Monday, October 26, 2009

Scaffolding is up!

I helped our mason erect the scaffolding.  We ended up erecting enough to just reach the peak of the roof on the side dormer.  In order to do the stucco work, we didn’t need to go that high, but there’s a loose piece of trim that some birds are getting access to our attic through, and I thought I might as well fix that at the same time.  Here is a picture of the scaffolding.

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We only needed 35 ft in height (7 sections).  The scaffold is tied to the house in 8 different places, all with heavy gauge wire to bolts either screwed into wooden members or screwed into expanding lag nuts in between masonry.  For extra support, we have some sand bags placed around the bottom (so it isn’t too top heavy).  The structure barely moves when you’re at the top.  The mason has a safety harness with lanyard and he has spent considerable time working from heights (rebuilding chimneys from above the roof line).

Here are a few pictures of our neighborhood taken from the top of the scaffolding.

The old Ottawa Women’s College (now a condo development):

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Our roof (you can see the old and new portions) looking over to the United Church nearby:

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  A nice picture of the new portion of our roof:

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A picture looking down onto our new standing seam metal roof over the side sun room:

IMG_1506  The top peak that needs to be repaired to prevent birds from entering our attic (it’s worse than I thought):

IMG_1507 Here are a couple pictures of the stucco that needs repairing:

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Here’s a picture of a window sill that I repaired (see previous posts) using a wood epoxy and filler.  You might notice that the storm is installed but the interior double-hung window is missing.  It’s in my workshop awaiting repair.  The sill is just primed for now, it will be repainted at a later date:

IMG_1512 Here’s the other window sill that has been epoxied and filled, but not  sanded or painted yet (it’s on the list).  The storm for this window was just reglazed and is awaiting installation so I can remove the double-hung for additional repair:

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4 comments:

  1. Looks like you are moving forward.

    The standing seam metal looks nice. Did I mention that my roofer is going to go with flat seam copper for the problem area on the back of my roof? It should work out, I think.

    Getting up the the high parts is the real challenge. I keep debating whether I want to attempt any of it myself. It's just that I'd rather not given all my spare money for the next four years to my roofer - but at the same time, I want the stuff done right.

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  2. I wish we could afford copper for the standing seam roof, but it was just too expensive. I always thought that scaffolding was a major undertaking, and while it was almost a full day effort to get it erected, it is totally worth it. We're already discussing plans to rent more in the spring when we get back to painting the house. We'll probably just arrange to have it onsite for a month or two. At a cost of about $500 for the entire spring/summer (4-5 months), it will simplify our painting and restoring efforts.

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  3. So nice to see you back again, and tackling interesting projects!

    That stucco is impressively bad. Thank goodness you're found somebody good!

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  4. Hi, just wanted to say great blog! I have a similar vintage house in Old Ottawa South which from your descriptions and pictures has some similar features. Always fun and helpful to follow along someone's similar journey.

    I particularly liked your window tutorial, I had, in the past, looked quite a bit for something similar online found very little.

    Thanks again for sharing!

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