Phase 3 has begun

Before I go any further, I'll explain what we are going to try to accomplish and why.  

When I saw the property for the first time, I knew this was where I wanted to live. However, the house was in terrible shape. I had just finished a major remodel in the U.S. and I did not want to do another one. I knew the house needed a lot of work just to make it livable. Erika and I did not want a log home. Log homes are high maintenance compared to a traditional style stucco home. This presented a huge problem. I loved the location, but I did not like the house. We tried to find other properties, but nothing compared to the incredible 360 degree views of Tsukahara. I had to have THIS property.

After five years of remodeling and trying to fix all of the leaks, we finally reached a point where enough was enough. It was time for more drastic measures…the third phase of the remodel. To satisfy our need to live in a home that would be as maintenance free as possible with no leaks required a different approach. I have been removing rotted logs, caulking cracks, and sealing everything. Nothing worked. We still had water penetrating our living area whenever the wind blew the rain sideways. The leaks occurred on the front and back sides of the house. An architect looked at our home right after we first moved in. He mentioned that it was possible to fix all of our problems by covering everything up with a secondary wall around the entire home. We thought he was out of his mind. Recently, the same idea came up again. This time instead of building a secondary wall we would use galvalume sheeting to cover the entire exterior including the roof. As I mentioned earlier, we don't like log homes. This solution would make most of the logs disappear and protect the exterior from the elements. We would have a home that could withstand the typhoon rains and look good for many years to come. Let's get started!

                     The first thing to go was the veranda. 

The veranda was removed. That's it folks until the scaffolding arrives on Monday. 

                 Most of the scrap will be used for future BBQ's. 

The rails were cut so that the existing holes are plugged. Most of the exposed logs will be covered with galvalume. I'll explain how this will be done in another post.

The scaffolding will be installed on Monday. The exterior remodel will take about six weeks to complete. Stay tuned…               George