Calling It Done

Here we are, just about 10 days since we last chatted. And what a 10 days. The evening of my last post, I returned home to find the guys knee deep in side-siding. Even with only a couple hours of work-after-work, they managed to complete the right side siding up to the bottom of the windows.

Going Up the Side

Going Up the Side - Close Up

That Sunday, we all really got down to business. I finally made good on all my promises and started painting all the trim work along with the nasty 'ol blue basement door. (Man is it hard to change dark blue to white! Especially on old wood... old wood that you didn't bother scraping or priming first. Yes, I know. Bad bad bad. But this door's not for keeps, so why should I spend forever on it?)

The Door Color Previously Known as Blue

White Trim!

While I was busy painting trim during baby nap times, the guys worked on the siding. With rain coming in for the evening, it was a do-or-die scenario, and they were determined to get it done for good! Luckily, the clap boards go up so much faster then shingles. Despite numerous interruptions, they made it to the top in the nick of time, just before the sun set and the rain set in. (You can see it's drizzly even in this photo.)

All The Way Up

What a Different Rear View!

Scaffolding mess aside... what a view. I mean, striking really. This day was a long time coming and we're so proud to have finally accomplished the exterior. A big thanks to everyone - and I mean everyone - who helped. We couldn't have done it in such a short time without help.

Octagonal Love

And I just love this window... have I mentioned that yet?

Back Done

Status report - all went as it should have Wednesday and the tippidy top of the back of the house is finished and shingled. We'll need some trim along the top - but it's a small matter. I'm hoping to be able to do some trim painting tonight.

Last night Mike really did a super clean up job. Better then usual! See in this wide shot how those pieces of plywood are underneath the scaffolding? Though Mike put those there originally to help protect the new grass we just planted, they also worked to contain the mess. Mike simply went out there, swept the plywood, and even used a dust broom and pan to gather up all the nails and other small bits.

More great news - last night our neighbor dropped by. He and our carpenter are going to come by tonight and begin installing the siding on the right side of the house. This is an unexpected offer, but we'll take it! Mike prepared all the tools they'll need, since he'll be taking our son to the circus tonight and can't help out. Then, Sunday, they'll be back again to help Mike complete the job.

A little trim paint (which I have not gotten to yet) and a little more clean up... call it done. And they haven't even called me about the appraisal yet. In fact, I'm getting a little annoyed at my refi gal. I've called her and left messages - she is not getting back to me and I want to get her all these documents ASAP so we can close on time. I don't think she's put in for the appraisal yet either since my card hasn't been charged. If she makes us miss our rate-lock closing date, I'm going to be rip-shiz.

Anyhoo, good thoughts for the weekend.

One last note of note... after this is through, we're taking a break. Yes. Us! Taking a break! We are not starting on anything new and huge in terms of home improvement after this is done. Instead, we are looking to get everything paid off for what we have done thus far while making this a fun family summer. Beach - boat - playgrounds - maybe a BBQ or two. I think the two of us can afford a vacation.

Keeping Up With The Us's

No, seriously, you can't keep up with us. Don't even try. We're in a time warp mach 7 warp speed 10 black hole cheetah jet plane race car rocket ship... thing. It's fast.

Yesterday, while Mike and I were working, the guys were back at our house... well, working. (Strange to leave people at our house working while we're not there. I know normal people do this all the time.)

By the time we got home, there was a ton accomplished.

Stripping at the tippidy top of the house was completed. The right side upstairs window was removed. Plywood was installed. TyVek was stapled. The window was re-installed. And shingling continued - now up to the half-way point of the upstairs window.

On the side of the house, the mess is gone! Unfortunately, Mike forgot that the dump is closed on Tuesday. But our guy went there anyway with a truckload to get rid of... and paid $40 to dump it. Gulp. Our dump sticker is only $30 for the year and that covers all construction debris free of charge. Ugh! What's done was done and the good news is, it's all gone now at least.

Inside, the octagonal window is in! And oh my god do I love it! I look out of it and I see the beautiful japanese maple we planted a few short years ago and I can imagine what it will be to look out and see the tree, large and beautiful over the side yard. I love love love love it.

