Siding Part 1

Still no electricians. Seriously. In the meantime, we have been focusing on the siding while we wait. We tossed around the idea of getting a machine, a manlift in particular, to do the "hard to reach" spots, which is essentially, the whole thing! Phil would need to take time off work though to take advantage of a machine being here so the whole plan hinged on a machine and Phil being available the same week. With a few conditions, both were able to happen and work on the siding began in earnest.

The first sheets go up! The colour we chose is Countrylane red and if you know Phil and I, you'll know that red isn't a colour that we would ordinarily be drawn to. In this case though, we really liked the deepness of this shade and how well it complimented the colour of the roof. Of course, after seeing the bare house wrap for so long, it was just nice to finally see any colour on there.

The lift wasn't available on exactly the day we wanted, so they put as much up as they could using the ladder. Not wanting to waste any time, Phil began to install the soffit using the ladder. I vigorously protested. 

I'm not sure if you can fully appreciate how high he has to be to reach the soffit by ladder. *shudders* You must know by now of my aversion to heights. Even when I am not the one up there.

Finally, the boom arrives! Not hindered by certain death anymore, installing the soffit seems a much more pleasant job.

Getting right up to the gable peaks to install the vent is a cinch now. Funny how not dangling precariously from a ladder makes their work more enjoyable, for me!

Ben cuts the soffit and sends it up to Phil. Yes, it's fun to make the machine go up and down, it's kind of like the Dumbo ride at Disneyland but these machines are charged by their run time so if it's not running...

We were given some Hardie shingles that we decided to use as well as siding. Shingles weren't in the original plan but they were free, and what's not to like about that? The problem was that they were the wrong colour. We tried to match them to a colour we liked but that didn't work. I'm still not sure what went wrong, the colour looked fine in the store but when we got home and painted some shingles, they looked almost peach! That was definitely not going to work. We weren't able to get the colour we originally chose but they were able to remove the peach hue which was most of the problem.  The biggest lesson learned is, never trust the paint colour in the store!

Hannah suited up and she and Steve took turns helping me paint shingles.

Let the fun begin!

It's not exactly painting weather outside so we fired up the wood stove to keeps things warm in the basement, partly for the paint but mostly for our own comfort. Who doesn't like to sit next to a warm fire?

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!

Thankfully, we were able to borrow these drying racks...

... which, combined with the warm temperature, allowed the paint to dry very quickly.

Good thing because they each needed two coats.

We were then able to sort them according to size and grain. 

The next day, work continued on the soffit, but what happened to the beautiful sun? 

I'd like to say this was early morning but it was actually early afternoon. Ah, Fall! You are so fickle but I still love you!

Ben continues to cut soffit and pass it to Phil...

... and soon it's time to move to the back of the house and finish the soffit there.

Next comes the fascia board and then...

... they start the top level of siding. I can't wait to see it on! This is board and batten siding so it won't look finished until all of the battens are on and, of course, the trim is put around the windows but it is still fun to see so much colour!

Definitely easier getting around than using ladders.

Done for the day but not before having a quick view from the top!

To be continued...

 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet...

Ecclesiastes 5:12a