Siding project almost done

Before the grand reveal later this week (fingers crossed), here are a few in-progress snaps from our massive siding project. Basically, we’re having every square inch of the old T1-11 plywood siding replaced with pre-painted Hardie fiber cement lap siding, including all fascia boards and all trim. We’re hoping that we’ll never have to worry about things like dry rot — and painting the house — ever again, or at least not until we’re old and gray.

As I mentioned in a previous post, a project of this magnitude is disruptive by its very nature. We had to move everything away from the house, including rocks, soil, and plants. What I hadn’t expected was that much of the available space in the front and back would be taken up by equipment. There’s so much stuff!

Right now, everything is in complete disarray. It looks worse than it is, but I won’t lie: living with this much chaos for 10 days has been a bit trying. But the end result will be beautiful, and that’s what I’m trying to focus on.

Let’s rewind to last week.

Delivery of materials:

It’s a good thing there’s very little traffic in our neighborhood so the truck could simply park in the middle of the street.

Massive (and, thankfully, very sturdy) scaffolding on the north and east side of the house:

House wrapped in weather barrier:

Equipment everywhere:

This is at the end of the day. The crew has been very good at moving things like ladders away from the house before they leave to eliminate hazards while they’re not here.

They’ve also been keeping a very clean worksite, something that has impressed me.

The crew (usually four guys, sometimes five) has been working 10-hour days. With daytime highs in the 90s, that has got to be tough. They’ve definitely earned a lunch-time nap!

Every now and then I check the feed from our doorbell camera. You’ve got to admire how nimble these guys are. Stepping onto the roof with this much ease, that’s not something I would ever have been able to do.

The worst part has been the dust from cutting the fiber cement boards:

Cement dust everywhere:

I spent some time on the weekend hosing off plants, but that proved to be pointless. I’ll simply wait until the project is done before I do a thorough cleaning. At least the calcium carbonate in the cement isn’t harmful to plants.

As the various areas are getting finished, I’ve been trying to figure out what will go where. I don’t necessarily want to put things back the same way as before. (In the photos below, I made the actual siding black and white because I don’t want to give away our color choice until the “official” reveal.)

The front porch hasn’t looked this roomy in a long time

My wife will take over this strip on the south side

This 4×6 ft. area will have a variety of potted plants

This side strip on the east and north side will be home to a row of columnar cacti

This is where my potting station will be

Check back on the weekend. If nothing else, I’ll reveal the color we chose for the siding. I’m sure it’ll take a few weeks before the garden itself looks presentable again.

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