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Removing the siding and re-insulating
| As the electricians and roofers were busy on the roof and inside the house, I was outside, tearing off the old wood siding with my father. The initial plan was to simply replace the sheets in poor shape, but… we ended removing everything (this is about to become a tradition in this house). It was in fairly poor shape overall, and this gave us an opportunity to re-insulate the entire house. It tooks about six full hours to remove the old siding (2 people). While removing old insulation is not a very fun thing (make sure to cover your whole body to avoid contact of insulation dust with your skin), it is not hard either. And putting in the new one is a breeze. New insulation makes a huge difference, in winter as well as in summer - modern insulation (RG-13) is much more efficient than what they were using in the seventies. I’d never thought that new insulation on the roof and in the walls could make such a dramatic difference… the house is now cool inside (it’s July, scorching hot and the house was a bit stuffy until these changes) - who needs air conditioning? Ah, the new siding is on order from Eichler Siding which is the only source of this groovy siding (we have the thinline type)… |  |
Enough talking
… time to get into some action! I will start by tearing off the kitchen this week.
Just went to Home Depot to pick up the tools I’ll need:
- crowbar
- hammer
- reciprocating saw
- cold chisel
- protection gear: glasses and gloves
I picked up a Ryobi 18V cordless kit (reciprocating saw, circular saw, driver/drill, flashlight). Will probably not last too long, but what do you expect at this price (less than $200)?
One year later: was this kit the right choice?
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It definitely wasn’t a bad choice: all the tools are still in working order despite numerous abuse and intensive use. That by itself is quite a performance. One of the batteries is dead though (shows full charge after 2 minutes on the charger and then runs out in less than 5 minutes of use).
I have no complaint on the reciprocating saw - great tool. The driver is a little heavy on the wrist and doesn’t have a great balance. The circular saw was useful on the outside wood sidings and to crimple studs - but don’t expect to be able to go through solid wood with it. I ended up buying a corded one. All in all, this kit is decent. But it’s a minimum for serious work. And anything less than 18V is definitely not an option. If I had to replace these tools now, I’d probably go for something like a Bosch combo - but it’s at least twice the price of the Ryobi! |
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This book spared me some embarassment
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I would strongly recommend you pick up that book if you do not have much experience with tools.
I know. You’re dubious about trusting Home Depot when it comes to writing books. Believe me, they got it right there. I particularly like the fact that they have a dictionary with pictures of all the tools. Now I can finally go to the store and ask for tools by name. What a relief! (have you ever tried to describe to a vendor “that tool that kinda of look like this and you use for this and that”?). Some people dismiss it as not detailed enough. They’re not entirely wrong - it is quite high-level: general steps, tools etc. But the photos are quite informative and you get a good feeling of the work involved in such or such task - very helpful for planning and deciding whether or not you’re ready to take up the work on your own. When you need actual details, you can always ask your favorite contractor, a friend, or the Internet. I wouldn’t recommend the book on bathrooms from the same collection though - it adds little value over this one. |
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