Laurie's World

I went down and got some pictures…It is raining out at the moment, so I have not gone out to get a shot of the back…That may have to wait

So I asked them to board up the openings (windows etc) for the weekend due to the rain and wind we were expecting…(and that did actually arrive!) so it looks a little different…

And here is proof that Jackie still exists…she is standing right under where the 2 windows are above the corner "sink"

The roof trusses are almost complete…The company that Drew got the trusses from (Woodinville Lumber) shorted the package by one truss, so they could not finish the hip on the BBQ porch area, but that will get finished next week. They were however able to get most up and plywood up there to support the tarp in the rain (YEAH!!)

Rachael and Jackie’s dormers are taking shape…they have floors and walls…They did not cut the openings into their rooms yet as it would have been a major source of leaks over the weekend

This is Jackie’s…

And this is Rachael’s…

They have cut out more of the walls and the ceiling…the space is feeling very open right now…all that is left on the wall that used to be between the kitchen and the dining room is the pocket door and some plumbing

I am standing in the old dining room looking into the old eating nook here in this pix below. Where those windows are now will be the french doors opening onto the patio…Hard to believe that piece of black Celotex you can see in the photo used to be the outside of the house

For anyone who is interested…check out May 15th and 16th…I put the pictures that belong there in to show how they got to where they are today.

I have lots to show you about what happened here on Friday…but I will post that later today after I get the pictures ready

Just a side note for my morning…Back on the 14th when I said I thought the guys did not come until 9am because they would not want to disturb us in the house so early…I was clearly wrong bcz they were here at 6:56am this morning and had no qualms about starting up their power tools.

I gave this the

I will update again tonight…Rachael has a floor in her dormer already this morning

I give this the

There will be a dumpster (from the Hungry Buzzard–isn’t that clever??) arriving today sometime between 7 and 11…this is good bcz the MOUNTAIN of debris in the yard is turning into a mountain range (aren’t I witty??)

I am so sorry that I have not posted anything of any value in several days…I know i am going to lose my faithful following if I do not keep you entertained

(The broken heart was Jackie’s idea)

On a fluke, I got my camera to work and so I snapped some pictures to show y’all what it looks like today. I do have some pictures of all the shoring etc that was up for the last few days and I will put those into their spots when I figure out how to get them off Vicki’s camera (that she so kindly lent me in my time of need).

So there has been a lot of demo (to say the least). The steel beam is in and unfortunately I missed the install of that (Troy and I both did as we were not home when the crane came to lift it up onto its supports). But nonetheless it was up there when we came home Tuesday night. They are working frantically on getting the roof up and sheeted now as it is supposed to rain here on Saturday and Sunday (FIGURES)

They have started to install the roof trusses over the kitchen…

And the shoring is out now that the steel beam is completlely installed. So far so good on it doing it doing its job…the 2nd story is staying outIt sue helps make the space feel wide open…

The steel beam is completely flush with the ceiling, so there will be no way to know it is in there once the ceiling is redrywalled. They cut the drywall way back to get good access to the area. They told me they used 38 bolts to attach the beam…sounds reasonable!!! Soon all the ceiling will be gone, but they are only demo’ing as much as they need to as they go along…

Today was all about getting that steel beam installed…once again I was not home much, but for that I am glad becasue I heard it was a little NOISY!! You can see it below…perched on those little scraps of 2x4s…that is where the crane set itNow they have to get it attached/bolted to the house…it has to slide over and set right into the rim joist between the floors

Here is Brooklyn…I have had requests for proof that the children are still alive…so here is one of them anyway

You can just catch a glimpse of the Watson’s house through the new indow…

And here is what we look like roofless…

This is what the house looks like from the new sunroom—without any ceiling or roof. The patio doors are still… there…not for long though. They are ready for the steel beam to get set up there today…As it turns out, neither Troy or I was home to see it happen….but when we came home it was there…

I felt like I was in jail when I used the sink…but that 2×4 shoring is all that is holding the second floor up there where it belongs…

This is the view from the old dining area into the new kitchen area…once again…some very critical shoring

Yikes…i am going to be in trouble…I can not get my camera to work…so i have no pictures (yet) of what happened here today. I will try again in the am. Yes…today was demo day…to say the least. I am stuck for words on how to descibe what it is like to have the back of the house missing and no roof. We are "out there and luvin’ it". It will be very cold in the am (and tomorrow is band day, so we will be up and out by 7:20 am)

