My House Make-Over: Off With The Old Clapboards

What a Mess - Day 1

I’ve been looking forward to replacing my old, rotted siding, and I’ve been dreading it as well. The outside of my “new” house had obvious signs of rot with buckled clapboards and holes in the wall. The green, wooden window boxes were rotting off the walls and my front steps leak water into the basement. So once the removal began, I held my breath waiting for bad news about … ?? You just never know.

So I am glad to be getting the big job done, but as you can see in my picture, the plywood beneath the old clapboards is rotted to the windows. The yard slopes down toward the house from the road, and this house sat empty for about a year. Last year we got huge amounts of snow and I’m sure all that didn’t help with the water problem here.

A huge black ant nest was also discovered, but the workers assured me that they were not carpenter ants because they were not eating the wood, just living in a colony under a piece of the outer boards. Yukkkkk. Today the windows are being replaced, but the openings are a bit crooked. Either the builder of this house -back in the 1970′s did a lousy job or the house has settled quite a bit and screwed things up. Maybe a little of both.

Anyway, we are on day #2 and things are moving right along. The big dumpster was delivered this morning to help with clean up and the weather is nice and sunny, but windy. I hope it holds out so the job won’t be delayed.

They have stopped all the banging for now, so I guess I should get some work done – as I enjoy the view out my new windows!