Days 75-80 - Taking out the trash

This was a momentous week in the project - the dumpster is gone!

Picking up the last load

That thing has decorated our front yard since June - so nice to see it gone. The guys immediately went to work cleaning up the site, moving out any tools and materials that would no longer be needed. This is a huge step - as you can see from the changes in the front of the house over last week. Between the clean up and finishing the last bits of siding by the garage and mudroom entrance, it no longer looks like a construction site!

Here's the house on Monday

And here it is on Wednesday - all cleaned up!

Starting on Friday, Byron and Ervin were here to start laying down wood flooring upstairs. I love seeing the floors go in - now, it is really looking like a home. The smell of the wood permeates the house, in a good way.

And, all week long, Carlos, Leo and Lusvi continued painting - the colors are going on, and so far so good. As I mentioned, I spent many days stressing over paint color selection, so I've been anxiously awaiting the reality of seeing those colors on the walls.

Pink Cadillac for a pink-loving girl

Day 11ish - Good form

There was a little bit of homework yesterday and a little bit more today ... so let's put it all on today's post. Yesterday, Bob wrote and said, "I'll be there at around 10 when the dumpster will be delivered - it's going in the front yard near the pole." I thought, surely he must have meant "driveway" when he said "front yard." Right? Wrong. Of course he meant front yard - which is why he said FRONT YARD.

Bob set up the wood "landing pads"

The whole thing was pretty impressive - kids and I watched them place it. Kids kept waiting for the big boom when it landed, but it never happened. They gently put it down (that thing might weigh 1000 lbs, or maybe more!) on those strips of wood.

Makes more of a statement than a pink flamingo, don't you think?

This morning the form guys came by and set up the forms for the foundation footing. This is new to me. I had no idea what a "form" was all about - they set up a structure (out of wood) that ensures the concrete slab will be poured straight. So, here you have it:

New garage

4' addition in back

Day 3 ... All's quiet. Well, sort of.

So, not much was supposed to happen today. The first full dumpster was picked up (yawn, I know, but the kids were riveted).

I snapped a few more pix of the house - strange to see it without the garage!

Driveway to nowhere ...

Hey, there wasn't a door there before! That would have been handy, though.

Electrician came by to shut off power along the living room wall they are taking down. Uneventful, you say? Hmm. Well, when the kids and I were moving more stuff down to the basement this afternoon, we noticed some of the lights didn't turn on. But, off we rushed to baseball. Can't be bothered by a little nuisance like that! It was only when we got home at around 8pm that we realized there was no hot water. Oops. No power to the furnace. Who would have thought that the power running along our first floor living room wall was connected to the line to the furnace? Not us. And apparently, not the electrician! Quick text to Bob the builder, and one hour later the electrician was here and voila, hot water for morning showers. Phew.

First bit of drama, easily fixed. Let's hope that pattern continues ...

Here's that wall - tomorrow it's getting a steel beam across the top so those studs can come down