more pictures

Insulation being blown in.  We all thought that was fun to watch.

 

Things are happening still.  There for a couple of weeks I had a constant flow of electricians, and people working on the heating, siding and insulation and all the inspectors that have to approve their work.   This is a picture of our dining room now all insulated and with doors.

I went to town one day and came home to this.

A tractor bucket in my dining room hmmm okay!

No more curved stairs and head bumping doorway.

Sheet rock being delivered.  I am glad the windows were two weeks late so it could go through the window.

Rain rain go away!!!

It is time to put on a roof.  I thought that they would take off the old before they put on the new but this spring has been so wet that it was wiser to do everything possible before removing the roof.  The rafters were put on quickly.

Here comes the second story rafters.  The new pitch is going to be so much nicer on our six foot tall heads.

Here is what is going on inside.  We got the room empty except for the children and are getting ready to roll up the carpet. 

This is the room after the roof came off.  The threat of rain made a real push and it was only uncovered for two days.  We only had one major down pour during that time and all the water was diverted to the construction side using tarps.  I was really glad not to have a waterfall in my kitchen.

Viola and just like that it is all back together.  Well not quiet.  The old bedroom floor had to be ripped up and additional joist added to strengthen the floor.  It is so interesting to see how it all was put together.  That was a real noisy day, but they managed to get all reinforced without damaging the ceiling below.   Now a lot of inside work will be done; the electrical and plumbing.  Doors and windows will shortly be added.

Taking shape

This will be the master bedroom.  The gable peak to the right will come off as soon as it looks like we might get four days with out rain.  The room that was a bedroom there will become a hallway and master bathroom.  The back opening that you see will be french doors that will open to a balcony. 

This is the main floor addition.  You are looking at the south door.  The interior walls is the the bathroom on the right and a coat closet on the left.

Here is the brick wall that they started to pull the brick away.  We always thought it was just two layers of brick, but in fact there are three.  Can you tell what they used to stabilize the brick.  The picture may not be very clear.  That is barb wire. 

This week they were going to take off the existing roof, but we have had so much rain and cold weather the contractor has done everything else possible.  We just need four days of clear weather and the roof would be finished.    We really appreciate the fact that he has watched the weather and not left us with rain in the house.  This worker suggested that we go up another floor because the view from up there was incredible.

Humpty dumpty sat on a wall

It is amazing how quickly the walls are raised once all the preparation has happened. We had to spend a morning waiting for the electricians to move the power lines.  The circuit box had to be moved down in the basement and the phone line moved as well.  Then we had to wait for the plumbing inspector to come and give us the okay on the new sewer line, so that the test pipe could get out of the way.  Little details that are kind of important but don't show much in the way of getting things done.  My patience is being stretched and tested.

North wall with picture window to match other front windows in existing house.

This is the south wall.  It will have a glass window door with a transverse side window.  Originally  we wanted this wall to be mostly glass, trying to capture as much light as possible.  I am looking forward to a back yard door.  We will add a deck eventually.

Here is the building supervisor and her assistant.  They both try to be in the middle of everything as much as possible.  Once Peyton made friends with "the workers" she isn't nearly as upset about the project.  Everyday I tell her at least five times to leave them alone.  This day she was told to go no closer than the garbage can because they were moving around there lift.   Roxy is very fond of the workers.  She follows them around and gets her daily ear scratch.  She is very picky about not letting them see her hiding treasures, bones and whatever else she fancies.  Allan watched her trying to bury a bone but when she checked around and saw that she was being watched she pranced off to find a better spot. 

And here is the GARAGE!!!! 

Ode to my Garage

No more frantic dashes from car to home

fighting raging wind and storms. 

No more layer of winter ice on my windshield

or ten minutes to warm up the car

Birds will have to take there target practice somewhere else.

Bikes will have an official home besides somewhere on the grass.

The space that is all about function. No paint, carpet or fabric swatches.

This just might become my most looked forward to part of the house.

Pictures tell the story

The foundation forms are just about ready.  This took a good two days to build in pretty nasty Spring weather.

I don't know how they did this while walking on 4" boards.  It didn't even seem to bother them.

