flashing the windows

I think I’ve posted about this a couple of times, but I don’t think I’ve ever explained it.  So here’s the story of why my dad came out… 5 times (Is that right mom?) in the last 6 months! 

 

Our home was not built entirely correctly.  Well, not the windows at least; when they put in the windows they didn’t put a waterproof barrier (called window flashing) between the wood of the house and the window.  They also put brick trim around our windows, which would be fine IF we had brick around the windows!  The only place we have brick is on the bottom of the front of the house.  Brick trim comes out further than the window edge.  Well, that’s my understanding anyway, if you’ve done construction you’re probably shaking your head at me and my ignorance, sorry.

So what Dan and my dad did was (1) remove the existing (and in many cases rotting) trim/any other bad wood, (2) cut the siding to make room for the flashing, (3) install the flashing, (4) paint/cut new trim pieces that wouldn’t come out as far as the window, allowing the water to drain out the bottom of the window and down the outside of the house rather than under the window trim, under the siding and down the wall, and (5) caulk all of the edges,  

 

Their shenanigans from this trip were some of their craziest! I teased Dan that I should have signed up for the bigger life insurance policy on him before he went up on this scaffolding they made.

  

This was the scariest window, our master bedroom.  The other 3rd floor windows they could do from the deck, so this was the highest up and the largest window.  I don’t feel that these photos capture how high it really was, it was HIGH!

 

It was a weekend full of jimmy-rigging at its finest!  Check out this handiwork!!

A view from below, shows how they extended the platform of work space with another ladder and a piece of plywood. YIKES!

  

Here’s some photos I took of their other “safety” precautions:  1) my dad wore Dan’s climbing harness with a rope tied to our bed when working on that awful high window, 2) my dad brought these strong plastic strips with holes in them (can’t remember what the proper name is) to use to wrap around the ladder and screw into the wall so the ladders couldn’t fall away from the house.

 

3) they tied rope to the bottom of the ladders to a stake in the ground so the bottom couldn’t slide out,

 

This side of the house was hard because it’s all gravel and at a steep incline, but they sorted that out! 4) pieces of wood under the ladder feet to level it out and other pieces staked in around them so they couldn’t slide out.

 

That’s all the safety I saw.  Thankfully no one was hurt and hour house is much more water tight in preparation for winter.  I can’t thank my Dad enough!  We certainly could not have done this without him.  Dan was a great assistant and learned quickly, but my dad was the mastermind.  It seemed that all of my extended family already knew about our window project because my dad had told them all about it!  When we were home over the summer I was asked my many how the windows were coming.  My dad was worried about those windows and would not rest until they were finished!  He’s such a great man and always takes good care of his children.

Oh and the girls worked pretty hard too… NOT!

 

We were too stressed at the possibility of becoming widows to do much else but sit around the house.  Actually, I was much more stressed than my mom, I guess she’s used to my dad defying death.