The Winds of November Come Early

Today the forcast is rain, high winds and storms through tomorrow.  This may impede the progress of our work.   At this point, I am anxious to get the addition framed in. The inside planning is going along.  The cushions for the porch furniture are complete, and the wall color has been chosen. 

 

The colors for the Master bedroom and bath have been chosen and the fabrics arrived over the weekend.  Soon, I will begin on the duvet cover and bed skirt.  

Bedroom, top 2 Duvet cover, stripe for bedskirt. the lightest paint chip will be the bedroom and the next darkest the masterbath.

Porch cushions are complete, the center green for the walls.

As of today there aren’t plans for window treatments on the porch.  The open wilderness  will be a nice view.  The Bedroom will have pleated shades.  A valance for the laundry room and  roman shade for the big closet.

Preparing to cut the expansion joints, check out the shopvac.

Delivery of the floor joists, they are engineered (stronger and more cost effective).

The joists in position, 1/2 complete.

The Mason's were here on Monday, finishing up on the first 1/2 of the driveway.  Cutting of expansion joints is an interesting operation.  Today the framers work on getting the floor joists set.  This addition will come to life this week, weather permitting.

OBTW, I know you are all looking and reading, so why don't you say something?

A Week of Excitement

Pouring footings for garage

Garage footings awaiting the blocks.

Holly, inspecting the new garage.

Garage, awaiting cement.

Pouring of garage floor.

Garage foundation complete; pea-stone put into crawl

Floor is poured, now the fun begins.

The guys used this "buffing" machine several times.

Conduit where utilities will be run.

Sole plates and insulation on Thursday.

View of crawl space, they say it will be a clean crawl.

Another load of dirt.

Each time we returned home this week, there was visible progress.  A beautiful week all around.  Monday the footings were poured for the garage and the bricks were laid for its foundation. 

Tuesday the garage was readied for the floor, the foundations were backfilled and the garage floor was poured.  The team used a large machine (much like a buffer) and went over the cement floor several times, using different paddles at each step. The worry for that night was not the weather, but the deer that might run accross the cement.  All went well and there are no hoof prints in our floor.

While I was at work the pea stone was delivered; hearing later that it was quite loud and interesting watching a machine shoot small pebbles while being directed to the spot.  Just imagine not too many years ago when the guys would have had to shovel and haul all that pea stone. Wednesday evening saw a three foot deep trench which ran from the utility pole to the edge of our house.  Sometime next week, our utility cables will be rerouted underground.  Much to the neighbors' disappointment the crew left a bit early, to get a start on another job.

Today, the sole plates were put in and the insulation to the crawl space was installed.  See the vents for the crawl space.  The cool thing about them is they automatically open and close triggered by the outside temperature.  Whew, I thought we would have to crawl in there and do that.  The workers told me it was a very "clean" crawl.  No thanks.  The masons returned in the afternoon, filling the trench and getting the first section of the driveway ready for concrete. This evening, another load of fill was delivered for the driveway.

The mornings are downright cold now and days a bit chilly.  Might have to get out the "party" coffee pot out for the crew.

Stay Curious,

Cindy

Large Holes and a Ton (perhaps two) of Bricks

Shingles delivered

Digging for the foundation

Measured and squared for footings

Lots of cement for the footings

The first hopper of cement

level and smooth

Tuesday a.m. the blocks arrive.

The block laying begins

A beautiful day to lay block.

A new meaning of "offloadiIng"

Another view of foundation

Wednesday's work, house foundation complete

Friday through Wednesday had a flurry of activity on Ottawa Drive.   Friday there was digging, staking and tearing off of shingles.  The foundation and crawl space was dug on Friday. What we now call the "high" roof was torn off and replaced, it was completed on Saturday, I'll get a good picture of it when the whole roof is complete.  Sunday was quiet and peaceful (whew!).  Monday began by the footings being poured, Giant cement truck and a load of sand delivered.  Tuesday morning the blocks bags of mortar and more than half of the foundation laid.  Wednesday the guys completed the house foundation just in time to cover it for a bit of rain.  Welcome rain, it has been terribly dry this month.  It will be interesting to see what is in store for Thursday.  I know that they are trying to get quickly to the garage floor and framing done before the cold weather sets in.  The garage floor must set for a week before they can work on it.

The Earth Moves Under My Feet

Roof tear off, new roof by Saturday.

Well here it is Thursday and things will never be the same; so much activity and excitement.  Beautiful fall weather has helped this project move right along.  When I returned home this afternoon, the foundation was dug outback, with stakes and strings awaiting the footing work.  The decision was made to to the high roof now instead of in the spring, so tear off has begun.  You may have noticed the camera dates were a bit off, they were set 12 hours off and then set to a unique day/month/year sequence.  Rest assured these pics were taken on 10/7/2010 and the settings have been corrected (you can tell this was bugging me;-).

Digging for the foundation, footings tomorrow?

Earth movers doing what they do best.

The dump truck took about 20 trips out with dirt.

Oh, the NOISE, NOISE, NOISE

sun porch, early in the morning (unsure why the date is 5th)

Roof is off and plywood underlayment is next.

Bobcat, jackhammering garage floor

Bobcat ripping up porch foundation

The workers began arriving promptly at 7:15 a.m., I scrambled and got a quick shower. Didn't I feel fortunate to be home today, well at least until 8:15 when the jackhammers began. Not an actual Jackhammer, but a Bobcat that multitasks.  Advised to use earplugs, gladly complied. The look of progress tells me the hammers will go until about noon.

Early on, Holly was a bit barky about trucks and men being on her territory.  Various neighbors are driving by, wondering what all the racket is is coming from. The crew worked hard, they accomplished everything they set out to do today.

The large dumpster was emptied twice and you can see it is full once again today.   The only work I need to do was wipe down the counters and the kitchen floor, just a little bit of dust.  Their method of using these telescoping poles to hold the plastic sheeting keeping the dust and dirt to a minimum.  These guys think of everything.

Work tomorrow, so the picture guy will step in for me.  When I arrive home in the afternoon, I'm sure there will be many changes.

Pole holding plastic tarp.

At the end of the day, set to dig foundation tomorrow.

 

 

Let the games begin

Guys taking chimney down, don't look close....attic is full.

Inside looking out on the porch, note the stake where house will end.

Outside looking in, there's that stake again, no chimney, full dumpster.

Back of fireplace from the garage, a picture window for pups.

All was well when I left for work today.  When I returned the pups were in a heightened state of excitement, as there were 6 big trucks, 3 trailers and a giant dumpster that was full.  Windows are off the porch and garage, new water heater is installed and the chimney is gone.  No more playing horse in our driveway, I'll miss the kids initials in the cement, memories of the bustle of small children. Tomorrow the fireplace, porch walls, and the garage floor and roof all go; smooth, efficient and organized.  A beautiful fall week ahead, great for cement pouring and foundation building. Today's photos are brought to you by our sponsor, RMC,  need pics? he's the one to call.