• Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact
  • Let’s Organize These Posts:

    • Art Attack
    • Backyard
    • Barn
    • Basement
    • Bathroom
    • Beach
    • Bedrooms
    • Being Thrifty
    • Business-y
    • Buying and Renting and Selling
    • Casual Celebrations
    • Closets
    • Curb Appeal
    • Dainty Details
    • Deck
    • Decor
    • Dining Room
    • DIY
    • Dog-Related
    • Entryway
    • Flooring
    • For the Kids
    • Garage
    • Gardening
    • Helping The Economy
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects
    • Holiday-Related Projects
    • Home Safety
    • Kitchen
    • Lighting
    • Living Room
    • Merry Travels
    • Office Space
    • Organized
    • Other Pads
    • Outdoor Living
    • Scooter Fun
    • Stairwell
    • Sunroom
    • Supporting Sponsors
    • The Art Room
    • Tools
    • Uncategorizable
    • Wedding
    • Windows
    • Work-pads
  • Search

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)
  • Search

  • Pages

    • blog
    • Good Press: Special Features, Freelance Projects, and Long-Term Clients
    • Privacy Policy
    • about emily
    • before + after
      • before + after – transforming my first home
      • before + after, our current home
    • contact me
    • choose a badge and share the merrypad.com love
  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact

FINALLY! New siding!

December 6, 2010

Starting to remove siding from the front! Whoa, this is exciting. This is the project I’ve been waiting for since the first-time-homeowner tax incentive was announced in February 2009, since I bought the house in May 2009, since I signed a contract for labor in April 2010, and since I received my credit in October 2010. It finally happened, 18-months after I moved in. My new house siding is UP, and I’m really psyched to show you the final outcome – surely you heard me squealing with glee all week.

I guess by now, you’ve probably seen the exterior of the house in my before/after’s, and from when we built the deck and took down the front shutters. The siding was a white (dirty) aluminum, and had probably been there since the 70’s, if not earlier. Over the decades, the homeowners before me have added (and removed) railings, porches, and strange light fixtures to the siding; they’ve not-so-gracefully slid their cars against it; they’ve painted it. What I’m saying is that it was in really (really, really) lousy condition (as was the roof, maybe a metal roof would be cool). I definitely didn’t buy the pretty house on the street, but I hoped to bring it up to par with some of the neighboring homes which had received new siding over the past few years.

As any home improvement professional or site would recommend, I picked a slew of people to talk to and quote with. I investigated many, and whittled the list down to quote with 4 people – an individual contractor who came recommended from a friend, and three local well-known siding companies. I challenged each party with quoting me the project a few different ways:

My #1 choice for siding was cedar shingles and boards – an effort that would have taken the house back to a more traditional state, like many homes I covet. Each company quoted way out of my price range for cedar (like, triple my budget, although that wasn’t a huge surprise). In the back of my mind, I worried that a siding choice that required more maintenance would also be a deterrent for future buyers. Just for kicks, this is the siding style that I would have most preferred:

Sketch of a traditional American Foursquare. Note the shingles on the top and boards on the bottom. A nice small front porch, not unlike mine.

I also asked the bidding contractors to consider and price my options #2 and #3, which in design, would have been like Option #1 (shingles and boards), but in different materials — cement fiberboard (like HardiePlank – so pretty, so reliable), or vinyl. Both were still out of my price range, although not as much so as cedar, and mostly because shingles in any material cost more to make and to install.

The fourth and final option quoted was basic vinyl siding. The prices of two companies were still within my price range (narrowing down the options!), so I asked for a final meeting with both company’s representatives to talk through the project, and see if one resonated with me more than the other. In the end, it ended up being an easy decision. Even though I conceded and went for the basic vinyl siding (no shingles), they upgraded the “corners” to be wider-than-normal, and selected wider boards (5″, instead of the more common 3.5″) for no extra cost. All of this happened in April 2010, as I (impatiently) awaited my first-time-homebuyer tax refund.

In May, my siding company called to say their wholesaler was raising their prices, and gave me the option of purchasing the siding in advance. They offered to do it on my behalf, although I only had 24 hours to make a color decision (!!… but I loved the heads-up and chance to save some money by buying before prices increased). Cody and I had a long night contemplating between 4 shades of gray. I decided on Victorian Gray (Ovation, by Mastic) because it felt like the best compliment to my very-light-gray roof… I didn’t want siding that was considerably darker than the roof was, because it just wasn’t a look I liked. In the end, it wasn’t a very difficult decision. Bonus, in the right sunlight (and especially beside my eggplant-colored doors), it’s got lavender undertones (sort of like my bedroom paint) so it doesn’t look like a cinderblock wall.

Late night with Cody weighing heavily over my siding color options.

And then sat back and waited for my tax refund. And called the IRS… a lot. And waited. Nothing like waiting 40 weeks! Once it arrived (and after I broke down crying out of happiness), I called the siding company to schedule the construction! In 8 short weeks from that “go” date, the crew stood in my driveway ready to rock.

