So I Thought - Why Not?
One ugly wall, some inexpensive cedar shingles and a simple idea that would eventually influence the look of House 173.
I hated the siding on House 173.
I mean really hated it.
It was cheap vinyl, poorly installed, and no matter what else we did to the house, everything still seemed to look only as good as the siding.
Which was best viewed at night.
Eventually, and God only knows when, I wanted to re-side the whole house with something better. Maybe even change the color entirely.
But “eventually” wasn't helping the back porch right now.
We'd put new windows in the porch the previous summer, and every time I looked at them surrounded by that tired vinyl siding, I liked the windows a little less.
The front porch was already shingled.
Cedar shingles weren't terribly expensive.
So I thought... why not?
And, as anyone who owns an old house knows, those two words are frequently how a small project gets itself into trouble.
I Just Wanted the Porch to Look Better
Okay, I didn't exactly get a "before" picture, but at least this time I took one pretty early on in the project!
After removing the old, cheap vinyl siding, I found old, cheap, very thin insulation.
Ugh, I bet the whole house is "insulated" with this stuff!
It's always a little unnerving when you start peeling layers off an old house. You never really know whether you're going to find perfectly preserved construction, questionable repairs from 1957, evidence of squirrels, or something that makes you immediately regret owning a pry bar.
In this case, behind the vinyl and the paper-thin insulation was the original clapboard.
Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly waiting there proudly for its restoration debut.
It was old, cracked, fragile and generally pretty miserable looking.
So naturally my next thought was: Okay...what's behind that?
And that's when I decided maybe I'd rather not know.
Covering What Was Underneath
I decided not to remove the clapboard, after all - you just never know what's under there! So I covered the clapboard with 1/2" plywood.
I'm always paranoid about wood and water mixing.
So I covered the plywood with 30-pound roofing felt, what we always just called tar paper.
He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Finally, the Cedar Shingles
See that horizontal board? I got the idea on Youtube...Hang the board, level it and installing each course of shingles becomes quicker, easier and leveler (I know, I know). Beat the heck out of chalk lines!
That's it (for now). Still have to decide on a stain color. I don't think I would like the gray "weathered" look, so - what color? I'm thinking "coffee", but I don't make all the decisions!
Looking back, I really didn't think of this as the beginning of some grand exterior plan. I just hated the vinyl siding and wanted this one part of the porch to look better.
That's how a lot of things have happened at 173.
Fix one little area.
Stand back.
Stare at the wall next to it.
And think...
Well, now that looks terrible.
I just want the porch to look a little better.
Sure you do. 😂
That's how it starts. One little wall. Couple bundles of shingles. Nice easy Saturday project.
Then you finish it, stand back, admire your work...and make the fatal mistake of looking slightly to the left.
Well, hell. Now that looks terrible.
So you do that wall.
Then the upper part looks wrong.
Then you're standing in the driveway staring at the whole house wondering what shingles cost by the pallet.
The cedar really does look great, though. Which is unfortunate.
Because now you're screwed. - Barney R., Bedford