Monday, November 26, 2012

Lots to be Thankful for!

In the spirit of the season, looking back, we are very thankful we weren't more affected by Superstorm Sandy.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who are still dealing with the aftermath.

We inspected our little house for damages incurred from the storm, and found nothing except for a downed dead tree in the yard that we were going to have to take down anyway!!  wow, yay!

This one:


The first weekend in November, Gabe and I worked to secure the post at the east end of the porch.  We had neglected its presence up until then, but we were able to position it where it was needed without too much trouble.


More deck boards, yay!



It was a chilly and blustery day, so we decided to work on replacing the window in the study upstairs.  Mom had been in Panama on a birding expedition and Dad was in Boston on business, so it was up to us to make good progress this weekend.

Here is a before shot of the window from September, since the old window has been out for a while:


Gabe started by removing the blocking from the bottom,  and cut off the rotten dimensional studs that went down to the foundation wall (remember balloon framing does that--studs span from the foundation to the highest floor) and replaced them up to the lintel at the top.

Here is Gabe removing the rotten parts:


We also had to take down and re-cut the header that our contractors had placed previously since it no longer worked with the new window size.



The tricky part was cutting the hole out so that our large egress windows would fit.  They are not the same size as the original windows.

 

The old, existing windows were also not plumb.


Bottom is all framed up!



The stucco on the outside also needed to be cut out to make room for the window trim on the exterior of the house.  So Gabe used the circular saw to shape it up.  A messy job!


Getting dark and getting done.  Or at least done enough for now.


From the outside:


In the daylight:


Easy as pie!!  Ok, not really.  This whole process took us about 5 hours to complete.  We have three more windows to replace...hope they don't all take that long!!!  This one was one of the worst, so maybe not.  These new windows should last for years to come!

We must remember to start earlier---daylight savings time ends this weekend!!

The next weekend was very busy.  It was Missions week at our church, so we had additional activities, which was great, just very busy!  We had the missions banquet on Friday night, so we took a break.  But, we still made it out to the house on Saturday with our good friend John Ulrich.

We started out by removing the old bead-board from the ceiling of the porch.  As it turns out, it is heart pine, so we will be holding on to that.  It was a messy job, but it needed to happen to reveal the condition of the porch roof.


More demo!!  I am glad to see this nasty roof go.


Watch it fall!


The plan is to utilize some of the existing roof, but since it doesn't extend all the way to the end of the addition on the east side, we will need to extend it out.  Dad and Gabe worked to stabilize the ceiling rafters to the house more securely while our friend John and I worked to attach the rest of the floor boards.  Needless to say, we were in each other's way today!


I had to leave early to get some homework done.  John stuck around and got all the porch deck flooring done, minus one row closest to the house, that will probably not get done until the door gets moved and replaced.  Go John!!


Gabe and Dad worked to tie in and secure the roof posts and beam all the way across:


Lookin' good guys!!

Later, during that next week, our framing contractors came and extended the roof for us.  Talk about progress!


They also spent some time on the inside of the house.  We now have a 4" soffit in the kitchen, the soffit that divides the dining room from the living room framed in, the foyer framed in, and the fireplace corner wall built up.  The space is really taking shape.  They were smaller framing projects, but nit picky jobs that had to be done.  They also framed in the window in the 2nd bedroom upstairs.  I have to say Gabe did a more thorough job framing the other window though...  But what can I say?  My husband is amazing!!  :)

We got the HVAC and plumbing inspected, so we are good to go there.  The HVAC system will be all complete once we get the walls drywalled.  It is imperative that dirt and dust not get into the ducts, so we have them covered and protected for now.  Framing inspection is still to come.

The next Friday, Gabe and I took a look at another property to flip, except this time, we were going to look for one (preferably a duplex) we could live in and fix up, with income potential.  The home we looked at was a duplex in a nearby town.  Afterwards we met Dad at the house to do a few things to the inside.  I inspected the electrical upstairs and decided to add another outlet to the 2nd bedroom, so both nightstands could have a lamp.

