Days 51 and 52 - It's a marshmallow world ...

Just when I thought we were done with summer getaways, Bob tells us we have to - um - get away. As in, leave the house, vacate the premises, scram. Really? Just as we're starting school and trying to get into a "normal" routine?! In a word, yes. It's insulation time, and Bob did give us a heads up about it - his preferred insulation method is a spray in foam called icynene, and you can't be in the house for 24 hours after they finish. Bob arranged it so that it would be on a Friday and Saturday - that way, we wouldn't have to worry about getting to school. Once we left the house on Friday, we needed to stay out until Sunday afternoon. They spray the first day, and then come back on the second day to trim it along the framed openings.

So, where to go? My brother Paul offered their place in Maine, and that was a tempting choice - but the kids had some things planned in town over the weekend, so we opted for a bargain priced "staycation." Hey, when they kick you out of your house, why not go here?

When we returned home on Sunday night, the house was in good shape, and was a lot less "naked." Very cool to see the insulation filling the frames - you can see the shapes of the rooms so much more clearly.

Looking into master bedroom

Corner window in master bedroom

"This stuff looks like marshmallow!" (according to the kids)

On Monday and Tuesday, the guys were back, getting things ready for boards and plaster. Byron and Ervin took down the temporary door that was separating our living room from the addition.

Framing the new walkway down to mudroom

Looking through mudroom to opening for door to garage

They also framed the pocket door to the "toilet room" in the master bath upstairs:

Outside, they added a bit more to our new front steps (the railing on the other side will wait until after that big window gets installed):

Day 5 - And now there will be a brief intermission ...

Guys were back first thing this morning to frame the wall and pocket doors leading to the new family room/playroom .... and they did exactly that. So that's it? Yes, and? No, really - that's it. Bit of a backlog down at the permit issuing office, so we now must wait .... once that's all sorted out, it's on to excavation!

This is OK by us as we need to regroup and deal with some of the piles of stuff that we haphazardly placed in various locations around the house. Gotta reorganize the storage pod, make some room, move out some more stuff and get a jump start on the next round. Nobody likes to pack up entire rooms full of stuff at 10pm on a weeknight, right?

I hired a model for today's shots of the soon-to-be "pocket doors" leading to the family room - she was very cooperative, and even selected a cast that matched her outfit! Great accessorizing!

Note: that window and back wall are coming down, too - we're adding 4 feet in back

Look at that wave! Catalog-ready!