Progress on Front Deck-Removing Shingles

We made some good first steps working on that front deck. N was my most-excellent helper (good help is hard to find), and together we managed to removed the shingles from the walls For the record, it was not easy, and there were tons of shingles. N did a stand-up job.

The next step will be to get that cement board off the floor, replace it with the proper pitch, and then put clapboards over the walls. I'm guessing it will only take me about ten years to complete.

My Mentor said to take the nails out where the shingles were, but that's a fairly enormous job. There are so many darn nails, and some are hard to remove. I know, I'm whining, but what else is new?

In the meantime, that floor might present me with some problems. Initially I was just going to rip it up with a hammer and chisel, but noticed that the cement board is bonded to plywood, both of which are screwed into the something (I assume either more plywood or the floor joists) with 2 inch screws. So now I wonder if I should simply unscrew the thing and lift it off. It would make it easier if I could do so, but there is one complication, and for the life of me, I don't understand how they did this. The screws are hidden underneath a thing layer of the cement board, so they are difficult to locate. It is almost as if they put the cement board over the plywood, screwed it in, and then layered a thing membrane over that to hide the screws. Why do things have to be such a pain?

I may have to seek out greater wisdom for direction. This, of course will require that I climb up the mountain and visit my Mentor at the summit, where he sits cross-legged and naked, waiting for my arrival.

Welcome, Grasshopper.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.