Protecting Cottage Siding from Water and Planting Grass Seed in New Swale
Protecting our cottage siding from rain water and planting grass seed in the new swale was a lot of work, but so worth it!
After our brand new swale was put in, Nate noticed additional areas around the foundation that would be exposed to rain water and cause damage. This was mainly around the front of the cottage and around the attached garage.
TEMPORARY DIY “FIX” TO PROTECT SIDING FROM WATER
What he did was a totally temporary DIY “fix” by creating a “fake” foundation. This would keep the water at bay and away from the wood siding that was closest to the ground.
When he previously removed the siding that rested on the original siding, there was a metal tin like covering that became exposed on the bottom of the siding. He thought to replace it and secure it as best as he could. He purchased flashing to replace the “metal tin” around the siding. This would become like a barrier. It would protect the foundation and siding. Especially since we get a lot of heavy rains and flooding here in Texas.
Nate went around and removed all of the old metal tin first and then replaced it with the flashing. He focused on really getting it on there good so that water would not go inside of it. But also so that the bottom of the wood siding would not get wet and be protected.
I never even knew about anything like that around the foundation of a house. Watching him do that was very interesting! There is obviously a lot to learn when fixing up a fixer upper on your own.
USING METAL FLASHING TO PROTECT COTTAGE SIDING
There was no cement slab around the attached garage like there was around the house. This is where he decided to remove some of the siding on the attached garage first. Then put the flashing on. And finally put the siding back on. That way the flashing was not sticking out and exposed to the elements. It also looked really bad exposed and pointless to leave that way because water could just go in it.
He used a shovel to pull the old metal tin away from the siding. Then he just grabbed some pliers to pull it off quickly. Straight DIY style and probably not the recommended approach, but a fast way to just get the job done with tools nearby and handy.
The metal tin was like really sharp aluminum and I had to convince him several times to wear gloves to protect his hands. He finally took me up on my offer! I guess when you’re trying to get the job done, sometimes remembering to take safety precautions, which should be priority, seem to be tedious instead.
WORKING ON COTTAGE AESTHETICS
This was quite a job for Nate to get done and another detail to think about and consider as we are just chipping away at this fixer upper. Again, just learning as we go. Whatever we could think of and whatever project we could do next is what we did with limited time for planning and resources available. This was just one of the things that we wanted to take care of along with restoring the siding. We wanted to complete this task while we were also working on the sanding and priming of the house.
And of course, we wanted to do our best to make the outside of the cottage look as good as we could.
Nate worked around the side and back of the attached garage to place more of that metal flashing around it. He dug around the perimeter of the garage to be able to place the flashing lower and below the siding. This way the wood would not be touching the water on the ground when it rains or floods.
Nate called this a temporary fix to create a fake foundation to prevent water damage. It just acted almost like a barrier. He ended up spray painting it black, which gave it a nice aesthetic look. And later thought he could spray paint it brown to match the color of the soil and blend in better.
Once he was done putting the flashing around the garage and spray painting it black, he began to shovel the dirt back into the trenches he previously dug out. Especially because rain was in the forecast coming up. He wanted to make sure the rain went away from the house and not toward it into the trenches he dug. That is why he took extra time to work late into the night.
PLANTING GRASS SEED IN NEWLY COMPLETED SWALE
There was another storm coming and Nate was rushing to get some grass seed down before the storm came. That way the seeds could be fed with the natural rain water and start to grow all around our yard where the swale was put in. He was really running around trying to get it done as fast as he could at the last minute right before the storm hit. And yea, the storm really hit because it started to pour not too long after that. Just in time!
Protecting our cottage siding from water and planting grass seed in the new swale was something we had to figure out on our own. It’s still a temporary fix, but ya gotta do what you gotta do when working with limited time and resources. We did our best and continue to do so!
Philippians 4:19
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS
Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own. Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead!
You can also watch a video about this here.
To see more adventures of our tiny fixer upper journey, click on the links below.
