Sometimes, you just roll with the punches...

Blending old exterior finishes with new ones has got to be one of the toughest renovation tasks there is. Especially after a long period of time has elapsed and the sun and the elements have faded and discoloured the old areas.

Because the products may have been discontinued, it can be difficult to replace, repair or add onto siding, decking and roofing using matching materials.

At times, this can make the project feel impossible to seamlessly complete. Often, a change in your initial plan may be the simplest solution.

During the first major addition on my house, the entire roofline between the main house and the peak at the east/west gable of the northernmost garage stall was removed to allow for new trusses while introducing the new studio addition on the second floor.

The roofing was addressed while creating the materials list.

Because cedar shakes covered the existing roof, and new cedar shakes were required to accommodate features of the new roofline, it became apparent the new shakes would stick out like a sore thumb adjacent to the old, weather-beaten shakes.

This resulted in the painstaking task of removing and salvaging as many of the old cedar shakes from the soon-to-be-removed roofline as possible, so they could be used on the front slope of the new roofline.

By doing this, everything would at least match while looking at the house face-on from the front.

Along the way, however, it was determined the entire roof could be redone with an IKO profile shingle for less than it would cost for new cedar shakes simply for the new roofline. As such, the entire roof was redone with the IKO shingle. The old cedar shakes that had been saved were eventually sold on Kijiji some years later.

During a cottage renovation last spring and into the summer, one of the main upgrades included the conversion of a screened-in porch being incorporated into part of the existing interior living space. It would become the dining-room area, adjacent to the newly renovated kitchen.

Although removing certain interior walls, repositioning the front-entry door and introducing several new windows along the newly created exterior wall would present a slew of challenges, how to finish the exterior so it blended the new with the old was what kept me up many a night.

The 20-year-old vinyl siding had faded drastically, so finding new siding to match would be impossible. And because the old screen porch was mostly screen, there would not be enough recycled siding to cover all the required square-footage of the new exterior walls once the porch conversion was completed.

Nevertheless, as much of the old siding along the work area as possible was salvaged and kept neatly tucked away until it was time for reuse.

In the interim, and after several discussions with the clients, it was suggested the south face of the cottage could become the feature area if decorative stone was applied to the main portion of the cabin.

There was already decorative stone on the sunroom addition on the north side of the cottage, so it would not only match an existing feature, but also reduce the square-footage requirement of the remaining exterior wall just enough so the amount of salvaged siding would suffice.

With that design plan in place, Ivan Reimer from Render Construction was called in and after the exterior surfaces were prepped with house wrap, the Render crew made quick time reinstalling the recycled siding in the appropriate areas, which of course matched perfectly because it had endured the same years of sun and weathering as the rest of the siding.

The decorative stone, however, threw us a curveball. One of the guys from the Render crew pulled me away from my interior tasks and pointed out the stone that had been delivered seemed brighter than the existing stone of the sunroom on the backside of the cottage. It was indeed a different colour — much more Sante Fe.

After a few inquiries and careful investigation, Reimer learned the colour of the product line of the existing stone previously used on the cottage had been discontinued. The manufacturer simply sent what he thought was the next-best thing, rather than advise at the time of ordering.

This created a small delay. And although we could not exactly match the existing stone, a colour better-suited was chosen by the client and installation of the decorative stone on the porch conversion began as soon as it arrived.

Luckily, the new stone of the porch conversion and the existing stone of the sunroom on the backside of the cottage were separated by vinyl siding, and a series of windows and the front-entry door.

Although there was a slight difference in the overall colour tones of the new stone, it would be next to impossible for anyone to notice.

With all the exterior elements finally completed, the cottage appeared as though it had not undergone any changes and looked fantastic — a testament to the installation skills and meticulous work of the Render Construction crew.

Making assumptions can be misleading. Although it had only been a few years since the decorative stone was installed on the sunroom, that particular colour had been discontinued at some point, for reasons unknown. Fortunately, the strategically orchestrated renovation to the front of the cabin was far enough away from the sunroom that the new stone looks virtually the same from a distance and at a glance. The decision to recycle the old, faded siding also seamlessly blends the new porch conversion with the existing cottage.

The suggestion to keep that old siding was a good one. It sure beat having to replace all the siding on the entire cottage just to keep the exterior look consistent throughout.

bossenterprise@outlook.com