Day Four....Tuesday

Well...the day started with a couple hours of rain of course but the good Lord helped keep morality high and once again more was accomplished than imagined. We framed the gable end walls first and then moved to the roof. Wade and Mom loaded round two of the 30 yard dumpsters. The sun peeked out for a couple hours so we sheeted the 10/12 sections first and then moved on to the dormer roof. Black clouds were looming constantly but the storms kept breaking up right before they hit us. We ended up drying in 1/2 of the house and sheeting both ends. Todd's trigger finger was smoking by 5:00 but without fast finger we would never have made it so far. Thanks Bud.

Day Three....Monday

Well...the day started with a heavy fog and no optimism. We started framing the first wall after laying out the plates and discovering how bowed to exterior walls were. Not much accomplished as of 9:30am. We soon got over the minor stuff and got down to business. By lunch we had the two side walls framed and almost sheeted. We began the rafters about 12:30 and every time I would hand one up I would threaten bonuses for those who finished the roof in one day. We ended up getting all the rafters on and the roof covered up by about 6:00pm. Using a single ridge beam was crucial to this operation. Mike, Todd, Wade, and Mom were my all-stars. The long tiring day was so worth it to see the look on Maranda's (money makers) face when she got home...as if we don't work while she is away.

Day Two....Sunday

Not much to speak of today. We went to church and were hoping got get a jump on the week but it seemed to rain every hour. I did not want to take all the tarps off only to get caught in a shower. We picked up the windows from town and got a movie. I think we are out of containers to catch water if anyone could spare any. The dogs are even depressed.

Day One.... Saturday

Well an exciting beginning to the start of our big week. I got started about 6:30am preparing to tear off the roof. Michael showed up about 7:30 to my surprise and I could not have been more pleased. We got the tear off done by 11:30am thanks to Mom, Dad, Mike, Gardner, Maranda, Jenna, John, Wade, Wells, and Myself. We got a little we about 3/4 of the way through. The weatherman has said rain but we don't have any other options. We took an early lunch and immediately after started putting in the rim joist and finishing the plywood subfloor. It seemed like every hour it would rain a little, but we kept pushing on. I still find it hard to believe no one got hurt. Anyway, with about one small piece of plywood to go the good Lord decided to bless this parched country with a downpour. You can't complain for the rain and the sound of drops in about 50 randomly placed pans, pots, and buckets makes quite soothing music as we lay hunkered down in this blessing of a house. The entire inside is soaked and we have plastic covering anything of value. There are only three places to be right now...under the two dry places in the house or the shower.

Special Delivery

Well we Just got back form Colorado which was proceeded by a trip to Puerto Rico for a mission trip. I have not really done much with the house but get prepared for the demo on Saturday and the rebuild to follow. I got windows, all the framing material, port-a-jon, and a construction dumpster delivered yesterday. I spent a little time today building the headers(overkill per usual) and doing some bracing upstairs so the roof doesn't kill anyone. I am expecting quite a crew on Saturday and also for the following week. wish us luck

Santa Can Kiss Butt

Quite a bit has happened since the last report. I have been to tired and busy to write. We got the subfloor laid upstairs as far as we could reach. The roof is ready to tear off and that task is slated for the 5th of July if any of you are free. This afternoon I tore off both chimneys on the house because they protruded above the new roof line and needed to be torn off anyway. All the wood behind them was rotted. Santa will have a hard time getting in this year. Maranda and her friend Rhonda did their best to assure that the table was full came late summer with their gardening effort. Beans, tomatoes, squash,zucchini,cukes, and a melon or two will be nice.

Stairway To Heaven

I took a short break from the house to add a shed roof to the side of the shop. Hopefully I will get the tractor soon up here so I needed a place to put it. Dad had the metal saved and I had most of the other materials to make this project happen. On another note, I got the stairway done to the second floor. I was able to patch in the floor around it thus completing the second floor system and the rough stairs. I am only a couple weeks out from being ready to tear off the roof. Maranda is finally ready to see some new construction.