Days 44 and 45 - Siding, cement, and some stress

No one ever said this was going to be a party. And while my enthusiastic posts are certainly genuine, not every day is exciting. Nor is every day easy. The reality is that undertaking a project like this while living in the house - with two kids - is exhausting and patience-testing and downright stressful. It's hard on the kids, who had to adjust to living in a much smaller space and without access to at least half of their toys and clothes. They can't really invite friends over to play. There has definitely been some cabin fever - thankfully, school starts next week! It's hard on Tim, who has all the usual workday stress and would like to come home at the end of the day and just be able to relax - yeah, not so much. Plus, as I have mentioned, he is even more of a neatnik than me (and you know that's saying a lot!).

As for me, well, yeah. I think I'm doing pretty well with it for the most part - I mean, I'm so grateful that we have the opportunity in life to renovate our house. I feel very fortunate to be able to do this project - to have found such a creative, nice architect - we were stuck until we met Brad. Then, to have found a contractor that we could afford, that does such great work - we enjoy working with Bob on a daily basis, he's responsive and cares that we are happy. That's why most days, I honestly am excited about whatever's going on, and feel like there just isn't anything to complain about.

But then there are those other days. And they happen. And this week has been a week of those days. Why? Simply, the gang's all here (and so is the mess they leave behind). The lineup this week: the plumber (cutting holes in floors and walls and ceilings to put in pipes and valves, etc - on all three floors), the electrician (cutting holes in floors and walls and ceilings to put in wires and outlets and cable - on all three floors), the HVAC guys (cutting holes in floors and walls and ceilings to put in vents and ducts - on all three floors INCLUDING the few rooms that we are still living in!. Getting the picture? Plus, the concrete guys were back to pour the cement for the garage floor. Oh, and let's not forget Bob's guys outside - Byron, Ervin, Julio and Reuben are working away outside on siding and windows and doors and steps. Calgon, take me away! So, I guess it's not surprising that both Tim and I were bags of stress last night - there was much to clean up.

But, there has been so much that they have done! The plumbing rough-in is complete, the electrical rough-in is complete, the high velocity air conditioning system is well underway, the garage floor is poured, and the siding is moving along.

New garage floor

More Hardie plank siding delivered - plus, Hardie shingles for the gables!

That staging scares me, but that's how they put on the siding

Back is sided - now with Cobblestone shingles in the gable

Another view of back

To get out of the construction zone yesterday, the kids and I took off with our good friends for the day - we headed out to visit Old Sturbridge Village, a picturesque recreation of a Colonial era village from the early 1800's. A great trip for all of us - nice to see life in a simpler time.

My two and their pals

The HVAC work continues Friday and Saturday, so I am bracing for more cleanup - though we have prepped the area! Plastic and sheets have been draped over beds and counters and furniture. Wish us luck!

Day 43 - Out back

On Tuesday, we got a new door out to the back yard, from the family room:

Watch that last step, it's a doozy!

Very exciting to have better access to the back yard (which will have to be spruced up at some point)!

Who wants to go out and play?

And, the plumbing is moving forward (which is the best direction for it to go, after all!):

PVC tubes, color coded - gotta appreciate modern plumbing!

Days 41 and 42 - Come on in!

Seems a bit symbolic - right at the point where the work is starting to move inside, we have a new set of steps up to our front door. Kids were so excited to use the new steps!

Starting at the end of last week, and continuing into this week, we have both a plumber and an electrician there, roughing in the new rooms. The electrician is running wire, setting up outlets and switches, and installing overhead lighting. I'll try to get a few pix, but it may not have the dramatic effect of, say, putting up an entire wall in a day.

Last Friday, the plumber put in the shower valve and set up the hookups for the toilet and sinks in the master bath, as well as the washer/dryer in second floor laundry. I had a willing subject, so I did manage to snap a shot of the laundry closet:

Let's hope she's this excited when I ask her to help me wash clothes!

Meanwhile, Byron and Ervin were outside, putting up more siding and window trim - here's the view from the back:

Day 40 - Good morning, sunshine!

Ahhhh ...

The back of our our new family room, looking through the pocket doors from the living room.

They've been working away on windows this week - installing, and putting in trim on the outside.

Kids are watching Byron cut the openings for family room windows

Four of a kind!

Byron and Erbin also put up more Hardie plank on the back dormer:

Day 39 - In the window

Today, Byron and Erbin finished putting the Hardie plank siding in the front part of the "old" house - in fact, they were done by around 10am:

Time to move on to the windows! Erbin was up on the ladder in back, putting in the first window before noon:

Back of master bedroom

By the time we got back at the end of the day, they had put in all four windows in the master suite:

Nolan in front of the corner pair of windows in the master bedroom

Carys in front of same windows inside

Days 37 and 38 - Step right up

For the past few years, our front steps have been falling apart. Literally crumbling - little pieces (and sometimes big chunks) of cement and brick and blue stone would just break off and land in the grass or mulch. And the iron rails detached from the top step a long time ago, so we constantly remind the kids and their friends to not lean against them (I was sure that one day, one little friend or another was going to land in the holly bush). We've even had landscapers and masonry contractors voluntarily stop by our house and leave their cards or brochures "in case we were interested in replacing those front steps" - why, is there a problem?

Watch out for that left side!

Well, we can't exactly do all this work to the house and leave the front steps like that. Bob's guys started a few days ago - they demoed our tired old existing steps first. Note: when Jack Hammer shows up on the job site, you know it's going to be loud.

Julio on the job

The new steps will be a little wider, giving us all a little more elbow room on the way in and out

Here are the new and improved steps, at the end of today - looking good! They also redid some of the cement at the foot of the steps and walkway.

