Things are really moving along now on the exterior renovation. A good portion of the siding is up (James Hardie fiber cement in “Evening Blue”), and the door surround is taking shape:

We had to modify the plinth on the base of the pilaster – I disliked the gap between our Thermatru door’s threshold and the edge of the originally designed plinth, so we widened the plinth and added a sloped “cap” on top of it to soften the edges and ease the transition from the base moulding to the plinth:

I’m really happy with how things are going. Our contractor, Brian Burris (Nicely Done Co. in southern NH), and his crew have been really great (even in these frigid January in New Hampshire temperatures) – and I’m an admittedly picky customer. They’re doing a fine job and I’m looking forward to calling them back to build us a deck and pergola – hopefully this coming summer.