What wood should I specify for the fascias?

[biffvernon]

Guilty as charged. But come on, Lynn, it's tough specifying materials at 4000 miles. What is the local external joinery timber (or is it lumber?) in Wisconsin?

According to this list cedar is one of the cheaper timbers in Wisconsin and there's no poplar, or is it called aspen?

Do share with us your local knowledge about Wisconsin forest products.

 

[Penners]

Lynn - I resent your comment about being duped. The suggestion to use cedar for that application was a perfectly valid one. But there is no such thing as a single definitive answer to the great majority of questions posted here. In the current matter, you could decide between a number of different timbers according to (a) your personal preference, (b) the appropriate choice for local styles (c) price... and so on.

Why you should feel that a British forum is the best place for an answer to these very local questions, I don't know. But everyone here is happy to give you their opinion - and these opinions will often vary, just as buiilding techniques vary enormously.

It's entirely up to you whether you want to follow suggestions made here. Just kindly don't get arsey about them.

 

[GK]

All this talk about the suitablility of a particular timber for a specific purpose can be confusing.

Rafters are usually dry throughout their life whilst facia boards are frequently wet.

Poplar in all its various species is described by TRADA as Not Durable and suggested uses are all interior. In the UK there seems to be a vogue for calling it tulipwood and that is certainly used for kitchen manufacture.

I bet there are millions of board feet of old "redwood" facia boards surviving perfectly well, this is described as Slightly Durable, and suitable for exterior joinery.

TRADA is a UK based organisation.

 

[Penners]

Poplar in all its various species is described by TRADA as Not Durable and suggested uses are all interior. In the UK there seems to be a vogue for calling it tulipwood.

Maybe calling it tulipwood makes it more poplar.

 

[Lynn]

Lynn - I resent your comment about being duped. ...

Why you should feel that a British forum is the best place for an answer to these very local questions, I don't know.

Just kindly don't get arsey about them.

I didn't see much room for splitting hairs on this one and so used the word duped. Since you were so sure on the other thread and so silent on this one, it led me to challenge what was going on. I don't think there is any harm in keeping a forum thoughtful, reflective, honest.

I travel to this site because you folks work with materials that are largely not used here and are forgotten. Kudos to you all for keeping the old traditions and materials and recipes and particular techniques alive and in use in the UK. I don't think you understand what a unique set of skills you are tending and that it can be of help in the wider world--well beyond the small world of UK listed properties. I would encourage a generous spirit as people show up from other places because plastic window and fiberglass stucco will win the day if there isn't a critical mass of people resisting and speaking for traditional materials. I see my little town with new eyes since being educated on this site, and so can take action with our local historic preservation group. Even my neighbor who owns a large stucco has inquired about limewash instead of using alkyd primer and latex paint and of course filling cracks with caulk.

Well enough said. I've tried to contribute to the site from what little I know, I have tried to nail down in some threads what you folks say in widely dispersed threads, I've suggested that FAQs would help new people to not run over the same ground, and I've tried to crack a joke or two. If , in a rare moment, I get arsey, then I have to offer that I'm not the first one on this site and I meant no harm to this fine forum on restoration.

GK's post a particularly good example of quality technical information.

 

[Penners]

GK can always be relied on for comments and answers based on knowledge and experience, as can a number of other members of the forum.

The rest of us offer what we can, when we can, to the best of our knowledge and experience. And in most cases there is no definitive "right" or "wrong" in the answers - just different approaches to the same problem.

If someone offers you an honestly held opinion on a question that others answer with a different point-of-view, I suggest you don't snap at them. That's not thoughtful, reflective, honest. It's rude.

 

[Moo]

the small world of UK listed properties.

'Small' as compared with ... ?

 

[biffvernon]

Wisconsin, presumably.

The total land area of the state is 56,154 square miles, which includes 1,439 square miles of inland water.

Wisconsin has nearly 15,000 inland lakes and 33,000 miles of rivers and streams. It is bordered by two of the Great Lakes (Michigan and Superior) and the Mississippi River.

Door County has more miles of shoreline (250 mi.), more lighthouses (10), and more state parks (five) than any other county in the United States.

Big Manitou Falls at Pattison State Park in Superior is the highest waterfall in Wisconsin at 165 feet.

Northeastern Wisconsin’s Fox River is one of the few rivers in the nation that flows north.

The largest Indian reservation in Wisconsin is the Menominee Reservation with 234,900 acres.

