly, ship them to my garage. Had to get hold of some (friendly) friends in Atlanta that could do a little detour during their daily travails, pick up "some rolls" and drop them off at the nearest UPS office.
Tried a few of the past Ericsson friends and colleagues. All out of town on vacation, and some even out of the country. Why, is Atlanta that bad? After all they voluntarily moved from Seattle to Atlanta. Not really eager to ask, but into the picture comes a VERY dear and good friend, but I know she is busy, have tons to do with all her animals, and also a busy work schedule in the legal sector. In any case, I had not talked to her for a long time, so if nothing else, it was time for a call and a status update.
Long story short, she had no problems (at least she did not say so...) to swing by this store and drop off my "rolls" at the UPS store. By the way, this is TRUE friends. I sent her all the information and also before sending her out on a Saturday drive in Atlanta, I did call the UPS store where these "rolls" most likely would be dropped off and asked them (his name was Andrew) to double verify shipping costs. Even Andrew came up with reasonable cost, his idea was to package these rolls three to a package so I'd be looking at some $70/package for freight and under $30 for packaging material. Total cost about $200. Still not a bad deal, and after that I sent my friend on her way to pick up "them rolls".
But, even with a GPS she had some problems finding the store, and once at the store, she called me and said she was not sure she could get more than four rolls into her car (a Saturn Vue, so no skimpy sports car). I could be OK with four rolls, but of course six was even better. She promised to try and believed that she could get five rolls if she folded the front seatback. Hey, five is better than four...
I call her a while later to check on progress, and she is now at the UPS office where Andrew is helping her unload "them rolls". Upon being reminded on "Seattle" and "bulky" items, he did recall my call to him a few hours earlier. Good, he would not let me down, or more importantly, my friend with car-full of "rolls" she certainly had no use for. We ended the call and I went back to painting outside, something I'd been doing since early morning, and for the past week as well for that matter.
When I happen to be down in the garage to fill more paint in my pail, the phone rings. It is my friend, she really did not say much other then that I'd "better talk to Andrew directly". After having gotten the rolls out of her car (likely no small feat...) and into the UPS office, allowing for proper measurement and eyeing out proper UPS packaging, it turns out that these are becoming "massive". Weight wise it is still not much, but there's a lot of "air in there", maybe even bypassing the limit for size of package that UPS can accept on "UPS Ground" (UPS freight is not available on Saturdays). Andrew is estimating that the freight will be somewhere close to $700...
Yikes....
I ask my friend for a few minutes of "contemplation" before I'll call her back.
Now I have dear friend that stands at a UPS office in an unknown part of Atlanta with "some rolls" of mine, rolls that now are becoming so expensive that it might be better just to dump them "somewhere", and buy all new stuff up here. Bright idea; Wonder if the store will take them back? I call the discount store and of course the manager (Gary) who sold them is out and only a podunk (sorry, mean no disrespect, but you really were not able to provide any assistance) helper just keeps telling me to call back in "10 minutes" when Gary has returned.
Quick call to friend at UPS Store to briefly discuss ideas. She clearly remembers that "sales are final" and that the rolls cannot be brought back. And, although she does not say so, I know she has no intention/will to fight to get these rolls back into her car. Especially not with her bad back! Hugh, this is going to hurt, not her back but my already thin wallet...
I guess "Andrew" in the mean time has not been completely inactive and must have been fighting with "them rolls" and figuring out that 1) yes, they can be shipped UPS Ground, and 2) packaged in two large boxes, total shipping cost will end of somewhere closer to $550. OK, much better, but far from the "good deal" this was at the outset.
But, I have a friend in "dire", standing next to a lot of "air" of mine, so quick decisions are essential. It has already taken up much more time of her well deserved Saturday rest than (at least I ) planned for. Remember, a 20 minute drive to the store a 10 minute drive to UPS, drop "them rolls" off and away you go...
After biting the really sour apple (correction, I think it was grapes I had in the fridge), the only logical - and friendly - decision is to go ahead and ship these rolls the way UPS Andrew has advised. Out with the dear old credit card, let Andrew charge it all so he can get moving, on likely his best freight sale of the week, if not year, and more importantly, so my friend can get back home to house, hubby, and dogs (not necessarily in that order).
After a while, I get another call, he had missed a digit on my credit card, and I was also advised that I'd get a tracking number and invoice e-mailed to me. Good, this is finally on its way.
But, in an effort to save a few $$$ on a good deal, I ended up paying heavily for shipping and really taxing hard on a distant friendship.
