Ain't She Beautiful?

As you can see, dear readers, the remodel is coming along beautifully.


Seamless...once it's finished with siding and paint I don't think you'll be able to tell old from new.

This one has been a bit of debate - code requires that the knee wall or railing be at least 36 inches if the floor is more than 30 inches off the ground. Well, 36 inches is practically eye level for me when sitting down and that is unacceptable. So, we've got a knee wall at 24 inches - we'll see how this one flies.

The Prince is confused. But he's perty.

Against my orders, Mir climbed up on the scaffolding and took a bunch of pictures of the roof and such. I think climbing up there made her feel like a kid on the monkey bars.

Doug working hard on the roof - didn't seem scared at all up there.

Mr. Contractor also up there.

Adam on the ground - ready to catch the other two if they fall.

And the work goes on...

Did not see the smiling face of Mr Contractor today but Doug and Adam worked on...It's gotten to the point that Peanut knows when Doug has arrived 'cause she starts to whine and whimper. She is such a flirt.
Stood under the roof of my porch..Hmm...my porch...I like the way that sounds. Our neighbor Tom came over to peruse the work in progress and seemed pleased with what he saw. He said something about it being "tight". Not sure what that means but I am certain it was a compliment.


Looking forward to more changes this week.

Magnetic Forces of Nature

Not everyone is happy with all aspects of the remodel. Occasionally, we will take out the nail magnet to gather up errant nails. Peanut seemed to object to its use. Not sure why - but it does confirm our suspicions that magnetic forces may explain her quirky behavior.

Neither rain, nor sleet....

Despite some rain yesterday our crew worked on! Neither rain, nor sleet, nor nasty cold.....shall keep them from their appointed duties. We want to give a special shout out to Mr. Contractor who hasn't missed a beat even though he's been under the weather.

This is like a big giant puzzle - so says Mr. Contractor. For us it's been neat to watch it all go up.

It may not much space to some people, but for us simple folk it's gonna be grand. The dogs approve of the new space -it was hard to tear them away from OUR new room. We're laying claim to this new space before the dogs do.

Can't Turn Back Now....

The exterior wall to the bedroom has been removed. What you see above is the temporary wall from the outside. Below is a close up of the interior wall (green paint) - you can see the old lathe. This stuff is a b*&*ch to cut through - we went through several saw blades cutting through this while trying to repair a wall.

The roof is going up! I'm glad Mr. Contractor, Doug and Adam know what they're doing because it's all a mystery to us. We don't know nuthin' 'bout roofin'.

Forecast tomorrow is rain - damn and blast! Hopefully no leaks will occur.

As you can see we're moving along nicely. Keep checking in - we love visitors!

Temporary Wall is Up!

The temporary wall in the bedroom is up. We will move back some stuff this weekend to get it out of the foyer area. The water bed shall remain broken down - we will continue to sleep on the sofa bed. Remember "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger."

The window has been removed from the bedroom - and saved for reinstallation in the new window slot. Next week the work will be on the roof. Let's all keep postive thoughts that the weather will cooperate.

Boxer is surveying his domain. He's wondering where the mess and debris came from and why it's in his yard. Keep the faith, BoBo - your castle will be completed in a few short months.

Trusses Arrive

Some trusses arrived today. It's been raining cats and dogs all morning so no other work has been done.

Adios.

Preparing for the New Roof

The rafter tails are gone and some of the metal has been removed. Don't worry - a protective membrane has been installed. And now, a moment of silence for the dead squirrel found in the rafters.......

If I have the energy I'll get a picture of the plumbing under the house.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Ciao.

Picnic on the Porch

Over the weekend we enjoyed a picnic on our new porch. It's lovely and wonderful and we can't wait until it's completed.

More framing was done today - above is a picture of our new walk-in closet. Below Sydney and Boxer are checking out the new bathroom. Bad news: looks like the sink we picked out may be too wide - so we have two options -choose a smaller sink or Mr. Contractor will move our wall out about six inches. Ain't he the sweetest?! Tonight I'll search for a replacement, but if I don't find one then the wall will come out a little bit. My other homework due Wednesday is to get the specs for the new washer and dryer so he can build our utility closet with the correct dimensions. Note that the utitlity closet is something we added recently and wasn't in the plans.

We're going to have a transom window in the bathroom and closet - we wanted it for more light and to break up the lines of siding from the outside.

Today, I jokingly asked Mr. Contractor if he would be finished in 6 weeks. He smiled. But I got the feeling he was optimistic about it. Keeping all fingers crossed. So far, we're really happy with him, Adam and Doug and all they're doing.

Later, Gators.

Framing Has Begun!

The addition is really starting to take shape. If the weather warms up this weekend we're going to have a picnic on our new porch. Mr. Contractor also informed us that he'll need to take about 12 inches of our bedroom to put up a temporary wall next week. So, that means draining the water bed to move it out of the way and commence to sleeping on the sofa bed. Plus we'll need to start organizing/cleaning/storing stuff. A self-storage unit is in our future. This is going to be a very busy weekend.

More Lumber

More lumber was delivered this morning. Preparations for framing has begun. The awning over the door was removed and the trim on the east corner was removed. This train is moving down the tracks.

We discussed the location of the washer/dryer with Mr. Contractor today. It's currently in the garage and we want to move it to the house. We had thought we were going to hijack a closet inside and put stacked units in there. But on further discussion we will have a "closet" built on the porch that will house the units.

Can't wait to see what gets done tomorrow!

Porch Floor In!

Oh, what joy to have a floor -no more muddy mess! It's wonderful! The dogs love it - they played and jumped off and on. I've pointed out where the stairs are and they seem to be catching on. Boxer needs to use the stairs - he's too old to be jumping off.

So far progress has been steady. Thank you, Mr. Contractor.

Work Moves Forward

Yes, the joists are being installed. The problem for us is that we have to go over or under to get out to the yard - and neither is easy. The joists are at a height that makes it tricky to get around. But we'll take a little inconvenience for the progress. Booya!