And do it we did! Boy did we do it.
First thing in the AM, we replaced the old leaky dryer vent with the new one.
BEFORE
AFTERNext, I got up in the attic to see what was up with the track light wiring - was it wired or what? Well, it was wired. So the problem was in the connection of the track light wire to the recessed light box. Turns out, Mike had to squeeze in there and reconnect. But that got it working beautifully!
By then it was early afternoon and Mike's friend JP was over to help us with the french door caulk and pan. So they made a little lunch, then took out the door, caulked all around, installed a drip pan thing at the bottom, and re-installed the door.
Here's the bottom of the inside of the door where you can see the metal drip pan folded up on top of the doorway. Now we're all ready for tile! (Although not this weekend.)
JP left shortly after the door was in, which left us to our next task - the kitchen window! And to think, I don't even think that was on Friday's to-do list! Mike just offered to do it after a giant wasp got into the kitchen the other day.
I wanted a huge sill on this one - for misc junk 'n plants 'n stuff. So we picked out a 10" shelf-like sill as you can see here. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to finish, as we were headed out to the first BBQ of the season down in Yarmouth.
But Sunday. Woa Sunday. We started the morning by working on the window again - but soon realized it was taking way too long - and we had to pull the siding off our house and make it to the dump by 3pm! Crazy time schedule, eh?
We switched gears and started tearing off the old blue siding - only going up 4' because we didn't have enough plywood or time or money to do more then that at that moment.
Here you can see that under the old siding is even older shingles. Can you imagine? So even when we got the siding down, we then had to pull off the shingles.
You can see Mike starting here on the shingles. And for once we thought to put down a tarp first to contain the mess! Finally - I think we're learning! (Takes us a while, ya know?) This way, we were able to just drag the tarp to the truck and dump it.
Under the shingles - barnboard. The stuff that's probably circa 1910.
And, unfortunately, we also found some rot under all that shingles/siding. Look here at the bottom right of this pic and you can see a large beam is crumbling. We replaced many of these during the house lifting process, but the problem with this one - it was covered up on the outside, and looked perfectly solid from the inside. Just goes to show you - you never can really tell what's rotting....
Luckily, this beam was the only one that really needed replacing along the entire front of the house. Great news, actually. So we finished loading up for the dump - dumped the demo - and then stopped at the DeepHo for a PT beam and some 3/4 ply.
When we got home, Mike used the large wooden T we made for leveling the house to jack it up just under the rotted beam. (After the house was put down on its new foundation, it was not level. Our carpenter had to lift the house in portions using the T and jacks and then add wood to the sill to even it out.)
Then Mike cut out the old beam using the sawzall, adding a couple smaller jacks to the sill as it was cleared of the old beam. Then he cut and inserted the new beam and lowered the house back on it. Phew. I always get so nervous when it comes to jobs like this. If that corner of the house were to fall because of a jack failure or anything weird like that.... I don't even want to imagine the repercussions.
At this point, you've noticed the pics have stopped. Of course, Sunday was also mother's day. And unfortunately, Mike couldn't leave while the house was still jacked - so I had to head over to the folks home all by my lonesome.
By the time I got back that evening, Mike had the entire front of the house plywooded. I was just in time to help clean up and get the Tyvek on. At this point it was just getting dark. Mike was so exhausted. But we did it. We got nearly everything done that I'd listed out.
I can't wait to see what this weekend will bring...
By then it was early afternoon and Mike's friend JP was over to help us with the french door caulk and pan. So they made a little lunch, then took out the door, caulked all around, installed a drip pan thing at the bottom, and re-installed the door.
Here's the bottom of the inside of the door where you can see the metal drip pan folded up on top of the doorway. Now we're all ready for tile! (Although not this weekend.)JP left shortly after the door was in, which left us to our next task - the kitchen window! And to think, I don't even think that was on Friday's to-do list! Mike just offered to do it after a giant wasp got into the kitchen the other day.
I wanted a huge sill on this one - for misc junk 'n plants 'n stuff. So we picked out a 10" shelf-like sill as you can see here. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to finish, as we were headed out to the first BBQ of the season down in Yarmouth.But Sunday. Woa Sunday. We started the morning by working on the window again - but soon realized it was taking way too long - and we had to pull the siding off our house and make it to the dump by 3pm! Crazy time schedule, eh?
We switched gears and started tearing off the old blue siding - only going up 4' because we didn't have enough plywood or time or money to do more then that at that moment.
Here you can see that under the old siding is even older shingles. Can you imagine? So even when we got the siding down, we then had to pull off the shingles.
You can see Mike starting here on the shingles. And for once we thought to put down a tarp first to contain the mess! Finally - I think we're learning! (Takes us a while, ya know?) This way, we were able to just drag the tarp to the truck and dump it.
Under the shingles - barnboard. The stuff that's probably circa 1910.
And, unfortunately, we also found some rot under all that shingles/siding. Look here at the bottom right of this pic and you can see a large beam is crumbling. We replaced many of these during the house lifting process, but the problem with this one - it was covered up on the outside, and looked perfectly solid from the inside. Just goes to show you - you never can really tell what's rotting....Luckily, this beam was the only one that really needed replacing along the entire front of the house. Great news, actually. So we finished loading up for the dump - dumped the demo - and then stopped at the DeepHo for a PT beam and some 3/4 ply.
When we got home, Mike used the large wooden T we made for leveling the house to jack it up just under the rotted beam. (After the house was put down on its new foundation, it was not level. Our carpenter had to lift the house in portions using the T and jacks and then add wood to the sill to even it out.)
Then Mike cut out the old beam using the sawzall, adding a couple smaller jacks to the sill as it was cleared of the old beam. Then he cut and inserted the new beam and lowered the house back on it. Phew. I always get so nervous when it comes to jobs like this. If that corner of the house were to fall because of a jack failure or anything weird like that.... I don't even want to imagine the repercussions.
At this point, you've noticed the pics have stopped. Of course, Sunday was also mother's day. And unfortunately, Mike couldn't leave while the house was still jacked - so I had to head over to the folks home all by my lonesome.
By the time I got back that evening, Mike had the entire front of the house plywooded. I was just in time to help clean up and get the Tyvek on. At this point it was just getting dark. Mike was so exhausted. But we did it. We got nearly everything done that I'd listed out.
I can't wait to see what this weekend will bring...
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