Tag: Rot

May 5, 2020 – Project Update for the week

May 5, 2020 /

I may sneak one more in this week, just because rapid visual changes are about to happen. I have the lap siding to finish the south side. Nevertheless, I will talk about what has been accomplished since the last update.

It has been a structural journey over the last week. Sill replacement has been the focus. I replaced eight feet of sill from the south east corner of the window all the way past the front door. I started with completing the demo in the front. That took two days.

I continue to preach… the root of this problem is poor building practice. I believe that the reason I am dealing with this problem is that the driveway was laid right against the house. Wet cement touching non treated wood will lead to rot. The sill was cedar, which was good, but no match for bad decisions. Six inches of soil should have been removed before the driveway was laid so that it wouldn’t be against the structure.

I removed and reset the door. The rough opening barely allowed the door to fit (they were exact measurements – opening and door). Fortunately, the framing around the door was rotting anyway, so I restructured the framing to allow for 1/4″ clearance around the door.

Because of the thickness of the sheathing and siding, the door did not fit properly into the opening with the trim. That was all rectified so that there will be a unified trim look and hopefully a better fit inside.

The door also needed new structure under the threshold. The last opening was actually hacked out of the sill. Not only was the sill rotten, but the height and angle left the threshold sagging and a gap under the door.

This whole process was a slow go with jacking and temporary supports. I needed surgical cuts with butchery grade tools and cancer of unknown spread. I think we are through the worst of it and look forward to putting it all back together.

Also exciting news, we have agreed on a price and scope of work to reconfigure the bathroom, the entry door will no longer be in the kitchen, stubs of pipes will no longer be out of the floor and there will be space to add a washer and dryer.

April 8, 2020 – Don’t pull that thread…

April 8, 2020 /

My wife and I were talking about all of the ‘Improvements’ that were considering for the cottage. On one of the walk-throughs we were looking at some mildew along the wall.

That got to looking around at a potential source of the problem. I found a problem with the siding.

Katy bar the door… I have a huge problem.

That is the corner post and sill of the room in the first picture. So, guess what I am doing… that’s right, rebuilding this place.

For a discerning slum lord, there is always the question of where to stop. If I was intellectually honest with myself, the entire sill shows evidence of being punky (that is code for almost rotten). There are literally studs that are rotten and sistered to new wood. I had no idea the building was in this bad of shape.

As of this point, I am optimistic that all of that can be repaired. Time, money and effort are all that is required. Believe it or not, I like to consider the future and how to prevent this again. Certainly, there are some better building materials but there are some worse ones as well. Today’s lumber does not hold a candle to the durability of the old growth used in 1979 (when this house was redone).

The sources of water must be considered. There was a bush up against the house, that was removed last fall. There are cherry trees hanging over the house, those were trimmed last fall. The gutter was plugged, I scooped it out, but the cherry trees still exist so that will be a maintenance activity.

Once the water gets to the ground, it needs to get away from the house. I am considering digging a drainage ditch. We will see.

I dont even have the full scope of the problem yet. So, I wont be able to present it until I know. What I can say is that I will be busy until this project is done.