Today, the guys were due back over to finish off that tippidy top portion of shingling. And then we're done with the guys. Mike is going to do the siding on the right side of the house himself over the weekend. If I can manage to escape outside, I may try and do some of the trim painting.

Manic Monday

The insane plan that I outlined yesterday worked only partially. (What do you expect? It was insane.) Kudos to the guys for putting forth a great effort and accomplishing all that they did!

Here's the wide shot - as you can see, that living room window is back in place and shingles are up all the way past the top of that window.

The very tippidy top near the roof has yet to be completed. 

The other side is where things get interesting. As you can see, the entire thing has been stripped. What you can't see? We avoided a HUGE step in the process... The plywood! We assumed that like the rest of the house, this side's original barn board exterior (that had been covered first by shingles and then blue cement board siding over that) would be in such poor condition that it would need to be re-covered with plywood. Like the house's back side, adding plywood would mean removing the two windows you see pictured and re-installing them post-plywood. Pain-in-the-butt.

Removing and re-installing those two windows would also have screwed up the interior window trim, which would have to be thrown out and re-done as well to accommodate a new plus-plywood depth.

Luckily, this is the one and only side that the barn board was in good enough condition not to require plywood. The guys stripped it down and stapled up the Tyvek.

Also what you can't see, the octagonal window hole has been cut on the outside side. The guys had to move a stud and make several pain-in-the-butt changes to get it to fit where we wanted it to fit. Inside, the drywall is the only thing left that needs to be cut before the window can be actually installed.

Before Shot - Window to go above that table

 

Window Ready to Go

Mike is at work today, but his guys are back at our house to work on that tippidy top portion. Mike picked up some more shingles at the DeepHo last night... gulp. I know this little spending spree is almost over - and we'll be able to return a heck of a lot of plywood that was meant for that other side. I'm looking forward to having it done and taking a much-deserved break to catch up financially, mentally, physically.... I know Mike is too.

Wow, Other Wall

The crazy pace continues relentlessly. Sunday, Mike tackled the other side of the outside basement door. Starting early in the AM, he had plywood up and half the shingles before lunch time. We went to the Home Depot and picked up more trim boards, white paint, and flowers for our moms.

After lunch time, his parents came by and he and his dad completed shingling on that portion, set up the scaffolding, ripped off all the old stuff off the next portion, took out a living room window, plywooded, and put up the Tyvek. Oh, and did I mention our carpenter came by and finished up some flashing on the left side, up at the top? Yes, it was that kind of a day.

Shingling is done here

Adios Window - Hello Plywood

Much like the upstairs window right above the living room, this particular window was crooked. Not because we installed it incorrectly, but because we installed it in a crooked house. Then, we lifted the house to add a basement (this was years ago now). We leveled the house (as much as we could) when it came back down on the new foundation, but that made the once straight windows crooked! Especially on the back wall of the house.

As you may recall, the upstairs window on this side was leaking water into the bathroom... and kinda started us on this mad shingling spree. Though the living room window wasn't leaking, it was still crooked. And, as such, it was difficult to get out. It was just wedged hard in there! But it needed to come out so that new plywood could be installed behind it.

The plywood will be cut and the window re-installed. But by the time the guys had reached this point, it was the end of the day.

TyVek Up - No More Window

 So what could be more insane then a Sunday like that? (Happy Mother's Day to me, by the way. I got to go to BJ's... woo? hoo? It is what it is. Renovation life.) Anyhoo - more insane? Today. Today Mike wrangled a couple of his friends into a do-or-die re-do-all-the-rest day. Last night we talked logistics... shame that I can't be there today to oversee, since I helped him plan the most efficient course of action. On the goal list:
* Strip the tippidy top of the back side of the house, near the roof line
* Re-install the living room window
* Plywood and re-shingle the remainder of the house backside
*Strip the old siding off the entire other side of the house (pictured below)

*Install an octagonal window (that I've had in my basement now for four years, awaiting this moment)
*Remove those two windows you see pictured
*Plywood and Tyvek that side of the house
*Re-install those two windows
*Put up siding (that we've had under that blue tarp you see in the lower right hand corner of the photo)

Holy shamolies.

