Home Projects

The past few days things really went fast, they got the frame up, the panels installed on the walls, the roof trusses on, and even shingles. We did however run-out of shingles. Things are moving so fast. Tonight we even have to start demoing a part of the kitchen so I will be taking some before and after photos of that.

We had a couple of busy days, the heating guys came and installed an extension of the duct work out to the new crawl space. I didn't get any pictures of that because it isn't super exciting, to see, but they did a great job. I didn't even notice where they hooked it in to get it out there right away and it is looking like it was always there. Yesterday they added the decking and the space felt so much larger than it felt before once that went on.

Yesterday they were able to water proof the crawl space, back fill it in and added some vapor barrier and rocks. It went pretty fast!! It looks really great.

Today there is no activity on the project, but yesterday the crawl space brick was finished being installed and they cleaned up their equipment and tools. The brick is about 5 feet high, but I know that the space will be about 4 feet when finished so footings will get covered. It looks small and big at the same time. I think next they plan to back fill it back in, I think later this week and then starting next week the roof trusses are coming in and supposedly they will start framing it up. We ordered one new window, which is also supposed to arrive next week so that is perfect timing.

Yesterday the footings got poured and the bricks started going in. The crew spent the morning setting up the forms after a stormy Sunday night, and then we had to wait for the city inspector to sign off on it. Once they did the Cemstone Truck came and pumped the concrete in the forms to make the footings. They then started to lay bricks on the corner to let them cure a little bit over night. They will be continuing to build the crawl space today. It is getting exciting to see the progress. We know that contracting out the foundation is a bit expensive.

Well they came and did some digging, 4 ft deep and a nice big pile in the back. Surprise we found 3 extra footings, so there must of been another deck here at one point. I wonder what that looked like, maybe it was smaller. With older homes you never really know what all the history is do you. It is quite interesting, anyway everything feels a lot more real.

Last night was an exciting time for my 2-and-a-half-year-old. He is obsessed with anything that has wheels, big machines, and excavators. Thanks to Blippi and his excavator videos, he knows all the parts of an excavator. So, when one showed up last to dig for our foundation, he could be more excited. After dinner we had to go check it out. He asked if he could touch it, we said he could touch the bucket and he said, "This bucked is really big!". 30 minutes looking at it and awe, running around it is looking at the tracks was probably one of the most exciting days in his young life!

The first part of the project we did on our own was remove our old deck. In order to save some money in labor costs we took the weekend to do that. We are planning to use a lot of the lumber to make a fence around our garden to help keep the rabbits out. I will restrain it to make it nice, but it is one way we are going to re-purpose some of the old lumber. Also they came and measured out where the new addition is going and also starting to mark where the utility lines are. I also order a small window for the new bathroom.

Well! Today I made a big purchase today! I put my 50% down for our kitchen project. I slightly shook while handing it over to the contractor, it is a lot of money but at the same time I'm really excited about the project. I was able to take home samples today of the countertop options and the cabinet colors that I am really liking. I am pretty set on the cabinet colors, the counter top colors are what is really a hard decision, there are so many to choose from. I now get to spend a few hours looking thru them and deciding what I'd like to go with.