Isaac and I both got our Halloween costumes in the mail last week. Aunt Krissy sent Isaac a Hokie Bird outfit that is just too cute for words. Mine is self-explanatory… I decided to do a trial run today. LOVE IT!!!
2011 Halloween Costumes
Saturday Porch Progress
Surprisingly, the framing guys came back to the house today. We were out at breakfast when they called because their tools were locked in our garage. We weren’t expecting to see them… If we had been, it would have been earlier than the 9:00 or so that they actually arrived. 🙂 They made good progress today and got most of the decking down for us to walk on. I have already climbed out the window to investigate! Todd, unfortunately, has caught the stomach virus I had on Thursday/Friday and has been out of commission. At least they stopped hammering right outside his window before he really got sick…
Looking up!
To the left:
To the right:
Street-level view:
And the view from the top:
Friday Porch Progress
The framing crew arrived again today. It’s safe to say that they don’t have *exactly* the same work ethic as the concrete guys did. They also don’t work nearly as quickly/efficiently. That said, the house is getting there, so I’ll try to keep my complaining to a minimum. 🙂 They finished placing all of the posts this morning and began working on hanging the supports for the second floor. Now that the “ceiling” is going in for the first floor, I can’t believe how open it feels down there! I was a little worried that the first floor was going to feel a little bit closed in. I needn’t have concerned myself. It definitely doesn’t!
Street-level view (the one we take every day that work is done):
View from the driveway.
Looking up!
It’s a LONG porch…
Todd standing on top of the wood to be placed for the decking upstairs – thinking about our future porch.
Isaac trying to climb out the window to join his dad:
Waiting on a Porch
This week began markedly less exciting than last week. Someone delivered part of the lumber Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, the framing crew came by and tore the bottom 2 rows of siding off the front of the house to allow Todd to run some electrical. Believe it or not, our house is now even MORE ghetto fabulous than before! 🙂 I know; you’re jealous…
Todd got home and immediately set to work, closely supervised from inside the house.
He worked after dark:
To make our home more Swiss-cheese-like.
Thursday began with a little more interest, however. The framing crew arrived first thing in the morning to begin building the porch for the second floor. They will be tying into the board supporting the front of the (existing) house. Todd asked how they were going to seal the house back up once they’ve done that and was greeted with a blank stare. Not terribly comforting… Todd and the framing leader, Bob, figured out how they can use flashing to ensure we won’t have to worry about weather. They were also planning, somehow, not to tie in on the roof for the second story of the porch. Todd supposes they were going to just drop down from the original roof to the edge of the front porch – 7 feet away. I am not sure how much of a view we’d have if they’d done that. 🙂 I think we’d have to stand against the back wall in order to be upright on the second floor of the porch. Not exactly what we (or our architect) envisioned. Thankfully, Todd was home in the morning working on some more electrical stuff and was able to walk Bob through what our finished product should ACTUALLY look like. I think we are on the right path now.
The posts were delivered Thursday. Then we got even more lumber…
Wow, that’s a lot of wood!!!
End of day on Thursday, we had most of the posts up…
View from the front:
Jackson closely inspected the remaining lumber to be sure it was up to snuff.
John, the contractor, and I need to chat because I have asked for a written schedule and I think he’s hoping to just “talk it over” with me. I am not sure he’s remembering all of the little details and want to be sure he plans for them – things like the fact that we have a totally new window going into the laundry room and someone will need to frame that in. I am glad that things are progressing and we seem to really move when a new team arrives and has their marching orders. The challenge is that I don’t think new crews get scheduled until a new week begins, so, for example, no one was here to do anything this week until Thursday. The project has been sitting for 3 days, which isn’t a terribly long time, but I’d still like to know when there are going to be idle days so that I can make plans accordingly (or warn the neighbors when it’s going to be particularly loud).
The framing crew arrived again today and is currently working. They are making progress and Todd and I are getting excited. Isaac is watching from various different windows throughout the house to be sure he doesn’t miss anything.
In other news, I am such a Proud Mommy! Isaac has been in swim lessons for a few months now and seems to really enjoy them. He had been learning lots of new skills, including how to blow bubbles. He hasn’t been consistently blowing them in class, but loves to put his face in his bath water to demonstrate how it’s done. Yesterday, he blew bubbles on cue in class! This means he gets a ribbon:
Isaac’s very first award! 🙂
We Have Concrete!
What a week it has been with our construction! Monday, a few of the crew came back out and finished putting in rebar along the sides of the future porch. They still left the middle section open so that the post-tension cables could be tightened.
Monday evening:
More rebar…
Isaac and Daddy hanging out while we wait for a friend to arrive…
Tuesday morning began with a bang. The post-tension cable team was here before 8:00 and tightened the cables.
