It's August and the painting of the house is still not complete! This is in no way a reflection of the contractor, but rather a series of unfortunate events. Quite frankly, it's been an utter and complete nightmare.
In my earlier posts I may have mention that the previous owners of the home subscribed to a deferred maintenance policy. At the time of purchase at least thirty years had passed since routine maintenance had been completed. Leaks in the roof were hidden with additional ceilings, for example I have three in the bathroom! Leaking gutters were patched, never replaced. Serious water damage was a result.
The process of scraping the old paint, caused more than just paint to flake off. They found that some boards underneath were being held to together paint. At times the clapboard was reduced to powder or saw dust. The brutal winters of Buffalo, New York could very well have caused the front outside walls to collapse, under the weight of the moisture and snow. So while it's been very stressful to find this level of water damage, it would have been disastrous if we hadn't commenced the paint job.
In addition, to extensive water damage honeybees were also discovered! They had built a hive behind the rotted boards. I'm deeply sadden by the fact that we weren't able to relocate the hive. As the contractors removed the rotten boards, they found their way into the upstairs of the house. They also began swarming the crew! We were in no position to wait for a beekeeper to remove the bees, sadly many likely perished.
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| The grim discovery of the rotted boards. |
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| Repair of the rotten headers and boards. |
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| Extensive progress on the back of the house |
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| Completed fire pit and landscaping |
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| Torsten and I decided to try our hand at landscaping! Not bad for a couple of amateurs. |
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