Why on earth do we think this can get accomplished? A. There's four guys. B. So much work got done on Sunday. C. That other yucky blue side, it's the shortest, smallest side of the house. D. The siding, as opposed to the shingles, goes up upber quick.

My brilliant logistical plan that I came up with to get it all done efficiently?! Here it is:

*When the first guy (G1) arrives, start him stripping the blue part where the new octagonal window will go. While this is happening, Mike and his dad continue shingling/put in living room window.
*As soon as the octagonal window portion is stripped, put up plywood in that section.
*While Mike is putting up plywood, send G1 to the tippidy top of the back to start stripping there.
*At noon, G2 arrives just in time to begin installing the octagonal window
*By the time the octagonal window is in, G1 should have finished stripping the tippidy top - send him back down to stripping the blue side.
*Once the octagonal window is in, send G2 to the tippidy top of the back to install plywood and shingles.
*While this is all happening, Mike and his dad continue to shingle the back.
*If back is finished, send Mike and his dad to help strip the blue side.
*Once blue side is fully stripped, Mike and his dad remove the two windows and begin plywooding.
*G2, once finished with the tippidy top of the back, go down to the blue side to help plywood, re-install  windows, or siding - depending on where the other guys are at in the process.
*Any back shingling that needs to be done can be accomplished by Mike, by himself, later in the week

This all might be a fruitless mission impossible. Typically in an old home, there's always something that goes awry and screws up even the best laid plans. Nothing to do but try your best and hope for some luck.

Wow, Wall

Mike is impressing me with his aggressive exterior schedule thus far. In the past couple days, he purchased all the plywood and trim boards, plywooded the area on one stripped side, and then completed trim and shingling on that same side!

There's all the wood.

Newly shingled.

And he also brought home scaffolding from work tonight in preparation for a big working weekend. Monday, he's enlisted some friends to come over. They're going to try and bang out the entire thing in one days time. 12-7pm. Wow just doesn't say enough,

You're Doing What Now?

Rewind a couple weeks... the bathroom sink was out of the living room and the lights were up! With just about a week before our son's 4th Bday party, we needed that bathroom at least semi-functional, ie, a working sink. We were pretty sure we had purchased the supply lines for the sink ages ago - but of course when it came time to install them, they were no where to be found. (I totally wish I could take over the renovation organization, but when you don't know what half the stuff is... it's a little tricky to organize it.)

So, after purchasing new ones, it was quick work to get the water running and hook up the drain. With all the prep work having been done ahead of time, it all took less then an hour. There was even time left for Mike to put up the mirror. It all looked awesome... worked awesome... no leaks. We couldn't have asked for more!

The only task left - pre party, that is - was to install the shower door, which was still in the living room, much to my discontent.

Well, the week flew by as we both worked feverishly on other party preparations. Favors, decorations, cookies, snacks, activities... And the shower door just hung out in the living room. The day of the party came last Sunday and the door was still there.

"We still need to put that door on," I said to Mike just two hours before party start time. Ok, no problem, quick install. Except we couldn't find the hardware! Mike searched high and low as I continued my mad pre-party last minute prep. No dice. I told him to forget it - just put the door in the basement - I needed his help on other matters.

Last night, I finally set about finding it. I just had this sneaky suspicion that the hardware had been stuck in the installation guide, which I had put away upstairs while party cleaning. And lo and behold, there it was. But we still didn't install the door.

Why?

You're not going to believe this. We're semi-randomly replacing the rest of our siding this week. I say semi-randomly because this project is completely unplanned. Long story short, we're refinancing to a lower interest rate and need a great appraisal value to help. Mike, after talking it over with his dad, decided to make the push and complete the siding - on both the back and the side of the house. What's more, he thinks he can have it all done in less than a week.

Yes!

That's the remainder of the back of the house - stripped, prepped, plywooded, and shingled. The left side of the house, stripped, prepped, octagonal window installed, and sided.

Wait...What?

I originally thought he only planned to complete the back side... but when I heard all the details last night, I pretty much just stood there, mouth agape. "You realize they could call me tomorrow and want to appraise on Friday, right?" I said. He wanted to press on anyway.

