The North Side...

It is not enough that we have been scrambling to get the front of the house painted before it gets too cold...  We are also trying to get the north side re-sided.  We spent a day taking down a cinder block chimney, and a lot more time stripping off the siding, sealing gaps, putting up tyvec and picking up the siding.

We are using fiber cement siding, which looks like wood, but is termite and water resistant and non-combustible.  It is made of cement, sand and cellulose fiber.  It does require painting, but because it does not expand and contract in hot and cold weather, like wood does, the paint lasts longer than on wood siding.

We got the siding from MAKI because they had the best price.  The downside is that is comes primed in gray, so until we paint it, it looks from the photos pretty similar to the original clapboard.

Here are some progress photos...

Taking off the old siding...

More of the old siding 

Cutting the new siding to fit

It pays to have friends that are contractors...well it costs too, but the work goes that much faster!!

The Tyvec is done, the siding about 3/4...until next weekend...

More on the front...

We scored big at Rocky's Hardware Store in West Boylston.  The store is closing and everything is at least 30% off, including paint.  Yes they carry Benjamin Moore!  We bought northampton putty HC-89 exterior paint with white trim for the front of the house.  I have such a hard time picking paint...there is a disconnect between my mind and my eye.  This color is close to the color of the siding primer.  I thought about keeping the house white as it was originally, but there is so much detailed trim work that just doesn't stand out when everything is the same color.  We are keeping the door hunter green, the trim white and the body this color.  Now all that is left to decide is the decorative bracket color...

This color is part of the Historical Color collection. A collection of 174 time-honored hues comprises our most popular palette. Steeped in tradition, the refined, elegant colors of the Historical Collection deliver timeless color that can be used in traditional as well as contemporary spaces. Inspired by the documented colors found in 18th- and 19th-century architecture, these classic, inviting tones continue to serve us well today. http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/northamptonputty#ce_s=HC-89

More pictures when it is painted!