March 23, 2005

House Project Commences

Our long-awaited, much-discussed, frequently-postponed house remodeling project has finally commenced! We signed the contract with our builder last week, and this past Monday we had asbestos abatement contractors remove the asbestos cement shingles from the exterior of our house.

Doing so exposed some very nice, thick redwood siding, painted gray. It was also covered in sheets of tinfoil, which as best as we can tell acted as sort of a Tyvek moisture barrier of its time. Unfortunately, it was supposed to have been anchored by the asbestos shingles placed on top of it. Now that the shingles are gone, the tinfoil is left to blow in the wind. And blow it does, frequently into our neighbors' yards.

It would be nice if the original redwood siding could somehow be rehabilitated, but there's just too much neglect as well as damage from the installation of the asbestos shingles. In addition to the tinfoil sheets and the asbestos shingles that were nailed into the original siding, the clapboard gaps were also feathered in with nailed in shims to create a more flattened surface on which to mount the asbestos shingles.

So for now, we've got a pseudo-space-age-looking house. Our builder hopes to be able to begin the project in earnest sometime mid-to-late next week, when he will block off a couple doorways in the kitchen, demolish the single-story rear section, and start digging for the foundation.

We've had the plans set for a while, so it's exciting to finally be on the move with the project. At last, the dishwasher is within reach!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

best of luck on the house and life post-skandia!
-oslander