Cover Your Rear

We were graced by Mr Michael Hardy for a couple days due to some aggravating angles and a bad back. We were able to frame the last section of roof above the new covered porch and get the whole back under shingles. The rain came but not before we were able to finish the siding up the gable end. I am down to only two small sections of siding believe it or not. We are due an insulation inspection tomorrow and the I can begin closing up some of these rooms. Wade and Mom proved to be invaluable once again. I had to include some more shots of the pups.

Expeirence the Warmth

Maranda is Pretty. She wanted to be included in this milestone entry which fuses heat and fiberglass. I finally got around to burning the last of the old log supports that I tore out when we were working under the house. You can see the adze marks on the log in the fire if you look closely. We got the insulators up from Lenoir to get the upstairs and the back porch done. I insulated for about 15 minutes the night before and that is about where it ended. They wrapped it up in about 4 hours and were well worth the money. It is like putting a beenie on the house. A long time coming but more than welcome. I could not leave out Ms. Charley...she can often be found on my lap.

Day 828

It occurred to me today that it has taken 828 days to pass our first inspection on the house. No speed records there but I got a "nice work" from the inspector and a list of things to do so he would be happy. He did not look at anything I thought he would be flagged me on three really lame things. The washing machine drain had to be 3" instead of 2", I had to build a working platform in the attic beside the furnace, and I had to put some metal straps on a couple rafters that had large birds mouth cuts. He was only concerned with the wiring, smoke detectors and egress requirements on the windows. I thought I was going to have to change out the windows upstairs until he insisted on measuring them, ultimately going my way. Brian the plumber came this morning and fixed his end. At one point in time I heard snoring from some animal quite loudly only to discover our cat Julius buried in the insulation behind the hot water heater. Lucky for him I let him live another day. I also got to knock out a little more siding while the weather held out. Dont hold your breath...insulation next week.

12.01.08

A new month and we are off and running. Took a little break for turkey day but got back into the swing of things bright and early. The plumbers finished the rough in at about 3:00 so that is ready for an inspection. I spent the day finishing the dining room and kitchen floors. I had to tear out the old 1x10 white pine sub-floor. I put down a good layer of plastic and insulated between the joists and replaced the pine with new sub-flooring. Alan from Northwestern Heating and Air came and roughed in the new ducts under the floor because I think we all have had enough of the tight crawlspace game. I got the cable lines run upstairs and after the electricians wire the back porch we should be able to call the inspector. Another couple inches of snow fell today...quite windy too.

We'll Start with French Toast...

...and follow that up with some frozen pipes. Nothing like waking up with a hot breakfast on your mind and spending some time with space heaters and a dryer so you can get water..and it is only November. I ripped out the kitchen floor to access the crawlspace for the new plumbing. Unfortunately I had to pour a new footing and prep the wall where the new back door will go. Maranda got the privilege of hair dryer duty while I worked on the new concrete form. There was some mold and dry rot under the floor from 30 years of poor venting and neglect. We will get a vapor barrier down and insulate when we build it back.

Global Warming

Whoever believes in "global warming" needs to turn off the news and go outside. We finally got the plumbers to start on the back porch and sure enough the weather got nasty. It snowed about 6 inches at the house and the wind was very strong. Nevertheless, they were able to almost wrap up the downstairs bath and laundry and will be back Monday to get back at it. The pups and I got to take a couple good walks in the blizzard...they loved it. It is so nice to have Stoagie the grandpa here.

11.19.08

Spent the last few days preparing the back porch for the plumbers to come. They will be here tomorrow so I had to get a few things done so that ordeal will rum smoothly. I filled in a portion of the old spring box with concrete and raised a new floor over it. This created a pad foe the new hot water heater and laundry machines. I had to do the same thing on the other side of the room in order to get the plumbing to work properly. I went ahead and insulated the parts that will be covered up when the rough in will be done. We are sneaking up on getting a rough inspection which means maybe a little insulation for Christmas.

Last Room Down

Got the soffit, facia, and siding finished on the back porch this afternoon. We only had the interior wall space for two small windows but they are efficient and tight so better that than fight the draft. I am ready now for all the plumbing to be roughed in so we can think about an inspection and insulation. I threw the fire screen on the stove and I should have been able to guess what would happen. We are lucky to have Chewy's dad Stoagie staying with us for the week. We got some snow last night and expect more on Tuesday and Thursday.

HEAT...Enough Said

I think everyone gets the significance of this entry. I had to throw in the one picture of the sun first thing in the morning. We are Blessed.

Back For Hire

As if the old back was not shot enough...start with two full work days on the roof, move onto a morning of helping at a sawmill, winch a 400 pound wood stove up some stairs into a truck, and top it off with 6 hours in the Dodge. I was able to score some 24" cherry logs which are worth quite a bit and have them sawed up down the road. I slabbed up the big one for a dining room table and bar top for the house. It only cost me $35 and a back to do it so well worth the lumber. Maranda and I drove down to Waynesville, NC to pick up or new stove for the house. The guys asked right away if either of were engineers. It was quite a feat winching up 30 stairs on a homemade sled. All the effort was worth the score of a 1983 Fisher Grandma Bear 3 that looked like it had only been used 5 times in 25 years. I could not be more excited...and so is she. We hit Sam's on the way home because nothing hits the spot more on a long day than a 15 pound bag of M & M's.

One More Hat for the House

The house got one more new hat for the rack on Friday. Wade and I finished the demo on Thursday and started the framing. Jeff and Mike helped out most of the day Friday, and Maranda hung in there until the paper was on the roof. We got rid of the big windows in exchange for smaller more efficient ones and also added a hip to the roof system when we raised the pitch. This greatly added some much needed headroom in the future bath and laundry rooms.

Last Footing

Hopefully, barring a natural disaster, I was able to finish my last footing today. The weather looks decent for a week so I decided to knock down the back porch and rebuild the roof. I was able to incorporate the spring box into the foundation so Maranda will be able to use it as a planter or something when we are all done. I figured I was better at working wood than block so I built forms to pour solid concrete all at once and then I will frame on top of that. It took about 16 bags of concrete...not so awful. I got the anchor bolts laid in and hopefully I can do the demo tomorrow and begin the framing. As soon as I complete this the exterior will almost be complete and the plumbers will be able to do all the rough in at once.