It's all gotta go somewhere

Author: Maida (Page 3 of 40)

Addition: Day 29

We had a bit of a lull while we waited for the windows and skylights to arrive, plus the roofer had to wait for a good weather window (yesterday we broke temperature records with Seattle hitting 71 degrees).

So yesterday, a Monday, the crew more than made up for the lost time, by installing the windows and sliding glass doors, and prepared to install the skylights. The large glass sliding doors are very dramatic, and they slide back on top of other glass, make a nice wide entrance.  

The skylights we chose have built-in room darkening shades that are solar-powered (no batteries or wiring required!). This will be super useful on hot days. 

The HVAC crew was on the scene also. There was much discussion (again) about the best route to run the ducting up to the 2nd floor. So far this has been the trickiest bit of the project. No one can seem to agree on how to get the ducting up there and although I thought this would be on a drawing I guess it is not, so everyone who comes in just eyeballs it. It’s hard to know what’s behind these old walls…I hope we’ll find out today (stay tuned dear readers!). 

Finally, the roofers also continued on with their duties, laying down some kind of flashing or prep layer. They stayed until 7pm.  

With the lost hours of sleep due to the time change, it’s all feeling a bit dreamlike. The image of the guy working in hole in the subfloor adds to this unreality.

Last night we ate dinner at the kitchen table but in the living room. Dashiell just glazed over it all and passed out at 7:01. Between the time change and his first day baseball practice of the season on a school day, he was worn out (plus he was very ramped up about wearing his “cup” as part of his baseball practice uniform).  

Whew!

 

Addition: Day 10

The framers finished up the roof and framed in the kitchen skylights yesterday. This morning I walked through the new space for the first time, and am now really getting a sense of what it will feel like, and getting ideas of how dramatic the view will be once the landscaping is complete. I love how our beautiful Camila is framed right now from the kitchen window that you’ll look out when sitting at the bar.

We’re planning on ripping out the horrible patchwork fence and well, and replacing it with a beautiful basketweave fence made of cedar. It will be all one color! 

 

 

Addition: Days 6 – 9

We continue to be amazed at the speed of this project. The foundation crew wrapped up on Saturday, then at the crack of dawn on Monday, the beautiful fresh lumber arrived. Framing was beginning!

Look what the framers have accomplished in just 3 work days!

We are impressed with the professionalism of the framers. They’re very serious and you don’t hear any joking or socializing when they are working–instead there is a lot of measuring, drawing review, hammering and sawing. I could watch them all day; they’re quite the cooperation machine. 

I am taking a photo from the same 2 places every morning so that later I can assemble them all into a time-lapse slide show. Because it’s moving so fast, I may need to start taking 3 or 4 snaps a day, otherwise it will be too short!

Addition: Day 5

Whew, this is happening so fast. Even the guys said they were about 2 days ahead of schedule!

Do you remember the children’s book 20 Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street? At one point Dashiell owned 2 copies–one from Aunt Amanda and I forget who gave us the other copy. Both were well loved and read aloud easily 10,000 times. 

Well, that was what our street looked like this past Friday, when our cement pilings got poured!

The cement-shooting crane definitely wins Coolest Truck Ever accolades. First of all, it was hot pink and adorned with breast cancer awareness ribbons. Secondly, it operated very elegantly, like a giant flamingo stretching into the sky and then stepping over our roof.

Addition: Day 1

Monday morning dawned with the arrival of 3 burly guys,  a collection of destructive tools like saws, hatchets and crow bars, a Honey Bucket and a Bobcat. 

The sun was shining, and it felt warmer than it was.  It was the perfect way to start!

The only disgruntled parties were the chickens, who were quite distressed by the loud electric sawing and bangs. I’m hoping they will get used to the noise and it will just become part of the rhythm of their day. Will they stop laying? I hope not.  

By the end of the day, all the shingles we off, and Jeff and I had transplanted the honeysuckle bushes. 

When Dashiell got home from school it was too dark to photograph his reaction, but it was quite awestruck. Jeff snapped an image of him this morning sitting in the driver’s seat of the Bobcat. What could be more fun??

 

Incomplete Portrait

I just love this photo–it’s so perfect it deserves its very own blog post.  If I was going to pick 1 photo for a painter to use to paint the portraits of these young chaps, this would be it. 

Well, I should say it’s nearly perfect: Fergus is missing. He got up from the table to look outside at some ducks who’d come exploring from a nearby pond, snapping up bread crumbs from the tables outside this restaurant. He followed them too, as they waddled down the block. You can tell that D is distracted–see him looking past the camera? He’s watching Fergus.

I had to high-tail it down the street just after this photo was snapped.

You can see where he was sitting though, just to Dashiell’s left.  

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