The NE Corner. Some More Shingling.

Yesterday.

 

Today! The nail heads (top) will be covered by trim.

 

The round sash is being restored, and will soon match the one below!

 

To the left of the round window. The shingles are in better shape but are REALLY sorry-looking. I will scrape and sand them smooth to bare wood, remove all the nails, and glue together the cracked shingles. It would be a LOT easier to just paint them as is…but then I would not end up with a crispy house!

 

 

13 Comments

  1. Stewart McLean on July 22, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    Thank you for these simple posts. They provide me with positive energy when I feel it lacking.

    • Ross on July 22, 2018 at 8:20 pm

      Big hugs, Stewart!

  2. Sandra Lee on July 22, 2018 at 8:10 pm

    You have worked so hard for crispness & would not work to cut corners now– on the home stretch with top NE corner! Looks so nice & crisp:-)

    • Ross on July 22, 2018 at 8:20 pm

      Thanks, Sandra!

      The top-most part is the hard part. The cornices are a lot of work, and the shingles are in poor condition at the top.

      Once this “level” is done, moving down should go quickly.

      I am living for the NE corner to be finished!

      • Sandra Lee on July 23, 2018 at 11:06 am

        I am so glad about this progress & so so happy for you!!

  3. Miriam Righter on July 22, 2018 at 8:57 pm

    How do you glue the shingles together? I caulked the cracks on mine. Is there a better way?

  4. Karen Spencer on July 22, 2018 at 9:26 pm

    You go Ross! It’s all about the crispy! Your house gets more beautiful daily.

  5. Hilliary on July 22, 2018 at 10:45 pm

    The Cross House gets crispier every day!

  6. Miss-Apple37 on July 23, 2018 at 3:30 am

    Great work Ross! Can you please remind me the method you use for scraping them? Do you use chemical paint stripper? With paper on it? Thanks!

    I’m currently stripping a door and i used a heatgun because chemical stripper was of no use, but i see that it tends to “burn” the wood sometimes, and i know how you said heatguns can be dangerous and ignite a fire. But i don’t think that in France we have chemical strippers with special paper to put on to keep it moist while they’re doing their magic. See the door here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Blis2-zl70S/?taken-by=missapple37

    Thanks for your help!

    • Allison on July 23, 2018 at 11:03 pm

      Hi Miss Apple – I just followed you on Instagram 🙂 I also have been stripping a door for a ridiculously long time…you have a beautiful door! Do you have Citristrip in France? That is what I’ve been using.

      BTW, I was just in France for the first time this spring, and fell in love with it.

      • Miss-Apple37 on July 24, 2018 at 6:59 am

        Hi Allison, I just checked and no we don’t have Citistrip. The heatgun works well but the center panels of the door also have wallpaper in between the layers of paint. The time-consuming process is obviously the “mouldings” (not sure about the word?!) all around the panels.

        Tell me more about where you’ve been to France!! (on IG rather than here lol!)

  7. Dan Goodall-Williams on July 23, 2018 at 5:47 pm

    Ross, you are so detail oriented. I love it. Terrific work.

  8. Jason on July 25, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    I’ve been reading this blog fanatically for weeks now. I finally got to the latest post! Ross, the work you have done on this house is just incredible and it makes me happy to see someone put the effort into saving such a glorious Queen Anne. I absolutely love old houses. My favorite styles are Tudor, Kansas City Shirtwaist and Queen Anne. Here in Kansas City so many are just left to fall into ruin. It seems we only have a few neighborhoods where people are making efforts to keep these houses going. The Tudor houses in the Waldo/Brookside area of KC,MO are just unbelievable. And we have some really old Victorians in the Pendelton Heights neighborhood. But what you’re doing here is just monumental. This house is huge! I fear by the time you finish painting it it will be time to paint it again!

    Your design taste is incredible sir. I love what you did with that parlor. Version 1.0 blew my mind and then you decided to switch it up and I was like “oh no… what is he doing…” And then I saw the end result and it was a million times better than the first way. The extra flourishes in the exterior paint have all been improvements too. I confess, I love the wild, crazy “painted lady” Queen Anne houses. But your look is so much better than any wild art student Victorian I’ve seen around here. So beautiful sir!

    Also, I was really let down when you announced the AirBnB idea. I screamed out “No! What are you doing?” and was so relieved when you decided room mates were a better option. The house has spent nearly it’s whole life as a motel in some way or another and practically never as a normal residence. I’m glad you decided to keep it as a regular house instead of the BnB idea.

    Your obsessive grinding away of old paint scares the hell out of me (lead paint is dramatically dangerous!) but the end result is nothing short of astounding. Please stay safe!

    Thank you for doing this blog. It’s been a blast to read. I hope to someday see the house in person. If you wrote a book about this whole endeavor I’d definitely buy it.

    Cheers from Kansas City!

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