An End-of-Season Exterior Update

  • October 17, 2017

I am taking a short detour from posts about the One Room Challenge because it is finally time for a positive update about the exterior of BHH. At the beginning of the summer, I was a starry-eyed dreamer, expecting to call a contractor or two, and poof! All of my wishes would be fulfilled. I even wrote a post about how to find a good contractor. Please know that I still stand by what I wrote even though we went through a rough patch.

This summer, instead of follow-through, I got weeks of unreturned voicemail messages, unfulfilled promises to arrive to do the work and someone even went to jail. I was not born yesterday, so, fortunately, no money changed hands during all of this. Apparently, we are not the only folks in our area who had problems this year. After talking to many people, I discovered that it was a particularly poor year for contractor performance.

I had almost given up on the drainage and the sleeping porch projects when I got someone on the hook again. Eyeing the contractor’s promises through a more cynical lens, I did not hold my breath on the day he planned to arrive. Happily, my concerns were unfounded.

The Sleeping Porch & Roof

The sleeping porch and roof project was initially supposed to be a DIY. I ordered Hardie shingle siding and roofing supplies. Once I got into the demo, I realized that the job was more than I could handle. I am capable of learning new skills, but I did not have the time or physical strength to see it through.

Once our contractor got to work, the rot above the bifold doors quickly went from bad to worse.

He seemed surprised at how fast things went sideways on this project. Not me. I had been down this rabbit hole before.

The entire project took about four days. To cut costs, I only contracted him for the basic work sans paint. That is why the finished project looks so, well…unfinished. To me, it is beautiful.

We made some minor tweaks to the overall structure. The contractor changed the pitch of the roof under the sleeping porch to allow for better drainage. Also, once everything was opened up, I asked him to add R-30 insulation to the walls of the sleeping porch. The windows are still a drafty disaster, but insulation in the walls brings us one step closer to using the porch for all four seasons.

Also, we now have new shingles all the way to the ridge. Next summer or the summer after, we can get new shingles on the rest of the porch roof. There is no real hurry since the old ones are still in excellent condition.

Gutters!

This same contractor arranged for a separate company to put gutters on BHH. They are doing all of the finish work today, but so far, we are thrilled. The color matches the trim perfectly.

Can you see the new gutters? Barely, and that is exactly what we wanted.

Just to refresh your memory, BHH used to have gutters, but they were completely trashed by ice dams in 2014 and 2015. When we got a new roof in 2015, we left the gutters off the house to see how it fared without them. Everything was great until this spring when we got a ton of rain. It became clear that, without proper drainage, we were at risk of compromising the structural integrity of BHH. Obtaining gutters moved back to the top of the queue.

For our project, we asked for extended downspouts to divert the water away from BHH. Next summer, I will paint them all Hale Navy to match the house. We want them to blend in rather than stand out.

The company did a beautiful job working with the architectural elements of the house.

We added two additional downspouts which brings the total to six vs. the four we used to have. I look forward to seeing how these new gutters perform during the next rainstorm. That will be the real test.

So, that’s a wrap on most of this year’s exterior projects. Everything still looks a little unkempt and trashy around here, but we are two steps closer to curb appeal perfection. Next year, during the warm months, we will continue to improve the flowerbeds and finish painting the details. Now, everything is in place to hit the ground running as soon as the weather turns in our favor.

 

 

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Blog Comments

Well done! It’s such a good feeling, isn’t it, to have everything snug and weatherproof as winter approaches? The cosmetic aspects can always come a bit later. I can’t believe how much you have accomplished with BHH!

Thank you, Andrea! It sure does feel good. 🙂 I appreciate the encouragement.

Looks great… just makes your heart sing to get a homes structural integrity back on track! They really did a great job with the gutters and the home architecture.

Thank you, Susie! I was so impressed with how seriously they took my requests to make everything blend in as much as possible.

Great news about finding a good contractor after all. Bit by bit, that cozy quotient (BHH-CQ) is inching up and up. And may your injury healing quickly.

I love the idea of BHH-CQ! You are so creative. 🙂 Thanks for the kind wishes for my injury. Today, it seems better. 600 mg of ibuprofen sure helps too.

They really did do a great job on those gutters. I am greeeeeeen with envy (some fool replaced the original architectural galvanized iron gutters on my house with the absolute cheapest gutters they could find, and it’s not impressive). Those are some really nice gutters. That’s got to be a relief to have both the gutters and the rot taken care of!

A couple of big homes on another block have copper gutters and downspouts. I have never coveted something for our house more. They are gorgeous!

It is a huge relief to have this done. Estimates varied widely with the first ones coming in well above our budget. I am glad I persisted.

Amen to the coveting of the copper gutters and downspouts…I, too, am guilty! There’s a bungalow across the street, built by the same man who built our house, that is getting them right now.

I’m adding copper gutters to my “When I Win the Lottery” list. ?

well Stacy, It sure looks good to me (even though I am a bit prejudiced). Keep up the good work! :>). And, the Blog is still looking great.

Thank you so much, Roberta. 🙂

The new gutters must be a load off your mind! Glad to hear that your contractor woes are at an end (for now?)–it’s too bad that it can be so hard to find someone good to work with sometimes.

Thanks, Jenny. It really is a big relief,

Everything is look great! Do you have any concerns on how the new gutters will hold up to our NY winters? I’m wondering what is different now than a few years ago when the old ones were damaged by the ice dams.

For some reason, I missed this question. I’m sorry. I was not trying to ignore you. 🙂 To answer your question, I do have concerns about how the new gutters will hold up. However, there are a couple of crucial differences now. First, we have a new roof that functions much better during ice dam season. Second, since we have a new roof, we can file an insurance claim if we ever have a terrible winter like that again. It is not ideal, but there is some protection this time around. We did not have that option last time.

Our last few winters have been mild. The area had not seen ice dam conditions as we experienced since the 1970s. So, I’m crossing my fingers this weather pattern will hold. 🙂 We do plan to add some attic insulation someday. That will eliminate the ice dam condition entirely. Right now, it is not in the budget.

Oh yes. I totally get this. It’s like being at a buffet. Your eyes are bigger than what you can actually eat. We also tackled re-painting our exterior ourselves this year, but some areas with rotted wood took more time and were tougher than I could handle as a 5′ short female, and also high up on walls. We’ve had terrible carpenters in the past but thankfully a neighbor referred us to a good one to replace rotted wood.
Your gutters are really nice. As we are finding, it’s good to never underestimate the destructive powers of water on a house! We’re learning to watch where neighbors put their water run-off too.

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