Rot, rot, go away, and don't come back here another day.

Pictures of this "pilgrim's progress" This is two weeks of hard work with friends and family as a rotten old townhouse gets fixed.

Amazing what caulk and paint will do. Of course that trim above the door was primer-ed and back primed, and after being cut to fit, the sawn edges were painted as well.


Behind that is this. Just an engineered girder that sits on my foundation. I filled it in with two by two nailers and two by twelve blocking where the cantilever goes through. On the outside, half inch exterior ply, also caulked and primer-ed. No more water coming in down here! or mice. Or squirrels. Or ants. This doesn't hold anything up, just wanted a solid barrier between my crawl space and the wide, wide world.


The cantilever. The builder just shoved some two by tens into my girder system. Not very kosher but since there's no evidence of sagging or cracking around the fireplace insert, no point in changing it. I just cleaned the rot out and tightened it up.


The back of the townhouse. Thirty two feet of rotting cedar-sided chimney chase. I have a twenty four feet ladder.....and a great respect of heights.

Just had to see what was inside, so pried a few clapboards loose, and took a look. That mess has to be squirrels. That pile of insulation was once insulating my house. Needless to say, no fires since I bought the place two years ago.


The missing bottom plate and other nastiness. Treated wood below. The water and dry rot dissolved part of the three quarter exterior plywood decking over the last twenty years. Not much to do here though until the water dripping issue gets resolved at the roof line. Most of the framing is fine.