Siding continued Tuesday and Wednesday. It seems every remaining façade carries a new challenge, and each afternoon we set ourselves a goal to get past a tricky spot by end of day. When the sun went down we switched on headlamps and kept working until the job was done.

Here’s a crucial tool for snapping a stubborn piece of siding into the hook below: the Side Sculptor. When a window comes very close to the edge of a façade, it leaves a short space for the vinyl siding with little room to pull down by hand. The Side Sculptor is not a fitness program, but a simple hooked lever that helps pull the bottom edge of the vinyl into place. Plus, I used the Side Sculptor to remove a too-short piece of siding that I’d built into a wall before catching my mistake, and then I used it again to install a replacement piece without disturbing the surrounding vinyl.

The Side Sculptor!

We blundered more dramatically on the south wall of the Barn. This façade comprises two sections of wall which connect when they meet above the breezeway roof. We sided the two sections independently, forgetting that the nailing flanges needed to line up… until two courses below the connection we measured the remaining distance and realized our error. The only recourse was to tear out all the siding on one section down to the slab, and restart it with a cut piece to match the other section. Terry sure works fast when he’s frustrated. We cut pieces at 18 degrees to match up with the breezeway roof on both sides; what a relief to get over the top.

The section we had to pull out and start over.

Successfully over the top of the breezeway roof.

It was fun working in snow showers Wednesday. I’ll take snow any day over cold rain and its bone-chilling soak. We made it over the first-floor windows on the east façade, and then we took today off. Happy Thanksgiving!

More snow.