Exterior restoration, prepare me

9 years ago

Long time lurker for my kitchen renovation but I've never had to actually post after a search. I've finally come to a topic that made me register.

We just sold our 1901 four square and moved into a substantially larger 1862 Victorian (unsure of the specific classification - I'd love suggestions if anyone has any!). I loathe siding. I tried for 8 years to convince my husband to rip the vinyl off our old house. The closest I got was exposing the original front porch. He wouldn't sink the money into a house that wasn't our forever house,

Our current home is covered in 1970s aluminum siding. We bought the house with the agreement that we would be removing it and restoring the exterior. Here's what we know.

-The 1890s(?) kitchen addition has no clapboard. We resized and removed some vinyl windows during restoration. It's plywood.

-There is clapboard on the first floor that looks in good condition where my husband peeked.

-The second story balcony has all it's clapboard in good condition,

-The deceased owner's son, who spent his teenage summers painting the house said they didn't remove any of the gingerbread when siding, it should all be there.

My question is, what do I need to be prepared to ask the painter. Is this something a painting company will do, or do I need to contract with multiple people for. One to remove siding, another to fix, then paint.

Worse case scenario, it's all rotted or the majority is. Where would you draw the line as far as walking away from restoration and just put up something else?

What are the steps and timeframe that I need to expect. Can this be a 3 month summer project?

If you've made it this long, thank you! I will post pics of the current house in the next post. Can't do multiples in one post on an ipad.

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Comments (10)

AshleyB83
Original Author
9 years ago
Photo from the listing
AshleyB83
Original Author
9 years ago
Exterior from a 1902 photo{{gwi:807}}. You can see some detail on the peaks but I can't tell if there's anything above the balcony but I would assume there would be something there.

This post was edited by AshleyB83 on Tue, Jan 6, 15 at 22:02
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Joseph Corlett, LLC
9 years ago
AshleyB83:

The original paint on your house contains lead. Lead makes terrific paint, but it's use is illegal now and any chipped or removed paint is considered toxic waste. I'd leave as much as possible.

You can have the addition sided to match, but it won't be cheap.

Good luck.
powermuffin
9 years ago
Ashley, I would post this at wavyglass.org - there a lot of people there that have dealt with this same issue.
Diane

Here is a link that might be useful: Wavyglass
jmc01
9 years ago
I second powermuffin's recommendation.
rwiegand
9 years ago
that's a beauty! -- well worth getting back to clapboards and shingles as original as possible.

Not quite in the same class, but as we remodeled and added on to our 1952 house we took advantage of needing to strip the exterior to wrap the house with 2" of rigid foam insulation, taped and sealed zip wall, rain screen, then new cedar clapboards. The difference in comfort, air changes per hour, and heating costs have been dramatic.
Circus Peanut
9 years ago
Fake siding is hideous, no question. One advantage you have is that the current stuff you own is aluminum, not vinyl, and thus there's some actual value in the metal.

We stripped all the alu siding from our previous house and made enough cash recycling it to pay for the new paint. If at all possible, consider investing in some real (i.e., not Home Depot junk) scaffolding and stripping it yourselves to save a bundle. Go for it!

Really gorgeous house that will just shine when she's decked out in the proper clothing.

This post was edited by circuspeanut on Thu, Jan 8, 15 at 9:37
AshleyB83
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the feedback/advice! I will definitely check out wavyglass.com.

My husband wants to diy it was much as possible, but I don't do ladders, maybe the scaffolding would make it slightly less terrifying.

Has anyone done a painting project like this diy and done one side a reason? It's how my parents painted their house when I was growing up. It's always been clapboard though and the same color. I think it might be more doable for us at that pace but I'd hate for my house to be mid project for years.
AshleyB83
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the feedback/advice! I will definitely check out wavyglass.com.

My husband wants to diy it was much as possible, but I don't do ladders, maybe the scaffolding would make it slightly less terrifying.

Has anyone done a painting project like this diy and done one side a reason? It's how my parents painted their house when I was growing up. It's always been clapboard though and the same color. I think it might be more doable for us at that pace but I'd hate for my house to be mid project for years.
OldBarnDreams
9 years ago
Actually the website is www.wavyglass.org, and there are lots of folks there who have tackled a project exactly like yours and will have great pointers for you!