Saturday, July 28, 2012

New Front Steps

The new exterior post.  It just needs to be anchored, which Ken will do on Monday.

Steve working on the new front steps.

Nini enjoying donuts on the new front steps.


The chop saw and table saw are gone.  Very few tools are left.  Always a good indication that the end is near.

The front rooms ready for insulation and sheetrock.
We're getting new lighting in the kitchen.  Should be much brighter.

Nin in the door to her new room.
Steve finished the new front steps late yesterday, and Nini and I enjoyed donuts on them this morning.  Sheetrock is delivered on Monday, and the sheetrockers should be done on the second floor on Tuesday.  The tapers come in on Wednesday or Thursday.  In the meantime Ken will be working on the exterior trim next week and securing the new posts (the last one on the interior and the replaced post on the southwest corner).  The house will start to look livable by the end of the week.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Concrete, Jackhammer, and More Concrete

Basement pad before the addition of concrete.


Basement pad filled in with concrete.
Exterior view of the back of the house.  The corner of the house to the right is the one that needed a new concrete pier for the post.


Ready for conrete.

Concrete pad and pier.
Today was a bit tough.  Ken mixed 12 bags of concrete to fill the third hole in the basement (see photo), while I jackhammered out the concrete post on the southwest corner of the house.  I then dug a 32-inch deep hole for concrete so we could reset the corner post, which had slipped off center.  Ken mixed the concrete for the hole, and I helped guide the concrete into the hole.  We'll set the basement post and corner pier on Monday.  Aaron spent the entire day wiring the first floor, and he returns tomorrow to finish up.  Steve worked on the front steps and will be finished tomorrow.  Sheetrock comes on Monday, along with the brothers from Moscow Mills who'll hang the sheetrock.  It's all coming together. 

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Third Post and the Beginning of New Front Steps

Ken and I dug out a hole for the concrete for the third post in the basement (Atually, Ken did most of the work; I just hauled the dirt and concrete outside) early this afternoon, and Ken will fill the hole tomorrow morning.  We should be able to attach the metal post late Friday but, most likely, next Monday.
Steve will start building the new front steps tomorrow, so I did my part by taking out the steps and starting to take out the first step, which is concrete, with a jackhammer.  I could only get about 2/3 of it done late this afternoon in the 107 degree heat before I quit.  Steve or I will finish off the rest early tomorrow.  Here's a picture of the hole in the basement along with before and after pictures of the front steps.  I'm sure Gram and Pappa will be happy with the new steps.  Oh, we thought we were getting sheetrock today from a Troy, Missouri, company, but when they showed up they said they couldn't boom the sheetrock in.  They also weren't too interested in carrying it in.  We would have been more than happty to help if they had just started carrying, but they were a bunch of lightweights.  They ended up returning to Troy (1 1/2 hours) with our load of sheetrock.  Most unprofessional.  Can you imagine what Byron would have said to us Barry if we had returned with a load of sheetrock?  Needless  to say, they lost our business.  We should get sheetrock later tomorrow or early on Friday from a local St. Louis company.  A slight setback, but we'll deal with it. 


The third hole (12 inches deep) in the basement ready for concrete.  We dug out the shallower section (4 inches deep) in the upper part of the picture because the concrete was a bit weak.

The front steps before my late afternoon attack.

The front steps after I finally burned out.  Sorry Steve.

One of the three new posts in the basement. 

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Second Floor: Ready for Sheetrock

Aladdin finished insulating the upstairs this morning, so tomorrow morning we'll be ready for the sheetrockers.  Steve and Ken were in the basement most of the day taking out the main beam in the house.  I tried to help and stay out of the way at the same time.  They're almost finished with this task, which really is the last major task.  A lot of little things remain to do on the first floor, so I'm hoping I can help with those over the next three days.  Check out the new photos for our progress.
The boys room.

North wall of the master bedroom.  At the advice of Gram and Pappa we added insulation between the master bedrooma and the kids room.

View of the insulation between the master bedrooma and the bathroom.



View of Nini'room through the master bedroom door.

