On the shores of Cordry Lake stands an unusual home. At the front, it is a mere 8 feet wide, but it slowly expands to nearly triple its size to 22 feet at the rear. Yes, this vacation home on Cordry Lake is anything but typical, and it was our intention to keep it that way.
When our past customers contacted us to redo the exterior of their lake home, we were excited to see the home for ourselves because a verbal description simply wasn’t enough to completely understand how this 30+ year home was built and situated on the lot. The rear lakeside and left sides of the home provide a three-story vantage point of the lake, while the front and right sides of the house are nestled into the woods.
The exterior was in decent shape, but the homeowners wanted to enjoy their time at the lake – and not spend their weekends repainting the outside of the home every few years. They wanted a low-maintenance exterior and no more painting, so we recommended a high-quality, insulated vinyl siding and stone veneers.
The lake house’s original exterior was a fairly drab “goldenrod” color that did not highlight any of the characteristics of the home. To achieve interest and appeal, we suggested using a variety of finishes to accentuate the unique details of the home. We used both horizontal and vertical siding in complimentary colors, almond colored trims and stone veneer to increase curb appeal and break up the height of the home. This made the home look more like a family’s retreat and less like an odd-shaped box, particularly from the right side, where the home is almost four stories tall.
The biggest challenge of this project was the grading of the lot, which drops dramatically from front to rear. It may be perfect for a billy goat, but not so much for siding installers and masons! To safely install the siding, our team had to set up extensive scaffolding, which at spots was almost four stories high.
Structurally the exterior of the home was sound. Rotten wood and insect infestations can be expected with an old wooden exterior, especially one located on a lake, but we didn’t discover any. In fact, the wood was in such good shape, we were able to house-wrap and install the insulated vinyl siding over the existing wood exterior.
Perhaps the biggest enjoyment from this project, besides giving our customers a beautiful low-maintenance exterior, was being able to work in such a beautiful setting. It’s not often that our crew gets to work alongside of nature. From all vantage points, it certainly was not your typical exterior project.
