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.

Running Out Of Time

We got our first snow today and the shock of it all sank in. We finally have some subs in here to knock out some work and help get us to the insulation zone. The electricians finished wiring the upstairs in two days and the HVAC guys will finish the upstairs unit tomorrow. We were able to install two separate HVAC systems so we could finish the upstairs first and buy some more time for the downstairs. I picked up an old Vermont Castings stove and got it painted throughout the day when I was not cutting tile for Chad. We used slate around the chimney because none of ti is square and all of the tiles are different colors which fits right in with the whirlwind we call a house. It is nice to see some progress but the downside is all you see happening I we have to pay for. I can't do all the work and it is getting cold so best to let the professionals do their jobs. I will be able to recoup when we get to finishing things. I think the dogs are even cold. If all goes well we'll be warm in 2 days.....maybe

Score

Things are moving a little slower than desired because I am on hold until the asbestos siding gets removed from the spring house. Seth Irvin's company from Clyde, NC cam to take care of that little issue for me and in the meantime I was able to prep the area for the wood stove. I laid the durock and changed the hardwood layout a little...no big deal. I was also able to salvage some of the best looking wormy chestnut I have seen. I have about 20 boards that are at least 12" thick and some up to about 18". Luckily the asbestos was taken off carefully so the chestnut will survive to be transformed into our cabinets. This brings the total amount of original boards saved on this project to about 23.

Just When You Thought There Couldn't Be More

Just when you thought we were done, I found another wall to demo. We cleaned out our bedroom (current) and moved the bed to the living room so we could prep the new dining room. There was not much left to it but some crappy paneling and some 2 inch long carpet you could mow. The wall separated the kitchen from our room, and taking it down opened up the new kitchen and dining room. It was great to see and feel what it will be like when we get done. The high ceilings are great and the wide open feel really makes the inside of the house seem large. I am pretty sure we tore the last bit of old siding out and got rid of the final round of old dust and dirt hiding in the house. The sink looks like an island now but it is about to have a new buddy...I have to move and re-plumb the washing machine so I can tear off the back porch and rebuild that roof. Maranda does not want to give up home court as far as laundry is concerned. She has earned her washing machine because I have destroyed just about everything else. Mom and I worked today inside because of the rain. We framed out the new shower upstairs for the wife. It even has a cute little seat. awwww

Green House Be Gone

How refreshing it is to finally be applying new finishes to the house. Mike and I ran the siding up the dormer ends and Mom followed with caulk and paint. After the new power was mounted to the house we were able to side the road side of the house. I thought it was fitting to start there because from the road, the whole house looks finished. It was a little tricky planning out the porch roof system before the deck is even built, but it has to happen this way due to ye old budget. It seems like the only easy thing this week to figure out was where to write the checks. Mom was able to paint the highest and hardest parts so after the porch roof is done "we" don't have to crawl up there again. We are using a new composite siding material so we'll see how long it holds up...hopefully the paint does its job.