August 10th - The Walls Go Up!

Today was a BIG day!  The framers started constructing the walls.

Crew is working in the master suite:

East wall of the master suite:

West wall of front bedroom, laundry room and master suite:

Master suite - the open corner in the front-right of this picture will be the shower:

West wall of the kitchen and dining room:

The slab will be the great room at the back of the house:

I'm standing in the shower in the master bathroom:



August 9th - Sub-floor Was Laid Today

Looking from the back of the house toward the front.

Looking from the front dining room area (pop-out window) toward the back.

Done!  Now, that was quick.



View toward half-bath, laundry room and master suite.  Boy, my new closet is big!

View from the front porch

Now I can walk across the floor to get to the bedroom and bathroom instead of going up the side of the house to the outside door.

August 8th - Inspection and Insulation

Hooray....we passed inspection this morning!

The insulation crew was ready and waiting to install the sub-floor insulation.

All the cardboard, tarps and plastic were removed from around the original bedroom and bathroom in preparation for the framers tomorrow.

No more privacy between the bedroom and bathroom and the neighbors!

August 2nd thru 5th - Miscellaneous Work

Final touches on the water, gas and sewer plumbing to get ready for inspection.  Our inspector has been sick for a week but we expect him back in the office on Monday, August 8th.

To test the new sewer for leakage, the end toward the street is plugged with a rubber "balloon" and a 10-foot pipe is filled with water.  If the water level in the pipe does not go down, the sewer pipes are good.

 The hot and cold water lines are filled with water and a gage at the end of the line measures the constant pressure.

Gerry installed a window in the shop bathroom.

Mama found the bird seed and she's eating all the sunflower seeds.

Sunday, Gerry built and hung one of the shop's barn doors.

We also have a hawk that patrols the backyard.  Just before this picture was taken, Gerry saw the hawk swoop down and capture a small bird.  He took it to the neighbors tree where he left in the crook of the branches.  Later, he went back to eat it....we saw the feathers floating down from the tree as he pulled them from the little bird.

My neighbor saw the hawk go after one of the squirrels today, but he didn't catch it.  He'd better not!

July 30th thru August 2nd - Kitchen Plumbing

Plumbing for the kitchen, water, vents and gas was a major project.  Especially the plumbing for the prep sink in the island.  It all took much more time than Gerry expected...and many trips to Home Depot.

July 31st - Clean Out the Garage

Vincent and I moved most of the stuff from the garage to the shop.  Now the shop is almost full!  Where's Gerry going to park the '47 Ford when it returns?

 

Check out the window areas...stuff!

No, we didn't forget to move the TV and we set up a small refrigerator:

 

The windows shown above and the sliding door below were major finds/bargains at Habitat for Humanity.

July 30th - Primer, Plumbing, and Brownies!

Raymond paints the shop eaves with a coat of primer.  Normally, Gerry likes to primer the boards before they're hung, but there was no time or a body to do it.

 

 He doesn't like heights but he got up on the roof of the shop to paint the dormers!

Kenny puts insulation around all the hot water pipes

Gerry uses his handy-dandy cordless copper pipe cutter.  He says it's one of the best tools he's ever purchased; especially, since he is installing all new copper pipes for 4 bathrooms, the laundry room, and 2 sinks in the kitchen.

And I set up the new toaster oven so I can bake mint brownies (thank you, Debbie) and cookies!