I took the whole week off from my 9-5 to observe, and learn, and make sure the job was going well. The boxes of materials (siding, insulation, and other goodies) were delivered to the driveway the morning the crew was due. Once they all arrived, the white siding became coming down… fast! Pete and I were interested to find that the original wooden siding was actually in really good condition (and it was a heart-wrenching decision to side over it again, when all it really needed was a good scrape and re-paint). We found some “treasures” (if you want to call them that), like a second milkman door, and old handwritten measurements. I like stepping back in time when I find details like that.

  • Starting to remove siding from the front!
  • Still very exciting - siding coming off the side of the house (landing on the deck).
  • Keeping warm inside. Watching a mess accumulate on the deck.
  • A surprise second milk man drop box that once led into the kitchen. (The first is on the other side of the door there, but it had remained exposed.)
  • Woohoo! A stripped house. I loved this feeling.

Two dumpsters landed in my driveway that morning too – one for trash, and the other for the aluminum (did I mention that I scored a generous discount on the project by requesting that they recycle the scrap?). Dumpster man crushed my neighbor’s evergreen shrub, the only casualty of the project, but I’m all over getting it replaced for the owner. In any case, the delivery of the dumpsters in my narrow street was fun to watch…

  • Unloading the dumpster!
  • An awesome parallel-parking job. The nose of the truck destroyed a shrub, but it was an impressive delivery, nonetheless.
  • Siding removal with dumpster #1 in place.

We learned fast that it’s hard to watch excitedly without making the crew feel like they’re being watched – seriously, we were just so excited to see how it all came together (DIY’ers at heart – always trying to glean knowledge from others)! Here are some of the pics of the demolition! Eeee!!

The crew had to take down the pergola (which fortunately was easy, since we had just used screws to install), so it sat in the back yard for a few days. This ended up being a good thing, because I still needed to do the weatherproofing on it, and it was completely within my reach the way it was positioned in the grass.

Siding, and pergola removed from the back of the house.

In the first 8-hour work day, we watched the crew remove all of the aluminum, and begin to install insulation foam to the walls. It was amazingly pass and felt SO GOOD to see the worn white siding gone!

I was so excited about day 2 that I could barely sleep. I woke up at the crack of dawn and drank coffee as the crew did their thing – all of the white corner pieces, and some of the siding actually began going up in the morning on the second day! Of course, I kept taking photos to document every step. There was a lot of old conduit piping installed on the old siding that didn’t have a purpose anymore – we found 3 pipes with live wire that went nowhere, so Pete cut off the electricity, and disconnected the wires altogether. The metal pipes were able to be sawzalled off too, and the crew was able to conceal an outside light wire under the new siding – very exciting, much less “excess” hung on the outside of my house now.

Insulation board going up.

The crew uncovered the only “problem” on Day 2. The issue was that there were a few pieces of rotten boards in a corner of the house, and the side needed to be reinforced so that they could hammer insulation (and eventually siding) into it. They offered us a carpenter at an additional cost, but we were fortunately able to strip out the damaged area and replace the wall really well with some plywood that I had saved from a previous project. Resourceful!

  • Damaged wood - removing the old wood to clean the space and figure out what needed to be fixed.
  • Exposed the problem area. Surely fixable without a carpenter's help.
  • Screwing in layers of new plywood (and 2x4 support) to create a strong (insulated) new wall.
  • Lovely progress on the front of the house.
  • Nice scaffolding for the siding. I feel good looking at this photo.

We seized a major opportunity with dumpsters on-site. I cleaned the whole garage and basement, tossing out odds and ends that never made it to the curb (old blinds, broken storage containers, old deck posts with huge cement bases, among other things). We also helped Pete’s parents clean out part of their attic (once again, thankful to have a rough Jeep that can carry anything), so old pieces of scrap drywall, window panes, broken chairs, and mouse-lived-in fabrics made it into the dumpster too (I’m no hoarder, I throw out everything).

Jeep packed with stuff for the dumpster.

By the third day, siding was well-underway. More observation ensued, and since it happened to be a warm-ish day, we also decided to try and repair the wire that brought electricity to the garage – when we were disconnecting wires, Pete found that the garage power was only buried just below the soil, but not in any sort of reinforcing conduit, which I immediately imagined being sliced with a shovel blade. A quick trip to Home Depot allowed us gave us the tools we needed to disconnect the existing wire, flow it through a plastic pipe, and rebury the cord safely into the ground.

Reinforcing garage electrical wires with conduit piping.

Day 4 was the first rainy day. The crew requested a shorter day, but still got the siding done on the whole back of the house and partially on the front. I love this progress. Oh, and I had thought Cody would bark or be scared by all of the nailing and shouting, but he did well, just missed naps as he walked around the house following the voices.

