The rains came with a vengence! For a couple of days it did nothing but pour. Except for the rest of the siding, most of the work could be done indoors. But putting up siding was probably very uncomfortable.
The inspector came out to pass off the work before they could drywall. They passed with a score of 10 out of 10 possible. Steve said that never happens. If you have 2 or more code violations, you have to have another inspection to check the corrections. So the construction crew got straight "A's" on their last test (my way to look at it). They had to make one change--the single hung windows in the main floor bedroom are 3/4" too small--so another window had to be added. The windows would have passed the code the way it was last year, but they've upgraded the code and there is not enough square area in the window for egress. Steve was able to use a window they had taken from Mom's house, but it looks kind of funny (to me--Miss Symmetrical) inside the room. Outside it matches with other windows on that wall. I guess on the plus side, that bedroom will have a lot more light.
The temporary walls came out a couple of days ago, and wow! you can really picture what it will look like completed. It's going to be sooooo terrific. Family parties and gatherings will flow so much better. They put up a wall of plastic to protect Mom's living room & kitchen from all the drywall mess.
Here's the plastic wall. I'm standing in the living room looking back to Mom's dining nook and through to the addition.
Adding insulation throughout the house. Big rolls of it came through the doors and were installed quite quickly.
The drywall sheets are bigger than the usual 4x8 type. They were 4x12 or 4x14.
The drywallers were amazing! They worked quickly and each man was able to lift (on his own) one of the big sheets of drywall (4x12) and hold it in place over his head while screwing or nailing it into place.
Here's the boxes of mudding compound and tape supplies waiting to be used.
Steve taking out the garage door framing to move to its new location.
Adding insulation where Mom's garage door used to be. The door and frame are relocated to the family room.
The window on the left is the one they needed to add for egress up to code.
They had already completed the siding on that part of the house, and had to take off siding and then reside it after the window was in place.
Mom and I already have plans to make the windows blend in on the inside.
This wall was so steep and did not have any direct access, so Steve and his assistant, Jake, had to rig up a scaffolding (of sorts) using ladders and wood planking.
The kids (Tanner and Taryn) joke that we should leave the new siding the color it is so that the house would be two-tone. I for one am tired of a yellow house (that's what ours is now) and would like a different color, and look forward to a green house.
Right now the first round of drywall is complete and the mudding is drying. The crew will come back to sand and re-mud and then another light sanding before they texture next week.
We ordered appliances last week. Mom and I visited several places and then went home to figure out how we could get the best deal. Sadly, I couldn't use ebates (an online savings portal), but other specials gave us a pretty good deal. And the best thing is we are under budget in that category! Wish I could have been able to have a new fridge, but ours still works and will be fine.
We're working on lighting now, and plan to order those in the next several days.
Mom and I chose wall paint for the addition, flooring for her new kitchen/dining and for all of the addition. We just got to choose countertop colors today. It's taking shape quickly.
