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We don't need no siding

3K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  operagost 
#1 ·
I've been drivung past this place two or three times a week for at least 20 years. It's looked like this the whole time. Property Home Real estate House Shed


Run out of forms when pouring foundation? No problem plenty of cinder blocks under the neighbors cars. Grass Property Wall Lawn Land lot


Low voltage lines attached to "siding" apparently adds protection, if properly grounded. Swelling and curving at bottom forms a kick out, protecting foundation from rain. Wall Rock Tree Plant Stone wall


Of course if you do find some siding by side of road go ahead and use it. Free stuff is always great, half a loaf is better than none. Siding appeared about a year ago. Roof Property Home House Building


The wheel chair may be a clue as to why place has been this way so long, but it hasn't been moved in years and there are no ramps any where.
 
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#2 ·
We have a few around here like that.
One had bare wood showing on the roof. I drive by and there's shingles laying all over the peak of the roof so I figured they were going to get around to fixing the roof. Five years later and the roofs caving in from rotted sheathing and the shingles are still there. And people are living in this house.
 
#4 ·
Everbody's gotta live somewhere. Wheel chair makes me think a family member is handicap, perhaps severly, with accompaning health issues. Can be incredible financial burden. I am not laughing at these people, just amazed at how long OSB has lasted. I got mortar, even a few bricks, weathering and crumbling on my house.

This is a real strange area of town. Used to be unincorporated area between Dallas, rural town that became suburb of 140K, small country town that got surrounded tried to get annexed by either of others, then adopted a gen-you-wine red-neck, who needs you, persona. Lot of stuff grandfathered in when suburb annexed this corner, zoning is almost lot by lot. Code violations for existing buildings depend on condition and use at time of annexation.

We got hay fields, horse pastures, retail, tree farms, wildlife preserves all jumbled together. We got an "urban sheperd," has a herd of goats, a sheperd's crook, four dogs. Drives the herd down streets to lots that need "mowing", gets paid for mowing, free pasturage. Sells cabrito, which he sometimes cooks right next to browsing goats. Driven herds have right of way on roads. But lots of fun watching dogs drive and control herd.

We got all the urban wildlife, possums, raccoons, cotton tails,coyotes, plus foxes, bob cats, jack rabbits, road runners, herons, hawks, occaisional eagle flys over.

Just a few hundred yards down road from this place is a new house, a genuine mansion. Lions on gate posts, towers, servants, limo and rattle trap pickups out back. I'll try to get pics of that. Land is cheap, some is still zoned agricultural, being used as residential, even commercial, all you gotta do is have large enough lot, not mow part of it, claim it as hay field for tax reduction.
 
#5 ·
And how has the people that own the McMansion delt with all this?
Cracks me up sometimes, they know what was there before they built the place but then spend all there time trying to get everyone around them to change.
Just had a chat with a lady today near me that thinks all our gravel roads should be paved and there should a fire hydrent in front of her house.
There's not even fire hydrents in any of the down town areas within 20 miles of here.
Ha you bought the place knowing it's 7 miles from town, deal with it.
 
#8 ·
We had a neighbor when I was growing up who intentionally didn't repair his farmhouse. He was an older guy who never married and that was the house he grew up in.

He was a great guy with one heck of a sense of humor - dry humor. The reason he didn't do any repairs was because he didn't want his taxes to go up.

The thing about it though, the more he let the place go, the cooler it looked. I can't explain why that was, but everyone loved that house. Finally, about 10 years ago, someone who had had his eye on it since he was a kid bought it and restored it. The only thing he couldn't save was the big barn.

The property had been sitting vacant for quite a few years after the neighbor moved into a nursing home.
 
#10 ·
I forgot to say that this place is on a main road, not hidden on a residential side street. Its directlty across from a block long row of 60's era 1000 sq ft tract homes, on its side of road are spaced out the big mansion, a couple of McMansions, one of the urban tree farms, a hay field and a big storm drainage collection holding pond/ wet land preserve.
 
#12 ·
About 200 yds down the road from chateaus OSB is this 4 to 5k sq ft. shack. Nothing in between. Note that there are no curbs, just bar ditches from when road in foreground was county high-way. The road dates back to mid 1800's, it follows a very old Caddo Indian trail. On satelite images you can trace route from Red River to way down into East Texas. The crossing street is getting narrower and narrower as bar ditch gets wider and wider.

Right next door to this place, to right, is a place place is small two bedroom 1930's house. Clapboard siding looks as if it was last painted in 50's.


Right now I can't remember if there are any mesquites on that stretch of road. A neighbor had a really fine huge one in his yard, developers left it back in 60's, he cut it down . Replaced it with...a mimosa.
 

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#15 ·
There's a McMansion that looks like it was started right before the economy collapsed near Redmond, WA (home of Microsoft) that they just got as far as framing and roofing it, I think there might be Tyvek on it but no siding, and the whole property is overgrown. It'd make a really cool/depressing picture, but its sort of out of my way.
 
#17 ·
"primer and the framing and the sheathing built right in" Might as well go with monotone gray, that way you don't have to buy separate can for roll on foundation.

I almost titled this thread "We don't need no siding, we don't gotta show you no stinking paint!" Before they built nearby Interstate this little two lane road got a lot more traffic, I wonder if lead from car exhausts permeated the "siding."
 
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