House Work, Part One

Mushrooms,

turning leaves,

and fireweed fluff. 

They are all indicators that autumn is pushing summer out of town.  It's been a wonderful summer with lots of sunny days and temperatures above normal for this part of Alaska.  When the thermometer reaches 92 in the shade, it's a good day to stay inside.

But, there was work to be done, especially on the outside of my house.   That's why this blog was updated infrequently.

Here's a photo of the back side of my home before the work started.

My job last summer was to sand all the log siding and refinish it.   With this:

I sanded that back wall to the bottom of the loft windows.   Then, I had a brilliant idea.

Cedar shakes!   Yes, no need to sand higher than those windows.   No need to balance on an extension ladder to reach 22 feet off the deck.   No need to get more sawdust in my eyes, ears, and nose.


First off, I talked Dave into doing the lion's share of the first project.


I prepped the material.

Here a shake,

 

there a shake,

everywhere shakes,  shakes.

Enter Dave. 

First, he stapled backing to the gable end.

Then he began adding the pre-finished cedar shakes.

And voila!

See the difference?   The house is more in proportion, and I didn't have to grind the old finish off while 22 feet up a ladder.


BEFORE:

AFTER:

I'm not finished with house work yet.   And that 22 foot sanding job on an extension ladder comes back into play. 

(to be continued)