The guys (and more) showed up a bit after 9am. This surprised me as I was thinking they would be here super early for a long day of work…but maybe since they needed to come inside the house now, they think they can not come as early. Dunno….anyway, they started to rip and saw and tear at the siding…but then i had to leave as Rachael had an ortho appt and then I had to go to work. By the time I popped by at 2 to see how it was going, the back of the house was gone…and really most of the mess was cleaned up…these guys really tidy up as they go along. HmmmI wonder if that is how they operate at home…somehow I doubt it. They plastic’d off at the hall to the garage and at the opening between the dining room and living room to keep the dust out of the rest of the house…but we will see how that goes. When those walls go down, there won’t be anything to tape plastic to…so not sure how they will keep the mess down then.

Vicki B came by to check ot out and she says she already can’t remember what it used to look likeHow cool is that??

I will work hard on getting pictures…even if I have to borrow a camera…

L

The request for pictures will be honored!! I will get out the camera again tomorrow!

No post for Friday as there was no work done on Friday…but I will have a LOT to say on Monday as apparently that is "demo day".

Word is they will be getting all ready to set the steel beam on Tuesday…Too bad I might miss some of the craziness as I will be out of the house from 11:15 to 3:15I am OK with this, due to the fact that we punched two holes in the stub walls in the dining room to see what is in there as it impacts our cabinets design–and lordy what a mess!! Drywall is really such a hideous product…So I will be just fine with coming home and hopefully they will have cleaned up after themselves and I won’t have to see it all over the place.

Went floor, door and hot tub (shhh) shopping today…wore poor Troy out!

Tomorrow should be a day of rest for me, but I suspect not so much

til then…

So lots happened today (or at least I think so!). The best part of the day was when the steel beam arrived. It is very big and I have complete faith in its ability to hold up the 2nd floor of the house (phew!). I do not have a photo yet…It was much easier to capture it on video…and as you can tell, I have not gotten around to figuring out how to get one of those up here yet…anyway, the welder who was coming to work on it was here well before the beam was…but he got busy after it arrived. The driver took the beam off the truck with a forklift. It was no ordinary forklift I might say. They set it down on the side of the property in the grass and the welder did his thing to it down there. He had to leave without being sone as he has to manufacture something to attach to it…I guess he will be back tomorrow to finish. It is still sitting down there…but I am not worried about anyone stealing it…

The guys will be installing it the day the trusses come as I think they are going to use the boom truck that comes with the trusses to lift it up and lay it close to where they are going to install it. Not sure how they will get it up in position—I suppose they will have a lift (or two).

Lots to do before that happens, mainly they still have to put up all the shoring inside the house to hold it (the house) up while they take out the load bearing wall.

While Doug and Dion were waiting for the beam to arrive, they started to frame out the floors for the dormers in Rachael and Jackie’s rooms. Hmmm…they are bigger than I thought they would be…They are exactly the size they are supposed to be (6’x5′), but it just looks bigger then that when it is hanging over my head. I am not crazy…Troy says they seem bbigger to him also!

OH YEAH! Can’t forget to talk about the cabinets. Debi came by today to "measure" the space to get working on the cabinet design. OK, she was here for a long time…it would appear that we have lots of piccadilos…BUT she is awesome and says she is determined get us a design we will love. She is going to move quickly…she thinks she will have the first draft to us by tomorrow, so we can review and tweak. She thinks we will be ready to place the order in 4-5 days. The cabinets will take 4-4 1/2 weeks to come, so the timing will work for this is we stay focused.

The weather has been very cooperative this week…I hope it holds!!

Today was all about working on the entrance. Doug and Dion got it all framed up and sheeted. So now I can walk out there and feel the space so much better. The plan is to reuse the front door and half round window, so they have framed it as such as well as cut the opening for the window.

A concrete guy came by and basically overwhelmed me entirely with the prospect of dealing with the concrete for the walkway to the entrance, the BBQ area and the back patio. Seems odd doesn’t it?? If something was going to push me over the edge it really should not be something like a patio…but this guy made it COMPLICATED!! SO I wandered off and left poor Troy to deal with it…We clearly need to have another opinion…

The steel beam was supposed to get delivered today, but we did not see one arrive…so who knows!