Lessons learned:
1. Before engaging in Interstate Commerce, think twice
2. Before shipping UPS, have it all figured out in advance
3. Friends are great to have. Use them wisely and sparingly. You never know when they are needed for real...
"Not by name mentioned" friend in Atlanta - I owe you!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Chimney flashing bent and ready
In an effort to properly prep the old fascia boards, I did remove the gutters, as well as the flashing that was installed with the new roof in November. Big difference when you actually have proper access to the work area.
However, I noted there was a little where the fascia board touches the chimney, and time had left a few marks there. A nice little bracket flashing solved that and should keep any water away from there.
Gutters - albeit temporary - go back up tomorrow, sicne one never knows how long we can rely on thsi wonderful and sunny weather.
However, I noted there was a little where the fascia board touches the chimney, and time had left a few marks there. A nice little bracket flashing solved that and should keep any water away from there.
Gutters - albeit temporary - go back up tomorrow, sicne one never knows how long we can rely on thsi wonderful and sunny weather.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
After priming, COLOR!
Priming literally sucked - big time.
The solid stain was fairlky easy to work with but in my case - primed white surface, required two coats to sort of make it look nice. Yes, maybe not the 100% correct product, but rather two applications of this, then working with something that would resemble Cabot's primer...
A little color (and a lot of elbow grease) makes for a dramatic change. Out with the boring neutral color and in with something bold!
Due to the unseasonal temperatures, painting has been reserved to very early mornings, and late evenings. Never apply paint to surfaces that are too worm, or in direct sun light.
The solid stain was fairlky easy to work with but in my case - primed white surface, required two coats to sort of make it look nice. Yes, maybe not the 100% correct product, but rather two applications of this, then working with something that would resemble Cabot's primer...
A little color (and a lot of elbow grease) makes for a dramatic change. Out with the boring neutral color and in with something bold!
Due to the unseasonal temperatures, painting has been reserved to very early mornings, and late evenings. Never apply paint to surfaces that are too worm, or in direct sun light.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Priming sucks
As great as the Cabot stain was to apply on new wood, as difficult is their "problem solver oil based primer.
And I thought scraping and sanding was "hell". No, applying this primer was likely worse. Tempted to dilute it to make it easier to work with, but it specifically states on the can "do not thin", so I decided to fight it out.
Luckliy, there is not THAT much that need to be done this year (south side and over old deck), but it is more than enough. Had I known that it'd be this tough, I would probably have ripped the old (very dense wood, good quality) fascia boards off, and replaced them with new cedar boards. It would not had been cheap (why does it feel like highway robbery to buy cedar, very abundant around here...), but in retrospect, I would only have had to stain the cedar and could have left the soffit, overhangs, and rafter tails in their old boring cream color.
OK, this will look better for sure.
And I thought scraping and sanding was "hell". No, applying this primer was likely worse. Tempted to dilute it to make it easier to work with, but it specifically states on the can "do not thin", so I decided to fight it out.
Luckliy, there is not THAT much that need to be done this year (south side and over old deck), but it is more than enough. Had I known that it'd be this tough, I would probably have ripped the old (very dense wood, good quality) fascia boards off, and replaced them with new cedar boards. It would not had been cheap (why does it feel like highway robbery to buy cedar, very abundant around here...), but in retrospect, I would only have had to stain the cedar and could have left the soffit, overhangs, and rafter tails in their old boring cream color.
OK, this will look better for sure.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Pressure washing, scraping, and sanding
For the past three days, I have been cleaning the old soffits, overhangs, and rafter tails. They've always been (American standard) a boring cream color, but sicne we have decided to have all our trim in an Evergreen color to match roof, these guys need to be painted/stained as well.
I guess there is just nothing as boring as scraping old paint and prepping it for a new coat, but everyone says that 95% of the success is in the prep work. I am just not in the mood to EVER do this again, so it'd better be done correct the first time.
Now it's done. Time for putting on a primer tomorrow.
I guess there is just nothing as boring as scraping old paint and prepping it for a new coat, but everyone says that 95% of the success is in the prep work. I am just not in the mood to EVER do this again, so it'd better be done correct the first time.
Now it's done. Time for putting on a primer tomorrow.
Friday, July 17, 2009
New CATV cable
After having lived off Comcast's VERY old cable for eons (it has an unknown number of splices in the yard, reducing the signal strength once in the house), and now with the chimney gone, ethernet and coax cabling properly routed throughout the house, and ready to be terminated on the new patch/interconnect panel, it was time to call Comcast and have a technician come out and "pull some cable.
Should be fairly quick sicne I have a 1 and 1/4 inch conduit running in the yard, all the way from their pole, to my "connection" closet. Also left a pull string when I put in the conduit so it should be an easy task.
"Marcus" showed up on Friday afternoon, seemingly happy that I had prepared more or less everything. He did not have any cable lubricant, and knowing the size of the conduit, the few bends, neither of us though we needed it. While Marcus prepped the new coax, I crawled in under the new addition, ready to start pulling.
