How much repairing will I have to do?
I am assuming you have decided to go forward with an Unveiling because answering this question requires more siding to be pulled off.
Water Table Trim: Before my great unveiling, I removed the bottom few rows of siding all the way around the house. This will give you a good idea of the repair work needed.
As you can see, the trim board was crudely removed (time is money is true today as it was when they put on the fiber board siding). Also visible is the damage to the first row of cedar clap board siding.
The final thing to note in the picture is the bare wood at the top of the trim board located in the bottom part of the picture. This reveals that the ledge board had decorative molding underneath it and implies that the ledge board was prominent (more than an inch since houses with less prominent ledge boards usually did not contain the decorative and supporting modling under neath.
The very bottom clap board will need to be removed to provide access when removing the remains of the old ledge board and repalcing it with a new trim. Perhaps it is not a bad thing that this clap board is damaged since removing it without damage would be a difficult task. If you need to replace this clap board, one can use new cedar siding or rescued siding.
Rot: If you are fortunate, you will not find any rot. Unfortunately for me, I have found one area that has rot.
The fiber board siding was sold as a maintenance free product. In general, it held up well to the elements keeping the clap boards hiding underneath in remarkably good shape. However, a downside to this siding type is that it hides any water penetration or dry rot that could have been corrected with a simple fix years ago.
Repairing this damage will be something new for me. The old saying: In for a penny in for a pound covers it.
Waist Trim: Most Victorian, Colonial Revivial, and the like had horizontal trim boards between the first and second floors forming a waist line on a house. These trim boards were probably also crudely removed.
If you are going to explore the repairs to this trim board, be kind to your neighbors and select a side of a house not very visible from the street. Otherwise, it looks kind of ugly having a patch of siding removed half way up the house's side -- see below picture and learn from my mistakes! However, I sell my goof as if it was done on purpose! if unveiling is impending, removing siding in a visible location gives you an opportunity to build excitement as people notice what you are up to. Always take advatange of marketing opportunity to generate enthusiasm for this kind of projects which may generate more of them.
As expected, my homes waist was removed. However, evidence is left behind to tell me what it looked like.
The below left picture is why you want to check the waist trim out in a place less visible!
I found identical trim on a neighbors house. It was built the same year as mine.
