Here's before:
And here's after:
(Yes, we do plan to remove the newspaper and painter's tape.)
Showing posts with label flat roof. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flat roof. Show all posts
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Painting the house
Today we saved ourselves $1250 by working for about two hours. We opted to paint the new cedar shakes ourselves rather than having the roofing company do it. It really didn't take long at all.
Here's before:
And here's after:
(Yes, we do plan to remove the newspaper and painter's tape.)
Here's before:
And here's after:
(Yes, we do plan to remove the newspaper and painter's tape.)
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Roof 2.0: the Saga Continues
Today the guys worked on the front door overhang roof. Once they got started, they realized it was a bigger job than they thought. The old (and non-functioning) wooden gutters AND the fascia boards were completely rotted through, so they had to rip them off completely.
What you see here is what the door overhang looked like AFTER we had it painted last October. While it looks pretty nice here, in truth, they painted and used a TON of caulk over some very rotted work. This is lame, and makes us even more annoyed with the painters we hired. At the very top, the nicely cut part that looks like moulding is actually a wooden gutter; you can even see a tiny tube on each side (back near the wall of the house) that was supposed to drain the water.
Sadly, all the nice trim (gutter) had to come off entirely. The guys said they had no idea how they could have made these wooden gutters back then -- all with handtools no less. Here's one of the wooden gutters after they pulled it off the house:
Wooden gutters look really great (when they're not rotten), but without proper care, they rot out completely.
After removing the gutters, they replaced the rotten fascia, put up a roof cover, and then added copper trim. Here it is now:
It looks pretty nice, and the copper trim matches what's around the flat roof and the ridge top on the slate roof. It still needs some paint a few touch-ups to make it look just right. We're sad that it doesn't have the nice trim, but the copper does look pretty good. There's also a rain diverter on top so that the water goes over the sides, not right in front of the door.
Here's the work-in-progress on the side of the house. There was once a wooden gutter here, and you can see that they've put on a new 8'X2' nailer board.
At the point where the flat roof meets the rest of the house, you can see this nifty little hole: exactly the sort of hole that would allow certain flying varmints easy access to the main part of the house while they came in from the protective cover of the rotten wooden gutter:
And here's the repair, as well as a nice shot of the copper!
Here's the work in progress on the front part of the flat roof, where it appears over the kitchen door. This is actually the one place where the wooden gutter was salvagable.
And here you can see it with the copper on, as well as a small fix to the wooden gutter -- the addition of a downspout. It turns out that the house and/or gutter has settled, and this end of the gutter is actually lower than the downspout a the other end, so water was just sitting here (hence, the rotting).
We also found out that on the back of the house, there were once two windows of the same size, whereas now we have one window (into the bathroom) that is smaller. I had wondered if there was a window there at all, so now we know.
Here's the look of the new shingles. They're not quite finished, but very close. They have been pre-primed, and we're going to paint them ourselves since this area is accessible. You can also see the copper trim around the window.
And check out the chimney flashing upgrade! It looks awesome!
And here's the damaged wooden gutter before:
And after the addition of a downspout so it will actually drain:
The guys will be back tomorrow for a few small tasks and cleanup; we're nearly done!
What you see here is what the door overhang looked like AFTER we had it painted last October. While it looks pretty nice here, in truth, they painted and used a TON of caulk over some very rotted work. This is lame, and makes us even more annoyed with the painters we hired. At the very top, the nicely cut part that looks like moulding is actually a wooden gutter; you can even see a tiny tube on each side (back near the wall of the house) that was supposed to drain the water.
Sadly, all the nice trim (gutter) had to come off entirely. The guys said they had no idea how they could have made these wooden gutters back then -- all with handtools no less. Here's one of the wooden gutters after they pulled it off the house:
Wooden gutters look really great (when they're not rotten), but without proper care, they rot out completely.