So last night Mike stripped the rest of the basement entryway in back of the house:

We'll see where this goes over the coming week.

Also on the plus side, our grass is coming in over on the area where we dug for the chimney last fall.

Me Time

On Monday, Mike sanded the bathroom. On Tuesday, Mike sanded the bathroom again. And now it's time for me... to paint! Yes, I just said paint, or, technically, prime. Tonight I shall be priming! And I couldn't be more ecstatic.

Come to think of it, I hope I have at least one roller and a brush kicking around. I feel like it's been forever since I did any painting and I have no clue what we have in stock anymore.

I already have the colors picked out for Mike to pick up on Friday. A dark teal for the ceiling and a near-white (tinge of mint) for the walls. If I'm painting color by Saturday night, I will be one super psyched lady!

Mike will have to do some caulking around the top of the shower where they just couldn't squeeze any drywall compound in. It's that tight. After the paint is complete, the shower head can be installed along with the glass enclosure. (Which was of course, removed for drywalling.) A little baseboard trim to do, then the vanity can go in and the sink plumbing hooked up. Oh, and of course the lights, recessed trim, fan trim, and mirror can go up too.

Amazing how fast stuff can happen once a stubborn roof leak is fixed!

Meanwhile, before that...

I completely forgot about madness Sunday! Wow. Yes, last Sunday there was actually too much happening. Even for me! Our carpenter was over first thing in the morning to finish up the shingling up on the tippidy top of the house where Mike dared not go, ladder or no. Later on that morning, our chimney sweep (do we not have a friend for everything?) came by to clean our blocked chimney.

I don't think I've even mentioned that in the midst of all the craziness we've been going through, Mike awoke in the middle of one night a few weeks ago to a house filled with smoke! There was no chimney fire, thankfully, but it was definitely plugged up. And there was Mike in the middle of the night with a bunch of box fans, opening up all the windows and airing out the entire house.

It took weeks for the smell to dissipate. The basement still stinks.

So, enter the chimney sweep. After much cleaning, the chimney was clear again. While he was here, the guys checked the stove and tried to run it again. Our sweep confirmed - it does not run hot enough. And he couldn't give us any solutions on what to do. A few things to try perhaps, but we all pretty much agreed that the stove is too old and inefficient.

New wood stove. Add that to the shopping list. Luckily, there appear to be some tax credits available if we were to purchase a new, highly efficient wood stove. Not a bad idea. How much does it cost to fill an oil tank now-a-days? For the price of two fills, I bet we'd have the price of a new stove right there. But we'll have to shop around, see what's what. To the list it goes!

After those two guys finished up, it was yard cleanup time. Mike brought home the blower the night previous, and, after moving a buncha logs out of the back yard, blew the entire thing thoroughly. Looks great! No more sticks, less leaves, and no logs.

I took Zaida in the stroller with a bag (I had the bag, not her) and picked up all the trash I could find. (Being on a relatively busy road plus track pickup Tuesday, we get a fair share of garbage on the lawn.) After Mike was done out back, he and Mikey cleaned up all the construction/shingle debris from just outside the downstairs bathroom. I had no clue it had been such a mess over there! Glad that's taken care of, pre-bday party.

And thus concluded the busiest Sunday ever - I won't even mention the fact that I was pumping out 30 handmade bday invitations and that there was a salamander loose in the kitchen. Just that kindofa day.

Hello April, Goodbye Leak?

In like a lion, out like a dinosaur. March. And we New Englanders thought February was harsh. We're due for another 1-3" of snow tonight along with gail winds.

Luckily, this past Sunday was nice enough for Mike and our carpenter to make progress outside - hopefully water-proofing the bathroom at long last. They trimmed out that portion of the house and then shingled as much as they could in the time allotted.

I feel like this quick and dirty bathroom remodel has been one of our most aggravating.

Meanwhile, both Mike and I are itching to get started on something else. I found the coolest idea for a tie wall for the hillside:

Can't you just imagine that bottom step full of nice plantings? (Not that I have the slightest idea what to plant and how to plant it.)

