Siding progress

[autobodyman]

I figured this slow going siding project of mine was just so thrilling that I should probably keep you updated ;D

I finally made it to the front (street side) of the house today.


I really don't have many friends left, used them all up years ago on concrete projects, son wisely moved 80 miles away, all my local family has caller ID and are smart enough not to answer my calls on weekends ;D

The wife went with her sister to a sewing class today so I had to figure out some way to hold one end of the siding with some kind of jig. This is what I came up with, it does work, though as you can imagine it takes a little longer than just having another person around.


Routing all my low voltage wiring took a bit of time too.



The green ladder is a 6' the yellow an 8' I also have a 10' and I borrowed my brother-in-laws 12' step ladder. We'll go as high as we can with these ladders ( Should be able to get to the tops of the windows anyway ) then I'm going to see about renting a man lift.


Finished up this side of the house the other day, had to borrow my dad's jointed ladder to get this outside corner over the steps.

After I get the siding project done I'm hoping I can scrape up enough money to tear out the lower concrete steps and side walk and re-pour those. I was thinking if I have some siding left over I could use those to stamp the cement with, give it a wood grain look.

What do you think?

Thanks ~Mike

[fredbelknap]

Mike I like your new siding. Looks like you have the same kind of help that I usually do. Makes for a lot of climbing up and down a ladder. I have a set of pump jacks and they work pretty well after you decide that they will hold. Nice progress.

[mlwmerk]

Wow - great job. I admire you inginuity. Now - What color are you going to paint it?

Walt in CT

[autobodyman]

Mike I like your new siding. Thanks.

Looks like you have the same kind of help that I usually do. Makes for a lot of climbing up and down a ladder. I have a set of pump jacks and they work pretty well after you decide that they will hold. Nice progress.

I have some pumpjacks I bought years ago when we put redwood siding on a guys house,

They are in the attic of my woodshop. I thought about setting them up but I figured by the time I bought the lumber for the jacks (uprights and scaffold) it would be cheaper in the end to rent a man lift. Last time I rented one it cost me under $100 for 10 hours. I also wasn't sure how stable they would be on the concrete sidewalk, on the house we sided all those years ago I just dug the bottoms of the jack posts into the ground 6 inches.

Thanks ~Mike

[autobodyman]

May 16, 2010 7:21:37 GMT -6 mlwmerk said:

Wow - great job. I admire you ingenuity. Now - What color are you going to paint it?

Walt in CT

Thanks Walt, the siding came pre painted in a two color latex. The only painting I should have to do is a few nail heads on the corners and at the top of the walls (last board along the soffits).

The wife helped me get a few more pieces up today between rain showers.


Thanks ~Mike

[TDHofstetter]

That li'l second-man siding-hanging jig is exactly what I've used time & again for hanging siding - cedar clapboards, cementboard, even vinyl. Works nicely. The vinyl version is just two end cuts of a stick of siding - one to space with, and one to nail in to carry the next course after the spacer's slid back out.

Looks to me like, low as that gable is, you could get to the peak with no more'n a 16-foot extension ladder - easy to carry on an 8' pickup, & then for the price of the day's rental, you've got a 16-foot extension ladder for the rest of your life.

[dicklaxt]

Nice job looks great.........

Is this a manufactured modular home set and erected on a foundation wall.

dick

[autobodyman]

Nice job looks great.........
Thanks Dick.

Is this a manufactured modular home set and erected on a foundation wall.
No, the house when I originally bought it in 1981 was 24' square. Paid $25,000 and got stuck in a loan at 16.5% (thanks Jimmy Carter) for the first 5 years till I could refinance my 10 year loan.
We aren't even sure when it was built, the title said reconditioned in 1955, I assume that's when they added an electrical outlet to each of the 5 rooms whether they needed it or not ;D

Over the years we've added on both ends and remodeled every room. It's now 24' x 52', this is the second time I've re-sided the house. Originally it had slate siding, I put the stuff I'm now covering (gray colored siding) about 20 years ago.

We dug the basement out by hand (years ago) 5 feet at a time and built block walls up under the house as we went, my son still tells me his arms are to long from hauling out the 5 gallons pails of dirt back then

Thanks ~Mike

[dicklaxt]

That basement was a hell of a job,sounds like something ,Caj or Timmer would tackle.

dick