Project Sketch

So living near a school I get a regualr flow of neighbors and kids walking by checking out all the activity. Since the house is a little hard to describe I decided to put a sketch board out on the fence.

Wall Forms going UP!

The footings are done and their forms have been removed. Now the contractor is tieing rebar vertically and horizontally and then putting the forms in place for pouring the walls. It's pretty exciting seeing lots of progress lately, especially since it's not just tied to only my labor! Seeing the wall height is surprising at first but when you crouch down, the top of the new wall is just above the existing gutter line which is where I guessed it would be. That all makes sense but it really reinforces the amount of fill needed out front at the driveway.

Front Additon w/retaining wall. If you look carefully you can see the vertical rebar stepping down as it gets closer. That is the retaining wall steps to meet grade by the mailbox.

Corner of new addition with the retaining wall coming towards the camera.

LOOKS TALL!

Rest of the rebar and forms ready to go in

The walls should be done next week and then it's back to demolition

The Footing Concrete Pour

The concrete truck transfers the concrete into the pumper truck which then pumps the concrete through its 95' boom to where it is needed.

The guy on the left is operating the boom with the remote control and the guy on the right is directing the nozzle the where the concrete is needed. Back at the concrete truck the operator is monitoring the flow of concrete into the pumper truck.

Using the boom to pour over the house

Pumper truck on the sidewalk

Footing Preparation

The first major subcontractor is now onsite. They are responsible for all the footing and foundation work. I had to prepare the area, which entailed yet some more additional digging plus I had to layout the addition footprint corners. Finally had to saw cut the existing foundation in two places to tie in the new work. Some shoveling, measuring and remeasuring and finally the rental of a concrete saw and here we are ready for tommorrow's concrete pour for the footings. Oh yeah we also had to get two city inspections. The first was for erosion control. No problem since the soil is so sandy and porous, plus any runoff is going back onto the site and not out to the neighbors. Second was for the footing rebar. Also pretty straight forward. 9AM concrete pour tomorrow. I am in charge of traffic control:-) I need to redirect cars and pedestrians whilst the concrete truck and pumper are here.

"Skybridge" over to garage
note missing chimney and cut in the existing foundation

Footing layout out front.
Retaining wall is nearest camera w/house addition down by the existing garage

Footing layout out back

More Demolition

The weather has improved and things are moving forward. The living room floor is gone, preparing this area for new footings.

The chimney and fireplace also have been removed. Eventually the wall will come down to make room for the new laundry and "Meditation Room".

More to follow soon.

Interior Changes

The snow has kept me from working outside lately. It is all gone now but I just looked out the window and darned if it isn't snowing again! I don't think it will stay long though. The last few days I have been remodeling spaces and moving our belongings around to accomodate the demo work I need to do in the living room area. I need to prepare this area for new footings in the next week.

1. "Rough finished" the back bedroom enough so I could move us back into this space. This room is now a good size space with a nice size closet. It will make a great #2 bedroom.

2. Tore down the entry closet and adjacent wall so the third bedroom is now a sitting area off the front door. To do this I built a temporary wall along the living room side.

3. Built a temporary wall to block off the living room form the dining/kitchen area.

So next week I need to finish foundation digging outside, demo the living room floor, and prep for footings.

How's the Cat?

Many people ask how our cat is dealing with all the change around the home lately. With all the construction remodeling as well as the weeks of snow, most cats would be very freaked out and having a hard time with it all. Well don't worry about "Q"! Every day is an exhausting day of exploring the ever changing homestead. He is constantly in and out checking things out, even when the snow covered the ground. Of course all this excitement doesn't get in the way of what he does best!

Since Tif is traveling right now, here is the king of the house napping on her side of the bed!