More Pics - And More Progress

As promised - a few more detailed pics of work written about in previous post.

The reproduction windows

New crown flares out starter course for 3rd story

New composite bead board sistered over original

Today I installed the drip edge and fitted the crown molding. It was a bit tough sneaking it under the shingles, but with the help of a pry bar I managed. The crown was another challenge working with 12 foot pieces by myself. I ended up cracking one before deciding to just temporarily screw in place to get fitted, then predrill and nail when it's all fitted in place. I'll just have to fill a few holes - no biggie. The crown really cleans up this section and now its ready for final paint. I do need to sneak in one more row just before the shingles run up the rafter. Checking my photos of the originals, they ran these rows closer to the transition than I thought.

Drip edge and crown installed along roof line

3rd Story Progress

This weekend with some help from John I managed to get a good jump on the 3rd floor work. While I started rebuilding the crown that flares out the shingles on this level, John removed the pair of replacement double hung windows and prepped for the installation of the reproduction set. With the crown rebuilt I added the starter course and finished papering the sheathing in prep for the siding.

Next the bead board had to be dealt with in the "inset" area. I decided to go with the same material I've been using to replace the soffit. On the inital vertical sections I just mounted them right over the original since the new pieces are only a 1/4 inch thick. Once it starts the 45 degree angle under the roof I nailed 1x3 boards to use as a nailer and this will let them sit flat since nails are popping through from the asphalt shingles above. The beadboard can't be installed here yet until I strip the front rafters.

Back on the windows, they were made almost dead on perfect and just had to be tweaked because the opening were a little out of square. Once installed and opening freely, the next day John fabricated a new sill to match the originals. This he made from the pine bases I replaced under the radiators on the first floor. Finally stops were added with built in weather stripping. Brass hardware is on backorder at the moment. There is still an issue of making a screen - but I'll get into that later.

Next day I started installing the shingles on the outer section, getting as far as running up the rafters. I was sure to document how the old timers made the transitions, since there was a bit of thought and a few shingle hanging tricks that went into them (using thinner pieces, cutting layers at certain spots, etc).

Today I got the nerve to do the upper peak. I had an eyelet mounted to a piece of angle that my dad made for his roof job, and I was able to mount that to the house just above the double windows. I hooked my lanyard to this from my body harness I have from work - giving me just a little security.... especially up on a step latter on the top section of scaffold! Next step will be rebuilding the trim along the roof line, then the outer section can be finished painted. I'll take some better and more detailed pics this week.

Outer shingles finished

Advanced Scaffold Building

Tuesday with the help of my buddy John, we managed to get the scaffolding built on top of the porch roof to access the 3rd floor front dormer. I played with a few ideas for the base, usually over complicating the matter...... but in the end, the adjustable feet had just enough to make it level. The upper feet I just used wedges. For the lower, I mounted to a 2x6 - which one edge rested on the roof and the other end was propped up with a 2x3. This made for a level base to fasten to. The bottom feet are also supported by 2x4's that run along the roof. I'll take a closeup later and add to this post. It's quite high up there for sure - but still not as bad as the chimney job!

All the woodwork up here has seen better days

Quite a view - about 45 feet from street level!

Next Section Preview

I managed to get up to the third floor section and strip some aluminum siding to reveal the original shingles. It should look unique when finished, I've never seen a front like it. I plan on building at least one level of scaffold across the porch roof to work on it which I'm still kicking around some ideas in my head for supporting it. I might do a second level in the middle, but after working on the ladder, I think I could use a step ladder to reach the middle no problem.The rest should all be within easy reach since the planks should end up just where the third floor starts.

The middle section is starting to take shape and hopefully a few more batches should get it completed.

Here are the two windows that will go in the third floor. All the dormers originally had these style windows and will eventually be done with reproductions of the original design. The craftsman that made the windows for the foyer window seat made these for me and did a heck of a job. This time at least he had a sample to work with, which was removed from the house and used to fill a busted window in the garage.

You can see the originals in a closeup from a picture taken around 1940. I still can't believe how lucky I was to find all the original photos I have - what a big help they've been!

Second Side Wrap-Up

FINALLY - the second side is totally finished with the siding and soffit. The end result looks fantastic and was worth the endless hours of painting shingles. But, I still have a long way to go.

I've already done a third of the front, which gives me a jump on the third side. In between some wicked storms this weekend I managed to get the center section stripped, flashed, and papered and then today I installed the starter and first course. Now it's back to making more batches of shingles again.....

I pretty much finished landscaping the driveway side as well complete with birdbath, sundial, and Rach added a gnome for good measure! There's at least 15 different plants along here which should really take shape next year. All I need to do still is add some sand and set the slate pavers permanently.

Sweating Along

It's been pretty consistent near or in the 90's for several weeks now, which making for slow progress. This side is just about wrapping up and I should hopefully have the scaffold down by the end of the week after some final painting. To finish the soffit, once again I had to add bracing between the rafter tails and add a nailer along the wall. I had one rafter end that was so bad it needed to be sistered on each side in order to support the soffit and crown fascia. Other than that it was more of the same.

I think after the front I may finish the front 3rd floor peak before moving to the last side. I got the 2 windows for the 3rd floor last week which came out really nice. I'll post some pics next time. This is the dude who made the pair for the foyer window seat. The other 5 dormer windows will be made next winter since I won't be tackling them till next year.