The call to self isolate has offered me the opportunity to act on some long held ambitions to improve my sunny, but drafty Montpelier (Vermont) home.
front facade of eastern gable
After removing the vinyl siding, I’m adding a primary air barrier of Mento 3000, taped with Tescon Vana and 3” of Roxul Comfortboard. The combination will provide needed additional R-value, air sealing, along with the potential for drying.
mento 3000 air barrier with self stick seal
I capped the insulation with a layers of ½” of cdx plywood, traditional house wrap, cedar breather and hand-painted eastern white cedar shingles. I believe that the place is looking much improved.
stained exterior window trim with metal flashing
Needing to limit the scope of my project for financial reasons, I elected not move the existing windows out to the exterior face of the house. Rather, I installed painted eastern white cedar trim milled by a local sawyers at Authentic Log Homes in Hardwick on top of the existing trim. I flashed the window headers with custom flashing from Hutchins Roofing in Barre.
The layers in progress
Above the kitchen, we blew in 15 bags of cellulose insulation.
almost done!
This work has been on my mind for sometime, and there is great satisfaction to be finally doing it. While I wish the circumstances were different, I’m happy to be making the best of this time away from work. The expectation of better thermal performance and improved air sealing has me almost looking forward to next winter. Almost.
