Farmhouse Renovation: Month 5

If you are new here, we are in the process of renovating a c.1900 Iowa farmhouse that we purchased about 5 months ago, and to be honest I thought we would be pretty much done with this project by May 1st. Well, as you all know, a world-wide pandemic came along and threw everyone’s plans for 2020 out the window.

I was torn on even writing this update, I mean there are much more important things you could be reading right now. Ultimately I decided to proceed, to try and provide a sense of normalcy for myself and maybe a 5 minute break from reality for my readers.

Over the last month, we have made huge progress on the outside of the house, installing new siding, sofitt and fascia. You will notice the black sofitt (overhang of the roof) on the old section of the house, and white on the new section. We also have white vertical siding for the front of the home, which is actually going up tomorrow, weather permitting. Here is a close up photo of the sofitt, so you can see the difference.

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I really wanted to do something different for the original section of the home, to make it stand out, and I think the contrast of the black sofitt is exactly what was needed. I really wanted to install vertical siding on the entire house, but it’s so much more expensive than horizontal, and wasn’t really in the budget. Either way, the home will look amazing with an all new exterior.

In fact, I dug up an old photo of the house that we took right after we bought it and I will add it below for comparison. There’s quite a difference from a few months ago!

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This was taken right after we closed on the house!

This was taken right after we closed on the house!

With the completion of the vertical siding on the front of the house this week, all that remains for exterior work is the front decking and posts. And of course some landscaping, but this is Iowa so we can’t do much of that until late May. Maybe some flower shops will be open by then!

Well that is all i have for this update. Again, thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by the blog, we really appreciate seeing all of your support. Wherever you are in the world, I hope you are staying safe and healthy.

Until next time,
Rachael