Before/After Back of My Cottage with New White Paint

It looks less scary now, doesn't it? The white is only primer in the first photo. Trim around the two doors on the balcony is being replaced with Azek. The long board under the doors running the length of the decking up there has been replaced with Azek too. Luckily that area was well protected with flashing behind so nothing in the sheathing was damaged. I have to be more diligent in the future about not letting deep snow go unattended next to the house. I will have to get out on the balcony with my snow shovel a lot sooner instead of just waiting for it to melt. It won't be a problem now, but I still want to do everything I can to take better care of things around here.

I have some real estate appointments this afternoon. See you later.

I need a longer weekend.

Wouldn't it be nice to have an extra day between Saturday and Sunday? I felt like a zombie and didn't have a productive day at all. I went to the annual Fireman's auction and junk sale. I didn't buy much. Just two cookbooks ($1.00 each), an English muffin splitter (50 cents), 5 leather iPad sleeves ($1.00 each, real leather), and an orange plastic gutter cleaning scoop/shovel. I already have one of those gutter thingies and I use it for sprinkling grass seed in the fall. For 50 cents, I now have a backup. The iPad sleeves were in with the sporting goods and nobody knew what they were. I gave one to a friend while I was there. It's always a fun day.

View from my New Window

Pile of damaged wood from my cottage on front lawn. This photo was taken from the ground, not from the attic.

View from my new third floor gable window looking straight ahead into the woods. I pumped up the saturation a bit so you could see the fall color. The window trim is not purple (grin).

View of the window from inside the room.

View from the new window looking left towards the road. The new window has opened up a whole new world in the attic.

Webster and I are having contractor withdrawal this morning. He keeps looking out the window waiting for their trucks and he's worried because they are late. He will be so happy on Monday when they return and so will I. Have a great weekend. Sorry for the horrible pics. 

More Repairs at My Cottage

New custom pickets to replace damaged ones.

My old cable vent, badly deteriorated. It was recycled from an old barn when I remodeled my cottage 2002-2004.

I am thrilled with my new sliding window with screen. It's really a double hung window put in sideways. It's open in this picture. The black side is the screen and the reflective glass is on the right side. I love looking out from the third floor. I have the weekend off to recover from a whirlwind week. Whew. 

Photographer on Horseback

This man rides past my cottage daily talking on his iPhone (on speaker). His hands are rarely on the reins because the horse knows the way. Today he stopped to photograph my cottage and send the photo in a text message. The horse waits patiently. This entrance to my driveway is opposite the front door.

Before / After - North Side of Cottage

BEFORE

This photo was taken before power washing showing the "real" condition of my pitiful cottage after the shutters were removed. The attic vent near the peak was rotted out, the mildew was out of control, my siding had weathered very differently due to Cabot stain failure, etc. You can see the mildew on the front too.

AFTER

I took this photo yesterday. The attic vent was replaced with a very small window that had to be installed sideways because of the structural beam on the other side. It's covered with plastic in this photo. Now I will be able to look outside when I'm working in the small room on the other side. I have it set up for wrapping packages, using my paper cutter, and other crafty things. The finished attic space on the other side of the eyebrow windows is much larger with a full dormer looking out the back. My PC is up there and this space has central air. The smaller room does not. Now I can set up a fan in the window in the summer. The shingles are only primed in this photo. The men are making replacement pickets for the ones that are damaged by rot. NOW are you impressed? I have to pinch myself every time I go outside and see the miracles being performed by my skilled craftsmen. More later so stayed tuned!

Cottage Front - White on White

The front of my cottage now has a coat of white primer. The men did it while I was out on a real estate appointment. I agonized over whether or not to go white on white and now I'm sure I made the right choice. I couldn't be happier! The fascia over the front door had to be replaced with Azek as did the fascia in front of the chimney. Good night everyone. My six thirty bullhorn wake up call will be blaring from my iPhone way too soon.

Cottage Repairs Before Painting

The white beadboard under the roofline had to be completely replaced with Azek. It is on a north-facing wall that almost never gets any sun. The product has wide boards on one side and narrow boards on the other side. This application required two horizontal long pieces. It is exactly what I had before only this will never rot. The trim around the window you see in this photo was fine but the window to the left didn't fare so well. All of the wood around that window had to be replaced with Azek except for the decorative crown on top. The old wood trim had rotted into the sheathing because of overflowing gutter water.

This photo illustrates why I am so happy I hired a firm that is capable of doing carpentry repairs prior to their paint job. Several corner boards need replacing and I was so impressed when my guys painted the edges of the shingles beforehand. I know my house was wrapped in Tyvek before the siding was put up when it was remodeled. This application on the corner looks new so the men must have added that too. They are so thorough. Sorry to have bored you but I find all of this to be so interesting. I love construction. I really should become a general contractor. See you later.