Posts - Day One

On Sunday we hung up the one curtain rod that is the correct size (oops) and moved our bed and Evelyn's bed into our new master bedroom.  We woke up Monday morning looking up at the wintry trees.  We have had four bedrooms in this house. 

Justin's son hurt his shoulder in a skiing accident, so he spent yesterday morning at the hospital.  A quiet Monday for us.

Today more of our house got ripped apart in order to support the new framing and to improve the existing framing.  They put in a new, large header across the living room doorway with new posts that will be hidden behind the new casing and more posts in the future dining room.

Evelyn has been very curious about the attic.  She really wanted to climb up there, so finally Alyssa gave in and said okay.  Evelyn stepped on the bottom rung and stopped.  She noticed a cobweb.  She asked lots of questions about spiders - spiders on the ladder, spiders in the attic, etc.  It became a struggle of "Fear of Spiders" vs "Desire to see the Attic".  After much hesitation, the desire to see the attic won, and she bravely climbed the ladder to peak in the attic.

Demo Day

Today Alyssa kept hearing Chip Gain's (from HGTV's Fixer Upper) voice in her head, excitedly proclaiming "It's Demo Day!"  Today Justin and Keefe took down the lower playroom ceiling (which oddly was plaster on top of drywall), the lower ceiling framing, and the old plaster and lath ceiling.  In between the ceilings was a layer of insulation we had blown in.  They also took off the walls and and the hallway ceiling.  The girls didn't like the reciprocating saw.

Ready for Snow

We're all set for the snow.  The plywood roof is on and covered in waterproof paper.

Earlier in the week, Justin, Keefe and Rory worked in the morning when it was too cold to be out side.  They put new blocking on top of the foundation to sister to the sill, which was showing signs of some rot.  The 'firewood posts' have been replaced with pressurized posts secured on concrete.  The new posts with new footings and a new laminated beam (adjacent to the basement stairs) are now in the rear section of the basement.

Upstairs Header

Well, the chaos has begun to move upstairs.  This morning they built a temporary supporting wall so that they could put in the new beam.  Evelyn was really concerned and confused when she saw it.

Outside today they installed the header beam upstairs and worked on the living room roof.

The Beginnings of Evelyn's Room

Progress is visually quick on framing days.  Where there were no walls yesterday, today Evelyn's bedroom has walls and openings for windows.  This afternoon, they brought the new header beam up on top of the framing, ready to install tomorrow.

After school we climbed out through the bedroom window to see Evelyn's room.  They all thought it was pretty fun.  I think Evelyn is finally understanding what all this disruptive construction is all about.  She was excited about her new room. 

We wonder how much that Evelyn will remember.  One of Colin's earliest memories is of the addition to his house when he was four.  Alyssa remembers her dad leveling and reseeding her backyard when she was about the same age.

Side Walls

January 8 - Due to snowy weather this morning, the kids had a school delay.  At 8:04 am all three of them woke up to the sound of a reciprocating saw cutting into the house.  Evelyn looked confused, and Alistair and Charlotte simultaneously called out from their bedrooms.  "What is that?  What time is it? Is there school?"

Work continued with framing today, with minimal additional impact inside.  They put up the side walls and are getting ready to deck the second floor.

At the end of the day, they wrapped the addition up to keep it dry overnight.  Freezing rain is in the forecast.

Breaking Through

Today the construction broke through into our house.  In order to determine the exact height of the ceiling in the addition, they needed to tear down a section of the existing ceiling, which is lower than original ceiling.  They also cut openings in the exterior wall in both rooms match that ceiling height and connect the framing.  They also built temporary walls to support the ceiling so that they can cut through the exterior framing to build the new support beams.  In short, our house is now very dusty and drafty.

Here you can see the old plaster and lath ceiling.

A few of the outside from this morning.

Demolition and Lumber

 

January 3 - Today Justin and Keif started with a little demo - they tore off the siding outside the playroom and the the living room.  At one point, the pictures on the wall of the playroom were shaking, so I took them down.  You can see our lovely rubbish insulation (at least there was some) poking out from a gap in the siding.  

The lumber also came today.  Exciting to think about what it will turn into.  

Evelyn did not like the noise when they drilled in the board (right).  She was telling them (through the glass), "Keep it down, okay?!"

The slab now has foam board and is all cleaned up.