more progress, and some engineering prowess

Today was just beautiful, so I worked outside all day. The next two days are going to be iffy. I figured I ought to take advantage of the sun while it's here.

So the first thing I had to do was trim those damnable clapboards so that my second piece of trim would fit. I got a piece of scrap and just started at the top, marking the clapboards and slicing or sawing them as needed, all the way down. I picked up the pre-cut piece of trim, wedged it in right, smacked it gently into place and nailed that sucker in place. I was so thrilled, I cannot tell you.

I put two more pieces of trim up at the outside corner, then went home for a lunch break. I bought some solid stain, too, so I am painting the trim before I put up the clapboards and drip paint/stain all over them. Some days I am really clever.

But the marvel of today was the staging I rigged. Now, I have staging on site. It's just at the other end of the sun porch, and it is set up exactly where the metal guy needs it to be. Besides, I'll need it there in a day or two when I get down to that end.

So I needed to get up high today, but not high enough to require my extension ladder. Higher than either stepladder would get me, though. Hmmm. Well, I have some saw horses and some planks... but the ground is uneven, so I'll wedge some boards underneath for stability, then lay the planks across the saw horses, but then I need to reach over there. Hmm. Well, I have a 16-foot staging plank around the corner of the house that I can use. But what do I put it on so I will be able to reach? I know, scramble, scavenge, scramble, assemble, cross my fingers and tada! Staging! Sort of. Hey, it got me where I needed to be. And I could put the short stepladder on the planks on the saw horses and reach the top if the trim to stain it. So there. Nyah. Take a look at this marvel of Yankee Ingenuity:


So I got the trim up and hit it with a first coat of stain, and then I got the clapboards up. Take a look at how my first effort in that regard came out:


Not too shabby, eh? Here's another look:


I am exceedingly proud of my engineering abilities and the fact that I did not break my neck. Depending on what the wind is doing tomorrow (they're predicting 45 mph gusts!) I'll either try to finish siding this side of the sun porch or I will sand the trim inside. The owners are due back next week. I am trying very hard not to panic, and only having moderate success.