I recently completed a fun little remodeling project in downtown Ithaca. The homeowner wanted to delete the side door to her addition and install a new one on the backside so she can more easily access the sidewalk and her garage. This is her new entry door.
This is a photo of the addition before I began the work. This big window has to go to make way for the new door.
This is a view of the side of the addition before I began the work. I'll replace most of the siding and delete this door and transom.
The original siding was nailed to the studs which isn't air tight or water proof.
Adding sheathing to the face of the studs would require the subsequent replacement of the existing window trim and corner trim boards. So to contain the scope of work I'll install the sheathing flush to the face of the studs. This requires that I add blocking set about 7/16" back from the face of the studs.
Setting the depth of the blocking with a combination square.
Here is the new sheathing. It has a fancy green coating that keeps the rain out.
Flashing tape sealed to the sheathing covers up the gaps between the sheathing and the framing. This will keep the water out and help to air-seal the sheathing. Next I'll remove the old door, fill the old rough opening, strip the siding off the front of the addition and frame a new rough opening for the new door.
The new door is installed and zip sheathing set between the studs and taped. I fabricated a plinth block for the carriage light and added a PVC trim board backed with ice and water shield for extra water protection where the stone steps will contact the house.
A level line around the addition is helpful for laying out the siding elevations.
Measuring for the siding. I'm writing the length of each piece of siding on the wall with marker. Once I've measured for each piece of siding I will cut them all at my cut station.
Cutting the siding all at once is very efficient. When I'm done cutting, I'll prime the end-cuts and paint the siding with a coat of paint before nailing it up. The new siding is pre-primed cedar.
Laying out the fastener locations. A tape measure and the combination square help me mark where I'll be nailing each board. For the sections of wall that have irregular stud intervals (I nail the siding into the studs, not the sheathing) I'll make a story pole for ease of layout.
Pre-drilling for the nails eliminates the possibility of the nails splitting the fragile cedar siding.
A vertical story pole has the 4 7/8" lap siding reveal repeatedly marked from bottom to top. I will align the story pole with my level line from earlier and use the story pole to determine the elevation of each piece of siding.
I'm marking the overlap on a piece of siding. I'll align the bottom of the next piece of siding to this mark.
Nailing up the siding with stainless steel ring-shank siding nails goes pretty quick. The nails just barely miss the top of the underlying piece of siding. This will reduce the likelihood of cracks and splits from seasonal expansion and contraction of the siding.
Nails should be set flush to the face of the siding or just barely compressing the face of the siding. Any over-driven nails require caulking to ensure that the holes don't wick water into the wall assembly.
The new door requires a threshold on the interior to cover the gap in the tile floor where there was once baseboard. I'll fabricate one from red oak and finish it with flooring polyurethane.
The new threshold.
I hung new sheetrock, taped, mudded, sanded and primed. The homeowner is doing the painting herself. I patched in the baseboard where the old door was, trimmed out the cat door and installed casing around the new door.
The carpentry is all done. I can't wait to see this addition painted with its new stone steps! I took this photo while it was raining so you can see some blurry raindrops here and there.