Necessary Demolition and a New Roof: First Steps in Renovation

When we bought our old farmhouse, it had a rusty tin roof and an addition on the back of the house that was in poor condition. There were leaks and rot, so it was important to address these issues right away in order to preserve as much of the old house as possible. We hired a crew to help us with the demolition and installation of a new roof.

It’s a neat old house. The style resembles something you’re more likely to find in the hills of Appalachia rather than in the Big Thicket region of Southeast Texas. While much of its interior is original, its exterior had layers that needed to be removed in order to fully expose its old charm. There was a layer of vinyl siding, over the old wood, that was peeling away in areas and trapping moisture in others. An enclosed porch and addition on the back of the house was falling down, allowing rain to seep into what was once an exterior wall. The front porch was barely hanging on and the roof was old and rusty.

Demolition

The crew we hired started by removing the siding and demolishing the addition. This allowed us to see what we had to work with and determine what repairs were necessary to address the water damage and ensure the structure was sound. The damage we uncovered was no worse than we expected, which was a blessing!

A New Roof

While still in demolition, the crew began removing the old tin roof in preparation for the new roof. After much debate, we decided to go with shingles rather than a metal roof. There was no decking beneath the tin, so they had to install that first. While clearing away bits of the old roof from the attic, we found some scattered cedar shingles, likely remants of the original roof. This reassured us that we had made the right choice in deciding to shingle the roof. As a bonus, the shingle color we chose is called Weathered Wood.

This was a messy process but it felt good to see the crew hard at work, crawling all over the house like ants. We had piles of debris that were loaded into a dumpster, some were burned and a bit of lumber was salvaged for future projects.

And so, it is one step forward in this slow moving train! Some projects, like this one, feel like huge progress. Others, are almost invisible.

For the back story on our love of old houses and our old house journey, check out our Farmhouse Renovation archive!

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