Prepping for the New Windows & Doors

Oh, let the sun shine in!

Plastic on the openings until the new windows and doors are installed.

Taking out the old french doors.

Well it has been quite a while since my last post. We are excited to say that things are starting back up again. The new windows and doors will be in before you know it or so Synergy (window installers) says. This last weekend we spent some time prepping for the new windows with moving ferns so they would not get trampled and removing some of the old windows and doors with our new neighbor Tom and his son Ian. It is great to see the sunlight filling the space that once had smokey tar covered windows.

No more leaks!

After a flat roof that was leaking horribly we found out that our metal roof that was supposed to last another 35 years was leaking in 5 places. This was due to the fact that the metal roof was not properly installed. As you can see we took a totally different direction with the house by doing a slate colored roof. I love how the color down plays the size of the roof and adds a bit of timelessness. The other great thing about installing a new roof is that we finally have gutters!

What else is there to fix?

Well as you can see from the photo they have started to replace the old flat roof. They have been working in between the rain and sunshine this week to get the new roof put on. We feel thankful that the spray foam and sheet rock had not yet been installed. That really would have been a mess. This will hopefully be the last unexpected big expense that we weren't planning on fixing!

One Step Forward Two Steps Back

With this house it seems that one moment of joy follows a moment of frustration. As Bryce would say, "not one thing has been easy on this house". Let's just say that we have had our share of tough moments with 747. At the end of this week we were so excited because we finally got the new main water line bored to the house and finally had running water. We thought we were finally on a roll as the cement was also poured in the first level of the house. Today however we decided to go over and see how the cement work looked. We were not supposed to walk on it for a few days. On our way into the house we met our neighbor Warner that was ice picking his drive way. We invited him into the house to see it, as he had not been in since he brought Leo chicken dinners when he was alive. We joked as we opened the garage door that this house has been way more work than anticipated and we knew it was going to be a "project". We also said that the only thing that could go wrong now is the roof would start leaking now that the weather had warmed up. As we made our way through the house our neighbor could not get over how much work we had done and how good it looked. We finally made our way up to the bedrooms upstairs and there it was....water flowing from the ceiling. All down the new framing, electrical and HVAC. It wasn't bad enough to just have one leak with water pouring in there had to be 3. As they say everything always happens in 3's.
So what did we do? You get the big ladder (which I almost killed myself with as I tried to move it and it fell on me) and climb up onto the flat roof and start shoveling the foot and half of snow and 2" thick ice off to find the leaks! Thank heavens that the temp was about 45 degrees today! After shoveling and breaking off as much ice we tried our best to fill the holes with spray foam. Mission partially accomplished, water was still coming in, but now at a drip rate. I guess the roof is telling us we can't wait a year to replace it, so it looks like another expense not accounted for. I think we need to start taking donations, so we can finish the house and get in before 2010 ends! Or as my dad says win the lottery...let's just say we play every week now that we have bought the house.
Above are images of the entry way that was once a sand box, now it has smooth new concrete!

Wires Galore!

Along with the work that is happening outside lots of wires for electrical are getting strung through the walls. This photo was taken upstairs in the 2nd bedroom. It will be great when we can have some lights to see the space after dark, besides small moveable construction lights.

Cichy's started today!!!

Today is a big day for 747! Today is the day they started boring the new main water line to our house. As you can see from the photos we have these heaters on the ground to heat the ground and now in our front yard we have a huge hole. This is the beginning of finishing the project.

Lighter and Brighter

We are getting closer and closer to our windows arriving, so Bryce and Neil thought while the old windows were still in they would Kilz (prime) the walls of the sunroom. This is the only room in the house that we left the top 3/4 of the sheet rock up. If you remember from the first photos the room was a dark red with castle like curtains and shag olive green carpet. As you can see from the photos the carpet is long gone and now so are the red walls. It's amazing what a little Kilz will do to brighten up a space.