We got a letter from the provider of our recently acquired construction homeowners insurance that said they photographed the house, and that they were going to cancel our insurance in the middle of May. Apparently they didn't like the tarps, and the holes that the tarps were covering, on the roof and the west wall. Who knew insurance providers hated tarps? I mean, haven't they ever been camping?
We recently had the roof replaced, but the wall still had the tarp as shown in the photo above. We peaked under the tarp a few times, but were putting off addressing the siding and any other surprises that the tarp was concealing until we could recover a bit from the roof expense. But, since the insurance company gave us a deadline, this project got moved up on the to do list.
Once we unwrapped the house, we found what we expected - missing metal siding, rotten original wood siding, and many holes from when someone blew insulation into the walls through the original wood siding. As if fixing these problems wasn't enough fun, we decided to change the main entry to the house, and add a doorway into this wall. Before we started on the door Brandon had to remove most of the metal siding. He was concerned about falling off the ladder while being chased by wasps that were nesting under the siding, and I was concerned he was going to electrocute himself when he was working around where the electricity goes into the breaker box. He said not to worry though, because he had watched a youtube video. Whew, what a relief.
The photo above shows the wall were the door was added from the inside, marked by some new two by four boards, and also shows the many round holes that are in this wall from when the insulation was blown in. I kind of like the starlight ambiance that the holes provide, and also that starlings have decided these are the perfect bird sized holes to enter the house and make nests. It's like our house is a giant bird house! It's cute to watch the birds coming and going from the holes, and since I can't get upstairs to see what kind of mess they are making (because someone cut the stairway down with a chainsaw) I don't have to worry about it, right?
Brandon brought some scrap wood from his workshop to use for patching the holes. This piece is the front panel of a painting that he retired years ago. He cut it into pieces to close up the holes and replace rotten bits of siding.
I like that he used his artwork to repair our house. It's like bits of art are hidden in our walls. Maybe a hundred years from now when some other
One good thing about having a house that isn't... nice, is that it gives us the courage to just cut a hole and slap in a new door. In truth, we were very nervous and totally messed up the size of our hole. Twice. Like Goldilocks, first we made it too big, then we made it too small, and finally got it just right. It was an all day task, but in the end it actually opens and closes!
I like the photo above because the deep blue sky right at dusk shines through the new door and the other holes to the outside. So cozy.
TA! DA! We have a new door! Only someone who has tried to hang a door can appreciate how hard it is to get a door to swing closed without hitting the frame. I now walk around exclaiming over every door that I open. The wonder of it! The craftsmanship! It's practically miraculous that any door ever works. Especially in an old house.
Now, we just have to figure out how to get siding on the wall when we are both afraid of ladders.
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