Ralph, Would you please explain the term "batman?" Ruth At 11:00 PM -0400 6/1/05, [log in to unmask] wrote: May it rest in peace. The "copy" of my late neighbors' late Victorian house next door is getting some sort of composition clapboarding and compo cornerboard installed over Tyvek and vinyl small-pane Colonial windows with "picture-frame" window surrounds having "sills" the same width as the jamb and head casings [does that ever look like shit, or what?]; the heads have a little projecting 45 degree miter-cut ear like the old house did, which lets you know that's the top of the window. I tried to explain the importance of kickout flashing to the owner's batman a couple of weeks back, when he was talking to the siding guy; the batman told me he and his little friends have been building these houses for years and have had no problems, so they don't need no stinkin kickout flashing. Some people just have to learn for themselves, I guess. Should I offer the prospective buyer (my future neighbor) a shitload of dimes? Meanwhile there's all this work piling up and a vacation/family and friend visit/business trip approaching much too fast. Back to work for you. Life is good. Beats the shit out of the alternative. IMHO. Ralph -- Ruth Barton [log in to unmask] Dummerston, VT -- To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>