Our house is getting a facelift. Two weeks ago, we shared the scary news that the plywood under our stucco exterior was completely rotted and riddled with black mold – especially on all of the inside and outside corners, which our house has a lot of. Our contractor and his team have been working diligently (outside, of course, and while still practicing social distancing) to carefully remove all the stucco and replace the rotting wood. Here’s how things are looking:

As a reminder, here’s how it looked when we moved in last year:

As you can see in the picture below, many areas of the plywood were covered in black mold. The small crew worked on this emergency project in pieces, removing the stucco and the moldy wood from the back of the house first, and then the front. They replaced the wood and then applied house wrap as they went to keep everything dry while we plan and budget for a new exterior.

We decided to remove the stone, as well (more on that shortly). The wood under the stone was fine in most parts. Around a couple of windows it hadn’t been sealed up well, so there was a little mold. But overall, the stone-covered parts of the house were in a lot better shape.

The entire exterior has been wrapped. That wrap will stay on the house and act as a shield, with new materials being applied over it. House wrap is a great product and promotes water shed within the walls so that moisture doesn’t get stuck and lead to rotting. Water almost always finds a way in – the important part is having materials that let it get out before it molds and rots the wood.

Before Moldgate 2020, we were thinking we might paint the stucco — a dark, moody color. We were trying to decide if we’d keep the manufactured stone — Perhaps we’d paint that, too? But these plans were at least a year out. (You’ll notice this wasn’t on our 2020 projects list.) Before all this happened, our plan was to add stone or siding to the new dining room addition before the summer was through and the cold weather came back. Now, we’ll have to tackle it all. Thus our decision to remove the stone. If we’re gonna do it anyway, we want to make sure everything going back up works together, instead of looking like a patch job.

We shared our plans (and excitement!) about working with Studio McGee on this project. We’re imaging stone and cedar-plank siding now, but we’re eager to see what this awesome design team comes up with. We’re open to their ideas. And we think our house is, too! She’s just hanging out in her underwear right now — waiting for her new outfit :)

Also, some other fun stuff is happening outside that we can’t wait to show you. But here’s a little sneak peek for you…