Trish Wright

Thank you Rufus, the water damage is below the window and slightly to the side. I'm 98.5% sure is the poor window trim that the guy did when I had the new windows installed 9 years ago. Some of it could be because of the AC in the window and the horrible driving rains we had this year too - at least the most recent signs of damage. I'm looking for siding options because it will be necessary to replace when I rebuild the front porch. Delaying repairing the porch is delaying my ability to begin planting shade trees to save on energy use. Plus, the house isn't well insulated. I will probably have to get the porch roof propped and take a closer look at the window when I pull the AC out - which will be very soon. Without pulling the exterior window trim off and having it redone ( I KNOW it isn't installed properly ) I won't be able to see exactly where the water is coming from. My plan is to have that done within the next month. Eventually I will need new siding so I'm just doing research to be prepared. The first side to be done will be the front when the porch is also done.

Dale, sadly I think you are correct. It's been frustrating living next to such disruptive people. This has always been a calm and peaceful neighborhood until they moved in. sigh. I've decided to look at it as a lesson in dealing with difficult people.

Righty right, Dale & John. I wasn't going to get too far off topic with that, but indeed that is what I, and the police, believe is happening. They just haven't been able to nail them yet. Domestic fights, loud, cursing, aggressive, 6 to 12 year olds. . . . . I've had to put up a fence to keep some peace between us because their children were constantly trampling thru my growing areas and their pit bulls kept coming over here. I have cats and chickens who stay in my yard and fear for their safety. Anyway, hopefully they will move soon. The fence at least has ended some of our heated discussions. The good thing is it inspired me to start a "Neighborhood Watch" and it is slowly creating a sense of community that has been lacking in the neighborhood. As a group, we are also working toward creating a children's learning garden at the neighborhood church and developing a community barter program. I'm hoping it can grow into much more. I love when something "bad" can spark something good.

Congratulations Amir! Please be sure to share your experience with the course. I enjoy seeing and learning from other people's projects and the process.

LOL, John, If I hadn't witnessed how they managed to destroy all of their lawn, I wouldn't believe it. They destroyed their yard with too many vehicles coming and going too frequently (literally as much as 20 times a day) and children on ATV's doing doughnuts repeatedly for days on end. They did try to re-seed part of it, but they couldn't get a garden rake to cut the surface (even with having one of their children standing on the rake head, lol). I bought my home 17 years ago and none of the other tenants that have lived next door have ever destroyed the yard. I'm hoping they will move soon.

I considered seed bombs, but it's so compacted and continuing to be that they'd never have a chance to grow.

Hi John, Hardiboard does look very nice and is a durable siding. I'm sure I'm not the only person with a conventionally built home trying to transition as much as possible. Practically rebuilding a home isn't going to be possible for a whole lot of people. Trying to make the best decision within the limitations and options. The other consideration that I didn't mention is dirt. As I showed in the last photos, when I rebuilt the back of the house, prior to discovering permaculture, I had vinyl siding installed. Since then new tenants have moved into the rental property on the west (prevailing winds for me) side of me. They have destroyed the lawn in their entire backyard. It's a big yard and now only compacted dirt. On windy dry days it's like living in the dust bowl and it has coated the vinyl siding horribly. The siding has a slight texture and is difficult to clean. I'm stuck with it for now, but I know I don't want the rest of the house sided with it. I can't move and I can't afford to completely rebuild. As it is, I can only afford to do one side at a time. I'm still unsure what the best choice will be. I'll get some pricing for Hardiboard too. The really uncertain part is what will be discovered when the current materials are removed. lol. Renovations are always exciting and frightening at the same time.

As a side note, I have contacted the adjoining property owner and asked him to repair his back yard but he's done nothing. I even contacted the city about the excessive dust and water coming onto my property causing some minor erosion, in an effort to get that soil covered, but they won't do anything either. So, I plan on building a hugel-berm to catch and better distribute the extra water and get some shrubs and trees growing to filter the dust.

oops, it didn't post the after photo.

Thanks Dale. The water has come in on the West side of the house near a window. The window in the photo with the AC in it. That's why I'm looking for new siding. We've had a lot of torrential rain this year, but it's clear from the inside plaster that there are longer term issues. I have a new (5 years ago) roof, gutters, fascia boards and drip edge. One piece of the aluminum siding to the left of the window has come slightly loose and the coil stock window trim isn't installed well. The front porch is ready to collapse. If it does, the roof coming down is going to do more damage to the house. I need to build a new front porch and replace the siding. Who knows what the aluminum siding is hiding. The back addition of the house had to be completely demolished and rebuilt about 8 years ago due to hidden mold in the walls. Studs had rotted thru completely. Once we opened up the walls and saw the problem, a simple interior renovation became a big project. And the exposure to all of that mold has given me severe emphysema. Luckily, I worked for a restoration company who specialized in mold remediation at the time and they helped me get the work done. The addition originally had a flat roof that I had raised to match the rest of the roof line to avoid future problems. The entire roof was replaced at that time. This work was all done prior to me discovering permaculture or I would have done it different.

Thank you Andrew. The lack of overhang has been difficult for many reasons, as I'm sure you know. I love Planet Repair's project! I've been researching the possibility of using a natural stucco finish. It could easily be installed without requiring huge renovations to the wall structures and is supposed to have good durability and life span. I've spoken with a contractor friend of mine who does plaster, drywall, stucco and dryvit. The costs for the stucco wouldn't be significantly more than vinyl siding (which I definitely don't want to use). Stucco could give me the option of doing some decorative work, so the aesthetics of stucco appeal more to me. There are some high quality siding materials out there. The cement board siding, made to look like wood siding, are nice but pretty expensive. I believe it's called Hardiboard. We used it on a residential construction development I worked on a few years ago. I think it needs to be painted so there would be that maintenance factor.

I like your suggestion of using black barrels under the porch to gain thermal mass - and the multiple uses it would have. It certainly would be a big cost savings. I could possibly build some removeable panels for the lower part so in the summer I could have airflow under the porch. By making the porch run the full width of the house, the roof would shade the existing windows in summer. A benefit I don't currently have. I have two windows on the West side of the house and think Bahama shutters would be the way to go there. I have some young trees that will eventually provide good shade on that side.

Thanks again!!