Dad and Gabe worked to condense the framing around the soffit separating the living room and dining room.  The contractors didn't get it as close as we would like.  Here's their progress for that evening:

 


It might or might not be apparent the stair stepping action on the soffit in the pictures above; this was done to create a soffit as snug to the ductwork as possible to eliminate wasted space.

We had a friend of mine from college come down for a visit that evening, help out on site the next day. Joe was a big help!  We worked to move the reclaimed lumber into the crawl space first while Gabe and Dad worked tirelessly on the porch roof.


They work to sister up the rafters with new 2 X 4's as well as frame in the porch ceiling.


Joe and I worked together to sound proof the inside walls closest to the road (the house is about 15 feet from a busy street) using resilient channel pieces.  We needed to hang them every two feet in horizontal bands.

Here's Joe cutting the metal strips to fit:


I helped him to get them level.  Here's 2 of the 3 walls:

MBR wall

2nd Bedroom wall
A realtor living just up the street stopped by to ask who did our metal roof and who was doing our electrical.  This was a real boost of confidence about our roofing choice.  I was also able to show her around and see what she thought about the asking prices we were kicking around when we go to rent/sell.  She affirmed our ideas and must have said a dozen times how exciting this was!  She mentioned it looked a lot bigger inside than she thought from the road!  also good. All things you want to hear from a real estate agent when you are fixing up a house to rent/sell!

I left early that day to work on some school projects I had deadlines for coming up soon.  Gabe and Dad worked on the sheathing for the porch roof.  They actually finished it up!

Here is a before/after for your enjoyment.  :)

Before:
March 30, 2012
After (during):
November 24, 2012
Notice the porch roof has sheathing!

The next weekend (Thanksgiving weekend) we took a visit down to my brother Ian's place.  It was our first time breaking bread with his new fiance, Kate.  They did a wonderful job hosting and providing a 21 lb. turkey that tasted quite delicious!

We needed to work off a bit of the abundance, so we braced ourself for the cold on Saturday, the 24th. There were temperatures in the 50's and 60's for a couple days, but it took a dramatic downturn to the 30's and blustery that day.

We are looking forward to a home that is buttoned up!!

We came to find that the electrician had made lots of progress on the second floor rough-in.

A ceiling fan:


Cords running from upstairs to downstairs:


Outlets upstairs:


Recessed lighting fixtures:



A sea of cords and outlet boxes:


We are still waiting for the electrical to be complete downstairs.

Dad and Gabe had previously worked to recess the refrigerator a few inches by adding a header in this location:


A look at the angled fireplace wall, framed in:



Currently, the good view of it is blocked with insulation and a window.

Here is the wall that hems in some storage at the end of the jacuzzi tub/shower:


Gabe and Dad got to work on the porch roof in the bitter cold.  Here are a few pictures of their progress:

Looking west


Looking east

I worked on nailing hurricane ties to the rafters on the porch roof.  That was a chilly job!  Mom was out to help too, after making a trip to Home Depot to gather a few necessities for the day.  She and I also worked to clean up after the guys, which seems to happen a lot!  Mom also spent some time outside, digging around the Springhouse, removing rocks and poison ivy roots.


The porch post closest to the road was the next order of business for the guys.  I like this picture of Dad measuring it up:

:)
Finished post:


I left with Mom then, since it was so cold.  I worked on shopping and ordering lighting and plumbing fixtures that will be needed soon at the house.

Meanwhile, Gabe and Dad started on replacing one of two main level windows left.  They didn't finish before it got dark, but made some progress re-sizing the hole for the opening.


I will leave for now with a video tour of the house at it's current state.  It helps to get a 3D perspective of the space to get a lay of the land!


Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

A Year Ago Today....


A year ago today we were checking out this little house with our realtor for the very first time!!  If I remember correctly, I didn't even want to go look at the house in the first place!!  We had been looking at another house in the neighborhood, which so happened to have just been sold.