Wow it is a cement hole now!!  One this lovely day my dog, Roxy, decided to go down in the hole.  There were some boxes in there as well and for some strange reason Roxy would not go around or over those boxes.  She just sat down there and whined.  So I went down thinking she had stuck herself to the sealant.  Well, her backside had definitely met with the black sticky goop, but she was just out of sorts about those boxes.  I threw them out of the hole and then started to wonder how I was going to get out. ( I just jumped in without thinking about a ladder.)  Well I was really grateful that I am over six feet tall and could reach the top of the garage foundation and was able to pull myself out.  This however messed up my shoulder and I was babying it for two days.  The dog jumped right out.  Shesh.

Hurray the mountains of rock and dirt going back where they come from almost.

I wondered how they would get the cement floor smooth.  Peyton took this picture.  She is fascinated with what they are doing and I have a full time job keeping her out of the way.  It has helped easing the loss of the porch.  That was so upsetting to her.

Can you see the difference in the old and new foundation.  That old foundation was poured with the outside against the dirt and in several spots it looks like there is no cement holding the rocks together.  It is very thick however.

We always told everyone that our walls were made with two layers of brick.  Guess what it is really three layers.  This is layer #1.  The brick is very soft but we were able to save quiet a bit. 

A floor.  Wow I won't be looking down in a hole much longer.  I have a beautiful garage floor now as well.  Things are going to start taking shape really fast now. One of our not such good surprises is we discovered that the floor joist to the second level are made with 2 x 6 boards which means we might have to take out the kitchen ceiling.  That will be messy.

A wiseman's rock

"What is that for, mom?" The footing molds don't look like much of the beginnings of a basement or a garage. "They are called footings. You know like in the primary song the Wise man Builds his House upon a Rock. This is the rock for our house." I thought that was a clever way to explain what was going on, but I didn't mean it for an invitation for the rains to come. Nature sure has a sense of humor.

Wednesday was spent setting up the forms and the cement was ordered to arrive at one o'clock Thursday afternoon. Around eleven o'clock Thursday the rain started and it was not the typical Idaho desert rain but more like an Asian monsoon. It came in a steady sheet that did not let up until the next day. But who would have guessed it would be like that.

The cement truck pulled up shortly after noon and they started pouring. The first half was done quickly so the truck pulled away and had to move to the south side of the hole to finish. This meant going through what was now a really wet garden spot. All went well until it tried to move up the ramp they had built. That big heavy cement truck started sliding right off the ramp and into my raspberry bushes. Two tries later and they decided it was not going to work. So it tried to back out to the road again. Mud was flying every which direction and I was sure that that truck was going to sink to its belly in the mud.

It made it and went back to where it had started. One wheelbarrow at a time and with a lot of labor, the footings were in place. I was glad to be in the house watching the process although a little shaken up by the sight of that cement truck sliding around. The next time a cement truck comes to visit I might have to go somewhere else.

digging a hole

Late Monday night we were still trying to get use to how the house looked without a porch, when a semi truck pulled up hauling the biggest piece of machinery we have ever had on the place. By the time they unloaded the thing I was a little sick to my stomach.

The feeling didn't go away really until it was back on its trailer Wednesday morning and pulling away. I couldn't help but watch as they ripped up the cement and dug the new basement even as it made me uneasy. I spent the morning transplanting tomato starts into larger pots and feeling the floor beneath me shake as he kept digging.

You know that line from the movie the 'Money Pit' "It looks like it was hit by a missile." That is now the state of our yard. If the porch coming didn't get comments from our neighbors the mounds of dirt and rocks did. A huge bulldozer had to come and push the dirt clear back past my chicken coop just to make enough room for the cement truck. In order to tend my animals I must walk around two mountains of dirt. Everyone assures me that it will all be put back in order.

All the workers were trying to be considerate of my garden, but it was soon apparent it was a lost cause. I am glad it was not tilled yet or better yet planted. Now the garden has a huge ramp of dirt to carry the cement truck in around to the south side of the hole. They were digging giant holes and I was digging up trees to move so they would be out of the way. I transplanted five trees and a few other plants to make room.

If you stand at my kitchen door you look over a huge hole and it amazes me how precise and careful the operator is with these powerful machines. I have never been afraid of heights but it does give you a weird sense of vertigo to be right on the edge of this hole when you are standing in your kitchen door.