Drywall #1

The drywall sub-contractor started hanging the ceiling drywall in the old section of the house. They've completed about half of the old section. On Friday they'll finish hanging the drywall and then start taping, mudding, and sanding everything. The kitchen, guest bathroom, and addition drywall will be done later after the plumbing is roughed in and the rooms have been wired and insulated.

Deck #1

The builder started working on the back deck.

Memorial Day Weekend Projects

We worked on several projects over the weekend. The back yard has been cleaned up some, with many rocks removed. The remaining wall repair and compound application projects were also completed. We should be ready to sand everything in the next week or so.

Our kitchen will have exposed brink from the chimney over the range. In order to get the brick ready, we had to sand off any plaster still sticking to the brick. Thank goodness for power tools.

After cleaning the chimney, we coated it with polyurethane. Below are a couple of pictures, although the final result isn't included because the camera batteries died before the chimney was finished.


The doggies also got to spend some quality time at the house this weekend. Just look at those precious faces!!

Dad's cartoon

For more cartoons, go to Prewarcar.com.

Rock Harvest

We have a bumper crop of rocks in the back yard. Husband has been harvesting them at a record pace. The more rocks he digs up, the more that bubble up. Too bad pet rocks are out of fashion.

We also have a few plots of poison ivy ("PI") growing in various and sundry locations around the house and yard. Our local hardware store, Lowe's, has been kind enough to supply us (at a small price) with some Round Up to apply to the PI to hasten its demise. PI wreaks havoc on Wife's skin. It must be eradicated. Immediately.

Our other project for Memorial Day weekend has been the cleaning of the exposed brick in the addition and on the chimney in the kitchen. The brick in the addition was painted in the past and some of the paint has begun to flake. We have to remove the flakes before we can repaint the wall. This paint removal business is just as fun as wallpaper removal and sanding.

End of May Update

Here are a few more pictures of our progress on the house. The siding on the addition is nearly complete. It cannot be finished until the doors, windows and cornice are installed, which should be soon.

We continue to sand and prime a room at a time. Most of the upstairs foyer is finished. We still need to work on parts of the stairwell, but since they are so high and unreachable without a big ladder, we've been putting that off. Pictures of the foyer:

Now that the main structure of the addition is complete, work will start soon on the deck. In order to do this, the builder graded the yard. All of the yard. The yard is filled with lots and lots of rocks. We are going to have a rock harvest this weekend. Kinda like digging potatoes.

Before Wife knew it, the grading of the yard resulted in the plowing under of the wildflowers. Fortunately (for many reasons related to both landscaping and marital bliss), there are a few wildflowers growing along the left side of the house. Hopefully we will be able to transplant these to another area of the yard next spring. Wife is trying to block the 2007 Wildflower Massacre out of her mind and shall endeavor not to speak of it again.

The Crew

The crew: Walter, Steve, and Brian.

Addition - Siding

They started putting the siding on the addition.

Addition - Roof

More pictures of the progress being made on the addition roof.

Addition - Second Floor

On Monday and Tuesday the builder framed in the interior walls on the second floor of the addition and started working on the addition roof.

More Sanding

We're working on sanding the small front bedroom today. It's not quite finished, but will be tomorrow. And no, there's nothing wrong with the picture below...the haziness is the cloud of dust.

We also have a pretty crop of wildflowers growing near the barn. They smell wonderful.

Wall Repair - Sanding

The plaster wall repair work has moved into the sanding phase. This of course requires respirator use due to the cloud of dust it creates. Now that the weather is warm, the respirators are just that much more fun.

Addition #3

More pictures of the addition. The second floor exterior walls and the first floor interior walls have been framed.

Addition #2

More pictures of the addition.

Addition - First Floor

It's supposed to be sunny and warm all week. The contractor said he should be able to have the first and second floors of the addition framed in by the end of the week.

Here are some pictures of the framed in first floor.

Another Rainy Week

This past week has been mostly wet and rainy with a few dry periods. During the rainy times the contractor has started patching and repairing the hardwood floor.

During the dry periods the contractor was able to work on the first floor of the addition.