This is the first picture I saw of the house from our real estate agent, of which I promptly said "no way"!


Despite the fact I have been super busy with school lately, I had a bit of time this holiday weekend to share what has been going on with our little house project.

Starting where we left off last month, the utility closet window was going in on the west wall.  On October 17th, our contractors worked on removing the porch decking and posts:

No more porch!
See, there are green leaves on the trees....what a long time ago :)

After demo, they worked on digging 3 foot deep holes to secure the posts that will go down for the new porch.  The new porch roof will extend the whole length of the front side, but the decking will go most of the way across, minus about 5 feet on the road side to accommodate a stairs to remain underneath...  and to expose some of the 1890's stone foundation.  

We arrived for our normal Friday/Saturday workdays to find the plumbing mostly complete.  Very exciting!!  Ok, ok, maybe roughed-in plumbing isn't that exciting to most of you, but when you watch it all unfold before your eyes, it can be pretty momentous!!

Exhibit A
The contractors working on the siding were further along than what we had seen them complete last time.  I went a little crazy taking pictures of the backside of the house, with its siding complete, since it looked so good!!  Here is a picture I took from a ladder near the northern property line (any other way and you can't see the original roofline):


Lookin' good, ay??

Here are the post holes ready with concrete poured and curing for the posts to be set tomorrow.


Look at all the ladybugs swarming on the house!!  The siding contractor actually left early today because of them....



Gabe and Dad were working to prepare the ledger board (ledger board: a narrow horizontal board attached to a row of studs to support the ends of floor or ceiling joists) for the porch:


It was rotten in some areas, like right under the existing doorframe.  We will be moving the door location about 5 feet to the right, so we took out the threshold:


We had to remove the rotten areas, and inject fillers and hardeners to the existing wood where it met with the rubble foundation.  It was a big job to cut and shape a new piece of 2 X 4 to fit the space!  But Gabe was the man for the job, as usual:


The next day I had a lot of homework to work on, so I came later on in the day after most of the work had been done.

Posts had been set: 



They also had added flashing in-between the porch and the house to prevent water from getting in at that location.

Shown next are some of the joists hung:


On the picture previous, the board they are holding to place is the front piece of the stairs.  There will be two stairs coming down to a large platform filling the 5' X 5' area and then 3 stairs coming out from the front to the future driveway.

The next weekend after that, we got to see the east side of the building almost entirely sided!


They left the last section (in the upper left hand portion of the picture above) of the siding on the front face un-done until a later date, after the porch deck roof was finalized, since the footprint will be different, extended all the way to the corner in view here.

Dad and Gabe built and assembled the utility room wall, dividing it from the dining room space.  This way we get to see the full extents of the open plan living space we have to work with.


While they were accomplishing this, I was busy grading the dirt that had been uprooted under the porch decking.  Once it was all leveled out, sloping away from the house and down the hill, I laid weed shield cloth and gravel, leveling it out as we went.  



Dad and Gabe worked towards setting the stair post.  It can be seen here to the right of the photo, in a moment of jest:



Nearing the end of our day of work, the guys finish up by hanging one last hard to get to joist that will brace the top stair tread.


And we have a utility room!!  Complete with electrical box and HVAC system.


The next day was a big day.  Gabe started us off by cutting down the 6" X 6" posts flush with the deck.  


While they were doing that, I was busy nailing all the joist hangers into place.  That was quite a job!!  My arm was sore after that.



Next the mitered edge pieces:


Gabe makes sure all the brackets to hold the posts are in the right place:


Time to secure deck boards down!!  We worked together to do them as fast as we could, Gabe cutting pieces and me screwing them down.





We got a little less than half of the deck secured down that day.


Dark is sure coming faster and faster!

Dad was at a meeting for most of the day, but came back before we left so he and I could quickly confirm and discuss the placement of electrical.

We also were mindful to batten down the hatches for the impending storm called "Sandy" coming down the pike.