After removing the gutters, they replaced the rotten fascia, put up a roof cover, and then added copper trim. Here it is now:
It looks pretty nice, and the copper trim matches what's around the flat roof and the ridge top on the slate roof. It still needs some paint a few touch-ups to make it look just right. We're sad that it doesn't have the nice trim, but the copper does look pretty good. There's also a rain diverter on top so that the water goes over the sides, not right in front of the door.
Here's the work-in-progress on the side of the house. There was once a wooden gutter here, and you can see that they've put on a new 8'X2' nailer board.
At the point where the flat roof meets the rest of the house, you can see this nifty little hole: exactly the sort of hole that would allow certain flying varmints easy access to the main part of the house while they came in from the protective cover of the rotten wooden gutter:
And here's the repair, as well as a nice shot of the copper!
Here's the work in progress on the front part of the flat roof, where it appears over the kitchen door. This is actually the one place where the wooden gutter was salvagable.
And here you can see it with the copper on, as well as a small fix to the wooden gutter -- the addition of a downspout. It turns out that the house and/or gutter has settled, and this end of the gutter is actually lower than the downspout a the other end, so water was just sitting here (hence, the rotting).
We also found out that on the back of the house, there were once two windows of the same size, whereas now we have one window (into the bathroom) that is smaller. I had wondered if there was a window there at all, so now we know.
Here's the look of the new shingles. They're not quite finished, but very close. They have been pre-primed, and we're going to paint them ourselves since this area is accessible. You can also see the copper trim around the window.
And check out the chimney flashing upgrade! It looks awesome!
And here's the damaged wooden gutter before:
And after the addition of a downspout so it will actually drain:
The guys will be back tomorrow for a few small tasks and cleanup; we're nearly done!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Roof 2.0
The roofers arrived at 8 am and set about making a lot of noise. They're ripping off the cedar shakes on the back of the house, and pulling up all the gravel and underlayment. In doing the latter, they discovered that the rotted out areas of fascia are actually old wooden gutters! Those places where we suspected the flying squirrels were entering the house, and where we stuffed a bunch of steel wool, were wooden gutters that had been covered over by the last roof job. This is interesting, in that it adds to the theory that all of the house was built at the same time, since the wooden gutters there match the wooden gutters on the front part of the house.
So here's some of the progress so far:
These shots show the windows and shingles and a bit of the gravel roof before:
And here they are now:
Here's the (recently repointed and capped) flat roof chimney before (also note in the right corner of the picture, you can see the wooden cabinet door (the previous owner's solution) toped with a bucket (our solution) covering a hole in the roof):
And after:
And here's the vent pipe from the downstairs bathroom before:
And after:
Here's a bigger shot of the roof surface:
And check this out:
Our roof is from Carlisle, Pennsylvania! My hometown!
Of course, there's more to be done. First of all, there's this mess:
And they have to put the metal drip edge around, and also take care of the front door overhang and bay window roof. But they did a lot of work in one day!
So here's some of the progress so far:
These shots show the windows and shingles and a bit of the gravel roof before:
And here they are now:
Here's the (recently repointed and capped) flat roof chimney before (also note in the right corner of the picture, you can see the wooden cabinet door (the previous owner's solution) toped with a bucket (our solution) covering a hole in the roof):
And after:
And here's the vent pipe from the downstairs bathroom before:
And after:
Here's a bigger shot of the roof surface:
And check this out:
Our roof is from Carlisle, Pennsylvania! My hometown!
Of course, there's more to be done. First of all, there's this mess:
And they have to put the metal drip edge around, and also take care of the front door overhang and bay window roof. But they did a lot of work in one day!
Monday, April 30, 2007
The Next Upgrade Starts Tomorrow: Roof 2.0
Tomorrow the folks from Scott Roofing will come to begin a few projects:
--replace the tar-and-gravel flat roof with both improved insulation and a white rubber-type covering that will reflect heat
--fix the small roof overhang above the front door
--fix the mess that is the busted wooden gutter
--check out the roof over the bay window
We're very excited to finalize the roof work on 83 Durant.
