The holes aren’t exactly in the roof. We had a feeling that something bad was hiding behind the aluminum on the fascia and soffits. The contractor suggested we leave it in place, but the gutters were all askew, we were doubtful. Our perseverance resulted in a $5,800 work order. Read addition to the original “fixed price” contract to replace all the existing fascia boards, and wrap the vented soffits with plywood.
The demo on the porch revealed something else we suspected. The porch roof isn’t connected to the house…at all. Whoever built it, just toe nailed the side roof supports to the house. As the workers were pulling off siding around those connections, they discovered that one side is now hanging by one nail and the other is just floating in space. Help. I need 2 x 4s right now! These are holding it up for now and they are going to build a couple of half columns up against the house to carry the load. Don’t even think about the nightmare if that roof had fallen on the head of anyone using our front door over the last ten years. Can you say lawsuit?
Ever seen knob and tube wiring? If you aren’t familiar with it, let me just say a few words. Ungrounded, aluminum, 15 amp, fire hazard. This stuff has got to go. While directly connecting aluminum knob and tube to modern copper wire is a really bad idea – special insulated wire nuts are used to make the connection safely – we are lucky that there is modern wire running to a junction box right at the front porch wall. All we need to replace is a few feet.
Still think there might be some good news? Well there is. Replacing the porch ceiling with new bead board was already planned. It’s a good thing considering what the old ceiling looked like after the workers removed the vinyl that was installed over it. And, this project is allowing us to take an interesting walk through the many colors of the house’s history. Right now, the house is a conventional gray with white trim. However at one time it was apparently robin’s egg blue with dark brown trim. Was this the result of a conscious choice or a paint sale? Guess we will never know.
The holes aren’t exactly in the roof. We had a feeling that something bad was hiding behind the aluminum on the fascia and soffits. The contractor suggested we leave it in place, but the gutters were all askew, we were doubtful. Our perseverance resulted in a $5,800 work order. Read addition to the original “fixed price” contract to replace all the existing fascia boards, and wrap the vented soffits with plywood. 
The demo on the porch revealed something else we suspected. The porch roof isn’t connected to the house…at all. Whoever built it, just toe nailed the side roof supports to the house. As the workers were pulling off siding around those connections, they discovered that one side is now hanging by one nail and the other is just floating in space. Help. I need 2 x 4s right now! These are holding it up for now and they are going to build a couple of half columns up against the house to carry the load. Don’t even think about the nightmare if that roof had fallen on the head of anyone using our front door over the last ten years. Can you say lawsuit? 
Ever seen knob and tube wiring? If you aren’t familiar with it, let me just say a few words. Ungrounded, aluminum, 15 amp, fire hazard. This stuff has got to go. While directly connecting aluminum knob and tube to modern copper wire is a really bad idea – special insulated wire nuts are used to make the connection safely – we are lucky that there is modern wire running to a junction box right at the front porch wall. All we need to replace is a few feet. 
Still think there might be some good news? Well there is. Replacing the porch ceiling with new bead board was already planned. It’s a good thing considering what the old ceiling looked like after the workers removed the vinyl that was installed over it. And, this project is allowing us to take an interesting walk through the many colors of the house’s history. Right now, the house is a conventional gray with white trim. However at one time it was apparently robin’s egg blue with dark brown trim. Was this the result of a conscious choice or a paint sale? Guess we will never know.
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