The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is a scenic chain of 21 islands in Lake Superior just off the tip of Bayfield County.

Located near Ogema, Timm’s Hill is the state’s highest elevation at 1,951.5 feet.

The Kickapoo River, located in Crawford County, is known as “the crookedest river" in the world.

Just in case anyone didn't know that.

More Wisconsin trivia.

 

[Penners]

The Kickapoo River, located in Crawford County, is known as “the crookedest river" in the world.

I reckon the brethren of Wisconsin must have been pretty desperate for factoids to come up with that one. But maybe not quite as desperate as when they claimed:

Sheboygan is the “Bratwurst Capital of the World.”

 

[Lynn]

Well I'm back from my limewash project. A garbage can of limewash is finally all used up. Probably about 15-20 gallons, although I'm not sure how much splashed on the ground when all is said and done, but I am done for the season because it is getting chilly out there and we expect a wintery mix by Wednesday. I finished the house except for the desperate north side that has a peak 3 stories tall that may require a cherry picker God help me next year.

As for the Kickapoo it is in my backyard as it were and it is indeed crooked:

http://www.crookedriverresort.com/kickapoorivermap.html

and this aerial is on the lower reach which is not as crooked as that in the north, but alas it is a poor place and aerial photos are not cheap, so this is what is available.

You may also have heard of the shooting at the school in Cazenovia, which is a town nearby. So many sad things these days--we reap what is sown indeed. So be kind to each other, thanks for the help in getting my project right--of course time will tell and if the winter winds strip the lime right off I'll come back to complain and set the record straight. But it does look so nice right now. My plan is to rest my back, and get back to breaking it with my bassoon playing that has suffered because of this project.

btw, no one ever did tell me what color to paint my shutters and that was my main question coming here. I'm still waiting for a book on a slow boat from the UK about Georgian home design. (I've been waiting 2 months already) It has lots of pictures and I'll figure it out...when it gets here...cheers all

 

[Penners]

I finished the house

How about some pictures?

 

[Mark]

I had assumed that various comments which seem to have got people heated were tongue in cheek ?

I suppose that irony sarcasm etc dont travel well at the best of times, let alone on the web.

As to the shutters ? Green. Definitely, Absolutely. Green.



















Or Blue.

 

[Mark]

But they are made of Chestnut arent they ?



Oh!



I see.





Red then.

 

[Lynn]

Well, in my most American accent, You guys....

I think pictures often don't convey the change, but here are a couple shots of the result.

http://web.mac.com/chakoianfamily/iWeb/Site%207/Photos.html

If you click the pictures they appear in a new window in larger format.

The dormers and chimney were stuccoed by the previous owner with that fiberglass kind of material. I'll have to decide next year (when I have that cherry picker on hand) how to match the color on the house. I think limewash would stick, but I don't know how long it will last and that is a difficult part of the house to maintain. Best solution would be to replace the stucco and then limewash, but if it isn't seriously broke, I'm thinking we might not fix it now. Really a shame what people do to old houses, but no need to sermonize to the choir.

As for the shutters and metal railing, I'll wait for the book to see what looks appropriate. I got the link to the book from being around this forum during the summer, so there is no end to my genuine appreciation of your expertise and the many resources this place offers to people new to house restoration.

 

[Penners]

Very attractive house, Lynn. Would the central upstairs window at the front originally have been french doors, opening on to the little balcony on top of the porch? Or are the balcony railings simply cosmetic?

 

[Lynn]

The little area above the front door is cosmetic. It is a bathroom, and the "balcony" is very narrow. I can crawl out the window to paint, etc. but it is there because of the front entry being bumped out, not as a feature of the upstairs.

I'm thinking dark dark brown for the metal. Black seems too stark against the white. Sort of the last pieces of the puzzle getting the colors right. Sorry to say I am no artist. I'm color impaired really.

 

[Mark]

I'm thinking dark dark brown for the metal. Black seems too stark against the white. Sort of the last pieces of the puzzle getting the colors right. Sorry to say I am no artist. I'm color impaired really.

There's your problem. The Georgians used colours.

(Ah, the old ones are the best..)

 

[Penners]

You were right, Winston. Divided by a common language...

 

[biffvernon]

From about 1820 developments in the chemical industry allowed several artificial pigments to be used in paints. A dark green chrome-based pigment was especially popular for iron railings. It was called 'invisible green' as it was very unobtrusive when the background was a front garden. However, in your balcony in front of a white wall situation the opposite effect would occur.