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...and here's the after picture. The front porch makeover was covered in a previous thread 118879.1 . Although, I did put a first coat of lacquer concrete finish on the walkway this visit, a 2nd coat on the porch, and a coat of marine spar varnish on the handrails.
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Edited 7/31/2009 10:50 pm by Huck
The gable was plain and unimaginative. There was some stucco kind of gooped in the offset where the gable siding transitioned from the stucco finish below, and it had been falling out. Once the porch project was finished, the gable needed to be brought into balance with it.
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So the first thing I did was install a round gable vent. $37 at the local Big Box.
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Then I explored some decorative options for trimming it out (by searching photos on the internet). This is the design I came up with. Sorry if there is some distortion.View ImageView Image bakersfieldremodel.com
I cut it to fit tight, caulked it well, and nailed it in.
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Here's my basic trim pattern, cut from 1/2" plywood
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test fit
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Then I added a second layer of plywood, glued with exterior grade wood glue, and clamped to dry.
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and then a third layer of detail, cut from 5/8" clear redwood
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piffin screws countersunk from the back all the way through all 3 layers
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The back was ground with a sanding disc on a grinder, to compensate for the fact that the vent flange wasn't a hundred percent flat.
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two coats of fiberglass resin (no fiberglass) on the front, sanded well, and one coat on the back.
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I took some bondo, and filled in the gaps in the siding behind the trim, so that there wouldn't be any place for moisture to accumulate behind it. I smeared some around the flange too, and sanded it when dry.
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The gable siding was nailed with vinyl coated sinkers, and as you can see in the previous photo, they were rusting. So I countersunk them with a nail set, painted resin on the holes, filled them with bondo, sanded, touched up with spackle and sanded again, then painted the gable.
I primered the trim piece, caulked the back side on the top half and along the sides (not the bottom, so if any moisture got behind it, it wouldn't be trapped), then I countersunk some screws through the trim into the studs. When I did, it squished out a little bead of caulking around the edges top and sides, so that worked out perfect. I tooled it with my finger and a damp cloth.
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Edited 8/1/2009 3:10 am by Huck
OK, so I'm about halfway there. The gable color is a primer coat, not the exact color the finish coat will be, but close.
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Next, I built a mockup of the horizontal trim detail from redwood 2x4's and 5/8" clear redwood.
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I included a drip kerf.
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then I built the real thing, 18' 2" long. I coated it with two coats of fiberglass resin before adding the dentils, because I knew sanding would be much easier that way, and fiberglass resin needs a lot of sanding - it doesn't tend to lie real flat. Someone recommended a liguid epoxy with self-leveling compounds, maybe I'll try it sometime.
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I scarf cut the bottom joints at 45 degrees, and butted the top piece joints. I glued everything, and nailed it up with finish nails. It felt very strong and rigid when it dried. The bevel on the top piece worked out to 27 degrees. I wanted a half inch vertical surface facing the street, and a half inch horizontal surface on top, to butt up against the siding.
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the dentils were precoated with fiberglass resin, then when the time came, they were "glued" to the trim with fiberglass resin, shot with finish nails, and then puttied with bondo and sanded.
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When I chipped out the sloppy stucco they gooped up against the siding, I found raw wood exposed. So I pried out the bottom plank of siding, and found black paper behind it about 3" up in places, an inch or so in other places. So I worked some flashing paper up behind the black paper.
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Nice touches... what's flashing paper?http://www.tvwsolar.com
We'll have a kid
Or maybe we'll rent one
He's got to be straight
We don't want a bent one
He'll drink his baby brew
From a big brass cup
Someday he may be president
If things loosen up
We always called it sisselkraft paper - tar impregnated paper for flashing around windows.View Image bakersfieldremodel.com
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The galvanized nails were countersunk a little when I nailed them, then I bondo'd the holes, sanded, touched up with spackle and sanded.
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Everything was painted at this point.
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Edited 8/1/2009 3:28 am by Huck
The h.o. was pleased. She turned 92 while I was completing this project. She's threatening to hire me to build her a shade patio on the east side of the house, next.
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I put a coat of concrete lacquer on the colored walkway, it really brought the color back. I left the finish very rough, so that I could do this without any concerns about slippery-ness when wet. And a coat of marine spar varnish on the handrails (built from closet pole stock) had them glistening!
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Edited 8/2/2009 1:14 am by Huck
I had a little lacquer left over, so I put a second coat on the porch and steps.
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Edited 8/1/2009 5:37 pm by Huck
What is concrete varnish. I am guessing sometype of sealer, but I have never heard that term.Both epoxy resins and polyester resins are used on fiberglass.But polyester is more common. Polyester uses only a few drops of the hardener and if I am not mistaken it is the same bondo is polyester resins with fillers.Looks good.Now I you have to do is to get rid of the turquoise <G>. .
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
Edited 8/1/2009 2:03 pm by BillHartmann
sorry, I'm sure I probably used the wrong term. Its a lacquer formulated for concrete - they use it a lot on stamped concrete, when they're doing the stone look. The resin I used is polyester resin, now available at the Big Box store.
edited to add: this is the stuff I used on the concreteView Image
and this is the resin I usedView Image
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Edited 8/1/2009 2:30 pm by Huck
Now I you have to do is to get rid of the turquoise <G>.
Isn't that hideous? I think my sister did that one too. Problem is, when I think about painting it, I look at the surfaces its painted on. Interior casing on the exterior of the windows. 2x4 and 1x3 framing lumber for "fascia", and they stopped it short at all the corners. And I start thinking how that cr@p needs to be taken off, rather than just painted over. And so I don't just dive into a repaint.
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Edited 8/1/2009 2:45 pm by Huck
That looks great! I am somewhat mystified by your use of fiberglass resin though. It seems like a lot of work. I would have just sanded the wood smooth and primed and painted it. Does the resin make the surface smoother?Edit-I thought you were finished posting pics, Carry on.
Edited 7/31/2009 10:33 pm ET by Dam_inspector
I like it for weatherizing wood. Especially plywood, like the trim piece. Its used for boats and surfboards, so it is very moisture resistant.View Image bakersfieldremodel.com
Very nice!
Thanx for sharing.
Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Thanks, things have been so slow here, this project on my mom's house was a welcome fill-in from doing nothing. Phone not ringing.View Image bakersfieldremodel.com
Looks good!
I've been following this since the porch thread, thanks
for sharing. The siding under the right hand window (that ends at left window) seems out of place now. Any plans to alter that?
Yeah, that's been bugging me too for awhile. Probably get to it eventually. I'd really like to strip the front wall down to the studs, and re-do it from the gable down.
She's pretty adamant about the patio/shadecover on the east side of the house being next - the sun on that side is blinding in the mornings.
My sister used to live there for several years, and had a bunch of overpriced and substandard work done on the house. I would have gladly done a better job for less money, but she never called me once. Go figure.View Image bakersfieldremodel.com
The trim was primered, clamped in place under the flashing (which was trimmed), then nailed up with 16d galvanized nails. I won't caulk this trim, because any moisture behind the siding will work its way out along the top edge, and if any moisture got behind the trim, it will work its way out along the bottom edge. I backprimed it before installing.
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