Restoring My Home's Exterior
Alyse Hufford
You may have noticed I haven't posted much the past few months as I have been focusing on restoring my craftsman bungalow's exterior. When we bought our home, the former owners had unfortunately removed much of what makes a craftsman home charming - including built-in shelving, pocket doors, leaded glass windows, and of course the original door. While the home retained some character, we knew it would require a lot of TLC to bring it back to it's former glory.
House before with tired aluminum siding and windows
For the first few years, we focused on updating our home's interiors including a kitchen and basement remodel, adding a bedroom and bathroom, updating all the old knob and tube wiring, galvanized plumbing, and overhauling the backyard (there once stood a two story fiberglass RV garage). While we enjoyed our home with most of the interior work complete, whenever we pulled up to the front of our house, we would turn a blind eye to the tired white aluminum siding that had yellowed over the years and the picture frame aluminum windows that plagued us every Winter with condensation and pools of water on our window sills. We also soon realized after a mason inspected our exterior brick, that it had been neglected for so long that it would need new grout and some repair. It was time we addressed the exterior of our home by salvaging what we could and incorporating new materials to bring it back to life for 2016.
So to begin...here are the BEFORE photos :

After the aluminum siding is removed, it exposes the original ship lap. We recycled the aluminum siding. Chimney before restoration.
Exposed soffit and framing.

Aluminum covered our soffits and fascia boards.
Debris removal...this pile tripled in size by the time demo was complete.
Roof trusses exposed after siding removal. We were excited to see most could be salvaged or repaired.
Original window weights.
Installation of Hardie siding, bead board, and recessed lights.
Oh yeah did I mention a remodel is the perfect time to get a puppy? We got Sam in early December and couldn't be happier with the newest addition to our family.
Sam our French Bulldog
And here are the AFTER photos...
House exterior after
I really struggled with the gray paint. I think I went through 20 sample cans to find the warm gray I had in mind. I came across the color I inevitably went with after stalking nearby homes in the neighborhood. I kept driving by this one house and couldn't stop obsessing over the color. I was so brash I would take my sample swatches up to their house when I didn't see them home and try to match to the samples I had been collecting. After many failed attempts at making a match, I finally left a note and the nice owner was kind enough to call me with the details. They had painted their house with Sherwin Willimas Shipyard Gray (discontinued) and I had Sherwin Williams match it.
Back of home with new awning and porch railing.
Our 1925 garage even got a facelift with new siding and carriage style garage doors.
I couldn't be happier with the home's facelift and how it stands out. It was so washed out before and with the old braces, soffits, and brackets restored, it truly looks like it did when it was first built in 1925.
Front porch with new railings, beadboard, and canned lights.
For the front porch, we added Neutra black house numbers and a simple black mailbox. In the Spring, I hope to spruce up the porch with a DIY black porch swing and some potted agave plants flanking either side of the door.
The front yard could use some love too with boxwoods, ornamental grasses, and English lavender planted in the nearby flower beds however for now, I am just going to enjoy my old home and the many memories it will give my family.