Three new roofs and a painted entry

Knowingly part of our purchase of the house was the fact we had to re-shingle all three of the properties. With all exterior renovations we do on a historic house in a National Historic Landmark area. All updates need to be approved and permitted by the ACLUD Amana Colonies Land Use District its a “certified local government which provides guidelines and recommendations to help historic preservation within the Amana Colonies” aclud1.weebly.com

We had to take in the sample of the roof color and type to get approved by the ACLUD. With keeping in the colors of grays, reds and blacks. I chose to stay away from red colors as I didn’t want to make the brick on the house to get washed out by the roof. Black would have been nice but a black roof in an Iowa summer is the most dreaded thought, especially, if you need to go into the attics. Which WILL happen with the electrical and installation being done this summer. So Gray(storm gray by malarkey to be exact:) it was with warm and black colors mixed in. We have galvanized downspouts so it was a nice blend.

We were hoping it was just a simple re-shingle job and it was that is until the roofers got to the old wood shop that we realized THAT wasn’t going to be happening! These poor roofers they took off the first two layers of shingles to find a third original 1900 wood shingle roof! I was kinda amazed to see an original( or at least near original) roof imaging the men putting it on over 100 years ago……. But the excitement quickly dissipated when an old wood shingle roof found means, a whole new roof was needed to be put on… such is life in an old home and this has only just begun for us.

After the roof was on, the next thing to tackle was the exterior entry. This entry is wood framed and added sometime during the 1950’s. It covers both of the original entries in to house. One door goes into the Communal Home and the other door is the Harness Shop -all still existence. The exterior of the wood entry was painted brick red, fading away and was getting exposed to the elements and needed to get repainted quickly. I didn’t want the entry to match the brick as it had before. I wanted it to stand out , look a little different and again make the actual brick color “pop”. I personally really like Sherwin-Williams paint it’s pricey but it’s worth it especially at 40% off ! I usually stock up which is good because the wood was sooo dry, it took way more than expected. I went with SW “cotton white” color it is a warm soft white. It nicely complements the warm brick. I feel lucky I found the right color on the first try, as I have to paint the entry, the new cellar door, screened porch and all the trellises! Thank God I like to paint!!!!

What a difference and so comforting to have the new roofs and the exterior painting done(mostly- trellis in early spring). Is important and simple update to help keep this home, Our Amana Home here for a lot longer~ Elisha