Light at the End of the Tunnel

Seems like everything is coming together at once as we enter the final stages here. It's been a busy, busy week.

Monday it snowed.



By Tuesday afternoon it was in the 60s and I had a bedroom door leading onto the porch.



While the weather was jumping around, the tile man came and started putting up the shower tile. It's going to have small colored cubes of tile where the black streaks are now.



And the porch decking got done and the siding started being applied.





Then this afternoon, a tornado headed right at it. That was......interesting. It went slightly south of us though, so everything is alright, and we had some beautiful sunset clouds.



Tomorrow, more siding and tile and no telling what else. Can't wait!

Plumbers and Porches, Mud and Jacks

My goodness what a busy few days it has been. The plumber showed up first thing on Tuesday. Well actually, the plumbers showed up. There were six of them. Never seen so many of them at one time in my life. Even my builder was amazed. We finally figured out from chatting with them, that they are usually spread out over several jobs, but with the economy being what it is, I was it for the morning. Anyway, they went right to work. One was working on the utility sink, one on the refrigerator, one on the kitchen island, two on the bathroom and one on the sewage drain. I walked into the house once, and only two of them were standing there. There were a bunch of muffled voices under the floor. I couldn't imagine that many people packed in that little bitty space.

I looked like I had a party going because I think every one of them drove his own vehicle. There were trucks everywhere. As I told my builder, it was what every woman needed. A house full of men, all doing her bidding.By the end of the day, the entire job was done..... Except for the 20 feet of pipe that he underestimated. A little bit irritated about that he was.

So yesterday, he was back and finished up first thing. It took hardly any time and only three showed up. I have plumbing in place. Yahoo!!!




In the meantime, Builder and company were staying out of the way by working outside. They put in a mini French drain under the porch.




And then finally got started on that decking for the porch.




I LOVE my porch.

Yesterday after the plumber had left, they went down under also. The original plumbers had chopped a joist in two places to achieve their goals, and it had to be replaced. Word of advice---if you have having plumbing done, and you see your plumber headed under your house with a saw, stop him.




Over time, the lack of support and the wide expanse of the beams had caused the floor to sag, so they jacked it up and put in a support beam. Now the thing is solid as a rock.




And in the afternoon, they finished off the floor in the bathroom and hallway for today the tile man cometh. Everything was cleaned within an inch of its life, swept and vacuumed, and then ¼ inch plywood was glued and screwed down. Let the mudding begin!




Today, while the tile man is mudding, the guys are going to be jacking up the kitchen floor, which is suffering from the same abuse as the bathroom floor. Too wide and bad plumbers. It has a definite dip in it that you can feel when you walk across it. Has to be fixed. It's gonna be a long day.

Slow Start, Big Finish

The devil is in the details.

It's been hard to post for the last week or so, not only because I've been busier than all get out away from the house, but also there aren't many pictures to post. Running five million errands in town is preventing me from getting a lot of pictures in a day, but to be honest, electrical wiring doesn't lend itself to a lot of action shots. And that's what the guys have been doing....wiring....lots and lots of wiring.

My dad was an electrical engineer and he taught me you can never have enough electrical outlets. That being the case I've got 'em everywhere. Where you think you would need one, I've put three and wished for four. But I will have power. As time goes on, I hope to add solar panels and generate some of my own, but that's for a future project. Right now, I just want to have a plug available when I need power.




So things may have been sluggish this week, but that is all about to change. The plumber is coming tomorrow and the tile man is coming on Thursday. Builder went and got the decking for the porch yesterday and he's dead set and determined that is going on like NOW! I ordered the flooring last week and it is suppose to be in this week and I am still running none stop, picking up supplies and parts. Throw in the fact that I've been taking my mom to the doctor and to get some lab tests done and grocery shopping and going to church and.....and.....and......Good Grief! No wonder I'm tired.

We had a scare in the geo-thermal department last week. We had a brown out that lasted about four hours back Saturday before this last. Nobody was at the house at the time to shut the system down and it went on the blink. The guys from the company came and set things right, but it was scarey to think that brand new system might have been fried. I know the procedures now, and it will be the first thing to be turned off in future power downs. I expect there to be a lot more as the weather warms up. Too many people on a decrepit old system is a sure bet.

So look for more soon. I'm expecting things to pick up rapidly.

Falling Behind

Not the remodeling, just me. Seems like I never have enough time in the day to do everything that I'm wanting to.

Spring seems to be heading this way. The temps are warming up and all the bushes and trees are plumping up their buds. The sun has been really bright for a few days and the peepers are beginning to be heard at night. My thoughts are turning to landscaping and gardening.




On the home front, things are moving along. The guys have started working on the exterior siding. Well, actually, the porch roof to be exact. It's starting to look really good.




