We are so close to completing the exterior of the house I can hardly stand it. Sitting at work is torture knowing that we are just eight hours of labor away from finishing up and finally moving our attention inside.

Saturday was an exciting day. We had periods of torrential rain that would cause most DIYers to duck, cover, and take the day off...but not us! We tarped the back of the house and pressed on! We managed to finish the gable without much of a fuss. Unfortunately we had to use the regular lap siding in the back gable rather than the shingles that we installed in the front and side gables due to a lack of materials. Our constant craigslist creeping paid off when we found a guy selling bundles of Hardie Shingles for $50. It was basically $500 worth of shingles so we pounced on the deal before considering whether or not it would net us enough material to finish the job. Result: lap siding in the back gable. Oh well.

By the end of the day Sunday we had installed our new Bilco basement door and all of the trim across the back of the house, which means, SIDING! Siding goes up so quick and easy it gets you the most "oooh and ahhh" factor for the least amount of sweat/time. I love putting up siding.

Hopefully next time we post we'll be inside!

Our house looks like a house!

FINALLY! The siding on the south and east sides are 95% finished. There is a stop sign on our front lawn and for the last few weeks we've had to live with everyone stopping and looking at house with a mixture of disdain and pity. Not so anymore! Now all the front windows (seven) and doors (who else has two front doors?) are installed and, aside from a small strip of siding next to the right front door, we are done. It's enough to bring a tear to my eye.

Now we are focusing our attention to the north side and the rear of the house. Our north side borders some state land and our backyard borders the expressway so needless to say it's not nearly as fulfilling to finish up these parts of the house. But finish it we must.