Mike, inspired by all the cool pallet upcycles online, has decided to pallet the interior of the garage. Fricken brilliant if you ask me. Some of the images of a pallet wall online are stunning:

So cool. So incredibly cool. Just search pallet anything on the web - or, better yet, Pinterest, and you'll come up with a whole slew of amazing ideas. And I'm psyched at the thought of garage walls because it would force Mike to organize. (Plus, let's face it, it sucks to open the garage door and be faced by a bunch of insulation.)

And Another Thing...

Did I mention we completed shingling on the new window side of the house?
Well - we did! (Despite our big air compressor kicking the bucket and Mike's parents having to deliver us the small one he left at their house...)

Looks nice, doesn't it? Makes the rest of that blue goo back there look really shabby.

Window In

It's window-time! Now, break it down! Yes, yes, Sunday was Dia de Los Windows, as Mike set himself about cutting out plywood and installing the new window! I brought Mikey outside for the occasion, so we could watch the magic driveway-side.

Cutting cutting cutting (From Inside Out of course!)

 

Here it comes!

There it goes!

Hey, that's my kitchen!

 

Here's Mikey helping on the stairs.

Mikey jots down the measurements

Unfortunately, installing the window was a bit more difficult. We had to shim and re-shim and level and re-level.... Mikey was throwing a fit because we wouldn't allow him to play with the Sazzall.... It was just madness! But we finally accomplished it with beautiful results:

Window!

Mikey holds the level, which he kept calling "Bubble" Strangely appropriate, but I think he was trying to say level.

Mike applies heat to adhere the ice and water - keeping those drafty winter winds out.

 After nearly 5 days, I'm still not used the view. We pushed the fridge over to it's proper location and I'm loving the extra room in that little dining area we have. Once we have a corner cabinet on the other side and the new fridge... look out world! But the best part is the loss of two tragically drafty old circa 1950's windows. We can already feel a big difference. Just in time too, as temps are dropping to the teens this week.

This coming weekend, the guys will hopefully be back at work on the stairs. And, now that the window's in, all that shingling on the mudroom end of the kitchen/mudroom side of the house has to go too. Then, that entire side can be sided. Lucky for us, we should have enough siding in stock. Will it all happen this Sunday? Probably no. Will it all happen before Christmas? Likely not. Will it all happen eventually? I hope so.

Second Time These Windows Sent Somebody to the Hospital

An explanation for that title is certainly due. Several years ago - pre-baby, pre-prego, for sure, I had a TRIP at my house. (TRIP = Totally Random Incredible Party) This TRIP was in honor of my bday, a small affair that turned a little crazay thanks to a little green fairie.

We were all in the kitchen when Mike tripped (literally this time) and his hand landed on one of the old windows... and when right through the glass. And me? I was so excited about the window breaking. "I hate these windows!" I think I yelled, and started punching out the remaining glass panes. I may have destroyed the neighborhood had the guys not pulled me away to the sink, where they washed my now bloody hand and bandaided me up. Then I ran off and started dancin' but that's another story.

Mike and I post-accident at the TRIP with Wigs!

The next morning, Mike and I woke up with swollen, painful wounds on our punching hands and had a nifty story to tell the morning crew at the ER.


That was the FIRST time the old kitchen windows sent someone to the hospital. Now let me set you up for the second time.

Sunday, Timmy's son had a brand new baby - so he was definitely excused for stair-duty. But Mike decided to get started anyway. He dug and poured the one needed sonotube footing.

He also prepared and poured the larger slab footing.

But after that, he was excited to rip off the siding on the kitchen. Excited... PSHAW. You couldn't keep that man from his mission. But I'm proud to say, he set himself a stop point. He'd take the siding off, but not the old shingles underneath. Good thing. If the shingles came off, that was the point of no return. Shingles off - you have to put up plywood, take out the old windows, and tyvek. And at this point it was 1pm, soooo... yeah. Shingles off - he'd be working til midnight.

I'm proud to say he stuck to his stop point too! He took off the siding and then cleaned up and that was it!

Here was the outside of the kitchen - this morning.

We're getting to the hospital story now...

So today Mike got some free time and decided to finish up the job. He took off all the shingles and repaired the sill, which was leaking air like crazy. I talked to Mike on the phone and he said he could already feel a difference in how the room was holding heat. Awesome, I thought.