Just need to add some railings, and a coat of paint

Oh, and what's that on the front of the house next to those fabulous new steps?! Byron and Erbin started putting up the Hardie plank siding today. Really exciting to see some color over that Tyvek!

While all of that was going on, they also started cutting the openings for the windows, as well as the pull-down attic door in the garage.

Check out the new windows in the garage behind Tim - ready to go in this week!

Days 35 and 36 - A roof over our heads

We have one! It feels good to be under cover, again ...

Getting started ... don't look down!

Our house is looking a bit more presentable

No more blue tarp!

The old part of the house (aka right side) got a new roof, too

Days 33 and 34 - Trim, The Tree

By Tuesday, our trip to Maine was already a distant memory, and the smell of our unwelcome, prematurely deceased rodent friend was finally fading. Bob's guys started working on the front steps (more on that in the next post) and the trim around the gables. The trim is such an underrated part of this whole thing - it defines the lines and makes everything look neat and intentional. It's math in action - the pieces all have to fit together, the angles have to match.

The thick white boards around the gables are the "Fascia"

Byron on the staging, putting up fascia on the front gable

No, putting on the trim is not as exciting as hoisting a whole wall up on the second floor, but it sure does add pizzazz. So, that's the trim - what's this about the tree? Well, on Wednesday, a guy from the town tree department showed up - to take down a big old tree from the bottom of our driveway. We were worried this might happen some day, as we knew it had been damaged and we noticed that it was starting to get diseased. According to my neighbor Kathryn, before we bought the house, a drunk driver plowed into the tree at about 10am one day. I guess the guy was OK, but the tree was permanently damaged. And so they took it down - we will miss it, especially the nice shade it provided in the driveway.

Now you see it (to the left of the portapotty - note the hole in the trunk)

Now you don't

My neighbor Christina took her boys and Carys in the wagon to watch the tree work

Day 32 - Ups and Downs

My last post featured a photo of the Excalibur, a huge wooden roller coaster at Funtown Splashtown, USA in Saco, Maine - we rode it last week during our vacation. One of my friends asked me how riding that roller coaster compared with undertaking a home renovation project ... a great question! My answer: it's a lot faster, a lot cheaper, and a whole lot less scary. Of course, these two things are really very similar. They both involve that feeling of loss of control, and they both are filled with ups and downs.

This was never more true than our return home from vacation on Sunday night. As people who know me can attest, I like to keep things pretty "orderly" in life ... organized closets, clothes neatly folded, papers filed, that sort of thing. Living in a construction zone challenges that order on a daily basis - and for me to live in two rooms (and keep my sanity) means that I try to keep what I can in order. So, the original plan was for us to return home at a reasonable hour on Sunday - to give us enough time to unpack, go through mail, and clean up a week's worth of construction dust.

Ah, plans. With a weather forecast of a picture perfect beach day - 78 degrees, no humidity and blue bird skies - who was I to drag my family home early? I gave in, we headed to the beach and figured we'd deal with the consequences. Well, when we returned home at about 9pm, with two tired kids and a car full of bags to unload, we unlocked the front door and hoped for the best. At first glance, the living room area (part of the construction zone) wasn't too bad - the usual dust, no biggie. We have been intermittently blocking off the kitchen/dining room area (aka our bedroom) with sheets of plastic and tape during the construction to block the dust from wafting through to that side. As we lifted up the plastic to walk into the kitchen, we were immediately hit with the horrible stench of - pretty unmistakable - dead mouse. Can't miss it. I'm not particularly fazed by the fact that there was a mouse in the house - who hasn't had one of those? Nor that it was in there, dead somewhere. It was just that the smell was overwhelming - it had been trapped in that blocked off space all week. Welcome home!

Fortunately, we found the poor thing pretty quickly and disposed of its remains, maggots and all (not exaggerating). Opened up the windows, broke out the lysol and disinfecting wipes, lit some candles, burned some incense ... and proceeded to try to unpack and sweep up sawdust until well after midnight.

That was one of the downs, for sure ....

By the end of the day Monday, however, the smell was finally going away and spirits brightened, especially when we saw some of the progress upstairs in the new master suite and kid's bedroom. It is hard to tell from pictures - but when you are standing in the space, it is very cool. Loving the high ceilings and architectural features of Brad's design.

View of kid's bedroom, from master bedroom - large window in front gable

View of new master, from kid's bedroom

Master bedroom (also from kid's bedroom)

Laundry closet - just outside entrance to kid's bedroom

Standing in master - door at left is to walk-in closet, door at right to master bath

Walk-in closet

Days 27-31 - Framed

What's this? A whole week in one post? Well, we skipped town again. Before you go thinking the construction is too much for us, and is making us run screaming ... let me remind you, it is summer vacation after all. Between that and the whole "living in two rooms covered in dust" situation, I can't think of a better time to pack up and get out of (half-built) Dodge!

On Monday night, after a very productive meeting with Bob's HVAC guy, we headed up to Paul and Lawrence's place in Kennebunk, ME. Snapped a few shots before we left on Monday, and put in my requests with my brothers Paul and Tom to try to keep up the photo documentation while we were going to be away (thanks, guys!).

Finishing up rafters - note: our old chimney is going to have to grow a bit, don't you think?!

Back of master bedroom on second floor

Plan for the week was to demo the remaining exterior wall of the old playroom (where we added 4 feet, in what will be new family room), and to finish framing.

First up: demo that wall.

Done! Here's the new back wall, with four new window frames.

And what were we doing while this was going on?

Funtown/Splashtown USA in Saco, Maine

Oh, yes, I did ride that roller coaster - Nolan and I were in the front row - wheeeeeee!!!!

Back to the home front .... the framing. The guys got all the plywood up:

All that work inspired us to do a little building of our own!

The crew