--replace the tar-and-gravel flat roof with both improved insulation and a white rubber-type covering that will reflect heat
--fix the small roof overhang above the front door
--fix the mess that is the busted wooden gutter
--check out the roof over the bay window
We're very excited to finalize the roof work on 83 Durant.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
No News is Good News
Not much new to report from 83 Durant. We've been busy with non-83-Durant work, sadly. We did get an estimate on replacing the back flat roof with a white rubber roof, which offers both improved durability and energy efficiency. They will also take care of the front door overhang and the rotten soffit/fascia boards (the ones that are invitations to every critter in the world to come live in our house). We'll probably be getting this job underway in the next month or so. We also got an estimate on getting drywall installed in the spare bedroom. Jake and I are going to do the demolition ourselves, which will include ripping out the horse-hair plaster and lathes, and then installing new insulation. We'll get the professionals to install drywall. This project will probaby wait until after school is over. Should be good and messy, but also exciting to see what's behind those walls!
It's pouring rain in Lowell, so we're glad we made a quick window-well cover yesterday. I bought a big piece of plexiglass yesterday. We'll eventually reinforce it with a wood frame (I think) and we still have to do some brickwork around the well, but for now, it's keeping the rain out quite nicely!
It's pouring rain in Lowell, so we're glad we made a quick window-well cover yesterday. I bought a big piece of plexiglass yesterday. We'll eventually reinforce it with a wood frame (I think) and we still have to do some brickwork around the well, but for now, it's keeping the rain out quite nicely!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Flat Roof Update
Today I had a helpful guy from Scott Roofing Services come check out our flat roof on the back and our little roof over the front door. The problems:
--> The tiny roof over the front door has wooden gutters with no place for the water to go, so the water/ice is bursting through the wooden moulding, causing some damage. We're not sure how to fix this, although someone has suggested we put a rubber roof over the whole thing, gutters and all
--> The flat roof on the back shows some leakage around the edges -- basically, the fascia boards underneath it (around the back porch) are rotting in sereral places. These rotted spots provide prime entry points for, oh, say, a flying squirrel or two. Or four.
--> There's a spot in the dining room (below the flat roof) where there was clearly once a leak. While it is no longer active, we don't know how much or what kind of repair job was done on it.
--> As per our infrared pictures, the point where the flat roof joins the rest of the house has an air leak -- it needs to be insulated and sealed to prevent things like frozen pipes in the upstairs bathroom.
Of course, there's too much snow around to get a good look at everything, but he did have some good news: the main problem with the flat roof on the back is probably only with the metal flashing around the edge. This should be much less expensive than a whole new roof. He'll have to come back after the snow melts, but for now, we're pleased to be on top of this project.
In other news, 83 Durant has set a new record: we had 40 people in the house on St. Patrick's Day. It was great. The avalanche of food was matched only by the avalanche of snow that fell from our slate roof -- amazing!
--> The tiny roof over the front door has wooden gutters with no place for the water to go, so the water/ice is bursting through the wooden moulding, causing some damage. We're not sure how to fix this, although someone has suggested we put a rubber roof over the whole thing, gutters and all
--> The flat roof on the back shows some leakage around the edges -- basically, the fascia boards underneath it (around the back porch) are rotting in sereral places. These rotted spots provide prime entry points for, oh, say, a flying squirrel or two. Or four.
--> There's a spot in the dining room (below the flat roof) where there was clearly once a leak. While it is no longer active, we don't know how much or what kind of repair job was done on it.
--> As per our infrared pictures, the point where the flat roof joins the rest of the house has an air leak -- it needs to be insulated and sealed to prevent things like frozen pipes in the upstairs bathroom.
Of course, there's too much snow around to get a good look at everything, but he did have some good news: the main problem with the flat roof on the back is probably only with the metal flashing around the edge. This should be much less expensive than a whole new roof. He'll have to come back after the snow melts, but for now, we're pleased to be on top of this project.
In other news, 83 Durant has set a new record: we had 40 people in the house on St. Patrick's Day. It was great. The avalanche of food was matched only by the avalanche of snow that fell from our slate roof -- amazing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)