Kuppersmith Home Renovation Project 3: Exterior

With demolition and foundation work out of the way on the Kuppersmith Project, we’re ready to renovate this 1926 Tudor-style house. We will turn it into a practical home any family would love.

This episode focuses on these projects:

• Addition: Framing up the walls and roof on the master bedroom addition and kitchen expansion.
• Windows: Installing new insulated glass windows.
• Eaves: Installing low-maintenance, composite fascia boards and urethane crown molding on the eaves of the house.
• Breezeway: Modifying the breezeway that connects the house to the garage to increase the slope of the roof.
• Wood Shake Siding: Installing cypress shake siding on the gables and some walls of the house.
• Roofing: Installing the asphalt shingle roof on the house and skylights on the back porch.

---

Addition Framing

First comes the framing for the master bedroom addition, which wraps around the back and side of the existing house.

To make a seamless transition between the two, it’s important that both the old house and new addition are even and level.

Once the floor joists are in place, plywood subflooring is glued and nailed down to form a sturdy floor. Two-by-four sole plates are cut to length and secured to the subfloor to form the base for the walls.

The walls are assembled on the floor, then raised and attached to the plates. Temporary diagonal braces keep the walls plumb and square until plywood sheathing and ceiling joists are added.

---

The rafters for the steeply pitched roof are next, followed by plywood decking and roof underlayment to keep out the rain until the roofing is installed.

---

Eaves and Windows

One of my goals for the Kuppersmith Project is to make the house as low maintenance as possible, so I use composite fascia boards from MiraTEC and urethane foam crown molding from Fypon on the eaves of the house.

To improve energy efficiency, the drafty old windows on the house are replaced with insulated glass wood windows from JELD-WEN Windows & Doors.

The outside of the window frames come clad in vinyl-coated aluminum for low maintenance. To seal out any drafts, a special tape is applied around each window.

---

Kitchen Expansion

Big changes are taking place inside the original Kuppersmith Project house as well, including a major expansion of the kitchen.

Merillat will be designing all the cabinets for our new kitchen while Better Homes & Gardens magazine will be in charge of the overall décor for the house.

While the footprint of the house upstairs remains unchanged, some of the walls are modified to add closets and doorways.

Roofing Change

One unexpected change I decided to make was to increase the pitch of the breezeway roof — which connects the house and garage — to enhance curb appeal.

Since a lower-pitched roof had already been constructed, we had to tear off the brand new decking and rafters, and start over from scratch.

---

Exterior Siding

We replace the deteriorating wood shake siding on the house with cypress wood shakes from the Southern Cypress Manufacturers Association.

While synthetic siding shakes are available in composite, fiber cement, and vinyl, the look of natural wood is hard to beat on such a prominent feature.

Each shake is cut around any obstacles, then nailed up with a Paslode staple gun. This attention to detail makes the installation of wood shakes time-consuming, but the result is well worth it.

The gables on the house, which weren’t covered with wood shakes, are given a stucco finish. A layer of cement backer board is installed first, and the seams covered by fiberglass tape.

Next, a base coat of stucco is troweled on, followed by a finish coat.

---

Roofing

An architectural asphalt shingle roof, which is thicker and more durable than standard three-tab asphalt roofing, is used on the house.

As a final touch, Velux skylights are installed to brighten up the back porch.

Other Tips from This Episode

	Simple Solutions The Easy Way to Cover Plywood Edges
	Best New Products LG Wave Series Clothes Washer Works Even with Cold Water
	Thinking Green with Danny Lipford Heat Pump Water Heaters: The Energy-Efficient Option

---

More Episodes

• The Kuppersmith Project 1: Planning
• The Kuppersmith Project 2: Foundation
• The Kuppersmith Project 4: Roughing-In
• The Kuppersmith Project 5: Insulation & Painting
• The Kuppersmith Project 6: Interior Trim & Floors
• The Kuppersmith Project 7: Yard & Countertops
• The Kuppersmith Project 8: Screens & Driveway
• The Kuppersmith Project 9: Floor & Patio
• The Kuppersmith Project 10: Lattice & Garage
• The Kuppersmith Project 11: Plumbing & Wiring
• The Kuppersmith Project 12: Landscape & Garage
• The Kuppersmith Project 13: Grand Tour