Home makeover

      Stripping off the old wood siding to replace it with vinyl siding was going to be our first home improvement two years ago.  We bought the siding and had it sitting in the back shed, thinking we would find a week or two of good weather to get it done.  Well it proved hard to find that nice weather that wasn't already filled up with planting, putting up hay, harvesting, or some other farming task.

         This spring we decided we better bite the bullet and hire someone to help us out. Otherwise pretty soon the mice will have chewed up and destroy the new siding.  On Thursday a local contractor and his son came to get started. 

        We plan on removing the square entry way and porch to make a single front porch.   

        After they removed the wood siding, there was a layer of felt paper.  I guess you could say it's an older version of house wrap. 

        Once the contractors went home that first evening, we tore off the felt paper and loaded up the wood siding to disposed of it. 

        I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture, but the windows facing the north used to be a lot longer.  When my husband's grandfather purchased the farm in the 1950's, the house was a two-story home with longer windows.  

         My sister-in-law just found a picture from right before they purchased the farm.  This is the same view from above.  In 1951 my husband's grandfather remodeled it. The front entry way was converted into a bathroom.  So that door became a window.  Then the front parlor, which I believe was on the right, and the dining room, which I believe was on the left, were converted into two bedrooms. 



        This is a west-facing view with his grandfather and great uncle on the tractor.  They squared up the back portion of the house.  The west-side became a living room and dining room/kitchen while the east side became a third bedroom and back entry way with a half-bath.  You might notice a whole in the back roof.  At the time of the picture they had already knocked down the old kitchen chimney.

       Here is what the west looks like today with a trench dug through the driveway and yard.  There is little comparison between the farmhouse before the 1950's and our home today. 

        By the way the trench my husband dug is for an underground electrical service for the house.  Before electricity came into the house on overhead wires attached to the south-side of the house.  We are going to put it underground and bring it into the west basement wall.  It should make it much safer during storms and instead of two 60 amp services, we will have one service with ample room to grow with today's modern-day electricity demands. 

        Meaning we have another project to do.  Slowly we will be switching all the old wiring out and changing the electrical outlets so they are grounded.  Then running them to a breaker box instead of two over filled fuse boxes.  Luckily when we remodeled the kitchen last year we already had this project in mind.  Besides for the lights, one room down, five to go.