Cleaning up the concrete around the cables:
Machine to tension the cables:
Powering the little machine:
Ends of the freshly “tense” cables:
Once they finished, the rest of the rebar was placed. The concrete mixer arrived at 8:45. What a sight! I got home just in time to witness all of that fun stuff. I am sure half of the neighborhood also walked by to see what was going on. LOL
Determining how long the chute needed to be…
Spraying water to the outside of the equipment so it would be easier to clean off after the pour:
The first concrete pour:
Spreading the first pour. The guy in this picture was here nearly every day and he really worked his tail off…
Concrete coming down the chute!
Pouring the concrete was actually a much quicker process than I expected. They got the concrete spread out and then let it sit for a little while to cure. These 2 guys were talking and joking, even though they were working really hard. It was nice to hear that they weren’t just grumbling about how hard things were (like I would have been doing if I’d been the one spreading concrete).
They used this little vibrator thing to make sure there were no air pockets in the concrete. It was infinitely faster than the method Todd, Brian, and Arves had used to remove air pockets in the concrete entrance floor…
Wet concrete!
Then they came back to work and started smoothing the surface some more. They used long 2 x 4’s to be sure they spread the concrete evenly, then they used metal blades to smooth some more. Smoothing the concrete all the way to the edges:
And smoothing the edges:
Isaac carefully supervised the work.
Finally, they used a thing that reminded me of the fan on the back of a swamp boat to smooth the surface. That was Isaac’s favorite part…
They finished off the edges and again gave the concrete a little more time to harden. They were able to remove the wood surrounding the new concrete by afternoon and then filled in most of the area around it with previously displaced dirt.
The “finished” concrete portion of the porch. They filled in the surrounding area with more dirt, but I was more excited to see the actual concrete. 🙂
The finished product at the end of the day yesterday:
John, our contractor stopped by yesterday afternoon to check out the progress. He said they will allow the concrete to cure the rest of this week before starting on the framing next week. Stay tuned!
Porch Update
Lots happened in a positive direction on Friday and over the weekend. Friday, the guys came to cut the post-tension cables, the house did not implode, and most of the rebar was placed to be able to pour concrete early this week… maybe even Monday if the post-tension guys come back early enough! Here’s a shot of the “team” approach to cutting the cables:
They used a concrete saw and just went right through the cables.
Then, they used a jackhammer to chip away around some of the cables to be sure they were still in good shape. They were, thankfully.
Todd came home for lunch and checked out where the cables were cut.
We had lunch and I ran a few errands, hoping to miss the jackhammer. My timing was off. I got home just in time! They brought an enormous generator, parked it in the front yard, and hooked up a huge pneumatic jackhammer.
OMG – LOUD!!!
Breaking up the pieces left by the jackhammer:
Isaac, Jackson, and I took refuge in the back yard. Jackson found some sticks.
Isaac found a digger of his own…
Then he helped the dog find some more sticks:
I had an appointment that started at the same time the guys wrapped up the evening on Friday, so I didn’t get to take our “end of day” photos. Unfortunately, the guy had already loaded up the trencher by the time I snapped the shot on Saturday morning. We had large pieces of equipment multiplying in our yard all week last week:
Discussing the electrical runs:
Todd mapping out the electrical with the view from our front door behind him:
Isaac wanted to help Daddy dig.
Trying to run conduit under the sidewalk, digging the hole…
Hooray for DIRT!
Little Helper supervised from inside in the afternoon:
No more equipment storage in our yard!
Progress at the end of Sunday, including Todd’s electrical conduit runs:
Todd’s handiwork (the grey and white PVC tubing):
Our new lamp post, complete with electricity!
A little help to get the wiring to the lamp post set up from inside the house.
Ready to start the new week (though no one has been here yet today):
Porch, Day 3
Progress is continuing at our house. Yesterday morning began with a lot of excitement, actually. I ran out into the front yard just in time to pull out my phone and capture the dump truck dropping all of the “new” dirt in our yard! It’s amazing how much faster they could move the dirt with the right equipment than I ever could have without it…
First, they emptied the contents of the truck. Then, they refilled it with the “old” dirt and with all of the shrubs they’d pulled out the day before.
Good riddance!
Shifting the load around in the back of the truck. It was a fairly precise process once they started. After this point, they raised it a few more feet, let everything shift, then a few more feet… I am sure they thought I was crazy for being so fascinated by something they see & do every day, but I don’t mind. 🙂 If the shoe fits…
Our little sentinel keeping an eye on all of the work being done out his front windows. He wants to be downstairs all day now so he can see what’s happening.
The machine used to compact the “new” dirt in place before the concrete will be poured next week. It shook the whole house, but not as badly as I thought it would. I could definitely feel my teeth rattling and was glad I wasn’t the one operating it.
