Vacation week brings mega progress!

Excavation was complete last week. Kitchen interior wall was removed and floor patched.

Monday 08/23: Foundation forms were installed and Foundation poured
Tuesday 08/24: More foundation work
Wednesday 08/25: Foundation forms removed. Also, went shopping at Central Supply for initial plumbing choices.
Thursday 08/26: Backfilling begins - we can stand in the garage now! Pressure treated wood laid on top of the foundation in anticipation of framing.
Friday 08/27: Backfilling complete; yard returns to mostly flat... we can walk all around the addition perimeter. It's evident now that the edge of the yard next door will need a little work, but all in all a nice job was done. Back to Central Supply.
Monday 08/30: Framing begins! Skeleton of three walls is up, doors are outlined.
Tuesday 08/31: Exterior walls covered in plywood; headers over garage doors are constructed.

Thursday 19 Aug:

Finish work on the sliding door is nearly complete, except for wood moldings. Heating vent needs to be covered in floor. The change in the look of the dining room is just astounding...

Kitchen door has been removed and filled in, now that the slider in the dining room is installed and usable.

Amy and I discussed flooring further - looks like we'll be installing a new laminate over both kitchen and dining room, so it will be cheaper overall and no mathcing problems.

Planning on removal of the kitchen wall tomorrow!

Excavation commences

Wednesday 18 Aug:

Excavation work for the foundation forms started today and appears to be complete - expecting that the concrete forms will be put into place on Monday with pouring to be done on Tuesday.

Some minor incidents during the excavation but overall a very quick job.

Bob removed the two dining room windows and installed the sliding glass doors, except for the finish work, that's tomorrow. We received a call from ADT when they detected that the casing of one of the sensors had gotten opened - nice to see they can detect this sort of thing. We will replace the sensors once the door finish work is in place tomorrow.

The Work Begins!

The (latest) long wait is over, and as of Tuesday 10 August 2004, we have begun the process of adding the long-hoped-for additions to the house. Highlights of the proposed plan include:

• Addition Footprint of 30' x 30', located in place of existing garage
• Hallway running from front to back, adjacent to current dining/living room walls, to provide access to new addition and pantry/closet storage along parts of its length
• Additional entry/exit doors at front and rear of hallway
• 2-car garage with lots of storage space and a work area in the rear portion
• Laundry/bathroom in rear corner near dining room
• Upstairs master bedroom, c. 24 x 17, with walk-in closets in west wall and attic storage in east wall and round-topped window in front.
• Upstairs bathroom, overlooking the back yard.
  
• Generator hookup
• New sliding doors off dining room
• Removal of kitchen door and island
• Removal of shaker shingling, with new vinyl siding and insulation of the entire house
  
• yada yada yada...

The old garage has been torn down and is now only a memory (and a small pile of rubble). The carpenter ants (some) and chipmunks were NOT pleased.

Shingles are down on about half the house at this point - the house wrap looks JUST lovely... Bob's going through wasp spray at prodigious rates as the faux shutters and eaves are (and always have been) great places for such nests. Not any more! (No shutters in the new design.)

Kitchen island has been removed - we've gotten a movable butcher block unit to replace it, which we may decide to fit into the nook where the back door is coming out.

Pictures of the mess in a bit!