Now... somewhere between the shingles off and the plywood on, there was an incident. I'm still not quite sure of the details, but basically - nail gun + foot = mucho malo. (Our framing gun has gained itself a little bit of a temperamental reputation. I'm scared of it, personally.) Thinking it wasn't so bad, Mike kept on working. He took out the windows and completed the plywood.

Unfortunately, by the time I got home from work, he was in a whole bunch of pain and decided to go to the ER. He's probably on his way back right now, actually. He sent me a text and said they had to cut into his foot. Sounds terrible! I almost don't want to hear the details. And I definitely don't want to see the foot, but I know that's the first thing he's going to want to show me.

Anyway! (I'm not thinking about it!) Those windows were cursed, and I'm so happy they're gone. This is not a trilogy!

And Now the After

As promised, here's the after pic of the finished side of the roof. I just love this darker grey color. Previously the roof had been a light grey green color that didn't compliment the house, in my opinion. (I mean, come on, blue house, green roof - what were they thinking?)

And of course, I don't know if I mentioned that these are the 30yr architect shingles. No? Well, they are. Really these things are such good quality that we'll probably never have to touch them again in our lifetime in this house. (We'll probably move to one of those Erickson retirement home communities in the later years. Those places are just awesome! It's like college for old people.)

Anyway - the white strip of trim you see is a type of plastic trim, super durable, guaranteed to also last for life. We'll never need to touch that either.

Rich, our neighbor who's been helping out, stopped by last night. Timmy the roofer wants to come by after work some night this week and bang out the farmer's porch roof. No problemo. All we have to do is turn on the air compressor and leave out the air hose for him. Mike also has to load more shingles tonight - ie he has to carry up 15 80lb bundles. Heavy stuff, but at least it's almost all done.

And with Timmy banging out the farmer's porch this week, that leaves only one side to strip and roof over the weekend.... which is good because the weather does not look good. Rain Friday and Saturday - big storm stuff. Although I can't wait to stand on the farmer's porch and not get dripped on.

Carpenter on a Hot Tin... Er, Hot Plywood Roof

Neither heat nor humidity nor economic depression/recession/regression will keep us from our appointed porch building duties! I'm trying to uphold the mantra, can't you tell?

This weekend was hot - really hot. Not particularly the most comfy time to be up on a roof. But the guys worked on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday they actually had to re-do some of their previous work on the roof framing, but that worked out just fine because Sunday was all about the plywood.

First thing in the AM we boarded up the French doors (damage control, don't cha know) and Mike and I began ripping off the last of the old shingles. Meanwhile TJ and Paul were on top of us laying ply.

I took this pic leaning out of the 2nd floor window. Notice how the roof's pitch is not too steep - we talked about cutting the bottoms of chairs at an angle so we could sit out there. =)

And here's the same view from on the porch. Funny - the second we got the plywood up, the porch cooled down probably about 20 degrees. And all of a sudden, it looked bigger too. It was so exciting!

The trickiest, but coolest looking part was the joint between the two roof angles, as you can see here.

Here's TJ working on that funky angle.

And here's Mike working on the shingles. Shortly after this, I had to put down the camera and get back to work. Notice the cowboy hat - we were all pimping the cowboy hats - except for TJ, we haven't converted him yet.

Once we had the plywood removed from the top of the french door (because that's where the needed it removed to attach the plywood 'n stuff) we decided to strip the rest of the shingles off this wall. So we took off the protective ply piece and stripped the rest.

Here's the after shot.

The plywooding of the roof was pretty much finished by the time Mike and I finished stripping. And at that point everyone was so hot, we decided to take advantage of the new roof and did some serious chillen out under it.

Then we has some lunch and cleaned up - done for the day. Mike and I were both psyched. This pretty much ends the rough framing portion of our show. Next up is the ceiling of the porch. At the end of Sunday we decided on a height - so that'll be the next step.

Of course, with the 4th next weekend, the guys will probably not be back to work on it until the following.

Between now and then, Mike and I also have to talk to our roofing man. We need an estimate for labor/materials for the ENTIRE house roof, including the porch roof, which needs to be done ASAP, I would imagine, because it's just bare ply right now.