I went on a mad shopping spree a while back and bought a refrigerator, kitchen sink, ovens, a utility sink, bathroom sink, toilet, shower head, bath faucet, kitchen faucet, ceiling fans, outside wall sconces, and enough corkscrew light bulbs to keep me going for a while.

Some things I also had to special order, like the bathroom sink and toilet and the patio door that I'm putting in at my bedroom. I'm waiting for those to come in. The appliance place said they would hold my ovens, and fridge for a bit so they're not getting banged up during the building.

The problem is, I'm not through spending money. I still have to go buy my flooring, sheetrock, a dishwasher, tile for the bathroom, outside lights, porch fans and find a plumber, not to mention a tile layer. For someone who doesn't like to make decisions, this can all be a bit overwhelming. It's sort of like being a supervisor at work. I had hoped that I was getting away from all that, but I guess I'll have to hold on for a bit longer.

It's raining today, so the guys are going to be working inside today. Actually, the plan is to work under the floor. A section of the old part of the house has a dip due to age and needs to be jacked up. At least it's not in the rain.

I Have Heat!!!!

It's a beautiful thing. They finished it up on Friday and it has been humming dutifully ever since. We sat the thermostat on 60 and the house is staying around 57. Considering the amount of holes in the walls and ceilings I'm very impressed with that. What I'm really excited about is the lack of mechanical noise. Just the sound of wind going into the intake. It's really nice.

In other parts of the house, the water heater is in place waiting to be plumbed in. The front door arrived.....finally! and the pantry windows got framed in and put into place.

Builder also built a ramp for Mama to easily access the house. Now, she says, she can get in and tell me how to finish it up right!

And in the meantime, Builder got a new toy....a turning plow, and nothing would do but that he turn up a garden spot for me. The robins went nuts looking for grubs and worms. It looked like the ground was moving there were so many of them in the spot.

The plot is huge, but that's okay. I know I won't be able to grow the whole thing, but it makes me feel better to have it. I may just end up growing weeds, but my intentions are good.

Progress

It's been a short week, but a very productive one. The weather kept the guys from working on Monday and Tuesday, but everything cleared up on Wednesday and what a frenzy it was.

The geothermal guys showed up and trenched from the wells to the house, laid down the pipe and then filled it all in. Now it's just a matter of connecting the pipes to the unit in the house. Then I'll have heat! Whoohoo! Can't move in though, cause shortly thereafter the guys will be tearing up my bathroom, and I ain't living with a 5-gallon bucket and no shower.

While my backyard was being torn up, the west side porch was being built up. The roof went on and the tar paper went down and by Friday, shingles were being laid. It was a wonderful thing to see. I beginning to believe there may be a house in all this mayhem after all.


Roof On




Shingles Being Delivered




Shingles On




Digging the Trench




Laying the Pipe





The Finished Pad for the Unit

Catch Up

I'm way behind in my posting, so I have a whole week plus to tell you about.

We have yet to get our three clear days, and the west porch is still not done, but it is started. The guys started out on Monday putting in the foundation.

They hadn't gotten much further when the rain started.

The rain forced the guys indoors, but there was plenty of work waiting there too. Mostly wiring. Not only are they wiring for new lighting and electricity in the new sections, but I'm getting all the old stuff taken out and replaced with new and updated. I take no chances with electricity.

By Wednesday, the rain had disappeared to be replaced by a bitter cold. Those guys are tough though and they went back out in it.

Thursday was a slow day. One of the guys was out for personal reasons and Builder was out also. That left one of the guys, who did lots of little odds and ends that needed to be done around the place. He cut all the rafters and put in a form for the cement pad in the back needed for my geothermal unit. All stuff that doesn't show up that much, but has to be done and is in reality very important.

Then Friday came. All three of the guys were back, and working hard. With good reason. Snow was on the way. According to the weathermen it was suppose to show up about noon. It came in around 10:00. It started with a flake here and there, then a few more, and then it came down in buckets. It was just a bit too soon, so we didn't get the roof on, but the rafters are up and eventually it will get done.

The snow and the cold has stayed over the weekend with more snow being added as we've gone along. Today, the temps didn't even get above freezing and ice is coating everything. Needless to say nothing got done on the porch today. Builder did come over though and did a bit of wiring. The ductwork guys came over also and finished up all the ductwork inside the house for the geothermal system. While they were doing that, the guy from the geothermal company came out and said if the weather cleared they would be out tomorrow and try to get the system up and running by the end of the week. It is so exciting. I may have heat by the end of the week!!!!!

Tomorrow is suppose to be the day that it starts to clear. Everybody is suppose to be there tomorrow working, so maybe things will be done soon. Whoohoo!!!!