BWW Project 15 gable repair

 BWW Project 15  Gable Repair

We loaded up the Jetta and headed north, planning to take four easy days to get to Door County.  The first night we rolled in just northwest of Montgomery and the best laid plans went off the rails.  We got a text from a neighbor in Madison that included a picture of the south gable end of our house, which has a bedroom window with a canopy over it, like several other windows.  A windstorm had gone through and a gust had caught the canopy and pulled the siding off the gable end.  There was a subwall behind but an open attic window was revealed.

There was rain expected in a few days, so that changed the agenda.  We booked it the second day all the way to El Paso, IL and rolled in the following day before lunch.  I got up there in the afternoon.  The roof to the left is the garage.  It is not, I found out, a walk-on roof.  It can be sat on gingerly, but I did not feel totally comfortable.  After detaching the side posts, I lowered the whole thing down to Cathy and then removed all screws.

We evaluaged the canopy, which was not damaged, but old and full of mold and moss.  We decided to spin it off rather than have to go up there and clean it in the future all the time.  

That made the job easier as did the fact that none of the siding pieces shattered.  I was able to detach the one from the canopy and the two others that went flying down into the yard.

When I went back up the next morning, I used a long handled hoe to clip up over the peak so I could always hold onto it while I leaned out and hung the siding.  A strip for the bottom edge of the canopy was left on and it can be seen in the after picture.  I can always go up and remove it if we don't like it there, but it strengthens and stiffens the piece.

Job done in time for the rain to come, off we went to Door County as previously planned, with project fifteen intervening.  The left window is not broken, but the little plastic divider, which makes it look like it has six panes, fell in from the pressure.  It just clips back onto the frame.

We had no damage to the wall inside which means that no rain came with the windstorm and, thanks to that neighbor, we caught it before damage could be done.