Heather's House

July 2003

It's been a long time since I worked on my house. Instead of putting up siding or finishing painting the interior, I've been hiking from Key West Florida, to Newfoundland, Canada. You can read about my trip on my other website, at www.HeathersikingHiatus.com

I'm currently at home in Vermont, earning money. I needed to come home and work so I could afford to pay my taxes and have enough money left over to travel on. I've also been working on my house while I'm home.  If you've wondering what I've been doing:

Spruce siding on the east wall

Partially stained siding on the south wall

I came home on May 19th. I hope to be back on the trail within the next few weeks....sometime in August at the latest.

In the meantime I've been keeping busy as a carpenter for local folks. After work I come home and fiddle with personal projects. Not one to focus on only one project at a time, I'm currently refinishing my 17 foot sea kayak. But back to the house .... it's really coming together!

I've been staining my siding as I put it up. It is so neat to see rain bead up and roll off my siding! The finish is guaranteed for 5 years, so hopefully I won't have to deal with my siding again for a long time.

A note about siding - order it as you need it. I ordered enough for my entire house back in May of 2002. It's been siting up on blocks underneath my house for more than a year. 99% of it is ok, but there are a few icky boards that got a little moldy/dirty/wet. Of course, I had money back then. I could afford to order it. If I needed more siding now, it would have to wait a few more years. :-)

Siding is just one of those things that gets put off for months - even years. You'll notice that on almost every

owner-builder or professional carpenter's house, there is always a piece of the building that still needs its siding.