The house as it looked at the end of the day. You’ll note that the original porch slab is still there. The post-tension cable guys came out this morning to assess the situation. This was the FOURTH time they’d said they would be here. If they hadn’t shown up, I swear that John was going to hire a hit man… Fortunately, they were here. They are *supposed* to be back again this afternoon. The plan is to release the tension in the cables, chip away the porch slab around them, cut the cables so they are flush with the house foundation, re-tension the cables. Let’s all hope and pray it goes smoothly. I have promised Todd that Isaac, Jackson, and I will all stay out the back yard (in case the cables come shooting out of the opposite side of the house) and away from the front door (in case they curl up and come through the house). For those of you who are concerned about Nestle, he has been hidden under the master bed for days and should be perfectly safe in case of either of those events.
A look at the front of the house at the end of the day:
Demolition, Day 2
This is the final goal for the house, hopefully about 6 weeks from now (although I’ll be happy as long as it’s finished before Christmas). I am trying to “keep my eyes on the prize.”
Today has been a bit more eventful than yesterday. It’s definitely turning into a typical home improvement project! :o)
I am glad Todd worked from home today and was able to talk to the foundation guy, Augustine, about the plans. There is a concrete slab in front of the door. This slab has caused quite a bit of concern – which we didn’t expect as little as 24 hours ago. It is actually part of the foundation. This means that it has post-tension cables running through it. This is problematic for a few reasons: 1) the slab is slightly higher than the rest of the foundation, making water run-off a problem. The new porch is supposed to step DOWN 2-3 inches as you come out of the front door. 2) The post-tension cables have to be handled very carefully or they could rip up the entire house. A guy was supposed to come this afternoon to assess the situation and determine whether we could release the tension on the cables. He never showed…
Augustine was surprised that we weren’t going to have a concrete beam (beams?) installed as part of the front porch. He said that John, our contractor, had indicated that it wasn’t necessary because we don’t have to have inspections out here beyond city limits. Needless to say, Todd and I found that response a little disconcerting. Augustine said it was something he would prefer to do and Todd agreed with him. Then, Augustine looked at the dirt we have, which is VERY loose, and decided that it wasn’t good dirt. I am not entirely sure what constitutes “good dirt,” but he wants to bring in clean fill dirt from elsewhere and compact it. Again, Todd said that we would prefer to do it properly. As of this moment, I know that John has been out to talk with Todd and Augustine and agreed with Augustine’s suggestions. That said, I am not sure whether any changes have actually been planned… I am hopeful that Augustine or John will be on-site first thing in the morning before any more work is done.
Thankfully, Todd was here to talk to the concrete guys when they arrived this morning… Among the other concerns, they were planning to just drive the concrete truck up onto the front yard. Our drainage field is in the front yard and DEFINITELY can’t support that kind of weight. Todd told them they will have to use the driveway.
In the midst of raising new questions, progress was still made. They successfully ripped out all of our shrubs today and made a massive pile in the middle of the yard. Everyone who drove by on their way to the park stopped to check out the progress.
This is what it looked like as I stepped out the front door mid-day:
Todd mapped out where the electrical conduit was to run power to our street light and where our water comes into the house. This didn’t get effectively communicated. As a result of this, and of the electrical conduit not being buried deeply enough, they broke the conduit run out to the street light, so we will have to replace that. On the bright side, they brought a trench digger to help dig for the new foundation work and were able to dig a new, deeper trench for the conduit pretty quickly for us. It was a fun piece of equipment to watch!
The new trench for the electrical:
You may note that there was once a light post right beside this trench. LOL Todd went out to talk to the guys about digging the trench. He reached out and touched the light post. It fell over. Oops! I guess we’ll have to replace that, too!
Once the guys left for the evening, I left Isaac inside while I ran out to get 2 last photos from the day:
The little mischief maker!
I came back in and found this in the middle of the living room floor:
Thankfully it was just a wet diaper and there were no accidents on the floor. It looks like our little guy has found a new way to keep Mommy on her toes!
In still other news… Baby #2 had a heart rate of 156 yesterday. That is just barely slower than Isaac’s 160/162 throughout the last pregnancy. Good to know there really is a baby in there and I’m not just getting fat. 🙂
Construction: Phase 2
Today commenced Phase 2 of our home construction. Here is our home as it looked yesterday:
Here is the “new” location of the porch you see in the center of our house:
Here is the house as it looked at 9:30 this morning, once the porch had moved to its temporary, new location:
A close up:
This is where they spray painted to indicate where the new porch will go:
There will be a section in the center that will mimic the original porch:
I am still trying to figure out how to upload a picture of the work my sister, the architect, did to design the porch for us. For those who don’t know, we are replacing all of the windows and siding, as well as adding a two-story porch on the front of the house. It’s going to be an adventure!
Outdoor Adventures
Isaac and I have started to go on little “adventures” outside in the mornings (before it gets too hot). We don’t do anything terribly exciting, but it’s a chance for Isaac to explore the front yard and a little of the neighborhood on his own two feet, rather than on his tricycle while Mom and Dad go for a walk. I got some great photos and a little video from this morning.
I know I owe the blog a more substantial update on our house projects and some other things, but this will have to suffice for now. Enjoy the video!
Leavin' for Leuven 