Floor framing continues

We had quite a scare there yesterday when we found out the porch floor framing had been installed at the wrong height, and would have to be re-done. Then we found a way to work around it. Work continues...

Floor framed

The Band

The band is halfway done. The band is the perimeter of the floor framing, that sits atop (and is bolted to) the concrete piers. Today they will complete the screen porch and hallway sections, and perhaps get up a wall frame or two.





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Rainy, muddy

Today I spent the morning chatting with roofers, plumbers, electricians and an HVAC guy, absorbing and processing all their information, in order to make a decision on who is going to do that work, how, and when. It rained ALL DAY today, so the ground was really muddy. And today was also the day that Home Depot made the gigantic drop of framing materials, which will begin to go into action after this weekend. AND our refrigerator was delivered today! What else: oh yeah - mud.

Piers sheathing removed, foundation holes filled

Hey, look - the piers are all done already! And the foundation holes are all filled-in! The gigantic load of framing materials from Home Depot is supposed to arrive sometime today, and soon construction of the band (the big beam that will run the perimeter of the floor) will start.

Piers poured today, met with Craig at night

Today the concrete crew poured the piers, and tonight we met with Craig (architect) about our plans for the kitchen cabinet situation. Stephanie came over to see the place for the first time, and weighed-in on some interior design ideas, as it is her profession. And she had some damn good ones! Thanks, Stephanie and Craig.

pouring the foundation

This morning we passed the engineering inspection for the foundation holes' depth and placement, so we were able to give the concrete crew the go ahead to pour. In a couple of days the pier footings will be dry, and it will be time to pour the actual piers on top of them. Then, framing will begin.

Foundation holes being dug, old wallpaper

Here are a couple pics of the holes which are being dug for the new addition's foundation, as well as some colorful old wallpaper we uncovered while removing drywall from the former kitchen/future guest bedroom.

tearing down drywall in former kitchen

Our friend Tristan came by today to help us remove the remainder of the drywall (and trim, ceiling fan, light fixtures, switchplates, outlet covers and AC vent) from our old kitchen today, and he was a BIG HELP. Having renovated his own place rather extensively, he is very knowledgeable about the myriad various home fix-up responsibilities, and even showed up with his own tool belt. Thanks, Tristan!

PS - if you look closely at the third photo, you start to get a sense of what a circus the old ceilng/wall wallpaper combination must have been. Very colorful!

More holes cut for doors, foundation planning

Today was full of stress, a lot of back and forth between different ideas about the new addition's foundation. Time was taken away from cool stuff like cutting new doorways, and absorbed by the question of what kind of piers we needed to be planning to pour. Until a large enough hole was dug around one of the house's original piers, we couldn't see it well enough to determine whether we'd need to spend 100% or 500% of our pier budget to match it for the addition. We finally determined that it was 100%, long story short. Whew.

Opening Walls!

On Friday Bill and Bob began cutting open the walls as per our architect Craig's design, and it really looks and feels fantastic in there. I've provided a closeup picture of the shiplap and the way it joins together, which is interesting. Also, in some old fiberglass insulation I saw what looked like a bunch of receipts or something - go figure - crazy old house.

Oh crap - more flagstones!

Today we discovered yet even MORE flagstone patio underneath backyard dirt, and had to commit time and effort to breaking it apart, so that it won't interfere with the new addition's new piers. Also, we can use all these limestone flagstones in the new patio, which is great!

Addition is now completely gone

We found a flagstone patio underneath the old addition! That means we have a bunch of free flagstones out of which to make our new patio! Bill and Bob and Amanda are doing a great job of carefully denailing, sorting and stacking any and all reusable materials, too.

Extreme Demolition!

Bill and Bob (and Amanda) got very busy yesterday and today on carefully demolishing our house's crappy rear addition. And Matt took down a whole gigantic dead oak, sawed it and stacked it meticulously behind the garage for firewood. Yeah! Progress!