Happy New Year from the Americus Garden Inn Bed and Breakfast. It's been a few days since I posted about the December project. Well, now, it is officially the January 2011 project and Kim is going to bring you up to date.
Although it was 60 degrees today, last week, it was so cold that the pond was frozen over almost every morning.
Although it was 60 degrees today, last week, it was so cold that the pond was frozen over almost every morning.
The materials we have been waiting for have finally arrived - the James Hardie Artisan Lap Board siding and the composite trim board.
Firring out the window trim with 3/4" plywood continues to accommodate the composite trim board.
These windows still need to be firred out with plywood.
Removal of the cedar shakes revealed some additional water damage and previous repair.
As we remove the old pine window trim, I am salvaging as much as I can and denailing it prior to setting it aside for possible future use.
The nails used to fasten it are the old "cut" nails that have rectangular heads and are very brittle. Removing them is a real challenge in that they almost always break before the entire nail comes out of the wood. Our original thought was to remove the old trim, pull all the nails and run the board through a planer to remove the old paint and then, put them back up. This is impractical for two reasons: first, any remnants of the old cut nails that don't come out of the boards (and there are always some) would ruin the blades of the planer; and second, due to the age of the wood and its brittleness some of the boards break during removal.
After removing the shakes, we again discover an opportunity to install additional insulation in the space between the first floor ceiling and the upstair's floor.
We call on the local insulation company to blow in loose fill fiberglass since the cavities measure up to 15 to 20 feet long.
Installation of the plywood is done after the insulation in preparation for the new window trim.
In removing the siding outside the Scarlett Suite on the second floor, we discover this honeycomb that our visiting honeybees constructed in under 3 days before we encouraged them to take up residence elsewhere (see previous blog entry from Memorial Day weekend).
In addition, we found what appeared to be an abandoned yellow jacket nest that was relatively large. Both of these were inside the wall cavities outside the Scarlett Suite.
Fiberglass batt insulation is installed after the old siding is removed and before any plywood and housewrap are applied as shown below.
We begin to remove the trim around the second floor bay windows.
The second floor Jacuzzi Suite windows are ready for the installation of the new trim.
New trim around the first floor dining room windows is nearly complete.
The new window trim is now installed around the Jacuzzi Suite windows and the front parlor windows on the first floor.
Susan here. Today, it was back to Spring temperatures, 60 degrees on the porch in the shade.
The pond has thawed and the fish are awake but very slow.
The sasanqua by the entrance look like beautiful roses, don't they?
Thanks for visiting the Americus Garden Inn blog. As you can see, the project is moving along. Hopefully, the time-consuming work has been done and the siding will go up quickly. We will keep you posted! Happy New Year, y'all!
