We came home from Cass & B.Rosie's wedding to find our house a nice, comfy 88 degrees -- with the A/C supposedly running. Had a guy come out to check it out (Sunday of course, luckily they charge same amt for weekend checks) and found the short power outages we'd had the week before probably caused the A/C capicitor (or something all technical) to blow and we had to start from scratch with a new A/C unit. OK, we were on borrowed time for a few years with our as they only last about 20 years and it was closer to 25. CHA-CHING! The hail storms from a few weeks prior had done some significant damage to the siding (the hail was peach-pit sized and bouncing halfway back up the height of the house) and the roof had wind damage on the top level -- so thank God we have insurance because CHA-CHING! Really happy with the way things went and had the siding done before our vacation. Getting lots of compliments from the neighbors and even the old owners love it!
Above :: I forgot to get a "before" picture and can't find one now either - but the siding was a very faded, 30-year old light blue, big 70s style pieces of aluminum. They put in insulation and then Tyvek wrapped the house.
Below :: CHA-CHING! The back corner of the house had water/mold damage from the sunroom gutter not being properly installed since, oh, probably 1997 or so. So the inspector wouldn't let them continue in that corner until we got a contractor out to fix it. Had to find a contractor, pronto, to do the work...had some issues with that and permits, etc, but it all got done.
The first 2x4 in was completely rotted out, it didn't even touch the ground anymore, so it got replaced; the subflooring was also rotting out from water damage so a good piece of it got replaced; the joint boards were replaced in that corner; the inside panelling had to be pulled off, cut down to remove the mold and was somewhat salvageable; the trim was just disgustingly moldy and had to be throw away (hmmm, mold is not good for someone with mold allergies, weird). But the siding guys hopefully fixed it (thank you, Will!!!) and they totally ripped off that gutter and cut a new one, installed it with the proper pitch to go AWAY from the house and it doesn't run flush with the house, so if the water overflows because of such heavy rains, it will be outside onto the dirt. YIKES -- WHAT A FRIGGIN' MESS THAT WAS!!!!
View from the inside of the damaged corner subflooring.
All finished on the inside! Not too bad, considering!
New, dark grey siding and new white, non-slatted shutters (love them)! Looks like a whole new house!
CHA-CHING! Insurance only covered the top level of roofing and we didn't want them to a) be different ages and b) not match, so we got both levels done after vacation. It's the multi-colored shingles which give the roof lots of texture -- even a hint of green in there with the right sunlight. We had them take the ugly wooden widow's peak off the top level too, so the house actually
looks taller. Good thing because they had to replaced 3 sheets of plywood up there because where the wooden posts were, there was water damage -- go figure! Also had to replace some plywood in the back by the sunroom! Message here :: if you are getting an addition -- make sure they are doing it properly or you'll have BIG BIG problems 10 years down the line!
View of the back of the house all re-finished :-) So happy with it! Everything is nicely finished and caulked up -- love how even the water spiggots are trimmed and caulked, so pretty!
Above :: our neighborhood fox was ticked after a huge storm that morning and was cleaning herself off in the neighbor's back yard
James loves to help put away the dishes -- you gotta be quick to keep up with him though! One of his best chores along with "clean up" (which he has a song for)
James loved to watch the men pull out the ugly bushes from between the columns....prepping for (eventually) the new front porch that we want to add on (update :: just got the call today, permit has been approved, I rock and should be a contractor, I tell ya, first try). This whole project got delayed because the sewer pipe broke at the foundation and we had a LOT of sewer water in the basement (a separate post)...ended up being a good thing we dragged our feet a bit until summer on this because the sewer line comes out the front of the house and they would have needed to cut up our brand new concrete to get to it! Now we have a nice, long, gravel-supported sewer pipe with clean out valve outside to hopefully avoid this again!
Had them remove a bush-on-steroids from the corner (couldn't keep up with it) and move the rocks from up front to back here -- I think I'd do well with "gardening" in the southwest, as I LOVE this -- the less gardening, the better!
We survived the rapture and went to dinner at the Grand Victoria Casino Buffet with Gma Chele and Uncle John....thanks for getting stuck in an elevator there and taking us with your passes, Gma! Yummy :-) 
Above :: James got my camera, not too bad!
