Siding Repair: The Potting Shed

Siding removed from potting shed at left.  Note existing siding that will be removed and replaced.  Photo by Rob Huebschmann.

Mess after dirty mess has often left us wondering what the previous owners were thinking when they ran so many unnecessary television cables, phone wires, and substitute extension cords.  We still have many cords to follow, but we really wanted to tackle the mess in what we call the potting shed.  After all, we are gardeners!

Potting shed with original old growth redwood siding on one wall.
The two other wall show the backside of the siding that faces
the interior of the garage.  Note the post and beam construction.
Photo by Rob Huebschmann.

Within the original carport the architects designed a shed accessible from the side of the house.  The carport turned garage is just beyond the potting shed in the photo above.  In the 90s, the carport was filled in with studs between the post and beam construction, then clad in a grooved plywood siding.  Seen in the photo above is the newer siding still attached to the potting shed area, and the shed's original old growth redwood grooved siding.  Rob photographed the siding (photo at left) before we carefully removed it from the shed.  This photo was taken after we did a major clean up.

Siding removed and ready for replacing.
Rob replaced the mud sill with redwood to
match the home's construction.  Photo by
Rob Huebschmann.

Rob found bag after bag of fertilizer, herbicide, pool equipment, and other miscellaneous and abandoned things.  That was when he discovered exposed fertilizer piled over a LIVE electrical wire that at one time actually caused a small fire.  Upon further inspection, the live wire was an extension cord that had its ends cut off so it could be used as hard wire in the wall.  As we removed the siding, we discovered a termite infested mud sill.  The garage infill was not made of redwood, so the infestation was no surprise.

We carefully removed the interior redwood siding for two reasons.  Current California building codes require greater fire protection between living spaces and garages, which means that we needed to replace the wood siding with drywall.  We also needed to replace the existing siding that was not original.  Using the potting shed siding enabled us to replace the unmatched siding.

Finished wall.  Photo by Rob Huebschmann.

It is difficult to capture in a photo, but the siding continues into the interior of the home on two walls.  We will photograph this later, but the architects created a visual of indoor walls extending to the outdoors, successfully blurring the line between indoors and out.  Similarly, the ceiling beams also extend as the home's eves, furthering this objective.

As seen in the photo at left, we have completed the siding rehabilitation project!  Well, almost.  We still have to countersink the nails, fill in the holes, prime and paint.  Then onto the potting shed interior, where we will install the drywall and shelves.  Maybe then we can use it as intended!