Exterior Wood Restoration

The first thing to do the exterior is adding these cypress trim boards (Above). They will serve a few purposes:

1. Aesthetics - By running these boards (which will be painted) on the corners, it frames in the shake shingles and puts them in a "container" Because the house sits on the lot at an angle the main view of the house is a 3/4 view. These vertical boards help the viewers eye easily determine the angles of the house that before, would get muddied.

2. Water invasion - These vertical boards will also keep any water from leaking into the house on the seams.

3. Gutters - The copper gutter downspouts will attach to these boards instead of running them down shingle siding. This will make the beautiful copper pop off the black painted cypress and add a really nice aesthetic.

While the new cypress boards and window skirt boards are being added, each shingle is getting sanded and tested for integrity. If a shingle is cracked it will be replaced and if it is loose it will be nailed. 

A quick pass with 80 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander is all it takes to remove the crud and reveal the beautiful wood underneath. After the whole house gets sanded it will be ready for a wash and then stain.

The sanding of the front is now complete as you can see in the pic below. Every shingle has been tested for integrity and any failing the test has been replaced or re-nailed. 

THE COLUMNS

The original round columns are not original at all. In fact they were hardly even attached to the overhang. You can see them in the original pic below taken on Day 1. They are hollow, light and the metal at the bottom of each is spray painted flashing. 

The new columns have 6x6 pressure treated posts inside the exterior. The exterior of the columns are cypress. Now these columns are actually functioning. We went with a more Craftsman style column rather than the round Colonial. Usually a colonial column would be painted, but since we will be staining these, Craftsman made more sense to us. We are however, adding decorative trim to them that matches the crown and window trim so everything is harmonious. I also have caps for the bottom of the columns, but they will be installed until after the tile is replaced with flagstone.