  • Siding is done on the back!
  • Almost done with the siding on the front!

Day 5 was the final day! They were able to complete the hard-to-reach attic window, which naturally I was worried they had been forgetting about, and TA-DA, here are some final pictures! So pleased with the outcome, the crew also re-installed my exterior back deck light (although I bought a new, upgraded fixture for them to put up instead of the old, broken one). The pergola went back up, and the house has a whole new look. The shutters are not being reinstalled, but a new front porch, second pergola, and new storm doors will be installed in the next few weeks if the snow holds off. Check out the final results!

  • FINAL: Siding in the front of the house.
  • FINAL: Side of the house (and a sneak peek on my glass block windows!)
  • FINAL: Siding on the back of the house!
Share

Curb Appeal

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. I've been a freelancer writer for 10+ years and you can find my work on popular home and garden sites, like HGTV.com. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note.

2 Comments


vince
October 25, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Reply

You guys did a fantastic job. My wife and I have been restoring some old homes and find we connect best in this elelment



    Emily
    October 25, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    Thanks Vince!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    merrypad

    Merrypad by Emily Fazio
    Instagram post 17902304861708711 Instagram post 17902304861708711
    Highly recco mining those #herkimerdiamonds ✌️ Highly recco mining those #herkimerdiamonds ✌️
    Pt. 2: Well before Halloween, the last of the garl Pt. 2: Well before Halloween, the last of the garlic went into the home garden: 10 rows [L>R] 6 whole Nootka Rose as an experiment, 3x8 Mennonite-grown cloves from Aman’s, and 6x8 (and, I think, total 112? notes are cryptic) “normal.”
#gardennotes #growinggarlic #garden2023 #whatisnormal #merrypadathome
    Out of sight but [documented so it’s] not out of Out of sight but [documented so it’s] not out of mind! #garden2024 kicks off with my favorite biennial: elephant garlic! 15 cloves planted from small, to medium, to enormous. #gardennotes
    Annual garlic notes for #garden2023, pt. 1: this i Annual garlic notes for #garden2023, pt. 1: this is getting ooc, and I love it. 👩‍🌾🧑‍🌾

🧄 65% of the planting is in a new plot in the country. 🧄 Seeing if NR grows bigger with more sunlight. 🧄 Big @chasefarms cloves from 2021 were really productive in our home garden; can’t wait to see how they can show up next year in the new space. 🧄

Hand-turned a small bed, but big thanks to my sister, who rolled into town just in time to help me double its size (and did not complain once).
    One straggler from #garlic2021 debuted with 7 stal One straggler from #garlic2021 debuted with 7 stalks and 7 scapes, and I can’t wait to see this mammoth looks like when it’s pulled next month. #garlic2022 

Also, fierce springtime performance by parsley, chamomile, and self-seeded cilantro.
    Annual garlic notes #garden2022 ~315 cloves total Annual garlic notes #garden2022
~315 cloves total
50 in new, unfenced garden
Still need thick mulch on everything
Did a terrible job tracking varieties when I harvested, so it’s all a mix of hardneck now 😒
Added some big cloves from @chasefarms and look forward to adding some @fruition_seeds in #garden2023 when @porterfarmscsa delivers.
    Load More... follow emily: @merrypad



  • Like Us On Facebook

    Facebook Pagelike Widget



  • Popular Posts

    • How to fix an IKEA drawer. The Easy Fix For Broken IKEA Drawers 66.9k views
    • DIY sideboard rehab. 7 Steps for Restoring an Old Midcentury Sideboard Buffet 56.8k views
    • How to design and make a barn quilt. How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt 50k views
    • How to hang art on brick surfaces using specialty clips. The Easy Way to Hang Art on Brick or Stone 40.1k views
    • DIY driveway removal. How to Remove an Old Asphalt Driveway 35.1k views
    • Our DIY flagstone patio. Building a Flagstone Patio in One Day 32.8k views
    • Tips for dying pasta different colors, and a Halloween Recipe for the kids. How to Dye Pasta Different Colors (Halloween Recipe) 32.5k views
    • Fix an ikea dresser drawer. Life Support For An IKEA Dresser 29.7k views
    • Goodbye, gold fireplace covering. Less Is More: How to Remove a Fireplace Surround 29.5k views
    • After: Custom wooden garden fence. Designing a Durable Wooden Fence For Our Beautiful Backyard Garden 23k views



  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)





  • a little bit of everything, friends, DIY, and inspiration

    • Dadand.com < My husband and his BFF
    • HGTV
  • Some Legal

    Merrypad incorporates the occasional affiliate link to Amazon.com and Minted; we link to many other websites and products, but if it is in context of a paid sponsorship, it is always noted as such. Please review the privacy policy and contact me if you have any additional questions.

    Theme customized by Pete Fazio Creative, the guy from dadand.com.


© Copyright Merrypad