Bryon's Website

This weekend was the start of our big siding project. About a quarter of the existing siding panels are rotten. There is also no house wrap underneath. This means all of the siding needs to be pulled off and replaced.

I’m hoping that some of the panels can be salvaged enough to use on a playhouse or a deer blind.

My goal is to do one side of the house every year. I think that is the best use of resources, both in cost and in labor.

We decided to start on the west side since that feels the most drafty.

Step one was to get the scaffolding up…but the was no way I was lifting 32′ doubled up 2x4s by myself.  Electric hoist to the rescue!

Once the verticals were in place, I installed the pump jacks.

Now, I’ve never used a pump jack system before, so this was all new. I tried going up and down short distances to get myself comfortable. As you can see, there is a bit of height involved. I’m not afraid of heights, but I do need to feel comfortable with whatever is holding me.

I’ve decided that I’m comfortable going up, but only so so going down. I was going that I might be able to use the pump jack as an elevator of sorts to get larger pieces up and down. Nope. Not happening. Everything will be lifted/lowered with the electric hoist. I’ll use the extension ladder to get myself up and down.

I did make some progress getting the uppermost siding pieces off. In the process, I had access to inspect our attic.

Thankfully, the only bad joist connection is the one you see above. I did get it reinforced.

Here is the electric hoist setup. No. I am not standing on the work bench. I just stretched my arm out. Yes, the extra ladder is tied off. The pump jack is as high as I can get it, but I needed an extra foot to reach the peak. The ladder also allowed me access to the attic. It is a tight squeeze between the hoist support and the ladder, but I managed to fit.

I did have a visitor later in the evening. Apparently one of our cats figure out how to climb the extension ladder…

My wife was able to rescue the cat through the upstairs window.

We’ve always had a garden in our wall by our pool, but dirt keeps washing out of it. Two obvious reasons as to why…1.) Lack of drainage and 2.) A downspout drains directly to the garden.

Thankfully, I knew exactly where the drain was at that I put in last year. After some careful digging, I found it and was able to add a Y. I really lucked out that the power conduit that is next to the existing drain was on the far side…exactly where I needed it to be.

I used 4″ perforated drainage. Except Lowe’s only had one in stock, so I had to create one by drilling holes into it. The full length is then covered with a sock to keep crud out. 20′ of perforated plus a 10′ connector to the main drain = lots of dirt to move.

Here is the finished product.

 Flowers have been purchased. We just need some time and good weather to plant them.