It is normally very nice and tempered under there, but this day, it was blistering hot, and not any better by a very stubborn coax. It likely took us 45 minutes to pull in that cable, a job that should have taken no more than 5 minutes with some cable grease applied. I pulled so hard I even got blisters on my right hand since that was the "prime" hand in pulling in the very tight space under the addition.
But, once in, and Marcus fed some ice cold coke and water, it was a qucik job for him to termiate the coaxes and connect them to their respective splitters.
The unsightly mess is now gone from the basement, and when we have a rainy day, I'm going to take 30 minutes and just dress the cables nicely. Everything looks much better, works much better (=error free) and it starts to resemble the 21st centutry.
One can see the traces of where things used to be...
At least it's a beginning - out of the way in a closet - with cables still to be dressed behind the panel
Should be fairly quick sicne I have a 1 and 1/4 inch conduit running in the yard, all the way from their pole, to my "connection" closet. Also left a pull string when I put in the conduit so it should be an easy task.
"Marcus" showed up on Friday afternoon, seemingly happy that I had prepared more or less everything. He did not have any cable lubricant, and knowing the size of the conduit, the few bends, neither of us though we needed it. While Marcus prepped the new coax, I crawled in under the new addition, ready to start pulling.
It is normally very nice and tempered under there, but this day, it was blistering hot, and not any better by a very stubborn coax. It likely took us 45 minutes to pull in that cable, a job that should have taken no more than 5 minutes with some cable grease applied. I pulled so hard I even got blisters on my right hand since that was the "prime" hand in pulling in the very tight space under the addition.
But, once in, and Marcus fed some ice cold coke and water, it was a qucik job for him to termiate the coaxes and connect them to their respective splitters.
The unsightly mess is now gone from the basement, and when we have a rainy day, I'm going to take 30 minutes and just dress the cables nicely. Everything looks much better, works much better (=error free) and it starts to resemble the 21st centutry.
One can see the traces of where things used to be...
At least it's a beginning - out of the way in a closet - with cables still to be dressed behind the panel
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
All fascia new boards stained
Since one never knows when the rain comes, decided it was time to stain all the new cedar fascia boards. Some are VERY high up, some are nicely placed over bushes and therefore hard to reach, but what they all have in common is that they are - thanks to our great weather - bone dry and therefore prime candidates for surface treatment.
Using only oil based products and a semi-solid stain from Cabot Stains. A great product that also is easy to apply, leaving a really nice "hue" to the wood.
At this run, I'll only do the fascia boards, even though it would make sense to also stain the plywood and rafter tails (ladders are in place), but I'd rather get the exposed fascia boards done while dry. The plywood and tails are well protected and can be treated even if it might mist a bit on a summer day.
Using only oil based products and a semi-solid stain from Cabot Stains. A great product that also is easy to apply, leaving a really nice "hue" to the wood.
At this run, I'll only do the fascia boards, even though it would make sense to also stain the plywood and rafter tails (ladders are in place), but I'd rather get the exposed fascia boards done while dry. The plywood and tails are well protected and can be treated even if it might mist a bit on a summer day.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Cedar siding ordered!
Finally ordered all the cedar siding, cedar window trim and currently looking at fastners. Will attach siding with 305 Stainless Steel screws, since I really don't trust naling into the OSB board where there are no 2x4 joists to anchor. Managed to find a few places on-line so cost for SS screws should still be below $200 for the entire project.
Ordering siding pre-stained and we should get the samples on Tuesday so we can finally get the process rolling. They "soak" the entire batch in a bath in order to get as perfect coverage as possible. It does add a bit to the price, but was not really eager to do that work here at home, or jump up and down on ladders/platforms, after the siding has been put up.
I am a firm beliver in letting building material "breathe", especially wood siding. Hence, initially I had planned to put up furring strips to allow for 1/4 air gap behind the sidng. But, since we are going with vertical siding, the furring strips would have prevented air (and water) to feely move behind the siding, so thinking of putting up a product called "Home Slicker". Anyone out there that has used it?
Ordering siding pre-stained and we should get the samples on Tuesday so we can finally get the process rolling. They "soak" the entire batch in a bath in order to get as perfect coverage as possible. It does add a bit to the price, but was not really eager to do that work here at home, or jump up and down on ladders/platforms, after the siding has been put up.
I am a firm beliver in letting building material "breathe", especially wood siding. Hence, initially I had planned to put up furring strips to allow for 1/4 air gap behind the sidng. But, since we are going with vertical siding, the furring strips would have prevented air (and water) to feely move behind the siding, so thinking of putting up a product called "Home Slicker". Anyone out there that has used it?
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