Our small landing/hall at the top of the stairs.

Nini's room.

The bathroom as seen through the Nini's wall.


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Ready for Insulation and Sheetrock

View into the boys room from the hall.

View into Nini's room from the hall.


View into the bathroom from the hall.

View into the bathroom from Nini's room.

Nini's room.

The boys room.

Closet in the boys room (pocket door).

View into the hall from the boys room, with the master bedroom is in the background.

View into the master bedroom.  The window will be installed after the sheetrock is boomed in on Wednesday.
The second floor will be inuslated tomorrow morning and sheetrocked on Wednesday.  After that we can get the carpet ordered, paint the walls, and put up trim and doors.  The second floor is close, but probably won't be insulated and sheetrocked until early the following week.  I'll be at the house all this week, so look for updates nightly. 

Thursday, July 19, 2012

New Stairs!

As you will see in these pictures we were quite lucky to have found such a wonderful contractor as Steve.  The before picture of the stairs doesn't do justice to how unsafe and shoddy they were.  The plans as drawn only called for the replacement/straightening of the bottom four steps, but since Steve is a skilled stairbuilder he was unable to compromise his professional integrity, so he rebuilt the entire staircase.  Not only did we get a solid, professionally constructed staircase, which we'll now cover with carpet, but because of the new angle of the stairs we gained headroom on the stairs to the basement.  We may have to consider redoing the basement stairs now. 




Insulators come on Monday to insulate the second floor, and the sheetrockers will follow soon thereafter.  The electrician will be back early next week to finish up the first floor so the insulators and sheetrockers can come back and finish up.  Steve is cleaning out the house of all tools and supplies so we'll get some good pictures this weekend. 

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Max's Blueberry-Raspberry-Strawberry Crisp

Max wanted to make something tonight, so we settled on this beautiful crisp.  We'll be making several of these at the family reunion.  He's becoming quite helpful in the kitchen. 

Renovation Status Week 10

Our new front door. 

If we're going to have a drought, I'm glad it's when we're renovating our house. 

Hardie plank siding will cover the new addition, and plaster will cover the space below the new small windows on each side of the house.

View of the new room on the southeast corner of the house.

The red room void of the large armoire.That was not fun to remove.
 The mud room is through the second opening.



Steve will be finishing up with the framing and tweaks on the first and second floors early this coming week, and the insulators and sheetrockers will be doing their thing at the end of the week.  This past week the electrician was busy pulling wires and installing switch boxes and cans for lights. Steve finished the closet in Nini's room (it had to be relocated to the exterior wall to make it functional).  Her room is still a nice size.  I don't have any new pictures of the upstairs, though.  Terri bought a vanity, and Steve will pick it up when he's ready to install it.  He put in the front door, and the entryway looks more like a home.  All of the windows have been installed except for the main window in the master bedroom, which they'll use to boom in the sheetrock.  We've decided to go with Hardie plank siding on the new addition and the entryway, with Hardie trim going around the windows.  By the end of the week the house should be free of tools and supplies, which means it'll be time for us to jump in pretty soon.  It's all so freakin' exciting and fun! 

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Renovation Week 9

Nini's bedroom (to the left of the stairs when looking down).

2nd floor bathroom (in between Nini's room and the closet for the master bedroom).

Walk-in closet for the master bedroom.

View of the master bedroom through the future doorway.

The boys walk-in closet (with pocket door hardware in box on the floor).

View into the boys bedroom (opening on right) and the small landing at the top of the stairs (on the left).

Small linen closet just to the left at the top of the stairs.

A different look up the stairs.

A different look down the stairs.


Things are going well.  Steve has finished 90% of the framing and will be done with the remaining framing early on Monday.  The windows and tub are delivered on Monday, and Steve will start installing the windows on the first floor as soon as they arrive.  I spent some time at the house today cleaning up and getting things ready for Steve to hit the ground running on Monday.  After the electrical and plumbing inspection, the insulators will be in to do their thing, then the sheetrockers.  We'll be painting before we know it.

Oh, and we got some rain tonight.  Things are looking up!!!